Spanish Podemos director and Congressman visiting Cuba spoke to Harici

Among the activists, delegates, and political representatives of the large delegation from Europe present in Havana, we had the opportunity to interview, exclusively for Harici, María Teresa Pérez Díaz, Director of International Relations for the Spanish party Podemos (We can), and Deputy Javier Sánchez Serna, Podemos representative for Murcia in the Spanish Congress.

In mid-March 2026, in solidarity with the humanitarian situation in Cuba, nearly 700 delegates, activists, and politicians from more than 120 organizations and from 33 countries converged in Havana as part of the “Nuestra América” (Our America) Convoy, Flotilla, and Caravan initiative. The main purpose of this initiative was to break the blockade that the United States government maintains against Cuba.

The material context in Cuba is devastating. Some parts of Havana resemble -as many participants said- a “war zone” due to the systematic economic strangulation against the island. In contrast, the participants of the “Our America” Convoy arrived from all continents carrying medicine and food in their personal luggage. The members of the “Our America” Flotilla also arrived with humanitarian aid: the first ship to reach the port of Havana on March 24, symbolically named “Granma 2.0,” and the two sailboats that reached the island four days later, loaded with tens of tons of food and medicine, solar panels, and bicycles. In total, the Flotilla, the Convoy and the Caravan delivered more than 50 tons of medical supplies, food, water and solar panels, among other essential supplies, to different points in Cuba.

It should be noted that the “Our America” Convoy was inspired by the Sumud Global Flotilla, the international maritime initiative that on October 1, 2025, attempted to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza and was intercepted by the Israeli navy in international waters, 70 miles off the coast of Gaza. The fact that Cuba is experiencing a tentative of genocide was one of the reason that mobilized hundreds of activists from around the world to participate.

Among the activists, delegates, and political representatives of the large delegation from Europe present in Havana, we had the opportunity to interview, exclusively for Harici, María Teresa Pérez Díaz, Director of International Relations for the Spanish party Podemos (We can), and Deputy Javier Sánchez, Podemos representative for Murcia in the Spanish Congress.

María Teresa, why did Podemos decide to travel to Havana and support the Cuban people at this delicate time in Cuba and in the world?

Cuba has always been a nation of solidarity. Cuba has provided doctors and teachers worldwide, wherever they were most needed. Let us also remember that during the difficult time of COVID-19, Cuba was at the forefront of scientific advancement, creating a vaccine and demonstrating its commitment to helping the world. We are here to show explicit political support because we believe that the blockade imposed on the island by the United States for six decades is criminal and inhumane. Furthermore, Washington has significantly intensified its siege against Cuba in recent weeks with this energy boycott that affects the daily lives of Cubans. Trump has threatened and prohibited Venezuela and other countries from delivering fuel to Cuba.

Therefore, it is time for all of us to stand together and challenge Trump’s external policies, which are engaging in outright extortion and a violent and criminal policy in many parts of the world. We came here from Spain to convey this message to the Cuban people.

Deputy Sánchez, what political weight does participating in this initiative have for you, as a Spanish legislator?

Javier Sánchez: We have come to Cuba out of a moral imperative. We have come because we want to demonstrate that Cuba is not, and never will be, alone. Cuba has been a people of solidarity, a humanitarian people, who have always given much, even more than they had, to the world. And that solidarity must return. It must return because if Donald Trump gets his way, if the United States can suffocate and starve any people, any country in the world, they want, we are headed toward a much worse humanity.

Today, the cause of humanity is at stake in Cuba, as it was a few months ago in Gaza, as it is in Venezuela, and in so many other parts of the world. Therefore, Cuba must win with everyone’s support. It must demonstrate that it is possible to be an independent and sovereign country without the United States coming to crush it. We cannot allow this to happen; we cannot stand idly by.

Cuba’s already critical situation has worsened in recent weeks due to the US oil embargo on Venezuela, which has prohibited the supply of Venezuelan crude. From a foreign policy perspective, what does January 3rd mean for Podemos?

Javier Sánchez: From Spain, we are deeply saddened and deeply concerned by the United States’ terrorist attack against the people of Venezuela and the kidnapping of their president, Nicolas Maduro. I believe the United States is a decadent empire that will fall in blood and mud, leaving a long trail of blood in its wake. And that is why we urge the people of the world to be aware of the moment we are living in. Just as we have done with Cuba, Podemos has also shown its full support and solidarity with the Venezuelan people, who are trying to manage this extremely unfavorable balance of power in a difficult situation.

Do you two believe that Europe is also threatened by the Trump administration?

María Teresa Pérez Díaz: We are deeply concerned about this blatant criminal behavior. The most basic principles of international law, founded on the principles of self-determination of peoples, non-aggression, and the negotiated resolution of conflicts, are being undermined. We are witnessing the destruction of all of this. If no one takes action to stop Trump in time, this barbarity could engulf us all.

Javier Sánchez: Donald Trump has allowed himself to unilaterally attack Venezuela, threaten Cuba, Mexico, Colombia, and even Greenland, which is part of Europe. We believe we must confront him: withdraw from NATO, and prevent the United States from having military bases on our territory from which to attack other parts of the world. We in Podemos have demanded a deepening of the European Union’s strategic autonomy and an end to an Atlantic alliance that is not serving to protect peace, but rather the opposite: to foster violence.

Therefore, we believe that this is the way: strategic autonomy, challenging and standing up to a criminal who believes he has the right to occupy the whole world as if it were his own, and of course, with internationalist solidarity and with that support among free and sovereign peoples.

What final message do you have to send to the world from Havana?

Javier Sánchez: Solidarity doesn’t end here. It’s vital to continue calling on our countries’ governments to ensure that oil reaches Cuba so that it can return to normal. What Cuba is asking for is common sense: the right of peoples to live in peace.

María Teresa Pérez Díaz: With internationalist solidarity and this support among free and sovereign peoples, it’s possible to stand up to those who believe they have the right to occupy the world as if it were their own.

And what message do you bring from Spain?

María Teresa Pérez Díaz: It is time for all of us to stand together and challenge the genocidal and warmongering policies of Donald Trump, who is engaging in outright extortion and a violent and criminal policy in many parts of the world. So we show our full solidarity, we show all the determination and strength of the peoples of the world to confront criminals like Donald Trump. And here we are from Spain conveying that to the Cuban people, who have always been, as I say, a people of solidarity.

The “Nuesta América” Convoy was promoted by, among other organizations, Progressive International, coordinated by David Adler, and organizations such as CodePink, led by Medea Benjamin. President Díaz-Canel received the delegates at the Havana Convention Center on March 20. Trump responded by reiterating the same threat: “Cuba is next.

Interview by Micaela Ovelar, Venezuelan political scientist and journalist.