Abel Prieto, one of Cuba's most prominent intellectuals, addressed participants of a virtual forum organized by the Cuban Association of the United Nations (ACNU) on Friday, sounding the alarm over what he characterized as the use of cultural colonization and information warfare as instruments of imperialist domination.

The event, coordinated with the Alliance of Organizations for Development Effectiveness of Latin America and the Caribbean (AOED-ALyC), was conceived as a recurring space for discussing matters of political significance to the region. The inaugural session was titled "The Left's Battle Against Cultural Colonization: A View From Cuba."

During his remarks, Prieto denounced the strategy of the United States government to suffocate the island through economic blockade paired with what he called a merciless campaign in which "the boundary between truth and lies is blurred."

"They lie and justify their aggressive policy; they push us nearly to collapse and then accuse us of being a failed state," he stated, adding that this disinformation framework is designed to manipulate emotions and conditioned responses — a phenomenon he recalled had been forewarned by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro.

The president of Casa de las Américas stressed that the communications battle must be accompanied by a decolonizing struggle aimed at fostering critical thinking and the capacity for discernment among younger generations, in the face of an overwhelming wave of idealizing cultural and media content, which he described as "imperialism's greatest instrument of domination."

"The colonizer's greatest victory is when the colonized is grateful for the poisoned food," Prieto underscored.

He also announced the upcoming fifth edition of the International Symposium Patria, scheduled for April 16 through 18 in Havana, dedicated to the centenary of Fidel Castro, the 65th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs victory, and the proclamation of the socialist character of the Cuban Revolution.

Prieto additionally highlighted the government program Sembrar Ideas, Sembrar Conciencia — Sow Ideas, Sow Conscience — championed by President Miguel Díaz-Canel to counter cultural colonization through education and cultural policy.

The session was moderated by Norma Goygochea, president of the Cuban Association of the United Nations, who acknowledged the solidarity expressed by the AOED platform toward Cuba amid the intensification of the blockade and rising international tensions.

The virtual forum was attended by representatives of the International Association of Human Rights and Social Development, the Network of Intellectuals, Artists and Social Movements in Defense of Humanity, the Italy-Cuba Friendship Association, the Writers Society of Paraguay, and other organizations.