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Vol. 81/No. 35 September 25, 2017
Brigade to see Cuban response to hurricane firsthand
BY ALYSON KENNEDY
The solidarity that workers and youth participating in the Oct. 1-15 “In
the Footsteps of Che” International Brigade bring to Cuba will be
especially welcome after Hurricane Irma. Brigadistas will learn
firsthand how the revolutionary Cuban government mobilized to meet the
hurricane’s threat, in sharp contrast to the capitalist rulers in the
U.S., and to the rulers in the U.S., the U.K., France and the
Netherlands towards their colonies in the Caribbean. No one is left on
their own in Cuba.
They’ll also learn how Cuban revolutionaries organized to deepen
solidarity with toilers who faced destruction from Hurricane Irma
elsewhere in the Caribbean, from Barbuda to Haiti. They’ll explain how
the U.S. rulers told working people “you’re on your own.” Under
capitalism, profits always come first.
The Minnesota Cuba Committee is organizing a public meeting where
participants will report back on the situation in Cuba. Similar meetings
are being organized in other cities.
A fundraiser will be held Sept. 30 in San Pedro to support southern
California participation in the brigade and in the 19th World Festival
of Youth and Students in Sochi, Russia, Oct. 14-22.
Some 20,000 delegates from 120 countries are expected to attend the
Sochi gathering, which is sponsored by the World Federation of
Democratic Youth. The over 100 delegates going from the U.S. have
received official letters of invitation and are raising funds for airfare.
The festival’s International Organizing Committee, led by organizations
that are members of the World Federation of Democratic Youth, is in
Sochi planning the festival’s political program, aimed at building
anti-imperialist activities worldwide.
Over 250 young revolutionaries from Cuba will be going to the festival.
In addition to 200 delegates elected among students and young workers
across the island, the Union of Young Communists announced that
outstanding leaders in history, science, medicine and sports will be
part of the Cuban delegation there. They include Fernando González
Llort, president of the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples,
the sponsor of the Che brigade. González was one of five Cuban
revolutionaries framed up by the U.S. government and imprisoned in the
U.S. for some 15 years for their actions in defense of the revolution.
Dr. Jorge González Pérez, who headed the Cuban team that found the
remains of Ernesto Che Guevara in Bolivia, will join the delegation. So
will Elián González. When he was 5 years old, Elián was picked up off
the coast of Florida after his mother drowned trying to reach the United
States. In violation of international conventions and Cuba’s
sovereignty, Washington refused for seven months to return Elián to his
father in Cuba. Brigadier Gen. Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez, the only Latin
American to go on a mission to space, is also part of the delegation.
For more information on the brigade and report-back meetings, contact
the Chicago Cuba Coalition at (312) 952-2618 or ICanGoToCuba@xxxxxxxxx.
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