Ithough I was prepared for
A it, I was struck on arrival
by the gaping abyss between
Cuban realities and the fear-
some image dreamed up by
Western propaganda.

To start with, no one is
hungry in Cuba; a junior
member of the British Em-
bassy in Havana told me he
had written to- his mother
complaining of the rations,
which he listed. He got a let-
ter back saying; “My dear
boy, you do not seem to real-
ize that these rations are
about twice as big as what we
got during the war.”

Diet is monotonous, ‘as the »

choice is narrow and you may

_get something different from -
the ration you asked for (i.e.;- -

meat instead of chicken, or
vice versa) and it may not al-
ways be delivered on the day
promised.

(There was an uproar in
Santa Clara when chicken
was promised for Christmas
Eve — and arrived on the
26th, while the population put
up with inferior substitutes
not suitable for celebrating
Christmas).

But the mass of the People
are better fed than they ever
have been, and _ far better
than the majority of the
people in most other Latin-
.American countries.

And, of course, as in other
socialist states, children are
specially. cared for: those
- under seven get one litre (134
pints) of milk a day, and also
have most of the butter there
is. 1

The fact that a large part —

of the 63 million dollars the
Cuban government extracted
as payment for the damage
_ caused by the Cuban merce-
naries at Playa Giron went on
baby foods (the rest on medi-
cines) again shows the scale
of priorities in revolutionary
Cuba.
* * se
Nor do the Cubans appear
frightened by the American
blockade and boycott and con-
tinued attempts to isolate and
intimidate them, organize spy-
rings, subsidize sabotage, and
generally continue the gen-
era]. policy of more or less
cold aggression practised ever
since the land reform act.
On the contrary, the Cub-
ans are fiercely angry. Am-
-erican policy has consolidated
national support for the re-
_'gime (thousands joined the
militia during the blockade
who had never done so be-
fore).

The Cubans believe time is
on their side, but that the
United States wil) attack and

attempt to destroy them so as
to prevent the revolution
spreading to the rest of Latin
America.
_ But their morale is such
_ that most people really mean
“patria o muerte.’ Fidel’s
voice was never more authen-
tically the voice of the people
of Cuba than when he said at
the January 2 meeting, simply
and with utter sincerity: ,

“We can die not because
we despise life, not because
we think little of the great
achievements of our people,
‘not because we do not sce
_ the shining future which our
labours are giving us the
right to enjoy, but because the
lives of all of us are joined
.for ever to this idea and to
this future, and we do not
“want to live without a coun-

out dignity, without justice,
without bread for our child-
ren, without a future. And

that is why we Say ‘patria o-

299

muerte.

Fidel Castro has given the
strictest orders, both publicly
and privately, not to respond
to any form of provocation,
and to be patient and circum-
spect. In his January 2 speech

he repeated once more that _

ernment not confident of the
people’s support would do
that.

The Cubans are very frank
in admitting and discussing
their mistakes: the revolution
has been’ forced
pressures and resistances they

had not forseen, from a po-

litical revolution to land re-
form, and from the latter to a
full-fledged social revolution.

_We reprint the
article here.

KONNIE ZILLIACUS, outspoken Brit-
ish Labor MP, visited Cuba at the same
time as Cedric Cox, MLA for Burnaby.
Upon his return, Zilliacus wrote an ar-
ticle of his impression of the island in
the Caribbean, from which Jack Scott
recently quoted in the Vancouver Sun.

greater part of his

along, by -

the Cubans were anxious to
settle all differences with the
United States by peaceful
means, to accept any system
of inspection under United
Nations auspices that was
based on reciprocity, and to
enter into agreements based

on the U.N. Charter with -

other Caribbean states for

vances
non-aggression, non-interfer-
ence in each other’s internal
affairs, and settling  differ-
ences by the methods _pre-
scribed in the Charter.

_ Fidel’s January 2 speech, as,
all his other public utterness,
stressed the government’s
view that the Soviet Union
had stood by them throughout
and done everything it had

promised.
* * *

rapidly at

There was no sign of re-

sentment among the many
people I talkeq with, from
every walk of life and with a
wide range of views, at the
presence of Soviet technicians
—on the contrary. The only
complaint was that most of
them. knew only _ Russian,
whereas the Poles, and parti-
cularly the Czechs, took the
trouble to learn Spanish.

The only person who tried .
to put over the Western story
about Soviet troops in Cuba
was a Methodist ‘“gusano’’
who openly admitted he was >
against the regime. He claim-
ed that the Russians were

_ there to protect Castro against
the people, just as American

forces had protected Batista.

But another member of the
circle discussing this matter
said this was ridiculous if
only because today the militia
numbered over three million

_ out of a total] population of
- under seven million. No gov-

The installation of the first hydroelectric centre of Cuba ad-
Hanabanilla, in the central part of the

en substantially

It has passed. through the
stage of heroic improvization
and is only beginning the
stage of organization.

