Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Cuba Beyond Fidel: Youth in Defense of Socialism

"In 1959 Cuba became free and sovereign for the first time in its history"
-Kenia Serrano, member of the Union of Young Communists of Cuba while speaking in Miami University.

Felipe Perez Roque born in 1965, is Cuba’s foreign minister. At his appointment in 1999, he was not only the youngest member of the Cuban cabinet but also the only to be born after the Cuban Revolution in 1959. Pérez Roque was formerly an electronics engineer and leader of Federation of University Students (FEU) and of the Union of Young Communists (UJC) that included participating in several international youth conferences. He functioned as part of Fidel Castro’s personal cabinet for several years. He is Cuba’s UN representative and has given a series of well-known speeches against U.S policies from the war in Iraq to the blockade against Cuba.
Biography | Speeches | CBC Article "After Castro


Otto Rivero Torres, in his mid-30s, came from a working-class family in Villa Clara. He was president of FEU while also a member of the Union of Young Communists (UJC). He graduated as an engineer with a focus on transportation. Rivero was the National Secretary of the UJC for many years. He now heads up the Battle of Ideas for the UJC and holds posts in the Communist Party of Cuba. His post in the UJC was taken over by Julio Martinez.


Kenia Serrano was born in Holguin province, Cuba in 1973. While studying for a degree in foreign language teaching she joined the University Students Federation (FEU) and was one of their representatives in the Cuban parliament. By 1994 Kenia was responsible for the International Relations of the FEU at a national level. In 1995, Serano was part of a U.S. speaking tour of which she visited 47 universities in 13 states and 28 cities.

By 1998 she had become a member of the National Committee of UJC and two years later was invited onto the political leadership of the National Bureau. She joined the Communist Party in July 2000. She has traveled widely, participating in a variety of international youth events around the Caribbean and Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. She is now in charge of International Relations for UJC.
Article Speaking at Miami University

Hassan Perez in his early 30s, became known as a university student in Havana. He was president of FEU until his graduation. He has participated in many youth conferences around the world in explaining and defending the gains of Cuba’s socialist revolution. He has spoken at the UN along side Cuba’s Foreign Minister Perez Roque. He now holds the post as Second Secretary of the UJC and is a member of the Communist Party of Cuba.
Speech at UN

Cuban youth take part in social work during summer
Fidel speaks with U.S. youth
Youth Graduate from Medical School in Cuba
National Bureau of UJC

Thursday, August 03, 2006

What if Fidel dies?


What if? It is the most asked question to Cubans for many years now. The Cuban-Americans who live in Miami have said long ago that they long for that day. Their argument is that when Fidel passes, the Cuban people will be liberated and will greet with open arms capitalism and all those who left. Those who have left have done so for different reasons, but there is one particular group that is widely heard over the U.S. media. Those are the majority landlords and professionals who left Cuba once proclaimed socialist.

There is a Cuban reality that most people do not understand. If your information comes souly from the U.S. news networks and stories repeated from counterrevolutionaries, then you will have the opinion that Fidel is a tyrant and the Cuban people live in fear and backwardness. Some individuals retain that opinion even after traveling to Cuba. I remember particularly two young college students from Ohio whom I traveled with during 3rd U.S.-Cuba Youth Exchange. They were young vegans that when they told the waiter, “I don’t eat meat”, they were given rice that had been cooked with pork juice and served with chicken. They would then tell the waiter I don’t eat anything made from animals and they got a plate of rice and fish. After that encounter, they received a big salad with green beans and hardboiled eggs. They then were shocked to see houses that have not been painted and the appearance of the people according to U.S. standards were poor. They encountered missing toilet seats and school children asking tourists for pens, notebooks or gum. I advised them to pick a country in Latin America and see how the poor people live there. You will encounter children that don’t go to school and work. You will see homes made of wood with dirt floors and no running water—forget even a toilet. When a hurricane passes maybe one person will die in Cuba, while several thousands die in Haiti or Honduras due to mudslides. Why is that? I also told them that they need to get over their strict diet because in the Latino culture it is rude to not eat food that is given to you whether you like it or not. You eat what you have.

To return to the subject on hand: What will happen? Well, I’ve heard that question asked many times to Cubans touring the U.S. and also while I was in the island. The answer was always similar and which is also felt today in the island. [See article1, 2]

While Fidel would be deeply missed there is an entire new generation that was raised and educated under the revolution but did not live the actual battles. There battle has been the Battle of Ideas (1, 2). There is confidence in the new generation. While some things will remain, such as free education, healthcare, childcare and other needs provided by the state, there will be changes. There will not be changes like those Cubans who want to see an end to socialism. They see a return to the life and wealth they once pertained, including land (that has been long ago redistributed) and mansions (that are now apartment complexes). They know to achieve this they will have to defeat a people that will fight tooth and nail to maintain what is theirs.

