We are saddened to hear about the death of Assata Shakur on 25 September 2025. She was an inspiring revolutionary, who we had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing in Havana in 1996. Our heartfelt condolences go out to Assata's family, her comrades, and the Cuban people who welcomed her into their sanctuary, even as their offer of refuge became a pretext for heightened hostility from the United States.

Our interview from 1996 is reproduced below. 

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Assata Shakur was a political activist in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. As a member of the Black Panther Party, she was targeted by the FBI under its counter-intelligence programme, COINTELPRO. She was framed for the murder of a New Jersey State Trooper and sentenced to life imprisonment. In 1979 she escaped from prison and since 1985 has been in political exile in Cuba. David Yaffe spoke to her there on behalf of FRFI.

FRFI: How did you come to be inCuba?

Assata Shakur: Well, I have admired Cuba since I was at college. I read everything about Cuba that I could get my hands on. So, when I escaped from prison, my first idea was Cuba. But it took me five years to get here. I couldn’t write beforehand and say ‘Dear Fidel, I would like to come to your country’. I just had to come and, luckily, people here knew who I was and they gave me the status of a political refugee.

I chose Cuba not only because of its politics but because of its closeness to the United Stales, so my family  and friends could come and visit me.