BY BRIAN TAYLOR
There is still time left to get a few more young people signed up for the U.S.- Cuba Youth Exchange, July 24 - August 6. Local committees are continuing to meet new people interested in going on the trip, raise money, organize events, and make sure everyone going has a valid passport. The exchange is organized by a task force of the National Network on Cuba.

About 180 applications for the exchange have been sent in so far. While the deadline for applications is July 1, organizers have decided to take additional participants up to the last minute, provided there's still room on the plane from Nassau, Bahamas. The task force organizing the trip decided that all travel will be through Nassau, since very few applicants indicated they wanted to travel through Montreal or Cancún, earlier considered as departure points.

Organizers from the Minneapolis-St. Paul area say they project a delegation of 30. About half are students at the University of Minnesota, who have formed Students for Cuba and secured thousands of dollars in grants to make the trip. In addition, the local Cuba coalition has raised over $700 for the Youth Exchange. The delegation includes a United Postal Service worker, a member of the Teamsters, and other workers. Seven Minnesota participants are Black, eight are Latino, and one is Korean-American.

Five people plan to make the trip from Detroit, including a Lebanese student. Activists have set a goal of getting 10 people to go on the trip from that city.

The Los Angeles delegation currently stands at 13. Many of the people going with that group are part of the immigrant rights struggle brewing in California. They've raised over $600 and put out a 300 piece mailing appealing for contributions.

The San Francisco-based group Global Exchange is organizing a "Jammin in Havana" trip to Cuba earlier in July. About 10 participants in that trip have said they want to stay over to be a part of the Youth Exchange.

The New York U.S.-Cuba Youth Exchange just held a successful picnic event that raised $200. They are projecting a dinner- dance June 29 and a poetry slam at the Nuyoriquen Poet's Cafe July 5. Three auto workers just laid off from the General Motors plant in Tarrytown, New York, are now planning to make the trip.  
 
 
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