Travanty, a political science and art student at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, is part of a group of several dozen college and high school students in the Twin Cities who are building a delegation from their area to Cuba this summer. They will take part in the Third Cuba-U.S. Youth Exchange, July 24–31. They will travel to Havana, as well as Santiago de Cuba, where they will take part in the national celebration of the 50th anniversary of the July 26, 1953, assault on the Bayamo and Moncada barracks. That was the beginning of Cuba’s revolutionary war, through which Cuban workers and farmers overthrew the U.S.-backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, took power into their own hands, and began building a socialist society. The revolution was led by the July 26 Movement and Rebel Army, headed by Fidel Castro, now Cuba’s president.

The project is hosted by Cuba’s Union of Young Communists, Federation of University Students, Federation of High School Students, and Brother Saíz Cultural Association. Hundreds of young people throughout the United States are expected to take part. The week-long tour will be an opportunity for youth from this country to meet their Cuban peers, and exchange experiences and ideas about world politics.

"We have been holding meetings every two weeks on the U of M campus, with about 15–20 people at each meeting," said Travanty. "I think about one-sixth or one-fifth of the group is high school students." The meetings were initiated by the Minnesota Cuba Coalition and professors at the University of Minnesota.

Similar delegations are being built around the country.

More than 50 people attended a Youth Exchange planning meeting in Los Angeles April 12. The Los Angeles Coalition in Solidarity with Cuba has organized these gatherings here every other week since January.

The April 12 meeting included students from a number of area colleges and high schools.

Several organizations are endorsers of the Youth Exchange in LA. They include the Comité Zapatista de Los Angeles, the Puerto Rican Alliance, the Central American Resource Center Youth Leadership Program, the Young Socialists, and several campus chapters of the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA), and Raza Student Associations.

Sol Porras, the chairperson of the MEChA chapter at California State University, Northridge, reported on preparations on her campus for the trip. "We have about 20 people planning on going to Cuba this summer from my school," she said. "We have already started plans for fund-raising, including parties and teach-ins."

Lawrence Reyes of the Puerto Rican Alliance in Los Angeles described plans to raise funds for the broader group from Los Angeles, which include a fund-raising barbecue April 27. One upcoming event will be an April 24 public forum titled "Defend Cuban Sovereignty," which will feature a panel of speakers including leaders of the local delegation for the Youth Exchange.

Several of the youth planning on going on the Youth Exchange have begun working to obtain licenses to travel legally. While the U.S. government recently revoked the "people-to-people" licenses, tightening its travel restrictions to Cuba, other types of licenses exist. They include academic permits belonging to universities or academic departments, religious licenses, and permits for humanitarian aid. Journalist licenses exist for those who are employed full-time by a media outlet and have an assignment from that employer to cover the event.

Meeting participants also decided to study Cuban history and current events in preparation for the trip. Jeff Kikawa, a student at California State University, Long Beach, proposed that the group study The Second Declaration of Havana. Two people at the meeting bought copies of the pamphlet, and another 16 placed orders for it.

Groups of young people are building the Youth Exchange in many other areas, including New York, Washington, D.C., and Cleveland. About 16 students and other youth took part in a film showing of the Cuban movie Death of a Bureaucrat at Barnard College in New York April 19 to raise funds for the exchange.

Many of these local groups are publicizing the Youth Exchange with the call by the hosting organizations in Cuba that initiated this project. "The current U.S. administration and the most reactionary sectors," the document says, "have launched a fierce struggle against the Cuban people. Our youth and students want to live in peace with their next-door neighbor, however we will never give up our dreams.... Our Revolution has not only allowed us to inherit and enjoy its conquests, but enables us to play a leading role in an ongoing ‘Battle of Ideas,’ building a more just and cultured society...."

"Let’s find a common road to mutual understanding, tolerance, peace, and respect. Let’s discuss the important issues of great concern in today’s world, such as ecology, unemployment, democracy, racism, culture as people’s identity, the situation in education, women’s issues, and many others. Let’s meet and live in a spirit of solidarity at the III Cuba-U.S. Youth Exchange. We await you in Cuba."

Olympia Newton is a member of the Young Socialists in Los Angeles. Paul Pederson, a member of the Young Socialists in New York, contributed to this article.  
 
 
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