In her opening remarks to the meeting, gallery director Kathy Schnapper welcomed Codina to the campus and noted that the program was sponsored by the Rutgers Institute on Ethnicity, Culture and the Modern Experience; the English Graduate Student Governing Association; several individual professors; and student groups including the Organization of African Students and Latinos United Networking America. Judy Hall, a Rutgers instructor and the president of the English Graduate Student Government Association, chaired the program.

A lively question and answer session followed Codina's brief opening remarks. In response to a question on literacy in Cuba, Codina pointed to the organization of the literacy campaign in the early years of the Cuban revolution. He noted that this campaign in 1961, in which students fanned out across the island to help teach workers and peasants to read and write, was critical to the advance of the revolution. Quoting 19th century Cuban revolutionary leader José Martí, who said that "to be cultured is to be free," Codina stressed that access to culture, in its broadest sense, is intertwined with social advance on every front.

A number of Cuban-American students took part in the event. In the days before the meeting, people handing out leaflets to build the event had discussions on the Cuban revolution with several young Cuban-Americans, including civil exchanges with some who were critical of the revolution. Alex, who gave only his first name, said that although he couldn't tell his grandparents where he was going, he planned to attend the meeting and hear the "other side of the story."

In the discussion period, one Cuban-American student told Codina he hadn't heard anything recently about singer Carlos Varela, implying he thought the balladeer might have been suppressed by the Cuban government. Codina replied that performances by the singer continue to fill major concert halls in Havana.

He noted that, although some "conservative" elements in Cuba consider Varela to border on being counterrevolutionary, he is a supporter of the revolution and is popular with many young Cubans because his songs address real social problems—from the generation gap to the social effects inside Cuba of the capitalist market. He noted that an interview with Varela will be featured in the next issue of La Gaceta.

Codina said that Cuba was the subject of "three blockades"—the economic embargo maintained by Washington since the triumph of the revolution 40 years ago, the impact of the collapse of favorable trade relations with the Soviet Union at the opening of the 1990s, and the problems caused by errors within the revolution.

"Dogmatism" and "schematicism" in cultural matters Codina said, are being combatted. One example of the strength of the Cuban revolution today is the growing number of initiatives to embrace the cultural contributions of Cuban artists living in the United States and other countries, regardless of whether they are supporters of the revolution. La Gaceta has published writings by a number of Cuban-American poets and writers.

While in the region, Codina also addressed a meeting of about 20 people at Hunter College in New York City, sponsored by the Hostos Puerto Rican Club. Several students from the Palestinian Club also attended the event. He earlier spoke at campuses and public meetings in Chicago, Detroit, and Olivet, Michigan.

Andy Buchanan is a member of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees. Bobbi Negrón is a student at Rutgers-Newark and a member of the Young Socialists.  
 
 
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