LOS ANGELES--"Why was Playa Girón the first defeat for the United States on the continent?" asked Sergio Martínez, First Secretary of the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, at a meeting of 160 people here. "The main factor was that the whole population was behind the social changes begun in 1959, and they were willing to defend the Cuban Revolution with their last drop of blood."
Martínez was the featured speaker at an April 19 event at Cal State Los Angeles entitled "The 40th Anniversary of Cuba's Victory at the Bay of Pigs: A Living Legacy."
"Forty years later the aggressive policy of the U.S. government is still in place," he said, explaining that Washington "still dreams of destroying the achievements of the Cuban Revolution."
Through the socialist revolution, said Martínez, Cuba has achieved one of the lowest infant mortality rates in the world, the largest number of doctors and teachers per capita in the world, and free access to health care and education through the university level. He added, "Many still have not learned the lesson that the Cuban Revolution is indestructible."
Among the participants in the meeting were members of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE) on strike at Hollander Home Fashions. Ramó n, a striker, explained the issues in the strike by the 450 workers.
The meeting was sponsored by the Cal State Los Angeles Latin American Society and Latin American Studies Department, and the Coalition in Solidarity with Cuba.
Martínez also spoke to meetings of 75 at Compton College and 45 at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA).
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By John Crysdale
PHILADELPHIA--Washington hates the example of the Cuban Revolution, said Oscar Redondo, first secretary of the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, at a meeting here. "At the Bay of Pigs," he said, "the mercenaries were told thousands of Cubans would greet them with open arms. Instead, millions greeted them with arms--arms in hand. It showed that the Cuban people are prepared to defend their revolution."
Redondo and Jorge Gonzá lez, a member of the international section of the Cuban Ministry of Culture, spoke at meetings on April 17 and 18 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Cuban victory in 1961.
Students from Haverford College; Ramó n Marmolejos, the head of Unidad de Latina, a Latin American Fraternity at the University of Pennsylvania; and members of the local Cuba Support Coalition organized events for the two Cubans that drew 80 students at Haverford and more than 100 at the University of Pennsylvania.
Gonzá lez explained to the audiences how the U.S. embargo of Cuba hampers cultural exchange between the Caribbean country and the United States. He described art and culture as the "shield and sword" of the Cuban nationality."
"In spite of this embargo for 40 years, we have established a system of cultural education we are proud of," he said. "During the crisis of 1989, when the USSR fell and we lost much of our trade, we fought to make sure that not one school closed. Compare our priorities to those in other countries where during economic crises schools and hospitals are the first to go."
The meeting at Haverford, a small college just outside Philadelphia, built on the success of a trip to Cuba over the spring break by 60 students from a political science class and the college baseball team. "We went there to play baseball and develop relationships with Cubans," reported Sara Wolf, one of the organizers of the trip, to a recent Militant Labor Forum.
Another student described how the man with whom they stayed proudly showed them his English practice notes from University For All, a televised educational series. Three students from Masterman High School also attended the forum.
Wolf and Marmolejos chaired the meetings at Haverford and Penn. They promoted the July 22-30 Second Cuba-U.S. Youth Exchange, sponsored in Cuba by the Union of Young Communists, the Federation of University Students, and other youth organizations.
"We encourage you to come on the Youth Exchange to see Cuba for yourself, because the youth in the United States are going to decide what the future will be," said Wolf.
John Crysdale is a garment worker and a member of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees.