BY BRIAN TAYLOR
Around the country, in city after city, young people returning from the 1996 U.S.-Cuba Youth Exchange have begun putting into practice the declaration they made in Cuba: to come back to the United States, tell the truth about the Cuban revolution, and build opposition to the U.S. government policy of aggression toward Cuba.

The Youth Exchange participants in several cities have continued working together in groupings or joined local coalitions. They have traveled to other cities and states, bringing their experiences to those involved in other struggles, looking to build solidarity with Cuba, and sign people up to go to the 14th World Festival of Youth and Students set for summer 1997.

Ten young people from Seattle went on the exchange to Cuba, five of whom were high school students. Many of them are meeting every Wednesday to plan concrete activities to build next year's festival.

On August 14 the Seattle Cuba Friendship Coalition sponsored a report-back meeting at the Central Lutheran Church. Eighty people attended and six Youth Exchange participants spoke.

Karen Brunton, a student at Garfield High School and panelist at the meeting, said, "What struck me was that high government officials were concerned about issues like women's rights and racism, whereas politicians here don't even care about those things."

Naomi Grogan-Hurlich, also a Garfield student, was impressed with how eager Cubans were to discuss everything. "The conversations we had with the Cubans were amazing," she told listeners at the event. "[There is a] different culture as far as how youth are prioritized in Cuba. We in America have a lot to learn from Cuba."

Joy Patman, a young teacher at Garfield, pointed to Cuba's free education in her remarks. She compared it to the stark reality of massive cuts in education in this country. She also referred to the fact that while teachers are being laid off by the hundreds here, Cuba has a 12-to-1 student teacher ratio.

Melissa Harris, the Socialist Workers Party candidate for U.S. Congress in the 7th District, also went on the trip and spoke at the event. Harris gave a picture of the modest economic recovery Cuban's fought to obtain over the past year, quoting Ricardo Alarcón, president of the National Assembly in Cuba, who said "We would not be able to do this without our leadership going to the masses."

Autumn Knowlton is an 18-year-old student at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, and also one of the activists in that city organizing the report- backs and other events to build the World Youth Festival. In her remarks, she raised the challenges Cuba faces on the question of gay rights, which were discussed several times over the course of the trip.

Amodee Weld a young worker said, "When we fight together here we are following the example the Cuban people set for us."

Fifteen people signed up at that event to go to the youth festival.

Chicago youth take banner everywhere
Chicago participants in the Youth Exchange had a meeting a week after they returned to discuss what to do next after having been to Cuba. After agreeing that they wanted to continue to work together, they decided to make a banner to take to the Democratic Party Convention and to the march for immigrant rights in Washington, D.C. on October 12. The banner reads, "U.S.-Cuba Youth Exchange demands an end to the U.S. blockade against Cuba -No to Helms-Burton." They also designed a leaflet announcing the World Festival of Youth and Students.

Six members of the Chicago delegation spoke at a report-back event at the Militant Labor Forum where some 90 people attended, including more than 40 members of the United Transportation Union who were in town for a meeting of socialist rail workers.

They were able to raise $150, to help pay for the leaflets and materials for the banner. The banner was painted at a meeting of the Southwest Youth Collaborative, where 20 other youth were also making banners for the Democratic Party Convention protests.

Before the meeting and banner making, those who recently came back from Cuba gave a report on the trip. Seven people said they want to go to Cuba in 1997.

Marisol Morales, a 21-year-old, Puerto Rican student at DePaul University, went to San Diego a couple of weeks ago to the protests around the Republican Party Convention and to be on La Marcha, a march largely organized by Chicanos against Proposition 209 and other assaults on affirmative action. She then went to the Latina/Chicana Conference there in San Diego, where she made a presentation on Cuba.

Susana Ochoa, a 22-year-old Mexicana who recently graduated from DePaul, went to Milwaukee for a report- back with youth exchange participants there. She brought the banner and youth festival leaflet along, and spoke at the meeting. When she talked about what Chicago young people were doing, it inspired the delegation from Milwaukee to begin to be more active and think of ways to get the word out the world youth festival.

Speaking at poetry slams
In New York, some of the 17 participants meet weekly at the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), together with other members of the New York Youth Exchange Committee.

Since returning, participants have been interviewed on a campus radio station, CBS news, and two of the participants gave a report-back at a poetry slam. In addition a number of the participants have spoken to Militant Labor Forums.

The highlight event so far has been a report-back at Casa de las Américas. About 40 people attended the meeting. Three participants spoke; Laala Matias talked about the impact and importance of staying with Cuban families on the trip, James Hibber described his experience as a first time traveler to Cuba, and Brian Taylor spoke on the example Cuba sets for fighting youth in the United States and the attraction these fighters have to Cuba.

After that Pedro Nuñez Mosquera, the alternate ambassador to the Cuban Mission in the United States, addressed the meeting. "We followed your trip to Cuba very closely here with great interest.... I could not let this opportunity go by to meet some of the youth that went."

He ended his remarks by saying that there are things that have kept the Cuban revolution intact. "One of these," he said, "is our [Cuban] people...And two is our friends, friends like you in this room."

In addition to report-backs, the Youth Exchange activists in New York have leafleted for next summer's youth festival and publicized their weekly meetings at a Rage Against the Machine concert and at an Afro-Cuban music concert.

BY SARAH KATZ

MINNEAPOLIS-Riding on the momentum from their trip, participants of the U.S.-Cuba Youth Exchange from Twin Cities decided to take part in CedarFest, Sunday August 18. CedarFest, which happens annually, is a street fair with different booths and stages with bands.

On the Friday before CedarFest a group of 10 participants from the Youth Exchange gathered to make signs to wear as sandwich boards. Some of the slogans included: "US Hands off Cuba," "US Troops Out of Guantanamo," and "Join the World Youth Festival, Cuba '97."

Thousands of people flowed through the fair during the day. Our group of seven passed out 300 leaflets advertising a report- back meeting, Twin Cities Cuba Network meetings, and the youth festival in 1997. We also had sign up sheets for those who wanted more information about Cuba; 94 people signed up.

People were excited to see us out there; some walked by and gave us the thumbs up sign. Others want to set up report-backs for us at their churches and high schools.  
 
 
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