The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.60/No.26           July 1, 1996 
 
 
More Youth Sign Up For Cuba Exchange  

BY DAVID CREED

LOS ANGELES - With the July 1 deadline for applications and payments for the trip to Cuba approaching fast, local coalitions and student groups across the United States are organizing fund- raisers and continuing to sign up youth for the U.S.-Cuba Youth Exchange. As of June 20, the New York-based Cuba Information Project (CIP) had received nearly 170 applications from young people. CIP is organizing travel for the project, sponsored by the National Network on Cuba.

In southern California 13 people have signed up to go on the exchange so far. "Several months ago I wasn't interested in going to Cuba," said Ramón Muñoz, an immigrant rights activist and student at San Diego State University. "But after seeing border patrol cops use forceful tactics against Pastors for Peace at the San Diego/Mexican border, I began to wonder, what's up about Cuba?"

A humanitarian aid caravan to Cuba organized by Pastors for Peace was stopped by U.S. authorities in January. Muñoz heard about the trip through an ad in Voz Fronteriza, a student paper based in San Diego that supports the Cuban revolution.

"After reading so much about Cuba, I want to see how a socialist society works," said Edmundo Fernández, a student at the University of California Riverside.

During the first half of June, the Los Angeles Coalition in Solidarity with Cuba has raised $600 through two fund-raisers, a dinner with a video showing of the Cuban film Death of a Bureaucrat and a dance party. The funds will help applicants who want to go on the trip but can't afford the entire cost.

In Houston, Lief Gufthiudaschmitt, a student at the University of Houston and member of the UH Cuba Friendship Committee, reports the he and two other student activists are going to Cuba with the exchange. To better prepare for the experience, they're organizing discussions on current developments in the Caribbean nation and Ernesto Che Guevara's Episodes of the Cuban Revolutionary War.

Activists in the Twin Cities Cuba Network have raised nearly $1,000 through a rummage sale, a raffle, and donations. Currently, some 30 people are preparing to go to Cuba from the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. At the University of Minnesota a new group, Students for Cuba, applied for an administrative grant to help defray costs of the trip and received $300 per student.

The Twin Cities Cuba Network is planning to be at the annual Gay Pride celebration on June 23, with raffle tickets and a leaflet promoting an upcoming video showing of Gay Cuba at the University of Minnesota.

In Seattle, 12 people are now signed up to go on the trip. The Youth Exchange group has done phonebank fund- raising from the Seattle-Cuba Friendship Coalition mailing list and a send-off party is in the works. The Youth Exchange group there has raised $1,300 to date.

In New Brunswick, New Jersey, a group of students and other youth have decided to sell tamales on the street and outside local factories during lunch to raise funds for the trip. "Tamales are good, people will buy them, and it's a new way to talk to workers about Cuba," explained Lorena Gaibor, a national coordinator for the youth exchange. These activists also are drafting a fundraising letter to be sent out by the New Jersey Network on Cuba.

A raffle in Atlanta recently netted over $300 for the exchange. Many of the tickets were sold on the job by a United Auto Workers member who is planning to make the trip and other supporters of the project.

Sarah Katz in Minneapolis and Megan Arney in Newark, New Jersey, contributed to this article.  
 
 
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