BY DAVID BERG
The article below appeared in the September 27 - October 3 issue of The City Sun in New York under the headline "Youth from around the world attend Cuba's youth festival."
BY DAVID BERG
"Cuba lives and will continue to exist despite the shameful and covert aggressions [of the U.S.]," said Victoria Velasquez. "If we have to struggle, we will struggle."
Velasquez, the president of the Union of Young Communists of Cuba, was speaking at the closing day of the International Youth Festival. "Cuba Lives." During the festival, over 1,300 mostly young people from 67 different countries spent a week in Cuba, Aug. 1-7, and learned how Cubans have continued to defend their socialist revolution, despite Cuba's economic crisis.
The festival was sponsored by different youth organizations in Cuba, including the Federation of University Students and the Union of Young Communists.
The biggest delegation, of over 250 people, came from the United States. Other large delegations came from France, Spain and Brazil. Delegates came from as far away as South Africa, Western Sahara, China and Vietnam, to name a few.
"I've been a student of the Cuban Revolution for a long time," said Steven McCauley, 27, of New York. "But I want to go to Cuba to see for myself what the revolution is really like." McCauley's desire to learn more about the Cuban Revolution was typical of the delegates.
One of the highlights for the delegates was participating in a march of 500,000 Cubans on Aug. 5 in support of the revolution and calling for an end to the U.S. embargo. Despite a massive downpour that started almost exactly the same time as the march, the spirits of the marchers remained high, as they chanted "Cuba Yes, Blockade No" and "U.S. out of Guantanamo (the United States has had a military base in Guantanamo, Cuba for over 80 years, despite overwhelming opposition by the Cuban people.)
The march took place down the Malecon, a major boulevard along the ocean in Havana. It ended with a rally at the spot where, exactly one year ago, over half a million Cubans mobilized to defend the revolution against a small group of people who killed a police officer while trying to hijack a boat to go to the United States.
The difficulties Cuba faces today
While in Cuba, the delegates toured factories, schools,
hospitals, farms and other facilities. Ithe delegation spent
up to three days attending several different workshops in
the different provinces of Cuba. The topics for the
workshops included "Democracy And Participation"; "Culture
And National Identity"; "Young Women"; "Employment"; and
"Development And The Environment". Both the international
delegates and a few hundred Cubans participated in the
discussions. In addition, the delegates stayed with Cuban
families while they were in the provinces, giving them an
opportunity to talk to thousands of different Cubans in the
neighborhoods they were staying in.
The delegates learned of many of the difficulties Cuba faces today. For 33 years - almost the entire life of the Cuban Revolution - Cuba has been subject to an economic embargo by the United States that prohibits trade between the two countries. In addition, the United States government has intimidated and prevented many other countries from trading with Cuba.
Since the beginning of the revolution in 1959, when the Cuban people led by Fidel Castro, kicked out U.S.-backed military dictator Fulgencio Batista, the U.S. government has waged a vicious campaign against Cuba. In addition to the embargo, the U.S. also bans travel to and from Cuba. Most of the U.S. delegates had to receive journalist credentials to travel to Cuba, one of the few legal ways to travel to Cuba for U.S. citizens.
From the beginning of the revolution Cuban workers and farmers have fought to free Cuba from the miserable living conditions and colonial dependence that the underdeveloped world faces today. As part of this fight, Cuba nationalized all ownership of big business, most of which were U.S. owned in the early 1960s. By ridding themselves of capitalism Cuban workers and farmers have been able to control the resources of their own country. One of the most noted examples is that, throughout the revolution, Cubans have received health care and education for free. The nation's inhabitants speak proudly of having one of the lowest infant mortality rates in the world (9.2 per 10,000 births), as well as the fact that Cuba has wiped out illiteracy, homelessness and prostitution.
The U.S. government responded to the Cuban revolution violently, organizing an armed invasion of Cuba in 1961 at Playa Girón (the invasion known as the Bay of Pigs in the United States). The U.S. fire-bombed Cuban sugarcane fields (the main export of Cuba) and attempted to assassinate Cuban leaders. In 1989, Cuba entered what is known in the country as "The Special Period", when the Soviet Union collapsed and Cuba lost over 70 percent of its trade virtually overnight. This has caused severe hardships and shortages in Cuba both of basic necessities such as milk, chicken and other foods, and also of oil, machinery and other products needed for industrial and agricultural production.
With capitalism, some social problems
Many of the delegates shared the feelings of Hazel 27, a
Salvadoran native now living in Montreal, Canada, who was
very impressed by "Cuba's success in The Special Period not
only in keeping the advances they have made, but improving
them. People everywhere around the world should hear about
it."
During The Special Period, Cuba has not had to close one school or hospital, and has even been able to make progress in providing medical care to its people. Gabe Siert, 15, of Sioux City, IA, commented on Cuba's strong determination to overcome The Special Period after visiting a facility in Havana to train athletes for international competitions. "It doesn't matter what they're doing ... they want to train and win!" In addition, "They want other people (from other countries) to come and train ... they are willing to help their competitors ... they send people around the world to train athletes they will compete against in the Olympics." Siert said he was looking forward to finding out from Cubans why they provide so much help to people in other countries, while under going their own economic crisis.
As the delegates saw, though, Cuba is no utopia. Since The Special Period started, Cuba has had to make concessions to capitalism, like opening tourist hotels and allowing for some capitalist investment. Most Cubans feel these measures are necessary to get currency from other countries, although the measures created social problems - such as the reappearance of prostitution - that haven't existed in Cuba since before the revolution.
Tanya Zakrison, 21, from Toronto, Canada has been studying biology in Cuba for the past year. Although she had seen and experienced many of the problems of Cuba in The Special Period, she said her year in Cuba has "reaffirmed my beliefs 100-fold ... that the U.S. embargo is wrong and that the Cuba is a good example for other countries."
Future solidarity actions between Cuba and activists in other countries were also discussed at the festival. Many of the U.S. participants were helping to plan for the October 21st demonstration in New York City which will protest the United States' continued embargo against Cuba. For more information about the demonstration, call the National Network on Cuba, at (212) 227-3422.