What will happen when Fidel dies? There will definitely be a new step and new challenges facing the Cuban people and their revolution. While you will never encounter a population that is 100% happy with their government, the reason that Cuba remains socialist to this day is because the majority supports it values and its process, while some differences will always remain.

Will the trade embargo be lifted? I very much doubt it. Since the politics against the embargo was never anti-Castro, but anti-socialist revolution. If Fidel would have died and Cienfuegos was President the politics would not change. Bacardi, United Fruit Company, General Electric and Dole are still crying over their lost land and facilities that they once used to exploit the Cuban people and gained tremendous profit. The trade embargo will remain until the U.S. rulers’ faces tremendous lose in confidence that they feel a change in strategy is needed.

Impact on health in Cuba by U.S. embargo, Cuban health, other stats.

If you want to learn more about the history of Cuba and the revolution today, I suggest the following books, DVDs and music:

Books
The Cubans: Voices of Change
From the Escambray to the Congo
Women and the Cuban Revolution

Movies
Cuban Story
A Portrait of Teresa
Strawberry and Chocolate

Music
Silvio Rodriguez
Buena Vista Social Club
Carlos Puebla

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Announcement from the President to the Cuban People

by Fidel Castro

Due to the enormous effort made to visit the Argentine city of Córdoba, participate in the MERCOSUR meeting, in the closing session of the Summit of the Peoples in the historical University of Córdoba and the visit to Altagracia, the city where Che lived as a child, and in addition to that immediately attending the commemoration of the 53rd anniversary of the assault on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes garrisons on July 26, 1953 in the provinces of Granma and Holguín, compounded by days and nights of continuous work with barely any sleep have all resulted in my health, which has stood up to every test, being subjected to extreme stress and breaking down. This provoked an acute intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding which obliged me to undergo a complicated surgical operation. All the details of this health accident are confirmed by X-rays, endoscopies and filmed material. The operation has obliged me to take various weeks of rest, at a remove from my responsibilities and duties.

Given that our country is threatened in circumstances like this by the government of the United States, I have taken the following decision:

1) I provisionally delegate my functions as first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba to the second secretary, comrade Raúl Castro Ruz.

2) I provisionally delegate my functions as Commander in Chief of the Revolutionary Armed Forces to the abovementioned comrade, General of the Army Raúl Castro Ruz.

3) I provisionally delegate my functions as president of the Council of State and the government of the Republic of Cuba to the first vice president, comrade Raúl Castro Ruz.

4) I provisionally delegate my functions as the principal instigator of the National and International Public Health Program to member of the Political Bureau and Minister of Public Health, comrade José Ramón Balaguer Cabrera.

5) I provisionally delegate my functions as the principal instigator of the National and International Education Program to comrades José Ramón Machado Ventura and Esteban Lazo Hernández, members of the Political Bureau.

6) I provisionally delegate my functions as the principal instigator of the National Program of the Energy Revolution in Cuba and cooperation with other countries in this sphere to comrade Carlos Lage Dávila, member of the Political Bureau and secretary of the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers.

The funds corresponding to these three programs: Health, Education and Energy, should continue being managed and prioritized, as I have been doing personally, by comrades Carlos Lage Dávila, secretary of the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers; Francisco Soberón Valdés, minister president of the Central Bank of Cuba; and Felipe Pérez Roque, minister of foreign affairs, who have accompanied me in these matters and who should constitute a committee for that objective.

Our glorious Communist Party, supported by the mass organizations and all the people, has the mission of assuming the task entrusted in this announcement.

The Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, scheduled for September 11-16, should receive the greatest attention of the Cuban state and nation to take place with the maximum brilliance on the agreed date. I would ask everyone to postpone the anniversary of my 80th birthday, which thousands of personalities so generously agreed to celebrate on August 13, to December 2 of this year, the 50th anniversary of the Granma Landing.

I ask the Central Committee of the Party and the National Assembly of People's Power to give their firmest support to this announcement.

I do not harbor the slightest doubt that our people and our Revolution will fight until the last drop of blood to defend these and other ideas and measures that are necessary for safeguarding this historical process.

Imperialism will never be able to crush Cuba.

The Battle of Ideas will continue advancing.

¡Viva la Patria!

¡Viva la Revolución!

¡Viva el Socialismo!

¡Hasta la Victoria Siempre!

Fidel Castro Ruz

Commander in Chief
First Secretary of the Party and
President of the Councils of State and Ministers of the Republic of Cuba.

Link to: National Network on Cuba