Fidel Castro's Grandson Visits Glasgow

> The following text is a MacWhisper transcript then Claude AI structuring of an audio file created by Liam Murphy who attended the event. The file was 90mb + and Graham Stewart tested a Telegram bot to see if it would download, transcribe and edit. File too big!

Therefore, the words below were manually copied into the Claude AI from a MacWhisper transcript.

--- # February 2nd, 2026, Glasgow Scotland FIDEL Castro’s grandson, Fidel Antonio Castro Smirnov , spoke in Glasgow to mark the 100th anniversary of his grandfather’s birth. The free event in Glasgow was organised by the Scottish Cuba Solidarity Campaign and is one of many stops on his tour "100 years with Fidel". 2026 marks the 100th anniversary of Fidel Castro’s birth on August 13, 1926. Arthur West, secretary of the Scottish Cuba Solidarity Campaign, said it is “only fitting” for Castro Smirnov to come to Glasgow due to the city's long-standing history of solidarity with Cuba. --- Below is a text **cleaned up and organised into sections** (mostly keeping the wording, but fixing repeats, obvious typos, and adding **[inaudible] / [unclear]** where the transcript goes fuzzy), by ChatGPT. --- # Event Transcript (Edited + Sectioned) ## 1) Welcome and Opening Thanks **Jane Wood (Chair, Union of [unclear])** Thank you very much for coming. I’m Jane Wood, Chair of the Union of the European Union and King. And I’m very pleased to be, or we are very pleased to be, sharing this evening with **UNISON Scotland**. And I’d also like to thank them for sponsoring this evening as well. The campaign has been going on for many more decades than we hoped it would be needed for, in support of **Cuba’s right to self-determination**, and nevertheless we need that support more than ever given the horrible things that have been happening over the past few weeks. The chair of this evening is going to be **Mark Ferguson**, and I shall pass on to him now. --- ## 2) Chair’s Introduction and Context **Mark Ferguson (Chair of the evening)** [Intro includes references to the “Fidel 100” year and activities.] We meet tonight at a very difficult and challenging time, even more so for Cuba, with decisions taken by **Trump and America**. The situation is increasingly getting worse. Before we introduce the speakers: we have **three speakers tonight**, and in advance of tonight there were some questions submitted. At the end of Fidel’s contribution, I’ll put those questions to the speakers. Colleagues, we’re delighted to be sponsoring the event. We come as Scottish people who have a genuine passion and concern for the situation in Cuba. We also meet at a time where our world has become more volatile and vulnerable. It’s up to all of us to raise awareness of the rise of the far right, hostility, discrimination, and fascism, and to challenge that wherever we face it. Tonight I want to introduce our three speakers: * **Karen Wobbett MSP** (Convener for the Cross Party Group on Cuba in the Scottish Parliament) * **Ross [Foy/Foye]** (General Secretary of the **STUC**) * **Fidel Antonio Castro** (introduced as the grandson of **Fidel Castro**) So, colleagues, I invite our first speaker, **Karen Wobbett MSP**. --- ## 3) Speaker 1 ## Karen Wobbett MSP **(Chair, Cross Party Group on Cuba, Scottish Parliament)** Thank you very much. It’s just so lovely to see so many people here. I would start by thanking **Cuba Solidarity** for running such an important meeting and bringing everybody together, and for the sponsorship. It really is such an honour to be here, and to join everybody in the audience, and a part of the panel, Rose and Mark, and of course our distinguished guest Fidel. I don’t want to take up too much time, because we are here to hear Fidel’s reflections with his grandfather and the important struggles that continue in Cuba today, and also to hear about his scientific work, which is very, very important. As Mark said, I am proud to be the chair of the **Cuba CPG** in the Scottish Parliament. And when I was reflecting on this, it was actually one of my first acts. It was before I was an MSP: I was out campaigning, and **Elaine Smith** phoned me. She was the former MSP and the cross-party group convener. She said to me, “Caro, it looks like you’re going to be an MSP… and I really would like you to continue the work on Cuba, because it’s been at the Scottish Parliament from the very beginning.” It’s not always easy at the Scottish Parliament to have these international issues raised, and issues that perhaps some people would push back on. So to actually have that space