Join us in supporting Cuba through travel, building meaningful connections across borders, and voicing our dissent to the inhumane blockade!

We are excited to invite you on our incredible New Year’s trip to Cuba to celebrate and learn about community, culture, and revolution. We still have a few spots available. Learn more and RSVP here.

Celebrate New Year’s and the 65th Anniversary of the Cuban Revolution with us on this once-in-a-lifetime experience.  We’ll spend our days exploring and enjoying people-to-people exchanges with Cubans, visiting  community projects, meeting small business owners, exploring urban gardens, touring the fine arts museum, and celebrating the New Year and the Anniversary of the Triumph of the Cuban Revolution with a lovely dinner and music!

On New Year’s Day, we’ll go to the Spanish Colonial town of Trinidad, a designated UNESCO Heritage Site. While in Trinidad, we’ll stroll the cobblestone streets and learn more about the island’s history, including its Afro-Cuban culture. We will then head to  Santa Clara and visit the site of the memorial to Che Guevara. We’ll also have a unique opportunity to visit a community gathering where we will meet with Cubans in their neighborhood to learn about how they organize at the local level to support one another.

Now is the time to travel to Cuba! Between the inhumane US blockade and the pandemic, the economic conditions have worsened exponentially, and travel to the island not only supports the local economy but also builds meaningful people-to-people connections. 

To view the itinerary for complete details, e-mail us at realitytours@globalexchange.org or call us at 415-575-5527.Register Today

P.S. If you can’t make it on this Cuba trip, plenty more will be added to our 2024 calendar in the next 2 weeks! Including this incredible Cuba Jazz Festival trip.

Call the White House to take Cuba off of the “State Sponsors of Terrorism” list!

U.S. sanctions and State Sponsor of Terrorism List designation is an attack on daily life in Cuba. Access to food, medicine and basic supplies are being blocked. Cuba deserves the right to self-determination, and it’s on us to hold the U.S. government accountable.

The Biden administration must fully normalize relations with Cuba NOW – this means ending the blockade and taking Cuba off the State Sponsors of Terrorism list. 

The Cuban people are suffering one of the most severe food and medicine shortages, since the collapse of the Soviet Union. This is a consequence of the ongoing U.S. blockade, continued impacts of sanctions on freedom to travel, and downturn in tourism from the coronavirus pandemic.

Join us along with many organizations across the country for “White House Call-In Days” to tell Biden to take Cuba off of the State Sponsors of Terrorism List today and tomorrow (March 15 & 16) from 11am – 3:00pm EST. You can call (202) 456-1111.

202-456-1111

Click here for a suggested SCRIPT  created by our friends at Massachusetts Peace Action to make it easy. If for some reason you can’t get through you can use  www.whitehouse.gov/contact  to send a message.

Now is the time for U.S. citizens to ensure that the next many years of Cuba/U.S. relations will benefit the people of both countries and be free from harmful Cold War ideology.  Cuba and the Cuban people have suffered too long.

P.S.   Support Cuba through travel. Join an upcoming Reality Tour!  Travel to the island not only supports the local economy but also builds important people-to-people connections, building solidarity and understanding between our two nations

Global Exchange launched our first travel challenge to Cuba in 1990 under the Freedom to Travel campaign with the following three demands of the U.S. Government:

  • End the U.S. Blockade on Cuba;
  • End Travel Restrictions between the U.S. and Cuba;
  • Remove Cuba from the U.S. list of terrorist countries.

As you know all too well, after thirty years most of these demands remain in place. Tell Biden the time is now to end the blockade!

Recent protests over widespread food and medicine shortages in Cuba have drawn world attention, but the narrative we are hearing turns a blind eye to the brutal 60 year economic war waged by the US against the island. And as the news on these protests flood social media channels and public airwaves, Biden tweets his concern for the Cuban people and their suffering, all while continuing Trump’s strategy of economic warfare. The U.S. blockade against Cuba is designed precisely to create the shortages Cubans are now experiencing and to encourage social unrest on the island.

