By Pete Seidman

MIAMI, Florida — The Miami Coalition to End the U.S. Blockade of Cuba held a successful educational and fundraising event on the evening of September 5, 2025, at Florida International University’s main campus. Despite stormy weather, 30 people attended and raised just over $2,000 for the national Saving Lives Campaign, which aims to send cardiac pacemakers to Cuba. The effort addresses a shortage of vital medical devices caused by the U.S. blockade.

The Miami chapter’s fundraising total doubled its initial goal of $1,000. The national campaign surpassed its summer goal of $150,000 by more than $10,000.

The Miami Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) played a critical role in the event’s success. During the collection pitch, Oscar Alvarez, the DSA secretary, announced to cheers from the audience that they were donating $1,200. The campus Young Democratic Socialists (YDSA) also assisted by hosting and building the meeting and creating a series of slides for the presentations.

The event featured several presentations:

James Hernandez, a Cuban American leader of the campus YDSA and a newly elected member of the organization’s National Coordinating Committee, spoke first. Hernandez discussed the blockade’s origins and its painful impact on their own family.

Dr. Enid Drummond-Smith, a Jamaican doctor working in Broward County, explained how Cuban medical teams, in place since 1976, help fill the doctor shortage, especially in rural areas, created because many Jamaicans  leave the island to seek opportunities abroad.

As a former Vice President of Jamaica’s National Export Corporation, Drummond-Smith had traveled frequently to Cuba and noted the affection Jamaicans have for the Cuban medical teams working in their country. She also rebutted slanderous claims of exploitation coming from Washington that Cuban doctors in Jamaica receive a monthly salary of $1,400, along with covered living expenses and accommodations.

The program also included video presentations from Fannie Guzman of the Venceremos Brigade, and Dr. Abeeku Ricks and Dr. Uriel Ramirez, graduates of Cuba’s Latin American School of Medicine. Both doctors had previously spoken at a webinar for the Saving Lives campaign.

The meeting was conducted in English, with Spanish translation provided by a volunteer interpreter.

If you appreciate this article, subscribe to World-Outlook (for free) by clicking on the link below.

Type your email in the box below and click on “SUBSCRIBE.” You will receive a notification in your in-box on which you will have to click to confirm your subscription.