By Fernando Rendón on August 1, 2026
Dear Cuban people,
Felix Rendon
On January 1, 1959, you overthrew the military dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, and a spirit akin to that of the first day of spring swept across the Island of Light and throughout all of Latin America. In the years that followed, the world saw that a visionary generation could chart a fresh and renewing course for a continent that dreamed of and sought profound changes in contemporary society.
You became the promise of a new era for young humanity, in which the rights of working people, peasants, and students; of women, children, and the elderly; and of artists and thinkers would be protected by revolutionary legislation in a Latin American society that was, at last, deeply humane and collectivist.
It was the poetic vision of Cuba’s transformative thought and action that sparked a wave of sympathy and support for this new project of human liberation.
However, the decades following the implementation of far-reaching political, economic, and social measures in your country proved that the enemies of historic change would remain reluctant to accept them. Then came the 1962 Caribbean Crisis and the systematic and escalating blockade, which gradually strangled the economy, narrowing the paths to human hope for peace, social justice, and dignity.
The silent and grinding war against you continues. The U.S. boycott continues to block the entry of oil, goods, and basic necessities—including food and medicine—plunging you into dire circumstances where you lack even electricity and water. And yet, your courage and integrity remain unshaken.
We embrace you with affection, calling on the entire world to mobilize to help protect your existence and sovereignty. The people of Cuba are our own: the people of Latin America, to whose conscience and spirit of unity we appeal. The fate of our peoples is the fate of the continent, just as the fate of Venezuela and Colombia is the fate of Latin America. This is a time for sincere solidarity and dignity in this part of the world, which seems to be shrouded in a great shadow. But like all great shadows, this darkness will be temporary, always interrupted by rays of light that relentlessly weave the presence of a free future into the present. All the poetry in the world is with you, dear people of Cuba.
With my warmest embrace,
Fernando Rendón
President of the World Poetry Movement
Source: Network in Defense of Humanity, translation Resumen Latinoamericano – English