As the pandemic magnifies the devastation of the U.S. blockade, the blockade has in turn made it harder for Cuba to grapple with the pandemic. In July 2020, a UN special rapporteur concluded the blockade was “obstructing humanitarian responses to help the country’s health-care system fight the COVID-19 pandemic.” Among other things, the blockade stopped medical aid and money transfers from overseas companies and humanitarian organizations, denied Cubans the ability to use Zoom, prevented the country’s purchase of ventilators, and caused a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE).

If Biden truly cares about the Cuban people, ending severe shortages in food and medicine must be his top priority. Biden needs to end this erroneous blockade. 

Now is the time for U.S. citizens to ensure that the next many years of Cuba/U.S. relations will benefit the people of both countries and be free from the Cold War ideology which clouded our mutual self interests.

Cuba and the Cuban people have suffered too long. It is time to end the blockade and fully normalize relations with our neighbor! Take action with us today. 

 

Just days after inciting a deadly terrorist attack on America’s capitol, President Trump has put Cuba back on the “state sponsor of terrorism list”. This infuriating and hypocritical action against Cuba is their last attack on Obama era diplomatic progress and erects a new roadblock to plans by the incoming Biden Administration to restore diplomatic relations.

Cuba does not sponsor terrorism. That is a straight up lie. Cuba is known around the world for its humanitarian internationalism. It exports doctors, musicians, teachers, artists, and dancers that reflect the country’s people centered values. In response to the global pandemic Cuba has sent doctors to countries most impacted by COVID-19.

We invite you to read a recent article by Global Exchange Co-Founder, Medea Benjamin and New Good Neighbor ally, Leonardo Flores.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez is right to condemn, “the hypocritical and cynical designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism.”

The Trump Administration has spent four years unraveling the historic diplomatic advances of the Obama years and cynically promoting a new campaign of scare tactics and misinformation.

The Trump Administration is reviving America’s long-failing regime change strategy that aims to strangle Cuba’s economy and weaken its leaders. This 60 year old tactic of impoverishing Cuba’s people to inspire them to rise up is immoral and discredited.

¡YA BASTA!

It is already way past time to end the economic blockade of Cuba and restore full diplomatic relations.

 

The Trump Administration is dragging us into the past with their restrictions on Americans who want to travel to Cuba. They are an affront to all Americans who cherish the right to travel and associate freely with peaceful people everywhere on the planet. And they are proving devastating to the Cuban people.

The Administration’s rollbacks can be seen as a return to a tried-and-failed U.S. strategy: facilitate regime change by strangling the Cuban economy to undermine Cuban leadership. This policy hasn’t worked over the last 60 years, and it won’t work moving forward. The loss of visitors has put a tremendous strain on economic growth and ultimately hurts the Cuban people. Tourism is Cuba’s third largest source of income and is considered central to Cuba’s economic development.

Despite recent changes, Global Exchange’s ability to organize travel remains legal. Global Exchange has fought for the right to freely travel for over 30 years. Traveling to Cuba shows support for the Cuban people. It is not only a great travel experience, but it is an important opportunity to take action and strengthen our people-to-people ties with our island neighbors.

Join us this spring on our Cuba: Flora and Fauna tour – one of our favorites.  You will meet with birding, botany and marine specialists to explore one of the most biologically dense and diverse islands in the Caribbean! Explore Havana’s largest organic urban garden, the orchid gardens of Soroa, protected wetlands in the Zapata National park and footpaths through evergreen and semi-deciduous forest which offer excellent opportunities to view around 800 species of plants and well over 100 bird species. You’ll meet with urban and rural Cuban farmers, tobacco growers and environmental conservationists. We’ll visit several of the island’s national parks and UNESCO heritage sites, all while learning about Cuba’s history and culture.

We invite you to travel with us, demonstrate your solidarity with the Cuba people,  and stand up against Trump’s rollback on U.S./Cuba relations.