in the Scottish Parliament to discuss what’s happening in other places in the world, and Cuba’s right to self-determination and to run the country the way the people would wish to, matters. So she asked if I would continue and keep the CPG going, and of course I did. I got in and restarted the next session of the Cross Party Group. That has continued over the five years that I have been there. ### What the CPG has done I wanted to share some of the things we have done in the Scottish Parliament to try to raise awareness of the issues in Cuba. We have been really lucky in the cross-party group secretariat, and in **Cuba Solidarity Scotland**, to have distinguished guests in the Parliament. That’s important because we can have discussions and raise the profile of Cuba and what is happening to Cuban people. We have also shared some of the great medical work that comes out of Cuba. Often people don’t realise how much work is done in Cuba and how prepared they are to share scientific breakthroughs with the rest of the world. The Cuba CPG has also given us an opportunity to discuss other important international matters that wouldn’t always be raised. We have discussed Palestine, Venezuela, and how Cuba has been out there right across the world. ### Cross-party support There are a significant number of Labour Party members who have always supported this cause. But I want this to be cross-party, because we know there are others, and that matters. ### The current situation The current situation in Cuba is just an abomination. We discussed the blockade, and anything we can do to stop that unprovoked aggression against Cuba. Things are ramping up. We have had a letter of solidarity to the Cuban Embassy. We wanted Cuban people to know we were thinking about them after the [unclear: “Venice situation”]. We wrote to the embassy so those Cubans who died will not be forgotten. So I will leave it there. If anybody is interested in the work of the CPG, and would like to join some of the meetings, it would be great to hear from you. Thank you so much for asking me to come here. --- ## 4) Chair Update: New US Measures Mentioned **Mark Ferguson** Colleagues, the information coming through is that President Trump has signed [unclear wording] an executive order declaring Cuba an “unusual and extraordinary threat”, authorising broad new sanctions, including punishing foreign countries that sell oil to Cuba, even indirectly. It gives me great honour to welcome now **Ross [Foy/Foye]**, General Secretary of the STUC. --- ## 5) Speaker 2 ## Ross [Foy/Foye], General Secretary, STUC Thank you Mark, and good evening everybody. I’m really honoured to have been invited to this platform tonight to celebrate the centenary of Fidel Castro’s birth. What the Cuban people achieved with Castro is remarkable: an outstanding triumph of people fighting for their own self-determination, and showing there can be a different way of running society. In the 20th century it stands out as a great example of people fighting for something different and managing to achieve that, and keep that revolution going for so long. ### Personal story: Havana visits It’s been a big part of my journey as a trade unionist. In 1998, as a member of the STUC youth committee, I was part of a delegation of 15 young people who went to the World Youth and Student Festival in Havana. We joined 12,000 young people from across the world. Significantly, 800 were young people from the US who broke the embargo to travel to Cuba to stand in solidarity. In the late 90s it was a time of extreme struggle. The economy was precarious. Energy crisis. Hard blockade. Few allies. The revolution was in a precarious position. We were taken in by families in Havana who gave us their bread, their meat, and took us in because they understood that the idea of something different had to be spread. It was a real eye-opener for me. I saw Fidel Castro speak on that trip. I returned again in 2006 and saw him speak again in Revolution Square on May Day. It was the time of Chávez and Morales and there was a hopeful feeling. The economy was improving. Left-wing ideals were spreading. There was a sense that things could be different. I was so inspired that I called my first daughter **Havana**. I returned to Cuba many times, including with the former chair of the cross-party group, [unclear name], and comrades [unclear names], to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the revolution. ### What Cuba represents When you look at Cuba, their message across the world is: how can a country with third-world resources do so