Recently Washington tightened restrictions on travel to Cuba—announcing its decision to stop issuing “people-to-people” licenses that allow thousands of U.S. residents to visit Cuba each year. The U.S. government has applied long-standing policies that have encouraged a spate of hijackings of Cuban boats and planes in recent months. It has also orchestrated a propaganda campaign to brand the revolutionary government in Havana as a “repressive dictatorship” because of the arrests and convictions of 75 opponents of the Cuban Revolution on charges of collaborating with a hostile state power, Washington, in its campaign to subvert Cuba’s sovereignty.
These policies and practices by the U.S. government are neither irrational nor new. Their fundamental character has not changed in the past 44 years. The example of the Cuban Revolution represents a deadly threat to the property interests and prerogatives of U.S. ruling families. Cuba shows that workers and farmers are capable of forging a revolutionary movement, taking power out of the hands of the capitalist exploiters, and joining the worldwide struggle for socialism—becoming the makers, not just the objects, of history.
That’s why since the first democratic measures instituted by the workers and farmers in power shortly after the 1959 victory of the Cuban Revolution, such as a deep-going land reform, Washington launched a campaign of bombings, sabotage, attempts to assassinate Cuban leaders, the 1961 Bay of Pigs mercenary invasion, a threatened invasion and nuclear holocaust in 1962, and a brutal economic war that continues to this day. Through their determination, political consciousness, and organization, however, Cuba’s working people have defeated all these attacks. They remain fearless in the face of U.S. imperialist aggression.
The determined defense of the Cuban Revolution by its communist leadership and the overwhelming majority of the Cuban people in response to the recent imperialist-orchestrated campaign of threats and provocations has helped stay Washington’s hand once again. The White House, which last month floated the possibility of imposing new sanctions against Cuba—such as cutting off remittances by hundreds of thousands of Cuban-Americans to their relatives on the island and halting direct flights from U.S. cities to Havana—has not taken such measures so far.
Young people from the United States joining the Cuba-U.S. Youth Exchange this summer will be able to see Cuba for themselves, learning about the revolution and exchanging experiences and views with their Cuban peers about world politics. They will do so despite the tightened U.S. travel restrictions against Cuba—whose goal is precisely to minimize such exchanges.
Organizers of the Youth Exchange have secured the use of licenses through which the U.S. government authorizes educational travel to Cuba. This makes it possible for more students and other youth to take part. Getting out the word to involve more people—both those going on the trip and those who want to lend their help—in fund-raising, outreach to other groups, and study, are the main tasks now to make it a success.
Building the Youth Exchange over the next two months is one of the best ways of speaking out against Washington’s slanders and provocations against Cuba. This can be seen in recent public meetings—from Miami to Philadelphia to Los Angeles—that have been organized to build the Youth Exchange and discuss the defense of the Cuban Revolution. Involving a broad array of student groups, Cuba solidarity organizations, and other political forces is the key to success.
For youth interested in how to fight to change the world for the benefit of the overwhelming majority of humanity, the Youth Exchange will provide an opportunity to learn a little more about how working people can transform society, and themselves in the process. The living example of Cuba’s socialist revolution stands as a powerful argument that working people can make a revolution in the United States, too.
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Third Cuba-U.S. Youth Exchange |