 

 

The Trump Administration is dragging us into the past with the imposition of new restrictions on Americans who want to travel to Cuba.

The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that the “people-to-people” category of legal travel to Cuba will be eliminated starting today, June 5, 2019.

These new policies are dead wrong.

We are working with our allies and legal advisors to overcome these policies, and the good news is that you can still travel to Cuba — legally — with Global Exchange. 

There are still several categories of legal travel to Cuba including university-sponsored study abroad trips, journalistic activity, professional research and meetings, support for the Cuban people, and others.

Please contact us if you have question about these categories and ways that you can continue to legally travel to Cuba with Global Exchange. Contact Drea Hightower, at 415-575-5527 or email drea@globalexchange.org.

Global Exchange has worked to end the travel ban and embargo since 1990. We have organized legal travel and exchanges for tens of thousands of people over the last two decades and will continue to do so.

Join us now to travel to Cuba. Cuba is a fascinating and complex country with a unique history, rich culture, and beautiful people that you deserve to meet and interact with — in spite of Trump’s restrictions.

Please continue to check our website for the latest and most up-to-date information.

P.S. Tune in to KPFA tomorrow, June 6th at 7am Pacific Time to learn more about the travel restrictions released by the Trump Administration.

US President Obama took historic steps to normalize US-Cuban relations after decades of pointless hostility. Trump, true to form, has reversed course, seeking once again to isolate and impoverish Cuba.

To enlighten us on the damage done and what we can do about it, we’ve invited three experts whose work to improve relations between the United States and Cuba spans decades.

Rosemarie Mealy, Sujatha Fernandes and Walter Turner will provide important context while breaking down the malicious actions and misleading proclamations from the US administration. They will also provide a roadmap for action and explain why traveling to Cuba remains so important.

Rosemarie Mealy is board member of the Intereligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO). She regularly organizes delegations to Cuba with them. She worked with the Venceremos Brigade in the 1960’s and 70’s in defiance of the US Travel ban. She authored “Fidel and Malcolm X-Memories of a Meeting ” on the historic 1960 conversation between Fidel Castro and Malcom X in Harlem.

Walter Turner is a Professor of African Studies and a founder of RESPECT (Responsible and Ethical Cuba Travel). He is the President of the Board of Global Exchange and has long been our organization’s principle liaison to the island.

Sujatha Fernandes is a Professor of Political Economy and Sociology at the University of Sydney (Australia) who has done in-depth research on global social and labor movements in Latin America. She taught at the City University of New York for a decade and continues to hold a visiting position there. She has closely monitored and written about US normalization efforts and their reversal under Trump and is the author of several books, including Cuba Represent! and Curated Stories.

Since our founding three decades ago, we’ve been at the forefront of movements fighting for a world where economic, environmental, and social justice is a reality for all. International solidarity has been a key component of this struggle, and our Reality Tours Program has worked hard for 30 years to send thousands of delegations abroad in order to build understanding and unity across borders.

In celebration of our 30th year anniversary, we invite you to partake in this rich tradition of people-to-people exchanges and international solidarity by joining us in Oaxaca during the Day of the Dead or in Cuba to ring in the New Year! 

In Oaxaca, we’ll partake in the Day of the Dead Celebration, an event that commemorates departed souls and celebrates the resurrection of their spirits with seas of marigold flowers, elaborate sugar skulls, painted faces, colorful parades, live music and traditional dances. For some, the holiday is a chance not only to celebrate the dead but to demand justice for the living. In this spirit, we’ll meet with Indigenous leaders, professors, artists, and activists at the forefront of Oaxaca’s popular movements resisting state-sponsored repression.

And in Cuba, we’ll learn about the hopes and challenges that Cubans face during this incredible time of political transition, while celebrating the 60 year triumph of the Cuban revolution. We’ll visit several cities to experience different Cuban landscapes and communities while meeting with Cubans working in sectors ranging from health to education, the arts, and the budding private sector.

