BY MEG NOVAK
ST. PAUL, Minnesota - Young people around the country are stepping up their work and broadening their reach to more groups as the May 15 application deadline for the 14th World Festival of Students and Youth draws closer. The festival will take place in Havana, Cuba, July 27-August 4. Activists in the United States are working to put together delegations that will be discussing world politics with other young people there from around the globe.

In Minneapolis, the University Young Women (UYW) collective at the University of Minnesota has decided to send a delegation of three of its members to the festival. They originally heard about the festival at the Young Feminist Summit in Washington, D.C., and have decided to endorse the U.S. Organizing Committee. The delegation is starting to make fund-raising plans, working with the Progressive Students Organization at the university.

Anh Pham, an member of UYW and an activist in the Asian- American community in Minneapolis, will be part of the festival delegation. Asked why she was going, she stated, "My parents left Vietnam in 1975, and they've always told me they were fleeing from the communists. Since then, I've been reading about Marxism and socialism, and I want to find out first hand what socialism is.

"Young people have traditionally been the starting points of big social movements," she said, looking forward to the prospect of meeting young activists from around the world. "The more we meet people from around the world and exchange ideas and knowledge, the better prepared we will be to make an impact."

A meeting for people interested in the festival in Minneapolis has been called for April 30 by the Twin Cities Cuba Network, hosted by the La Raza Student Cultural Center at the University of Minnesota.

The Philadelphia Cuba Support Coalition, which has endorsed the U.S. Organizing Committee for the World Youth Festival, sponsored an initial meeting on April 15, hosted by the American Friends Service Committee, for people interested in building a delegation.

A follow-up meeting on April 24 brought together over a dozen activists from groups in Philadelphia who are interested in the festival. The meeting included students from the University of Pennsylvania and Rowan University in New Jersey, and members of the organization MOVE and the Mumia Abu-Jamal defense committee.

Doug Chavez, a student at the University of Pennsylvania and a member of the Chicano student group MEChA, reports that the committee is starting to grow through work that is being done on campuses.

"We just started the Philadelphia Organization for the World Youth Festival," he stated. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity where students and youth can get together and share culture and ideas. Getting together in Cuba is a special opportunity for young people to see Cuba with their own eyes," he added. Chavez is working with other students on his campus to publicize the festival and start fund-raising.

In Chicago, a city-wide meeting was held in mid-April at the University of Chicago. About 30 people interested in the festival began mapping out plans on how to get there. Committees have been set up to work on fund-raising and outreach.

Two young activists from De Paul University in Chicago are also planning on attending the next national planning meeting of the U.S. Organizing Committee, which will be held in New York May 4. Representatives from national and local festival committees are encouraged to attend to review the outreach and organizing efforts, travel and other logistical details, and plans for the activities of the festival.

The delegation from the United States will be joining several thousand young people for the festival. Organizing committees have been established in over 50 countries and participants are expected from 100 nations. The event, dedicated to revolutionary leader Ernesto Che Guevara, will include workshops and discussions on a range of themes.

The total cost for the festival is $600 for those who apply by May 15. This covers all expenses for the trip except airfare from the United States to Nassau, Bahamas, or Cancun, Mexico - the meeting points for U.S. participants. Applications must be accompanied by a $50 deposit and full payment is due by June 30. There will be an additional $25 charge for those who apply between May 16 and June 30.  
 
 
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