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The Militant (logo)
Vol. 82/No. 4 January 29, 2018
(special feature)
See revolutionary Cuba for yourself!
Join May Day Brigade
BY BRIAN WILLIAMS
The Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) has issued a
call for the 13th annual May Day International Brigade to Cuba for April
23-May 6. The National Network on Cuba is coordinating the effort to
sign up U.S. participants.
The brigade will offer participants a unique opportunity to learn
firsthand the truth about the Cuban Revolution and strengthen efforts on
their return to organize activities to demand Washington end its
economic blockade of Cuba now; U.S. out of Guantánamo now; and a halt to
U.S. government subversive programs against Cuba.
Registration is open until March 16, ICAP says.
“I’m planning to go,” Samir Hazboun, who works on the education team at
Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market, Tennessee, told
the Militant in a phone interview Jan. 15. “There’s a group of about
nine of us organizing to go. They’re Central Appalachian youth from
Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina. We’re
planning some fundraising to help cover expenses.
“I urge people to go and see the truth of the Cuban Revolution for
themselves,” Hazboun said. He participated in the “In the Footsteps of
Che” brigade to Cuba last October. “It helped me understand that the
Cubans had a true workers revolution that laid the foundation that made
possible in Cuba powerful accomplishments like quality health care,” he
said.
One of the highlights of the trip will be participating in the massive
May 1 International Workers Day mobilization in Revolution Square in
Havana and the International Meeting of Solidarity with Cuba the
following day.
Brigade members will be based at the Julio Antonio Mella International
Camp in Artemisa province, an agricultural area about an hour outside
Havana.
They’ll learn about Mella, who was a leader of student protests at the
University of Havana in the 1920s and founder of the Cuban Communist
Party, seeking to emulate the example of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution
in Russia. After being expelled from school and arrested by the
dictatorship of Gerardo Machado, Mella escaped Cuba and make his way to
Mexico. Organizing there to return and overthrow the Machado regime, he
was assassinated in 1929.
Brigade members will also visit the provinces of Villa Clara and
Camagüey. For several days, they’ll participate in voluntary
agricultural work along with meetings with members of Cuban groups,
workers and farmers.
They’ll visit the Che Guevara Museum, Memorial and Mausoleum; go to
factories to exchange experiences with union workers there; and meet
with members of the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution. They’ll
visit a municipality affected by Hurricane Irma and see firsthand how
working people and their revolutionary government organized to deal with
the hurricane’s impact and moved quickly to repair and rebuild damaged
structures.
In Havana events will include a workshop on the history of the Cuban
Revolution with talks by combatants of the revolution, members of the
Federation of Cuban Women and other working-class fighters.
The brigade is a special opportunity for workers and farmers from the
U.S. who face the unrelenting effects of the capitalists’ drive to make
us pay for their crisis of production, trade and jobs today. The Cuban
Revolution is an example of what can be accomplished when our class
fights to take power, to take control of our own destiny.
The cost of the package, which includes meals and lodging in Cuba, is
$675 plus airfare. The Julio Antonio Mella camp can accommodate up to
220 people, so it’s important for those interested to confirm their
participation as soon as possible. After the camp reaches its capacity,
all late applicants who can be accommodated will have alternative
lodging at a higher cost, the letter says.
The National Network on Cuba is “encouraging people across the country
to participate, particularly young people who have not been to Cuba,”
Gail Walker, one of the network’s co-chairs and executive director of
IFCO/Pastors for Peace, told the Militant Jan. 15. “There’s no better
way to be informed about Cuba’s reality.”
“I encourage anyone interested to see what’s possible when you have
working people in power,” said Hazboun. “There’s a lot of learning to do
and it will be a very inspiring trip.”
For more information on the brigade and to download an application, go
to NNOC.info and click on MayDay brigade.
Related articles:
Washington eases off on Cuba travel advisory
East Coast tour of Cuban literacy campaign volunteer Griselda Aguilera
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