BY OLGA RUSSI
LOS ANGELES - An enthusiastic delegation applauded Cuban
youth leaders Itamys García Villar and Luis Ernesto Morejón
Rodríguez upon their arrival at Los Angeles International
Airport March 21. The welcome was the start of a five-week
visit by García and Morejón, who will speak at campuses in
seven cities. Their visit is organized by the Los Angeles-based
Committee on Cuban Youth and Educated headed by Peter McLaren,
a professor at the University of California at Los Angeles
(UCLA).
"Thank-you for this warm welcome that is beyond our expectations," Morejón said to the delegation of close to 30 people who came to the airport to greet them. "During our visit here, we want to tell the truth about Cuba to the greatest possible number of people. This kind of welcome shows the support for Cuba that is found in the United States."
García, 27 years old, is a doctor of veterinary medicine. Morejón, 23, is a professor and general secretary of the Foreign Language School of the Enrique José Varona Teacher Training Institute. Both are members of the Union of Young Communists.
In a March 12 letter from the Committee on Cuban Youth and Education, professor McLaren and committee volunteer Verónica Poses explained, "Our goal in this tour is to allow García and Morejón to explain the reality of the Cuban revolution for young people and to learn about developments in the United States in an open exchange of ideas and experiences."
They hailed the arrival of the Cuban youth and their having been granted visas by the U.S. Department of State, explaining, "this is a victory for freedom of exchange between Cuba and the United States."
On March 23 McLaren and his wife hosted a reception at their home for the visiting Cuban youth. Members of the Committee on Cuban Youth and Education, students from California state colleges in both Northridge and Los Angeles, and from UCLA attended. Other professors from UCLA; four members of the International Association of Machinists union who work at the Los Angeles International Airport; members of Amerindia, a group of Cubans living in the U.S. who oppose the U.S. embargo against Cuba; and members of the Los Angeles Coalition in Solidarity with Cuba also came. Stacy Lee, president of the UCLA student government association, introduced García and Morejón, who both spoke briefly.
The Cuban youth will speak at meetings in the Atlanta area from March 25-27 and in Birmingham March 29-30 (see box below). For more information on the five-week U.S. visit of García and Morejón, contact the Committee on Cuban Youth and Education, c/o Professor Peter McLaren, P.O. Box 951521, 3022C Moore Hall, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095- 1521. The Committee can be reached by E-mail at ccye@netscape.net, by phone at (310) 766-3673, or by fax at (310) 206-3755.