‘When the history of Guantanamo is written up there will be a space left for Rock around the Blockade’, the second secretary of the UJC in Guantanamo Province told RATB brigadistas currently in Cuba on the tenth anniversary of the foundation of our campaign and our collaboration with the UJC. This is the third consecutive brigade to visit Guantanamo Province since 2000. In Caimanera they are building the disco where the sound system donated by RATB will go.
So far brigadistas have met Cubans from many sections of society. In Guantanamo City we spent time with a street committee, known as the Committee for the Defence of the Revolution (CDR), which exist in every street and rural community in Cuba. The members of the CDR told us about their work in the neighbourhood helping with social problems and the needs of the local people. They were very interested to learn about our own lives and work and had many questions concerning Britain’s occupation of Iraq, asking when we thought the troops would be withdrawn. They demonstrated a deep understanding of imperialism.
Everywhere we go there is a strong emphasis on the Battle of Ideas, the current stage in Cuba’s socialist Revolution, which extends education and culture as a tool for strengthening socialist consciousness. The Battle of Ideas aims to build an inclusive, democratic society where all Cubans participate.
RATB has also had a fruitful meeting with the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) with whom we discussed the role of women in Cuban society, the social character of their work and how they deal with the concrete problems of daily life. They told us how they are building on the Family Code, giving rights to all family members. They explained their relationship with other organisations in Cuba, including the Communist Party.
Cubans are currently dealing with constant power cuts due to work being carried out in generators in the national electricity grid. Despite the problems this brings, Cubans have demonstrated a form of stoicism which the British media could only dream of, working collectively to overcome the difficulties.
Everywhere revolutionary slogans adorn the walls – particularly ‘There is no problem without a solution’.
In Caimanera we met children taking a swimming lesson and asked them what they thought of the US naval base which shadows over them. They told us they hated it, not only because it was on illegally occupied Cuban land, but because it was being used to hold Arabs in inhumane conditions.
On a visit to an old people’s home, the residents greeted us with songs and other performances and told us about their own roles in the revolutionary struggle.
We have also visited the Jose Marti museum in Baracoa and a computer centre, which provides free training and access to computers for Cubans of all ages.
On Friday 22 July we leave Guantanamo for Havana where we will stay another week. There we will meet members of the Communist Party, and have a conference with Angel Arcos, a close collaborator of Che Guevara in the early 1960s Ministry of Industries, and possibly other comrades of Che. We are also excited about taking part in the annual 26 July celebrations, commemorating the attack on Moncada Barracks led by Fidel Castro in 1953.
In our time here we have been truly impressed with the strength of the Battle of Ideas and those of us who were here for the brigade in 2002 can notice the ideological difference since that time. The level of knowledge, interest and commitment to the Revolution has deepened. Everywhere we go Cubans question us about our own society, our political work and talk with great knowledge about imperialism.
In the words of Carlito, head of ideology in Guantanamo ‘so far in Cuba they measure time in terms of before and after Christ. Soon it will be measured in terms of before and after the Battle of Ideas’.
FRFI 187 will carry a full report of the brigade and from the RCG delegation to this year’s Festival of Youth to be held in Venezuela in August. Reportback meetings from the brigade will take place around the country in August.
Contact Rock around the Blockade on 0207 837 1688 for details. www.ratb.org.uk
FRFI 186 August / September 2005