They made the major mis-

take of trying to.switch over |

too quickly from a monocrop
culture to diversified agricul-

ture because sugar cane was.

so associated with the worst

abuses of the old regime that .

there was an emotional pre-
judice against it and because,
after the Americans cut off
their imports of sugar, the
Cubans believed it would be-
come a drag on the market.

Instead, the price of sugar
on the world market has ris-
in the last
eighteen months and they can
sell every pound they pro-
duce. “Sugar is Cuba’s gold”
is now the slogan, and great
stress is laid on eeoiluemne
more.

‘But whereas before there
were the hordes of unemploy-

ed to supply cheap seasonal

labour for cutting, milling
and refining the sugar, there

is now a chronic over-all shor- |

tage of labour in Cuba, and
great campaigns to recruit
volunteers, students and

~ others from the cities, to. cut |

the sugar.
- This year three. nailoiynes

are working successfully of a_

kind of sugar-cane harvester
which not only cuts the canes
but lops off the leafy tops
ang stacks and binds them

ready for the mill. By next

year it is hoped to have a suf-
ficient number of these mach-

ines to cut down and even-
tually get rid of the demand

for extra labour. . .
* ae *
achievements

Cuba’s in

schooling and housing are too~ *

Cuba moving ahead on new path

well-known to need comment.
But there is no intention by
the government to rest on its
laurels in this field. -.

“Spare parts” are. still a
headache, when it comes to
keeping American-made cars,
trucks .and factories going.
But some are being produced
locally.

Meanwhile new factories
built by the Soviet Union and
East-European countries are
springing up; trucks and
buses and some cars are he-
ing imported, and due to be
made in Cuba in two or three
years. :

There is an unlimited mar-
ket for Cuban tobacco and
tropical products in the social-
ist countries:

Cuban soi] is extraordinar-
ily fertile and the climate
permits of three or four crops
a year Fand antniut ic inereas-

ing and becoming more var-

ied. More and more chicken,

duck, turkey and pig farms

are springing up...
* *

The sum up: U.S. cold ag-
gression, mixed with prepara-
tions for and threats of hot
aggression, is consolidating ~
national unity in support of ©
the regime and keep the
flame of revolutionary ferv-
our burning bright.

_ Failing a direct major at-
tack by American forces,
which would almost certain
ly bring the world to: the
brink of nuclear war, the re- —
volution, by the efforts of —
the Cubans themselves and
aided by the socialist states,
will succeed in building a new
order much superior to the
old and to what exists.in the
rest of Latin America.

\

CUATEMALA— mecent.

ly the government pro-

ss claimed martial law for the.

“ second time in 15 months.
Recently 13 trade union of-
ficials were arrested - and
secret police are combing
the countryside for ‘‘sub-
versives.”” :

Guerrillas are carrying
on an active struggle
against the dictatorship in
many provinces’ and U.S.
fighters and bombers, ac:
cording to West Germany’s
Die Welt, are on constant
alert in the capital to come
to the aid of their puppets.

in the country for a demo-
cratic government to de-
fend the nation’s interests
and not be a servant of
Washington. Meanwhile,
the country has been turn-
ed into a_ vast training
ground to prepare gangs of
mercenaries for an attack

clique in office.
x * *

prices, falling wages, grow-
ing unemployment, ruin of
the small farmers, a declin-
ing industry and shrinking

Latin America
fights against
U.S. domination

- strikers. Hundreds of strik-.

_ forces.
There is strong agitation -

on Cuba by the pro-U-S. —

URUGUAY — Rising

_ hands of giant estate own-

exports. This is the result
of the intervention in Uru-
guay’s economy by USS.
monopolies and the Inter-
national Monetary Fund.

. A recent government de-
cree outlawed strikes and
prohibits: defense of strik-
ers by the press and radio.
It also attempts to legalize
military force against

ers have been arrested. -
The Left Front of Liber-
ation, formed in 1962, in-
cludes considerable — sec-
tions of the country’s Left
There has been a
fourfold increase in Com-
munist Party membership
from 1955 to 1962.
The people’s movement
recently forced the govern
ment to retreat when it
tried to introduce reaction-

ary legislation. :
* * ght

BRAZIL — Membership
in the peasant unions has
grown from 50,000 two
years ago to 600,000. Radi-
cal land reform is the
greatest need. Millions are
landless. The land is in the

eds.

President pntarts Pls
ernment represents the na-
tional capitalists. Trade
with socialist countries en-
ables Brazil to reduce its
‘coffee surpluses, The gov-
ernment supports disarma-
ment and peace and op-
poses military aggression 3
against Cuba.: |

The US. is extremely
concerned about “Commu-
nist influence” in the parli-
ament and armed forces,
and the U.S. recently.
threatened to cut their
foreign aid unless the gov- %
ernment complies with %
their demands. —
Yhae ik *
VENEZUELA — A na- +
tional liberation army Leo
formed in March, 1962,
‘answer the terror aie
Betancourt government. It
was charged that planes
manned by USS. . Plot
pene dropped napalm