BY GEOFF MIRELOWITZ
SEATTLE - "I want to be open, frank, and honest, as we have always been with our friends," Félix Wilson, First Secretary of the Cuban Interest Section, told a crowd of 65 people gathered at Seattle Central Community College, March 12. He spoke along with Roberto García, second secretary at the Cuban diplomatic office, at "A Dialogue on revolutionary Cuba - unparalleled strides in the fight against racism," organized by the Seattle Cuba Friendship Committee. The meeting was chaired by Kate Porter, a recent participant in the World Festival of Students and Youth held in Cuba last summer

Wilson, who is Afro-Cuban, explained that while the meeting was billed as a discussion of race relations in Cuba, "it is important to talk about Cuba generally." This was the focus of his presentation, though he encouraged participants to ask questions and "speak about anything you want." Wilson reviewed the history of relations between the United States and Cuba, emphasizing that the framework was set 100 years ago when Washington sent U.S. troops to intervene in the so- called "Spanish-American War" in 1898 - a war Wilson said is more accurately called the "Spanish-Cuban-American War." Washington's goal, he asserted, has always been to dominate Cuba politically and economically and to even annex Cuba to the United States if possible.

Wilson told the audience that today U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Albright claims Washington, "can't let Cuba do what it is doing."

"What is Cuba doing today?" Wilson asked. "Trying to help other peoples, as we did in Angola." Wilson, who earlier served in Cuba's diplomatic corp in Africa, participated in the internationalist aid Cuba offered to Angola. Between 1975 and 1991, some 300,000 Cuban soldiers voluntarily served in Angola, helping deal a decisive defeat to the invading army of the apartheid regime in South Africa and boosting the struggle for a nonracial South African society. Over the years, Wilson said proudly, Cuba, a small country of 11 million people, has also sent numerous doctors, engineers, soldiers, and technicians abroad in response to requests for aid from other countries.

Today 350 Cuban doctors and 200 nurses are serving in South Africa at the request of the African National Congress-led government. These medical workers, he stressed, serve in rural South Africa, poor, underdeveloped areas where many South African doctors will not go. Wilson pointed to Mozambique, the Congo, Zimbabwe, and countries of the Caribbean as others who are receiving Cuban aid today. "Cuba is always open to the world," he said. "We owe to the world because from the beginning we have had solidarity from the whole world," including, he said, those who have defended the Cuban revolution in the United States.

Wilson and García painted a picture of Cuba as a country that is still suffering from the effects of the "Special Period," a term Cubans use to refer to the difficulties that began with the end of development aid and trade at preferential prices with the Soviet bloc countries. The economic problems have been greatly exacerbated by Washington's tightening economic embargo on the Caribbean island. But, the Cuban diplomats stressed, the situation is markedly improved. "If you visited Cuba in the early 1990s," said Wilson, "today you will see changes." García pointed to a 7 percent increase in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 1996 and a continuation of that trend in 1997. In 1998 he said, "we expect an increase of 2.5 percent in the GDP."

Wilson urged support for two pieces of legislation in the U.S. Congress that would ease some of the strictures of the U.S. embargo, particularly on food and medicine.

In the discussion period several people asked about subjects that touched on the issue of race. One question concerned rumors of discrimination against Black workers at the Hotel Seville, a Cuban hotel that is a joint venture with European capitalists.

"The race issue in Cuba has always been of interest to the leadership of the country," since the revolution triumphed in 1959 and laws banning discrimination were put into effect and enforced, Wilson explained. "If you compare what Black people had before 1959 and today there are tremendous differences." Without the revolution, said Wilson, "I wouldn't be here." He pointed to six Black ministers in the Cuban government, 10 ambassadors, and five members of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party as signs of progress and Communist Party policy.

At the same time, he explained, "I do not rule out some individual acts of racism. I cannot say `no' to the situation you mentioned," he said because he was not familiar with the specific case. But, he said, "if the government is aware of it, that kind of behavior will in no way be tolerated." He said he knew of two similar situations at other hotels where European capitalists were involved and "we told them we cannot accept that."

Marisella Fleites-Lear, a Cuban now living and teaching in the United States and active in solidarity activity with Cuba, explained that her father had taught her that Cuba is "a runaway slave that built a city of runaway slaves." The United States government cannot accept Cuba, he told her, "because the slave has become the master." She had heard that trade unions are not allowed in joint economic ventures in Cuba such as hotels, and asked Wilson if this was true.

Wilson replied, hotel workers do belong to unions. At the hotels that are partly owned by foreign companies, the unions do refrain from activity on the property of the hotel. But workers who suffer mistreatment - of a racist nature or otherwise - can go to their union to rectify the situation. In these cases the union will talk to the Cuban government, Wilson said, which deals directly with the hotel management.

Another exchange took place in response to a question about gay rights in Cuba. "Cuba has been changing with the world," Wilson answered. "Culturally Cuba is not different from the rest of Latin America," he said. Wilson explained that when he was a university student, 24 years ago, he was one of those who discriminated against gays. "I myself was part of a group like that. We weren't used to [homosexuality] and we didn't like it."

Wilson pointed to an experience he had in 1984 in Angola working with a military doctor who was known to be homosexual and who was deeply respected at the hospital where he worked. Today, the attitudes of many Cubans are changing as his has, Wilson continued, and gays and lesbians are able to express themselves more freely. "People now openly say they are gay. There are still isolated situations" of discrimination "but that is not the same as government policy. We recognize the need for equality," he said.

Wilson stressed the importance of political activity in the United States aimed at ending the U.S. embargo of Cuba. He encouraged invitations to speak throughout the United States. "You can ask the officials of the Interests Section to speak about anything about Cuba," he emphasized.  
 
 
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