Martí was a revolutionary anti-imperialist fighter who was killed in battle in 1895 in the war for Cuban independence from Spain.

"We invite you to a meeting that will strengthen the solidarity between both countries," the brochure states. "We hope this will be an opportunity for you to get to know the Cuban people, that this exchange will become an arena to condemn everything that attempts to separate us, and that all of us united can demonstrate to the world that unity is not a dream."

"Young Cubans are interested in having mutual knowledge about the realities of youth in the United States and Cuba," said Javier Dueñas in a March 28 phone interview with the Militant. Dueñas is a leader of the Union of Young Communists in Cuba, one of the sponsoring organizations, and is currently speaking at college campuses during a three-week visit to the United States along with Yanelis Martínez, a member of the National Secretariat of the Federation of University Students in Cuba, another organization hosting the youth exchange.

During the last youth exchange in 1996, 144 young people from 26 states across the United States visited the Caribbean island, holding a range of meetings and activities with their counterparts in Cuba.

This year the program includes meetings with students and visits to universities, including the Latin American School of Medicine and the International Sports School, Dueñas said. The participants will also join in activities organized to celebrate the anniversary of the July 26, 1953, assault on the Moncada army garrison. The event marks the beginning of the revolutionary armed struggle that led to the defeat of the U.S.-backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in January 1959.

"The most important activities around the July 26 anniversary will take place in the neighborhoods, organized by the Committees in Defense of the Revolution," said Dueñas. "They will be impressive mobilizations of the people," he continued, "but I will leave that to the judgment of the participants."

A flyer about the youth exchange, which is available in English and Spanish, provides details on the costs and other arrangements. It lists a series of planned workshops on questions of national identity and culture, the current situation of the student movement and its role in society, as well as on environmental issues. Participants will also join in discussions on "U.S.-Cuba relations in the new millennium" and will have a chance to look over at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, one aspect of Washington's continued aggression against the Cuban people.

"This will be a special opportunity for young workers, students, farmers and farm family youth, and others to see the Cuban revolution for themselves," said Jacob Perasso, a leader of the Young Socialists. "Participants can get a firsthand understanding of the kind of society working people are capable of creating. The YS welcomes this opportunity to help bring information to young people in Cuba about what life under capitalism is like and the struggles and resistance of working people today," he said. "We will be building the youth exchange through all of our work over the next months and encourage the widest participation possible." Most immediately, Perasso said, the YS will be signing up to go to the Youth Exchange those who attend meetings to hear the two Cuban youth leaders speaking in the United States.

Jack Willey, a leader of the Socialist Workers Party, said party members will be collaborating with the Young Socialists to build a broad delegation to the youth exchange. Socialist workers will be spreading the news of the opportunity the youth exchange offers among younger generations they meet in factories, mines, and mills where they work. There is already interest, he said, among young farmers in visiting Cuba, indicating wider possibilities for several to become part of the visit to Cuba this summer. Getting out information at literature tables on street corners and at factory gates will also be a feature of the party's work.

Dueñas said that for Cuban youth, the exchange offers a way to "know what is happening in the United States and how young people are organizing themselves to confront social problems." The meetings will help participants "obtain knowledge about the realities of youth in the United States and Cuba, and to learn how young people participate in making decisions in all aspects of society, including on issues of self-determination," he said.

The organizations who have called the Second Cuba/United States Youth Exchange in Cuba are: the Pioneer Organization "Jose Martí," the Federation of High School Students, the Federation of University Students, the Union of Young Communists, the "Hermano Saíz" Association, the Technical Youth Brigades, and the Youth Study Center. The organizing committee can be contacted in Cuba by e-mail at: ujcri@ujc.cu. Those interested in participating can also contact the Young Socialists at PO Box 33, New York, NY 10018. Tel: (212) 695-1809.
 
 
Related articles:
'Cuban revolution is the achievement of millions'
Defense at Miami trial exposes anti-Cuba lies
Build Cuba-U.S. youth exchange
'We knew we were defending the gains of the revolution'
Conference event presents books on Playa Girón
October Crisis and the U.S. class struggle
 
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home