By Terry Cannon

bos with Dr. Melba Hernandez, president of the Cuban
Committee in Solidarity with the Peoples of Vietnam,
Cambodia and Laos, in her office in the Vedado section of
Havana on June 12. The committee, headquartered in a
large stone and marble building once the residence of Cu-
ban aristocrats, now decorated with the flags of the coun-
tries of Indochina, is the center of one of the activities
that defines the Cuban Revolution: its militant and deep-
ly felt solidarity with the Indochinese people.

When Fidel Castro’s supporters numbered in the
tens in the days of the Batista dictatorship, Melba Her-
nandez, a young lawyer, was one of them. She participated
in the attack on the Moncada military garrison on July 26,
1953, which triggered the Cuban Revolution. She worked
in the underground and fought in the Sierra Maestra moun-
tains.

She speaks slowly, with wisdom and with great inten-
sity. Her energy flows from a deep source: like most lead-

ers of the revolution, she abhors talking about herself, .

often substituting ‘‘we’’ for “‘I’’ when talking personally.

She sat at her desk before a bookcase. The walls were
covered with photos large and small. On the windowsill
were vases of carefully wrought artificial flowers made
by the Vietnamese in the midst of war, which she showed
us lovingly. She had returned two weeks before from a
visit to Hanoi and then Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City),
arriving in Vietnam a few days after the Vietnamese vic-
tory, and there participated in the celebration in both
cities.

Q: You have witnessed two revolutionary victories —
the Cuban and the Vietnamese — 16 years apart. What was
it like? Did this remind you of the other?

A: I was in Stockholm when I heard the news of the
final victory. When I received a call from Havana telling
me that Saigon had surrendered, my reaction was exactly
the same as it was on January 1, 1959, when I heard the
news that Batista and his gang had fled. ;

Of course there was a difference between the morning
in 1959 and the one in which I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City.
When I arrived in Havana — I had been fighting in the
Sierra in the front commanded by Commandante Juan
Almeida — we were filled with great emotion, but we also
_ had a lot of work. The weight of the work and the respon-
sibility we had been carrying were so heavy that in that
moment we couldn’t surrender ourselves to gaiety, to the
really emotional happiness we felt at the time. We had
the pressure on us of what had to come ahead. We had fin-
ished one page and had to start another.

But when I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, I didn’t have
the same burdens. I had arrived to celebrate along with
the Vietnamese people, to bring them the love of our peo-
ple. That allowed me to celebrate with them. That allowed
me to enjoy the event much more. It was a different pic-
ture than in 1959.

The feelings were the same, the emotion was very
deep. Of course we’ve matured a lot — one is more pre-
pared and sharper now. But I can say that the Ist of Jan-

uary, 1959, and the 30th of April, 1975, are the two dates-

that marked my existence with great force.

Q: There’s another difference between the Cuban
victory and the Vietnamese. We know what the future
for Vietnam, but did you know. what would happen after
January 1959?

A: We were conscious that we were going to go to-
ward socialism. It’s not the great majority of the people,
there was a group of us, we had our objectives. We knew
that in order to transform the society, we had to develop
a new system, and that this system couldn’t be any other
than socialism. What did surprise us as revolutionaries
-was that the opportunity arose so quickly that we could
call ourselves a socialist revolution. Here in Cuba there
was great imperialist penetration; we thought that the
people taken in by that penetration would be anti-commu-
nist and we thought that we would have to be very patient;
that the work would take a long time. It was a surprise to
us what happened within our people; that’s why we identi-
fied so greatly with what happened in Ho Chi Minh City.

But we found that our people were not anti-commu-
nist really. This was a surprise. We didn’t have the under-
standing then to know what they now understand in Ho Chi
_ Minh City. We didn’t have the knowledge, as we do now, to
understand the process. When we started we weren’t mili-
tants of the Communist Party; we were militants of Fi-

TERRY CANNON, former editor of the Tricontinental
News Service, just returned from Cuba where he gathered
material for a beok about that country.

ad

DR. MELBA HERNANDEZ

She is

the spirit of

‘Moncada

del’s party — the Orthodox Party — of the youth section of
that Party, which really represented the feelings of the
Cuban people at that time. There was a progressive youth,
a youth well-defined as being a left-wing group. We were
among that group. We were influenced greatly by Marti,
which we have never set aside. We always acted accord-
ing to the teachings of Marti, which every easily coincid-

- ed with the teachings of Marxism-Leninism.

