BY MARNIE KENNEDY
SYDNEY, Australia - Five hundred people crowded into the University Hall at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) here October 11 to "celebrate the life and ideas of Che," as the posters publicizing the event invited.

The two-hour program featured presentations on the Bolivian campaign, on Guevara's contributions to the transition to socialism, and on Guevara's internationalism. The talks were supported by documentary footage including interviews with Fidel Castro and with Cuban workers who spoke of their contact with Guevara and his legacy. It was initiated by young supporters of the Australia-Cuba Friendship Society who organized a coalition that included members of Cuba solidarity groups, political parties, student groups and trade unionists. Members of the Australian delegation to the 14th World Festival of Youth and Students in Havana last August took part.

The preparations took weeks, as members of the coalition read and discussed books by Guevara and his collaborators, and considered how to answer the slanders and myths about Che and the Cuban revolution.

The Cuban Consul, Jorge Valdez addressed the meeting. The evening also featured poetry readings including by Pablo Armando Fernández, a Cuban poet currently touring Australia.

BY PAMELA HOLMES

LONDON - On October 25 the North East London Cuba Solidarity Campaign (CSC) is planning a day-school entitled "Viva Che." The program will highlight the life and ideas of Ernesto Che Guevara. "The idea is to provide some depth to the discussion that is going on about Che, most of which is focusing on the image and stereotypes rather than providing information," explained Emma Sangster, secretary of the N.E. London group. The event will include a presentation by Rodney López, the Cuban ambassador to London, among others.

The CSC is organizing a march on October 18 to oppose the United States' economic blockade of Cuba and in defense of Cuban sovereignty. A lead article in the latest issue of Cuba Sí, the quarterly magazine of the CSC noted, "The last time we marched (in 1995), CSC managed to gather 1,500 people in Trafalgar Square (in central London) for a rally condemning the blockade."

Some 30 local and regional branches of the CSC have organized a wide range of events throughout the United Kingdom during October. Some of the activities include a speaking tour of Cuban student leader Evarista Sierra Utria, who will address public meetings in dozens of cities. Details of the tour are available from the CSC national office at 129, Seven Sisters Road, London N7 7QG (Tel: 0171-263-6452).

BY T.J. FIGUEROA

JOHANNESBURG - "Che made the ultimate sacrifice to show the way forward against imperialism - and particularly U.S. imperialism, the enemy of humanity," said Angel Dalmau, Cuba's ambassador to South Africa. Dalmau addressed 100 people gathered here October 11 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the death of Che Guevara. The Friends of Cuba Society (FOCUS) sponsored the event. Other speakers included representatives of FOCUS, South African Communist Party deputy-secretary Jeremy Cronin and South African deputy- minister of defense Ronnie Kasrils.

The interest in Cuba here is largely a result of the battle waged by hundreds of thousands of Cuban internationalist troops in Angola. From 1975 to 1988, Cuban volunteers played a decisive role in repelling successive invasions of Angola by the army of the former South African apartheid regime.  
 
 
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