We hope you’ll join us in celebrating 30 years of building a connected global civil society dedicated to a peaceful and just future for all!

On April 19, Miguel Díaz-Canel was sworn in as Cuba’s new president. This marks the first time since the 1959 Cuban revolution that a non-Castro is leading Cuba.

While there is much speculation around what this will mean for Cuba’s future, one thing is certain: Cubans are in the midst of a new political era, and a new generation of leaders must navigate serious economic and political challenges fueled by the Trump administration.

Travel to Cuba from the U.S. has dropped by more than 50 percent since the start of 2018. This is largely seen as a result of the Trump administration’s tightening of travel restrictions and the State Department’s travel warning, which was issued due to unexplained and unverified health incidents affecting U.S. diplomats. Many, including our partners at RESPECT and Republican Senator Jeff Flake, a Senate Foreign Relations Committee member, regard the travel warning to be unfounded

Given that Cuba remains one of the safer destinations for travelers in the world, the Trump administration’s rollback of the Obama-era travel opening can be seen as a return to a tried-and-failed U.S. strategy: strangle the Cuban economy to undermine Cubas’ leadership and facilitate regime change. This policy hasn’t worked over the last 60 years, and it won’t work moving forward. The loss of visitors has put a tremendous strain on economic growth and ultimately hurts the Cuban people. Tourism is Cuba’s third largest source of income and is considered central to Cuba’s economic development.

The administration will likely double-down on its punitive approach with Senator Marco Rubio at the helm of U.S.- Cuba policy, and now with hardliners John Bolton and Mike Pompeo in top national security and diplomatic positions.

In response, we are doubling-down on our solidarity with the Cuban people. Global Exchange has offered legal travel to Cuba for more than 25 years.  We invite you to travel with us to take a stand against Trump’s rollback on U.S./Cuba relations and to demonstrate your solidarity with the Cuban people.

Check out four of our upcoming people-to-people Cuba trips below.  You can find more on our website.

Cuba: Revolution and Change

October 5 – 14, 2018

This unique people-to-people Reality Tour will highlight key cities and history behind the Cuban Revolution while celebrating a new era of leadership and exploring changes underway. We’ll move from Santiago de Cuba to the mountains of Sierra Maestra, the beautiful city of Camaguey, Santa Clara and then on to the sprawling city of Havana.

Cuba: Baseball and Culture

November 18 – 25, 2018

Play Ball! Join us for our Second Annual Baseball themed delegation to Cuba. We’ll meet with Cubans working in the baseball and softball sports sector, learn about Cuban baseball, culture, and history, and learn about the impacts of U.S. foreign policy on Cuban athletes and society at large. We’ll even have the chance to catch a few playoff games!

Cuba: Afro Cuban Culture

December 5 – 15, 2018

On this trip, we’ll examine the African roots of Cuba’s vibrant culture and history.  From Havana to Santiago de Cuba, the cradle of African culture and the Revolution, we’ll experience Afro Cuban religious music and performance while hearing from Cuban experts on race, gender, art and religion.

Cuba: New Year’s Celebration & Global Exchange 30th Anniversary Delegation!

December 28, 2018 – January 6, 2019

Join us on this special delegation celebrating our 30th year Anniversary, the 60 year anniversary of the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, and New Year’s! We’ll examine Cuba at a crossroads in the ​areas of arts, culture, community, sustainability and history. After ringing in the New Year in Havana, we’ll make our way to Cojimar, the setting for ​Hemingway’s Old Man and The Sea, the port city of ​Matanzas, and ​Varadero. We’ll stop in Cienfuegos, the birthplace of Cuban musical icon Benny Moré and the renowned ​film Fresa y Chocolate as well as Santa Clara, and finally enjoy our last few days of exploration inside the ​enchanting walled city of Camaguey.

