In recent weeks, Cuba has grappled with a dual crisis of blackouts and the aftermath of Hurricane Oscar, which killed at least six people on the island. Though the blackouts have become the target of another round of media demonization of Cuba, the current crisis is really the result of the US blockade, which has starved the Cuban people of fuel and other basic necessities for decades. Liz Oliva Fernandez of Belly of the Beast reports from New York City, where protesters took to the streets to denounce the US blockade of Cuba. Production: Alyssa Oursler, Liz Oliva FernándezVideography: Alyssa OurslerPost-Production: Adam Coley Transcript Liz Oliva Fernández: We are here in the middle of Manhattan, in a rally of solidarity with the Cuban people, just a few days before the UN votes yet again on the resolution presented by Cuba to end the US sanctions on my country. Gail Walker, Executive Director, IFCO/Pastors for Peace: We are here in Grand Central in New York City to support our Cuban family, to protest the ongoing injustice that our government, the US government, has been perpetrating for far too many years. And as we get ready to welcome world leaders to the United Nations to once again vote against the blockade of Cuba, we’re here to say let Cuba live! Justine Medina, Cuban-American: Every year the United Nations votes overwhelmingly to condemn the US blockade on Cuba and every year it’s basically just the US and Israel who vote against that and I do think that’s going to happen again this year but it really shows that the majority of the world is against this blockade… The majority of Cuban-Americans are also against this blockade. Danny Valdes, Cuban-American: It’s hard to imagine it being any more isolating for the United States than it currently is. I went last year to the vote for the first time and it was incredible just seeing country after country after country, whether they’re in Europe, whether they’re in Africa, whether in the Caribbean, or they’re in Asia, all of them presenting arguments against the embargo, some of them because of the immoral and humanitarian reasons, and others are like this is a unilateral imposition on our ability to trade with Cuba by the United States… Jessenia Jazmin, Rally Attendee: The United States and Israel are partners in destruction and the only thing they know how to do is wage war against people who only want to live their lives and the fact that the United States and Israel are voting against Cuba being able to thrive, and remove the sanctions they unlawfully placed on them, it’s a crime against humanity and it’s something that needs to be addressed and corrected. Danny Valdes: I see what’s happening in Gaza and what’s happening in Cuba as two tentacles of the same monster…. In Gaza, it’s bombs, but before the bombs there were sanctions, before the bombs there was a blockade, and the same is happening in Cuba and it’s causing a humanitarian crisis that is unfathomable and getting worse all the time. Gail Walker: We stand in solidarity with Palestine because we know the forces that are creating all the pressure in their country are very much similar to what’s happening in Cuba. I think there’s a direct link between the occupation of the Palestinian territory  and the ongoing genocidal activity of the US government’s blockade for over 60 years. It’s important for us to connect the dots and this is a perfect way to do that. Danny Valdes: They love to talk about the international order and the rules-based international order but I think things like what’s happening in Gaza and what’s happening in Cuba illustrate that we don’t really have an international order that is rules-based. We have one that is based on geopolitical power. Sen. Jabari Brisport, State Senator, New York: What the United States is doing in Cuba is frankly criminal. It’s crippling an entire country because of an ideological difference and it’s disgusting what we’re doing to the everyday people of Cuba. Rev. Dorlimar Lebron, IFCO/Pastors for Peace: A lot of people don’t understand why that impacts us but Cuba is our neighbor. They are literally just 90 miles away from us. The way that we treat our neighbor reflects how we treat each other. And so, for me, as somebody who was born in Puerto Rico but has the ability to vote in the United States, I have a unique duty, unique responsibility to fight for my neighbors when they’re being oppressed, when they’re being exploited, when they’re experiencing all this hardship. Liz Oliva Fernández: Do you know the United States put Cuba on the “state sponsors of terrorism list”? What do you think about that? Justine Medina: I think that is criminal that the US government put Cuba on the state sponsor of terrorism list. The US government is currently sending bombs to Israel to bomb civilians of Gaza right now. The Cuban government sends doctors around the world. So I think that it is incredibly, incredibly egregious for the US government to say that the Cuban government are the terrorists. Liz Oliva Fernández: Do you think Cuba supports terrorism? Sen. Jabari Brisport: Cuba does not support terrorism. Cuba supports healthcare and justice. Rev. Dorlimar Lebron: Right now, what we’ve already seen is that, what Cuba offers is life, is hope, is doctors, it’s health, it’s opportunity, in contrast to what the U.S. empire has been offering the world. Danny Valdes: I’m Cuban American so I grew up in Miami, Florida, with Cuban-American parents and grandparents…  But when I went to Cuba on my own, and then later with DSA as part of a delegation, I discovered a country that was very different than the country I was told about my entire life….  And I just saw a country that was under the boot of an economic policy that the country I was brought to…. Liz Oliva Fernández: Why are politicians in the US not talking more about what is happening in Cuba? Sen. Jabari Brisport: I think there are just too few politicians treating this like a priority. It’s not on the top of the mind of a lot of politicians or some of them frankly are scared to get involved in it, they want to keep living in the propaganda of the US. Danny Valdes: I have never experienced a culture where solidarity is a value that’s expressed very consistently. A socialist culture where those values are put front and center and that was kind of breathtaking and I remember coming back to the US after being in Cuba and being so depressed because it was totally different from everything I had grown up knowing. Liz Oliva Fernández: Do you have a message for young people in the United States who don’t know nothing about Cuba? Jessenia Jazmin: Go to Cuba, learn from Cuba first hand, living in the United States we’re fed a lot of lies, we’re fed a lot of misinformation, and the best thing to do sometimes is just to go to the place itself and learn from the people. Gail Walker: Nothing will change your perspective on this tiny beautiful island like being there. Walking down the street, talking to people, eating the food, getting somebody to treat you to a little cafecita, there’s nothing like seeing Cuba for yourself. Danny Valdes: I think it’s up to us as Americans to say we’ve had enough of this. It’s morally wrong, it’s a humanitarian issue, it’s an international rights issue, and we’re not going to stand for it anymore.