FRFI 167 June / July 2002
‘This 40th anniversary of the UJC takes place as our people are involved in the Battle of Ideas…[which] is not just about principles, theory, knowledge, culture, arguments, replies and counter-replies, destroying lies and seeding truths – it is also about action and concrete realisations…At the vanguard of this great work are the young people, the students and our wonderful children. Because of them our optimism and confidence in the future is stronger every day.’
Fidel Castro, 4 April 2002
In April 2002, Cuba celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Union of Young Communists (UJC), the movement which organises young people in Cuba. It has been a fundamental driving force of the revolution, developing the collective and anti-imperialist consciousness of young Cubans. It was founded on 4 April 1962 by members of the Rebel Army which had defeated the US-backed dictatorship in January 1959. ‘The official birth of the UJC occurred between the Bay of Pigs invasion and the 1962 crisis which put the world on the brink of nuclear war’, President Castro recalled in his anniversary speech. ‘Our people, always heroic, didn’t vacillate, break down or give an inch in defence of their ideas and principles. During this tense and glorious stage of our history the spirited Cuban youth emerged as an organised force and bastion of our country.’
This is not mere rhetoric. The Cuban Revolution has been kept vibrant and responsive to the needs of its people because the Communist Party has consistently held the revolutionary consciousness of the people as one of its priorities. Despite the US blockade and the demise of the Soviet Union, both of which have crippled Cuba’s economy, the revolutionary spirit of the people has remained undaunted. The future of Cuba’s Revolution rests on the commitment of its youth. For this reason the UJC and its work are at the heart of Cuba, and for this reason the RCG and FRFI, through Rock around the Blockade, have consistently given solidarity to, and worked with the UJC. All the RATB brigades have been aimed at helping the UJC and its work in the regions, and the recent speaking tour in March 2002 cemented the already close relationship we have. It was a great honour for us to be invited to the anniversary celebrations alongside representatives of 26 countries; we were the only representatives from Britain.
We went to Cuba not only to celebrate with our Cuban comrades, but also to see the major projects the UJC is now engaged in as part of their new campaign: the Battle of Ideas. This is not just a fine title: it represents the recognition by the Communist leadership that Cuban youth have a major role to play in the future as the bedrock of revolution, and in improving the daily lives of Cuban people, practically and culturally.
School of Social Work
Four new Schools of Social Work have been opened, providing intensive 10-month training for 7,200 students aged 17 to 22, who have completed high school but did not enter university. Amongst the subjects studied are psychology, social law, computer studies and social communication. The students discuss national and international news and the majority of them graduate as members of the UJC. Students are guaranteed a job or university place at the end of the course.
The more than 1,000 social workers who have already graduated are working with children, adolescents and the elderly, and incorporate the entire community in their work to address any problems or issues these people face. The role of the social workers is to be social educators, cultural promoters and most importantly a ‘friend to families’.
The student social workers we met see their role as one of the most important in Cuban society today, for example they organised a rapid response to the outbreak of dengue fever in January. It was virtually eradicated in 75 days. The goal is to train 35,000 social workers, approximately one for every 300 inhabitants.
Video clubs
The video clubs have large screen TVs and show programmes for people of all ages. Even the feature films are introduced by one of the workers at the club and a discussion is held afterwards. Every video club employs four people from the community who organise the schedule and talks. Other activities at the video clubs include book presentations, local artist or poetry performances, drama or dance productions. Members of the community can also watch the ‘University for all’ programmes and national and international sports events. Local schools also use the facilities.
After a two-year pilot project, video clubs will be opened throughout the country including 1,944 video rooms powered by solar energy in areas lacking electricity.
School of Latin American Medicine
Cuba’s first internationalist medical brigade arrived in Algeria in 1963. Since then, 83 countries have received similar solidarity, involving 43,699 Cuban doctors who have given their services free of charge in the remotest locations, mainly in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa. Today Cuba has 2,644 Cuban medical personnel working in 18 countries.
