BY TOM ALTER
This column is written and edited by the Young Socialists, an international organization of young workers, students, and other youth fighting for socialism. For more information about the YS or to join, write P.O. Box 2396, New York, NY 10009. Tel: (212) 475-6482, Fax: (212) 388-1659.
BY TOM ALTER
BLOOMINGTON, Indiana - On Labor Day weekend September 2-4, members of the Young Socialists from Chicago; Cleveland; Detroit; Bloomington, Indiana; Washington, D.C.; and the Twin Cities, Minnesota, came to Detroit to be a part of the national Labor Day weekend mobilization in support of the Detroit newspaper strike. The labor movement scored a victory that weekend. As members of the Young Socialists, we have visited many picket lines. For many of us though, this was the first time we witnessed the power of labor organized in such a militant and nonviolent fashion as to, in effect, close down a plant for 18 hours. It was a victory that we will never forget.
The actions of the night of September 2 were led by rank-and-file unionists. The strikers were there for one reason: to hold the picket line and prevent the paper from getting out. The over 200 police armed in riot gear were there for one reason: to break the picket line and get the paper out. The strikers, by using their social weight as part of the majority of the world's population - the working class, won the battle.
This was a victory that not only workers will notice, but young people as well. This was seen as dozens of young people stopped their normal Saturday night activities to come to the picket line and help to keep the paper from getting out.
Upon returning to Bloomington at a Cuba Lives reportback meeting held on September 6, I related my experience in Cuba to my experience in Detroit the previous weekend. I stated how in the 1950s the Cuban people banded together to fight against the bosses and now control their own country. I then pointed to Detroit to show what we can do here in the United States when only 3,000 workers bonded together.
The meeting was a success, with 25 people attending. After the meeting a student approached me stating he wanted to go to Detroit to see the strike for himself. That weekend the two of us along with another student from Indiana University (IU) went to Detroit.
Once again we witnessed the strength of the strike. We also saw the solidarity and support the strike had won from the around the area. When we returned to Bloomington we held our reportback meeting on what we saw in Detroit. At the meeting another student was attracted to the strike and joined us in building solidarity on campuses for the strike.
Building solidarity for the strike has become one of our main goals as we participate in events such as the Take Back the Night march here at IU, having a weekly Pathfinder literature table on campus, and continuing to build for the October 21 demonstration in New York to end the blockade of Cuba.
Youth Discuss Impact Of Embargo On Cuba
The article below appeared in the September 4 issue
of the Cleveland Plain Dealer under the headline
"Students see effects of Cuban embargo." The author
participated in the Cuba Lives International Youth
Festival in August.
BY CECILIA ORTEGA
Cleveland Heights High School
More than 1,300 youth delegates from 67 countries
participated in the weeklong Cuba Vive (Lives)
International Youth Festival that began Aug. 1.
It was organized by the Union of Young Communists, a Cuban national organization of young people between 14 and 26. Among the countries represented were Brazil, Mexico, Italy, Britain and Vietnam.
The U.S. delegation was the largest with 250 participants. Many were politically active high school and university students and workers interested in seeing Cuban life. Young workers and students went to Cuba to oppose the U.S. government's economic embargo against Cuba.
For four days festival participants stayed in Havana, where we visited factories, hospitals, cultural centers, sports facilities and schools. For the remaining three days we visited provinces and lived with Cuban families.
Festival participants exchanged ideas and views on employment, education, health, childhood, the environment, cultural and national identity, and democracy.
During my stay in Havana, I visited a construction site. Others visited a ship repair yard, a sheet metal factory, a dairy plant, sugar and flour mills, and a sanitarium for AIDS patients.
At the construction site we talked with workers and learned about the economic problems facing Cubans. This sparked a discussion about the U.S. economic embargo, the immense hardships it creates, and how Cubans are dealing with the economic crisis.
The U.S. government's 35-year embargo restricts the trade of all food, medicines, supplies and equipment of U.S. origin to Cuba. The U.S. government has also threatened to impose sanctions on countries that do business with Cuba.
The economic embargo is at the heart of U.S. policy toward Cuba designed to isolate the Cuban economy. We witnessed the realities of the economic crisis and how the embargo affects the Cuban people. The economic crisis deepened since the collapse of the Soviet bloc, which provided economic support for Cuba. The most exciting point of the Cuba Viva Festival was a march of about half a million people in Havana to protest the U.S. embargo Aug. 5. Marchers filled the Malecon - the boulevard that runs along the waterfront - with thousands of colorful banners and flags. After the march everyone gathered to hear speakers and enjoy bands.
The festival ended with the participants agreeing to spread the word about their experiences in Cuba.