Hundreds of Cuban children took part in the Festival of Kites for Peace and Against the Blockade in Havana on October 16, raising their kites in an act of resistance against the intensifying economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States.
José Martí Pioneers take to skies in defiance of US Blockade
Organised by the José Martí Pioneers Organisation (OPJM) and supported by the Union of Young Communists (UJC), Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Havana government and the Office of the Historian of the City, the festival brought together children near Castillo de la Punta along Havana’s Malecón in a demonstration of peace, solidarity and defiance.
The festival took place amid the tightening US economic siege and the devastating consequences of the energy blockade on everyday life, including widespread electricity instability that disrupts school routines and places an additional burden on Cuban families.
Yet the kites carried a message of resistance and hope. Each one symbolised the struggle of Cuban children whose lives and health are threatened by the blockade, including more than 12,000 children awaiting surgical operations amid the energy crisis. The festival also denounced the obstruction of essential supplies, including medicines, food and medical equipment, which Cuba needs to protect the health and well-being of its people.
Chaveli Arencibia Martell, national president of the OPJM, described the event as a symbolic act of denunciation on behalf of children affected by the “ruthless energy siege and the intensification of the blockade.” The organisation called for similar festivals throughout the country, turning the raising of kites into an act of love and a defence of life in the face of imperialist aggression.
The festival reaffirmed that Cuba will not surrender in the face of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by Washington. Against a policy that seeks to impose suffering on the Cuban people, the children’s kites carried a clear demand: the right to live in peace, free from the suffocating restrictions of the US blockade.
The struggle against the blockade is inseparable from the defence of Cuba’s children and their future. Through this act of denunciation, Cuban pioneers reaffirmed their determination to defend the happiness of their children and to resist the measures that threaten their lives, health and well-being.