much? They educate their children. World-class education. World-class medical breakthroughs. When America sends bombs, Cuba sends doctors. They are not an aggressive force. Their message is solidarity and the right of people to have self-determination. ### The current danger I find it painful to be here tonight because we should be celebrating what Cuba has achieved and they should have been allowed to achieve so much more. But we’re at a moment of extreme danger and crisis for the revolution. We’re looking at the gangster capitalism and imperialism of Trump’s US. They’re not even pretending anymore. It’s about power, oil, control. When they say Cuba is a danger, it’s outrageous because Cuba has no intention of doing aggressive things to the US. But what they mean is the danger of an idea. Ideas can be the most dangerous thing to those who want power and corporate control. That’s why we need to stand strong now, and act in solidarity. I hope America has overplayed its hand. I take hope from the fact that ordinary people across the world are waking up to the lies and the impunity. Trump thinks it’s okay to talk with glee about Cuba being toppled in weeks because of an energy crisis he has induced. Well, the Cuban people have endured much worse than Donald Trump. And with solidarity they will continue to endure and keep the revolution alive. Thank you. --- ## 6) Film / Historical Clip Section (as transcribed) **[Film / montage content with quotes and multilingual excerpts]** This section includes references to: * Cuba’s revolutionary ideals and ties with liberation leaders * Cuban internationalism in Africa, especially Angola * The battle at Cuito Cuanavale (spelled variously in transcript) * Nelson Mandela’s gratitude and Cuba’s role in anti-apartheid struggle * Cuba’s stance on Palestine (Spanish excerpt) * Environmental critique of consumer societies (Spanish excerpt) * “Doctors not bombs” theme repeated **Note:** This section is heavily multilingual and fragmentary in the transcript. If you want, I can format it as **(a)** quoted lines, **(b)** speaker attribution where possible, and **(c)** mark each language block clearly. --- ## 7) Speaker 3 Introduction **Mark Ferguson (introducing Fidel)** [Introduces Fidel as a university academic and advocate for Cuban internationalism and sustainable development; grandson of Fidel Castro; son of Fidel Castro Díaz-Balart (as stated).] --- ## 8) Speaker 3 ## Fidel [Antonio Castro] Thank you for the presentation. I am very happy to be here with you, still with great emotion after seeing all of this historical image about my grandfather. Comrades and friends, I would like to start with a fundamental idea: **The legacy and the story of Fidel Castro is not a debate about the past. It is a debate about the future.** This is my third visit to the United Kingdom. Besides being an academic mission of exchanging ideas, knowledge and science for peace and life, it is above all a mission of love for Fidel, commander-in-chief of the Cuban Revolution. I have just arrived from London. Ten years ago I gave a research seminar at Imperial, and last week I again gave lectures at important British universities, at King’s College and UCL, promoting scientific debates and exploring future academic exchange with Cuba including postgraduate students from my country. We also had meetings in Oxford. They told me that Glasgow and Havana are twin cities. Now we understand: it is not the weather. Definitely not the weather. But yesterday and today it is also the weather. Yesterday in [unclear], 1.4 degrees. I know exactly where I am standing. I know that in 1981, when the powerful empire of the world called Nelson Mandela a terrorist, Glasgow gave him the key to the city. You had the courage to see the truth. From my grandfather I learned that the size of a nation that defends an idea does not matter, but the magnitude of the idea and the justice that nation defends. He taught us sovereignty is not negotiated. It is the oxygen of a nation. ### Science and development Today I carry two legacies. My father, Dr. Fidel Castro Díaz-Balá, a nuclear physicist like me, taught me that science is the ultimate tool for development. Never before in an underdeveloped country had scientific thought and research played such a leading role in a process of social transformation. This role was built intentionally. In the 90s, after the disappearance of the European Socialist bloc and the reinforcement of the US blockade, Fidel returned to the idea that science must occupy the first place in the national economy: we must develop