The impetus for the Latin American School of Medicine came from the Cuban doctors who worked in Honduras and Guatemala after the hurricanes in 1998/9. Horrified by the shortage of medical workers in the poor rural communities, they invited local people to study medicine in Cuba.
There are now 5,853 students in Havana from 24 Latin American, Caribbean and African countries including 36 students from the USA. Almost half are female. Once students graduate and return to their own countries they are encouraged to work in poor communities and educate others. The school is completely free.
There is no formal political education, but the students we met felt that the solidarity Cuba has shown them and their countries was due to its socialist principles. Through internationalist projects like these, Cuba is building up constituencies to represent its anti-imperialist politics throughout the developing world (and the USA!).
‘To be here means to fulfil my biggest dream, which is to become a doctor…I can say that at last I know the real meaning of the word “brotherhood”. Cuba has taught me that word and I will teach it to my people once I return to my country. We have a massive “homework” – to save human lives and ultimately save the world.’ Edali, Peru
International School of Sport
The newest university to open is the International School of Sport which already has 890 students, and will grow quickly to 1,500. The school provides five-year training courses and a bachelor of physical education qualification for poor people from around world. Both the dormitories and the university teams are country-mixed. There are over 30 sports facilities and everything is free! The emphasis is on co-operation before competition, although cultural identity is also promoted and in the evenings the 55 countries represented in the school put on cultural events for each other.
The idea of the school was promoted after the last Olympics when the Cuban team noted that over 260 athletes from ‘Third World’ countries participated under a ‘First World’ flag. This showed how the rich capitalist nations steal talent.
‘This school is important to my country because it assists individuals to enhance and develop skills so that they would be able to contribute and help others who didn’t have the opportunity and their country as a whole in the sports department…It has given me the opportunity to be a better person and also help other people be better people!’
Maurisa, Trinidad and Tobago
Other programmes which the RATB and RCG delegates visited during the 40th anniversary celebrations included:
• Computer clubs: these are open to all Cubans in every municipality and fitted with the most up-to-date equipment for accessing the internet and email. The clubs run short courses on information technology. We participated in the inauguration of two new Cuban youth websites: www. joven.cu and www.tribunaantiimperialista.cu. A new programme of computer studies has been established at the elementary school level to benefit over one million children. The technology for this project cost $15 million. Over 70,000 teachers have been trained, 12,000 new jobs have been created and 24,000 computers have been installed.
• Visual Arts Schools: these have been established in remote parts of the island.
• The Carlos Finlay Institute: this is devoted to the research and development of vaccinations, including cancer and AIDs. The meningitis vaccine was developed here.
• A school for children with serious physical disabilities: the children put on a performance with dignity and self-confidence which was outstanding. RATB donated material aid for the school.
A day of proud celebrations
The 40th anniversary was marked with a ceremony full of singing, dancing and rousing speeches. There we met the families of the Miami 5 who thanked us for campaigning for the release of the prisoners. That night we joined 10,000 UJC cadre for a street party on the Malecon outside the US Interest Section building. As well as the booming sounds of Cuba’s favourite salsa bands, everyone present was given free food and beer!
The next day we met Elian’s father, Miguel Gonzalez, who works as a waiter and cashier in Varadero. On Saturday 6 April, we attended an open-air tribunal in a Havana municipality demanding the release of the Miami 5. 140,000 people attended. As well as local people, the rally was attended by students from Havana’s School of Social Work, Pioneers, the Olympic team, the Military Youth and the UJC. The tribunal, shown live on TV, was opened by an 11-year-old pioneer, who spoke with great conviction demanding the prisoners’ release and opposing imperialism. 140,000 paper Cuban flags rustled in agreement as the morning sun rose and representatives of all sections of society spoke, including a social worker, a dengue fever spray-worker, a secondary school student, President of the University Students Federation, Hassan Perez and Foreign Minister, Felipe Perez Roque who condemned the Zionist atrocities in Palestine and the US aggression against Cuba. He warned the USA: ‘it should be made clear that our patience has its limits!’
Susan Rose
