BY TED LEONARD
BOSTON - Eighty people participated in a day-long "Educational Conference on Cuba Today" at Roxbury Community College here on March 22. The event featured Jorge Peña, a representative of the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, D.C. Two Cuban youth leaders, Dania Murgado and Rolando González, were to have been the main speakers at the conference as part of an 11-city speaking tour of the United States under the auspices of the Boston-based Faculty-Student Cuban Youth Lectures Committee. However, their visa applications were denied without explanation by the U.S. State Department.

Tom Reeves, a professor at RCC and head of the school's Caribbean Focus Program, one of the sponsoring organizations, welcomed participants. He condemned the government's denial of the visas, saying, "Having information and exchanging information is absolutely essential today." He went on to explain that participants in a study tour to Cuba organized last year by the Caribbean Focus Program continue to be harassed by federal authorities.

Reeves was targeted by the Treasury Department and the college administration for helping to organize the tour. A broad national protest campaign last fall pushed back threats to fire Reeves and prosecute him. Recently, other study tour participants were sent letters by the Treasury Department asking for information.

Nalda Vigezzi of the July 26th Coalition on Cuba, another sponsoring organization, read from messages of protest sent from around the country to the State Department in response to the visa denials. "We are gravely concerned that the State Department's action poses a serious threat to free speech rights and severely inhibits the open exchange of ideas valued by our academic institutions.... The ACLU of Utah requests that you reconsider your decision," wrote Carol Gnade, the executive director of that organization.

Howard Zinn, Professor Emeritus at Boston University, wrote the Department of State, "It is ironic that the United States accuses Cuba constantly of violating democratic rights and then proceeds to do just that."

"The denial of the visas to Cuban visitors is yet another of the lawless actions that Washington has taken with regard to Cuba," said Noam Chomsky, a prominent writer, in a written message to Conference organizers.

Peña's presentation detailed what he termed "continued trends toward recovery" in the Cuban economy since the crisis provoked by the end in special trade relations with the Soviet Union. He cited a growth of 7.8 percent in the Gross Domestic Product in 1996, after registering 2.5 percent gain in 1995. He also stressed on-going hardships, compounded by the U.S.- imposed trade restrictions. Despite this, he said, the Cuban people are "proud of the 200 doctors they have in South Africa today." All expenses of these internationalist volunteers are borne by Cuba.

More than a dozen young people attended the workshop called "Challenges Facing U.S. and Cuban Youth and Building the 14th Worldwide Conference of Youth and Students." Elena Tate and Jared Friedman, high school students from the Boston area, convened the workshop.

Other participants included two youth from Connecticut who are going and have already started organizing fund-raising in their area; the vice president of a Latino student organization at Bates College in Maine; high school students from Attleboro, Massachusetts; and several others.

Peña explained in the workshop how the Festival was building in Cuba and around the world. Festival organizing committees have been established in 27 countries, he reported. Cubans are preparing to welcome thousands to Havana and other cities during the July 27-August 6 activities. Youth in the workshop took on the goal of building the World Youth Festival in New England. They have set a planning meeting for April 20.

Other workshops took place on agriculture and the environment, issues facing Cuban workers and their unions, and the fight in this country for the right to travel freely to Cuba.  
 
 
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