DN MAY 17 ®nnel in Cuba. This personnel — \ similar numbers — had been Rre for 17 years and every Merican president knew it. Pres- lent Carter used the false ‘‘dis- Avery”, however, as a pretext to * up a special military unit to Alice the Caribbean. “Also in line with the same Mlectives, the White House has n trying to isolate Cuba from & rest of Latin America. It has n using the Venezuelan and Puvian governments for this. he Venezuelan government — Nich recently granted a $20-mil- %a credit to the Salvadoran junta Nchering the people of that Nuntry — has yet to punish those ponsible for the October 1976 bing of a Cuban plane, which Ashed near Barbados, killing all people on board. “As for Peru, in 1977, that coun- ?’s navy — at the time furiously hupport of the Pinochet regime While — sank two Cuban fishing tts in the port of Callao. )° EMBASSY EPISODE hyhe latest provocations at the +an embassy are not without Be odents For some time, ‘ Venezuela and Peru had ten following a policy of giving Xsylum’’ to anti-social types — Mae of them victims of political t-secution — who forced their Ry into embassies. At the same Ne, they consistently refused Aas to anyone requesting them a peaceful and legal manner. Cuban government repeat- y warmed the two gover- nts, in private, through dip- Mnatic channels, that these prac- Nes would only encourage the 'e of violence, and could have ‘tious CONsequences. On April 1, Cuban guard Pedro iz Cabrera was killed trying to. A\fend the Peruvian embassy dur- ing one of these forced entries. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back. An official note ap- peared on the front page of the Cuban Communist Party daily, Granma, saying that due to the Peruvian authorities’ unwilling- ness to cooperate in the protec- tion of their own premises, the Cuban guard at the Peruvian em- bassy was being removed. Cuba would not have more of its valu- able combatants killed in this way. It would not have its reputa- tion as having one of the safest capitals in the world for foreign diplomats destroyed. Those who had forced their way into the em- bassy would not be given safe conducts to leave the country. CUBA’S POSITION As was expected, the day after the guard was removed, several thousand anti-social types and criminals entered the embassy grounds wanting to leave for more propitious territory to carry out their activities. The Cuban posi- tion was complete freedom of emigration. Anyone wanting to leave was free to do so, as long as they received a visa from the country they wanted to go to. CRIMINAL ACTS As no one made any rush to take them — both wanting to maintain a potentially explosive pressure point in Cuba and be- cause of internal problems, such as over 50% unemployment and underemployment in Peru — the situation inside the embassy grounds deteriorated. An ‘‘order committee’” was set up by the criminals there, taking charge of beating anyone trying to leave. One 14 year-old boy, brought by his parents, managed to escape on his third attempt, TRIBUNE PHOTO — EDYA WEIR games in the Caribbean. Others were denied food as the biggest thus grabbed up all supplies sent in by the Cuban au- thorities, including the milk piped in for the children. Reports of at least six rapes in the embassy grounds in the first week, including that of an 10- year-old girl, contrasted sharply with a 55% reduction in robberies in the rest of Havana in the same period. The Cuban authorities suc- ceeded in controlling this situa- tion by announcing that all those who went home, accepting the safe conducts and passports they issued, would be given priority to leave the country first. And, as the first groups began leaving for abroad, Cuba quickly quashed a new manoeuvre. All those who left, regardless of the country of their destination, were being piled up in a camp in Costa Rica. For what purpose, the Cuban au- thorities asked. And they warned: there would be no more depar- tures, until the flights went direct- ly to their final destinations. THE FLOTILLA In the meantime, boats began arriving in the port of Mariel — west of Havana—from Florida, to pick up people who had been in the embassy, and relatives of Cu- bans living in the United States. after leaving his shoes and ID They were welcomed, and the behind and jumping the fence. “scum’”’, the name given by the Torontonians march outside the U.S. consulate in support of Cuba’s independence and against U.S. military people here to those leaving, began heading directly to the im- perialist heartland. Threats from the U.S. State Department to fine boat owners ‘“‘illegally’’ trans- porting Cubans to the U.S., and to limit Cuban immigration there for the first time since the Revolu- tion, have been ignored. As for Washington’s outcry that ‘‘Castro is sending us who- ever he wants; he’s emptying the prisons’’, it has been sarcastically noted here that, for the first time in 21 years, Washington can't tell the difference between ‘‘dissi- dents’’ and criminals. This is its prize, Granma says, for its years of aggression and threats against the revolution. Just prior to the events at the Peruvian embassy, Cuba was, suspiciously, affected, all at the same time, by plagues in its sugar and tobacco crops and an out- break of African swine fever. Chance? Perhaps. But it has been noted here, officially, that this would not be the first time the CIA has had a hand in things of this kind. MILITARY THREAT And, while the people here were incensed at the West's at- tempts to discredit the revolu- tion, and its claims that the few thousand individuals in the em- bassy grounds represented the Cuban people’s _ feelings, Washington’s game became even more dangerous. It announced three-week military manoeuvres to take place in the Caribbean. They were to include the landing of 2,000 marines and soldiers at Guantanamo Naval Base, on Cuban territory, illegally oc- cupied by the United States by virtue of a treaty imposed on Cuba during its military occupa- - tion of the island at the beginning of the century. The reaction in Cuba to the news of the manoeuvres was one of outrage. ‘‘A gross rehearsal, on Cuban territory, for an invasion of Cuba,’’ Granma called them. A mammoth rally was called for May Day, as a show of force, to demonstrate to the United States the Cuban people’s determination “Good riddance to those living off our sweat” says the banner of these Cuban workers. Similar expressions of support for the revolution are seen throughout the island. to defend their country, should the military manoeuvres turn into anything else. And another giant demonstration was scheduled for May 8, the day the U.S. man- oeuvres were set to begin. This time, though, the March of the Combative People would not be limited just to Havana; the force of the people was to be felt throughout the country, with simultaneous demonstrations set for every city and town in Cuba. And, the announcement warned, Cuba would mobilize its friends around the world to carry out support and solidarity actions that day. At midnight, April 30, the news was Officially released that Cuba's Eastern Army would hold mili- tary manoeuvres beginning May 7, for the duration of the U.S. manouevres set to begin on the eighth. On May Day, Fidel Castro ad- dressed the biggest, most deter- mined rally in the history of the revolution. And he announced what was:a victory for the Cuban people and international soli- darity: the U.S. military man- oeuvres in the Caribbean had been called off. In return, the Cuban manoeuvres were also being cancelled. (Canadian press reports that only the planned U.S. military games at Guantanamo were cancelled — Ed.) ‘NO SURRENDER’ But the March of the Comba- tive People still goes. Because it was not just against the man- oeuvres, but also against the U.S.'s illegal occupation of the Guantanamo Naval Base, against the criminal U.S. blockade against Cuba, and against that country’s spy flights over Cuban territory. And to let the imperialists know what kind of resistance they would confront if they tried to in- vade Cuba, or to bring it to its knees with a complete blockade. As Fidel Castro said May Day: We will never surrender! The march will now be held May 17. It is being called a battle in defence of Cuba’s dignity and sovereignty. As always, the broadest international support, with parallel marches and demonstrations around the world that day, will be a clear warning to the militarists in Washington to keep hands off Cuba! The battle will be won. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MAY 24, 1980—Page 7