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Solidarity In Cuba: VVAW/WSO Member Visits Cuba

By VVAW

This article is written in solidarity with the 20th celebration of the Moncada attack of July 26, 1953, led by Fidel against the second largest fortress of Batista's repressive forces and considered the actually beginning of the Cuban revolution. There will be celebrations of this anniversary in many U.S. cities, (sponsored by the Venceremos Brigade) with displays showing all aspects of Cuban life 20 years later.

On March 19th, I arrived in Cuba along with over a hundred Brigadistas to begin an experience that changed part of the "I" in all of us to "we," strengthening our resolve, improving our attitudes toward work and collectivity and giving us an opportunity to build with our hands a real part of the new society. We spent six weeks doing construction work. Together with Cuban workers we made pre-fab concrete forms for houses, completed six houses, nearly completed six more, and finished two floors of a five story apartment building. These buildings will form part of a complete town for the workers of the Los Naranjos Cattle Breeding project. After our work, we toured Cuba for two weeks on new buses over thousands of miles of new roads; neither existed before the revolution. We visited some places - beaches and restaurants - where the majority of us and our Cuban comrades would have been too poor or the wrong color to make use of. Mostly, we saw new schools, day care centers, towns, recreation centers, factories, and hospitals all built since the revolution; many were built just in the last few years. These have added momentum in the struggle to go from extreme poverty and degradation to prosperity and national dignity.

Cuba is a socialist country; under socialism all interests are collective. This means that you don't work for yourself but for everybody and it also means that everyone is working for you. This is why in Havanna buses are only a nickel and public phones are free. It is also why most Cuban's transportation to work is free. Public transportation is so thorough that on a four hour truck ride to the small mountain village of Uvero (there is a grave yard there where sick peasants died waiting for a boat because there were no medical facilities and no road) I saw over three public buses pass.

Since the motive of profit has been destroyed, conditions for the people are better in all ways. IN the Matahambre Copper mine, I talked to a mine who had worked there 19 years. He told me that before the revolution, conditions were very hard. The miners stayed under ground 8 hours in unventilated, unsafe conditions and hardly got enough pay to live on. Now the shifts are only 6 hours. Transportation, work clothes, lunches and beer after work are all free, and wages and conditions are better.

Education is free and of excellent quality. Students not only study but they work in some form of productive labor; usually agriculture for junior and high school students and a work place directly related to their future jobs for college students. Not only this, but college incorporated into work allows full time workers to work and advance their education at the same time, while students respect the value of work and workers.

The position of women has advanced immensely. I talked to women who watched their children starve before the revolution. Their daughters can now work and take equal part in political activities. Their granddaughters will have full opportunities for education, all kinds of jobs, and self development. One example was the 14 year old sister of one of the Cubans I worked with. I was told that she is studying to be an engineer and is already elected head of the political youth organization in her school. I also saw young women in leadership positions in universities, factories, block organizations, day care centers, etc.

The Cubans are not just dedicated to their own prosperity but support all the peoples of the world struggling against imperialism. I talked to workers who were voluntarily working overtime to make furniture for children's hospitals in North Vietnam which are being rebuilt after being destroyed by U.S. bombs.

All of these developments have happened in the short space of 13 years, a large part the result of volunteer labor. This could not have occurred without the support of the vast majority of the Cuban people.