The YCL condemns the British Government’s response – or rather lack of response – to providing aid to its overseas territories in the Caribbean, which is a stark reminder that the racism of a colonial power continues to this day.
Its slack response to the disaster left its former slave colonies reeling from the loss of life, limb and home for many residents of the overseas territories of Anguilla, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands, whilst other countries like Cuba and the United States were prepared well in advance for the destruction.
On the other hand, Britain chose to neglect its citizens, leaving them to fend for themselves. If it had been Gibraltar or the Falklands, the British ruling class would have spared no expense to protect its people and military bases. But in this case, the British ruling class turns a blind-eye because the lives of Afro-Caribbean people are not worth as much as pit-stops for battleships and bombers. The YCL sends its solidarity to the working people affected by the hurricane and salutes the hard work of those ready to defend the livelihoods of themselves and others, particularly the Venezuelan Government, which is sending aid to Barbuda in this time of crisis.
The YCL also wishes to express its solidarity and condolences to the great socialist state of Cuba and salutes the efforts of the Cubans to aid other islands in the Caribbean in the spirit of true solidarity despite the wreckage visited upon the island by the hurricane.
