The Militant (logo)  
   Vol. 67/No. 8           March 17, 2003  
 
 
Join Cuba-U.S. Youth Exchange
(editorial)
 
In the last week of July, groups of young people from cities across the United States will travel to Cuba. There they will have the opportunity, as Cuban youth leader Ernesto Fernández Sánchez says in the article printed in this issue, "to see for themselves and learn about the real situation in Cuba." They will have a chance to talk and exchange ideas with revolutionary-minded Cuban youth, visit a number of sites highlighting Cuba’s revolutionary history, and take part in the massive popular mobilization on July 26 celebrating 50 years since the launching of the revolutionary struggle there by a group of youth led by Fidel Castro (see front-page article for more details).

For young people who want to learn the truth about the Cuban Revolution, this will be a valuable opportunity. Now is the time to start preparing for the Cuba-U.S. Youth Exchange, including the work to publicize and build it on campuses, in the workplace, and among the thousands of youth at peace demonstrations and other political actions taking place around the country.

What Washington seeks to hide from those who live in this country through its decades-long travel ban and trade embargo against the island, are the achievements of Cuba’s workers and farmers in carrying out and defending the first socialist revolution in the Western Hemisphere. They have done so in face of the unceasing, and failed, efforts by the wealthy U.S. rulers to crush Cuba’s example.

Those working to go on the Youth Exchange will benefit from reading, studying, and sharing with others an article by Mary-Alice Waters in New International no. 10, "Defending Cuba, defending Cuba’s socialist revolution" as well as the book Cuba and the Coming American Revolution by Jack Barnes. A new title that describes the women and men who made the Cuban Revolution is Marianas in Combat: Teté Puebla and the Mariana Grajales Women’s Platoon in Cuba’s Revolutionary War, 1956-58. Other Pathfinder books that record the history of the Cuban Revolution include To Speak the Truth (speeches by Fidel Castro and Ernesto Che Guevara at the United Nations), The Second Declaration of Havana, and Episodes of the Cuban Revolutionary War, 1956–58 by Che Guevara.

For youth interested in how to fight to change the world for the benefit of humanity, the Youth Exchange will provide an opportunity to learn a little about the living example of the working class in power and how working people can transform society and themselves in the process. This living example of the Cuban Revolution is also a powerful argument that working people can make a revolution in the United States as well.
 
 
Related articles:
Youth Exchange trip in July will offer firsthand view of Cuba today  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home