Describing the importance of the August 8–16 meeting in Algeria, which will bring together thousands of youth from around the world, Martínez said that "the Youth Festival movement is the only international tribune where imperialism is openly condemned."

The delegation is visiting Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South Africa, said Juan Carlos Marsán, UJC international relations director. In Angola the delegation is meeting with the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola Youth League; in Namibia with the South West Africa People's Organisation Youth League; and in both countries with youth councils and ministries.

In South Africa they met with the African National Congress (ANC) Youth League, the ANC, South African Communist Party, the National Youth Commission, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, and others. In Zimbabwe, the three-person delegation will be hosted by the Zimbabwe African National Union--Patriotic Front and plans to meet with various other groups.

In South Africa, said Martínez, the ANC Youth League is planning to be well-represented at the Youth Festival. The ANC is supporting the international event, as is the South African Communist Party. "We hope that this is what we will find in other countries we're going to visit," he added, noting that a special effort is being made in Cuba to ensure that some young people from countries in Africa and elsewhere who are currently studying in Cuba can attend the festival.

The theme of the gathering is "Let's globalize the struggle for peace, solidarity, development, against imperialism," Marsán said. "The word 'struggle,' or 'fight,' present in that slogan, shows the festival has an active, not a passive, attitude," he said. "It calls on youth to take action against the conditions we confront today." Ofelia Sandar, a journalist for Radio Rebelde, pointed out that the Algiers event would be an opportunity for youth from around the world to exchange experiences about struggles they are involved in.

The Cuban youth leaders said they are also looking forward to the Second Cuba-U.S. Youth Exchange scheduled for Havana July 22–30. Marsán said the event will enable young people from the United States "to know the reality of Cuba, our democracy, and the war of ideas that we are waging against the policies the government of the United States is applying against Cuba."

U.S. imperialism, he said, "is trying to justify the blockade of our country with the so-called human rights issue. Discussions during the exchange will offer youth from the United States arguments that will enable them to fight against that campaign from within the United States. This is very important for the Cuban people. The event also aims to establish an exchange of youth that is an example of the kind of normal relationship that could exist between our two countries."

Noting that Cuba "was very much committed in the struggle against apartheid, which was the worst expression of racism," Marsán said the Cuban government would be participating in the United Nations World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, August 31 to September 7. Cuban organizations, he said, would participate in a forum of non-governmental groups being held alongside this meeting.

On their first full day in South Africa, the Cubans visited Soweto, the sprawling black township in the southwest of Johannesburg. The brief visit made an impression on them.

Marsán said two political realities struck him. First, is the effort to "rescue history. This is very important. The past of this country should not be forgotten. Not only because apartheid was shameful to humanity, but because all humanity needs to prevent it in the future."

Marsán also saw "the challenges facing this society after many years of apartheid. When you see the opulence of a small part of the population versus the poverty of the majority of the people, you start to appreciate the changes" that have taken place since apartheid was ended. He was impressed by "the will to erase the legacy of apartheid."

Sandar commented on the example Cuba offers to those living on the African continent, which has been devastated by its colonial past and held in chains today by imperialist domination. "The clearest example Cuba has given, not only to African youth, but to the world, is the example of courage, resistance, and of defending at any price the conquests of our society," she said, noting that there are 457 Cuban doctors working in South Africa alone, many of them in rural assignments refused by South African doctors.

Cuba represents a "people's decision on what their social system will be, with their own means, without international prescriptions. This is inspiring to people who want to choose their own destiny," said Martínez.  
 
 
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