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Vol. 81/No. 31 August 21, 2017
Che brigade is opportunity for youth, workers to
‘see Cuba for yourselves’
BY ALYSON KENNEDY
As of Aug. 7, 66 people have signed up to go on the “In the Footsteps of
Che International Brigade” to Cuba, and 10 others are in the works.
Brigade organizers say it’s filling up and anyone who wants to go should
get their applications in as soon as possible.
Delegations from around the world will arrive in Cuba Oct. 1 for the
two-week brigade. Initiated by the Cuban Institute for Friendship with
the Peoples (ICAP), the brigade is a tribute to the legacy of Ernesto
Che Guevara.
Guevara, originally from Argentina, was one of the outstanding
revolutionary leaders of the 20th century.
The brigade takes place the same month as tens of thousands of young
people will gather for the 19th World Festival of Youth and Students in
Sochi, Russia. The Oct. 14-22 festival is another opportunity for
revolutionary-minded youth to learn more about the fight against
Washington’s wars and imperialist exploitation worldwide. It is being
organized under the banner: “For peace, solidarity and social justice,
we struggle against imperialism. Honoring our past, we build our future!”
The brigade will commemorate the 50th anniversary of Guevara’s death in
combat. He was killed in October 1967 by the CIA and troops of the
Bolivian military dictatorship. Guevara had left Cuba in 1966 for
Bolivia, where he led revolutionaries there who fought to overthrow the
U.S.-backed regime.
As Fidel Castro explained to the Cuban people 10 days later, Washington
and the Bolivian rulers feared putting Guevara on trial, because it
would give a platform to one of the world’s most powerful spokespeople
for the political and moral duty of working-class revolutionary struggle.
Brigadistas will start out in the Julio Antonio Mella International Camp
near Havana, meeting with leaders of Cuban groups and spending time
doing volunteer agricultural work.
Brigadistas will meet with members of the Federation of Cuban Women
(FMC), the Cuban Workers Federation (CTC), visit provinces where Che
fought during the 1956-58 revolutionary war and meet some of Che’s
co-combatants from both Bolivia and the Congo.
Members of the Socialist Workers Party in Minneapolis are spreading the
world about the brigade as they campaign door to door. Jacquie Henderson
and David Rosenfeld, SWP candidate for mayor of Minneapolis, met with
Joseph Sullivan, a young worker who found out about the brigade from SWP
campaigners the previous weekend. He decided to join the brigade and
sent in his application. “I want to see Cuba for myself and join in
telling the truth about it when I come back,” he said.
To sign up, contact the Chicago Cuba Coalition at (312) 952-2618 or
ICanGoToCuba@xxxxxxxxx.
Related articles:
Revolution in Cuba shows road forward in Americas
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