the production of intelligence. When the pandemic arrived and great powers hoarded vaccines, Cuban scientists developed not one but five autonomous vaccines, under a financial siege. ### Current escalation and sanctions But I must be honest with you. The danger has never been so close. Our country does not launch bombs against other people. Our country does not possess nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons. Our doctors and scientists are educated in the idea of saving lives. However, we see who sits today in the White House. We see Donald Trump and Marco Rubio obsessed with destroying my country. Last week, Trump signed a new executive order escalating aggression to levels never seen before. He has threatened to impose immediate trade tariffs on any sovereign nation that sends oil to Cuba. A blockade does not pressure an abstract elite: it paralyses ambulances, reduces surgeries, interrupts cold chains and medicine production, damages water purification, aggravates food insecurity, and intensifies outbreaks. In the last few days, cities have been reported with roughly 14 continuous hours without electrical power. They are using the weapons of the economy: sanctions, financial blockade. But they make a fatal calculation. More than once the Cuban people have defied without hesitation. With unity, there will be no force capable of defeating them. As a scientist, I know entropy is natural, but being in balance is an act of human will. We count on the legacy of Fidel. Cuba is a noble and resistant people. Wherever there is a just cause, our arm will be there to support it. “As Martí said: ‘Homeland is humanity.’” And as my grandfather said, homeland is humanity. While they attack, we plan vaccines. While they build walls, we trade cultures. Science, education, culture and fair trade: that is the future. Dear Fidel, our future carries your name and your example. Commander-in-chief, give the order. [Ends with Spanish revolutionary slogans: “Hasta la victoria siempre…” etc.] Thank you. --- ## 9) Gift and Solidarity Message **Chair / Organisers** A CD is presented: **Eddi Reader** singing **Robert Burns** songs, as a gift of Scottish culture. “Solidarity is our superpower.” --- ## 10) Q&A Excerpts ### Question: “What do you think of the future?” **Fidel [Antonio Castro] (reply fragment)** We will continue fighting, continue resisting, continue trying to develop, despite blockade and threats. ### Question: “What can colleagues do in coming days?” **Ross [Foy/Foye] (reply fragment)** We will write to the UK government, to the Foreign Secretary this week. It’s helpful if every affiliate, particularly those affiliated to the Labour Party, writes to MPs and ministers. Put pressure on our governments to stand with Cuba. **Karen Wobbett MSP (reply fragment)** We’ve raised it with MPs and colleagues. Commitment to work more closely with Westminster groups supporting Cuba. ### Practical support suggested (organisers) * Join **Cuba Solidarity Campaign** / **Cuba Solidarity Scotland** * Donate for medical aid containers (syringes, antibiotics, basics) * Campaign to: “Get Cuba off the list of state sponsors of terrorism” * Attend monthly vigils in Glasgow city centre (and sometimes Edinburgh) --- ## 11) Music Segment **Singer (name unclear in transcript)** Performs two songs, including one dedicated to international struggles (Palestine, Latin America, etc.). Mentions **Víctor Jara** and “The Right to Live in Peace”, with brief context about Chile, dictatorship, torture, and Jara’s legacy. --- ## 12) Gift Presentation **Scottish National Committee (speaker name unclear)** Presents a whisky gift: “a fine [single malt] whisky made from rum barrels.” Includes a joke about alleged Cuban spies checking Scottish whisky. --- ## 13) Closing Remarks **UNISON Scotland representative (name unclear)** Thank you to all speakers and organisers for an interesting and informative evening. These events are for a purpose: international solidarity, taking ownership, and putting politicians under pressure in Scotland and at Westminster. Please donate in the buckets as you leave, raise awareness in families and communities, and write to politicians. Thank you very much for your attendance. --- ## If you want one extra improvement (fast + useful) I can also produce a **clean “programme-style” version** (like an event record) with: * Confirmed speaker list (with corrected names where obvious) * A short “running order” * A bullet summary of each talk * A separate section called **Calls to Action** Just say: **“Make a programme version”** and I’ll do it.