Q: The attack on the Moncada Garrison was an ex-
treme act of faith and optimism. What was it that gave
you that hope, that feeling that you could overcome such
odds? + :

- A: We were Fidel’s disciples. We’ve always looked
upon Fidel as the great interpreter of Marti and as the
most Cuban of all Cubans. With a great confidence in the
people, we shared in the same confidence. But that opti-
mism, that will, was Fidel’s. ;

We knew that the Moncada attack was a very danger-

_ faith and confidence in the destiny of our coutry was

-developed in such a natural way that now, with your ques |

ous operation, but we were convinced of the need for it. 50 |
much so that in the case of Haydee and myself we said |
doesn’t matter if we all die if that means that Fidel

live. We were ready to die, all of us, so that he could
kept alive. Because we knew that if he stayed alive, thal
action would never be stopped and the revolution would be}
carriedout. , —- a

Q: Did that mean that after the Moncada attack'y® |
weren’t discouraged because you knew that Fidel was
alive? 4

A: We had many reasons to continue fighting, eve? if
it meant that we had to fight by ourselves. The attack 0 |
the Moncada was sufficient to demonstrate the nature
the ex-government. We would never have given up fightinby i
never,-but we knew that the only one who could develop? |
correct plan and lead it through to a revolution was Fidel. et

We lived through the first days and hours after the
attack anxiously, Haydee and I, because we had no news
Fidel, and that morning when we saw him, when he W4
brought to the prison in Santiago where we were, it was |
like a lightning bolt. When we saw him it was just like hav
ing light again. We knew that we were not going to Wé
that path alone. Our will was not defeated at aly |
moment in any case, not in Haydee, who lost her prothe! |
and boyfriend in that attack, or I. I keep talking abou
Haydee and myself because the two of us were togethel @
the time. But when we met the rest of the comrades, W° |
found the same attitude in them. But that morning, |

Q: Wasn’t it difficult, in that time, being a wom? |
and a revolutionary? .

a |
A: No, I think not. Our movement was organized Dy
very strict discipline. Fidel respected us greatly. We We | |
like a group of brothers and sisters. I don’t recall at any |
time feeling awkward in the group. We were so close o
gether and Fidel took so much care with us in our political i
formation and integrity. He also expressed his confidene”
in us and we never felt discriminated against. And UW"

newed because Fidel was alive. |

tion, you make me feel self-conscious about the fact. q

This doesn’t mean that we were the only women wh? |
could join. Besides, later it was seen how many wor™ |
took part; that many- women did what we did and much
more : . . But we were the first ones — we were the hot :
ored ones. i

Q. How was the Committee of Solidarity with the per
ple’s of Indochina formed? ;

A. It was born of the struggle of the people of sont .
Vietnam. The Communist Party came up with the id
and it was formed on the 25th of September 1963. We , 4
visited North Vietnam in 1962 and we met Uncle Ho. 7
came back from that visit highly impressed with there
ity of the country. When we came back we started to ab Li
vey to our people the real truth of our experience, of Wi
we had seen in North Vietnam. The following year
committee was formed. Since then we have been wor!

with it. As you know, its no longer just solidarity | and
South Vietnam, but also with Cambodia and Laos © | |
North Vietnam. Ee 4

Q. What have been the most meaningful activitié q
carried out by the committee? ,
A. The first thing consisted in informing our peor
what was actually going on in South Vietnam through ties
rallies and demonstrations here in Havana and other ci f
in which 50, 60, 70,000 people would attend. When we iet
that our people knew the people and the struggle of Me

ae

‘nam well, then we developed a new structure, contil! 9s

to inform the people, organizing them into study cou
through all the-mass organizations — converting our pot!
try into 4 great school around the program of study 4 tio?
Indochina. For example, in each local org
among the small farmers, there was a study grov?
around Vietnam — a group of people dedicated to soli ds a
ity work. The work of the committee is directed tow? |
regions and provinces by regional and provincial lean {| 0
ship. In this way, the work is carried out in every P@™ | ,
the entire country. : the r
And of course it goes without saying that W& 41)
leaders and organizers of this activity, were the ones
had to study the most. Now we have over 20,000 9 |
groups. In these groups. we always combine a histor :
study of Vietnam with a study of the present situation: oy

_ last study program we had was on the subject of the of

the moment of victory was so close.

- A main task in our work was to expose the gen™ f/f
character of the war, the napalm, the use of herbicides %
insecticides against the people, the use of chemicals ©
mass bombing. . . :

t

f

logical penetration by the imperialists. We didn’t |
il

f

World Magazine, 285 W. 19 Street, New York, N.Y. 10011

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—AUGUST 1, 1975—Page 4

Editor: Seymour Josep? / Pe