Photo Credit: Shannon DeCelle

From environmental justice in Ecuador, to Indigenous rights in Mexico, and revolution and change in Cuba, this summer Global Exchange is offering several Reality Tours that will highlight important issues around the world.

Join us as we meet with local leaders and movements to learn about the innovative ways communities and individuals are organizing for social change. Return with a new understanding of the issues and, perhaps most importantly, new ways to engage and support these inspiring movements from home.

Cuba: Revolution and Change

May 18-27, 2018

Be a witness to a rapidly changing Cuba, while engaging in dialogue with local economists, historians, doctors and teachers. Learn about the Cuban revolution while traveling across the country. We’ll start our historical adventure in Santiago where the Cuban Revolution began with the 26th of July Movement. While in Santiago, learn more about the events leading up to the Cuban Revolution as well as celebrate Santiago’s annual Carnival! Continue on to the Sierra Maestra mountains, beautiful Camaguey, Santa Clara and then to Havana.

Haiti: Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex

June 2-11, 2018

Join us as we examine the impact that foreign actors, like NGOs and volunteers, have had on disaster relief and development in Haiti. Led by Rea Dol, a Haitian educator and grassroots activist, we will engage local organizations and individuals working to sustainably build education, health, and financial services in their communities.

Ecuador: Social & Environmental Justice from the Andes to the Amazon

July 13-21, 2018

This delegation takes a hard-hitting dive into local and international efforts to bring environmental and social justice to the Andes and the Amazon. You will visit Chevron/Texaco’s toxic waste pits and see, firsthand, the impacts of extractive industries on the environment and Indigenous communities. You’ll visit the Yasuni national park, a UNESCO declared world-biosphere reserve that is under renewed attack for its crude oil. And you will meet with a range of actors resisting in creative and powerful ways, including community run ecotourism programs that are local economic alternatives to natural resource extraction.

The Guelaguetza Festival: Indigenous Resilience in Oaxaca, Mexico

July 19-28, 2018

Explore Indigenous resilience through food, culture, and social movements in Oaxaca — home to one of the largest Indigenous populations in Mexico. During this 10 day trip, you will meet with community leaders, activists, artisans, artists, archaeologists, and experience resistance in different ways. Taste the region’s renowned gastronomic traditions rooted in farm-to-table cuisine and mezcal production. See the preservation of pre-Columbian artifacts and practices, including a visit to the Monte Alban ruins. Attend the Guelaguetza festival, a yearly celebration of the customs of Oaxaca’s Indigenous communities.

Peru: Ancient Civilizations and Modern Day Peru

July 6-17, 2018

Travel from Lima to the Sacred Valley and learn along the way about Peru’s ancient civilizations and contemporary social challenges, all while tasting the country’s world-famous cuisine. From Lima’s informal settlements to Andean villages, you will meet with Indigenous cooperatives, artisans, and NGOs working to empower women, practice fair trade, and preserve their traditions.

Chiapas: Indigenous Rights & Environmental Justice

August 3 – 11, 2018

From a base in the colonial town of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, our delegation will travel to surrounding Indigenous and campesino communities to learn about Chiapas’s long history of mass mobilization and collective resistance to the Mexican government’s repressive imposition of neoliberal agendas. We will see, firsthand, how popular movements like the Zapatistas organize for economic, environmental, and Indigenous justice while getting a unique look into their time-honored traditions.

Bolivia: Spanish Study & Cultural Immersion

August 6-21, 2018

Looking to pair language school with cultural immersion and social justice? During this trip, we will spend mornings in class learning (or brushing up on) Spanish while exploring social justice issues through guest lectures, debates, and group discussions. During our afternoons, we will explore Cochabamba via visits with activists, scientists, journalists, artists, and government officials. On weekends, we’ll head to the Bolivian countryside and learn about climate change, food justice and the coca industry. All the while, you will live with a Bolivian family, providing an intimate opportunity to practice Spanish in everyday situations and get a better feel for the rhythm of Bolivian life.