By Robin- Lee Francke on August 20, 2026
Father Michael Lapsley addressing delegates. Foto Bill Hackwell
Father Michael Lapsley, the Cape Town priest who left for Havana, Cuba, earlier this month, has returned and called for the world to stand together with the Cuban people.
Lapsley attended a colloquium in Cuba marking 100 years since the birth of Fidel Castro, who led the Cuban revolution of 1959 and ruled the island for almost half a century.
Castro died in 2016.
Lapsley is the honorary life President of the Friends of Cuba Society, which he helped set up ahead of South Africa’s first democratic election in 1994. During his trip, he also took along medical supplies for the people of Cuba.
Delegates from 63 other countries attended the colloquium, including representatives from the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu), the South African Communist Party (SACP), and former minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
While addressing the auditorium, Lapsley called for the end of the blockade of Cuba by the United States.
Washington has run an embargo on Cuba since 1962.
In January, US President Donald Trump declared a national emergency over Cuba and moved to choke off its fuel, blocking oil tankers bound for the island and threatening tariffs against any country that kept supplying it.
In May, Cuba’s energy and mines minister, Vicente de la O Levy, said the country had run out of diesel and fuel oil, leaving the country with only gas from its own wells. Blackouts have hit the entire island since March.
Cuba being strangled
Speaking to IOL, Lapsley said one thing was clear: “This is a genocide without bombs”.
Father Michael Lapsley with Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canel
“The United States is actively strangling Cuba. This is a collective punishment of a whole country since the triumph of revolution. However, things have become immeasurably worse in the last six months.”
He said Cubans have no electricity for long periods of time. With no electricity, they cannot pump water; this, in turn, affects the functions of factories and results in significant medical implications, as they are unable to manufacture medication.
Lapsley described the conditions in Cuba as dire, saying he observed only a few vehicles on the road, as there was no access to fuel.
Will to survive
In an interview with Lapsley, President of the Cuban Council of Churches and the President of the Cuban Bible Society, Joel Ortega Dopico, said the present situation is complex as the US continues to create extensive damage to the Cuban people.
“They don’t allow diesel or oil to get into the country. It’s very difficult. Support from other countries, even from countries that want to support Cuba, is very hard. They are making it hard for everyone to help Cuba right now,’ Dopico said.
He told Lapsley that the most vulnerable people in the country are suffering the most.
“Access to food is very limited. Many of these vulnerable people in Cuba, and many of the Cuban families, are moving from three meals a day to one meal a day. Access to basic foods like eggs, milk, and rice is very hard in Cuba, because if you don’t have diesel, if you don’t have technology, if you don’t have access to that, you cannot produce,” he said.
Lapsley told IOL that the Cubans are extremely innovative and have a will to survive, and their revolution taught the world what it meant to survive. Now, it was time to return the favour.
“From the beginning, Cuba has fought for other countries, such as South Africa, Angola, and Namibia. Now, the world needs to come to their support. Government, solidarity movements, and faith organisations need to come together so Cuba can survive. But they also need to come together to oppose what the United States is doing,” Lapsley said.
Source: IOL