Glimpses of Cuba...

.. by Lionel Edwards ||

‘There Are Mamants One Must
Salute hist ory — Cuba Is

“Country

magnificently

of pe apt
had had the teme to chal-
f Wal

and the Pentagon,
once again fire the shots heard
around the world, to usher in
a new social order of the com-
mon man, of freedom and de-
cency And where was this
happening? Right here, my fel
low; countrymen, here on

our

continent; our hemisphere,
America. There are moments
when one must salute history
This is one of them.

Where shall we begin? There
is so much to tell. Let us start
with the lot of the urban and

country working class, their
lives and hopes in the new
Cuba.

workers
It_is true that
unem-
chief!

To begin with, most
now job.
there
ployed in
among former
ants; left high

their masters or

SPEAKS AT FORUM

have a

are as yet some
Havana,

domestic serv-
and dry when

mistresses left

LIONEL EDWARDS, who|
recently returned from;

Cuba, will speak
in Cuba at public forum
on December 11 at 2 p.m. at
the eons s Hall. £38
E. Cordova St. On his. return
to Vancouver hi

“the Cuban people are united
behind their government
and: will fight to.the end to

defend w hat they have won.

a

re

lwards: said

| ity,

Lionel!
yrovincial treas-
the (¢ ommunist

waras, }
I

The
created nc
of new jobs.
happen with

Cul has already
ireds of thousands
This could only
the revival and
stimulation national indus-
tries. Further, new industries
are in the making, due large
to tl generous assistance ex
tended Cuba by the socialist
world. This benevolence of
incalculable importance in
king the island self suffi-
cient and industrially strong
It is a safe estimate the ce : in one
two years there will be no
and indeed
well be a labour

new
hu

Ja

of

1e
is

ma

or
unemployment
there may
shortage.

Cuban industrial,
and professional workers
all organized into free
cates or trade unions.
bargain collectively on wages,
hours of work and plant con-
ditions. The average
dollars day. This

a is very

. > |
high: when: compared with the
America, but the}

rest. of Latin

eost of living is also high in}

Cuba and only with more and
better industry and productiv-
will this change.

The most important act af-

| fecting the lives of the work

| ers in particular,

jit

passage of the new
is the famous Urban Law. and
is one of the most .talked

‘about happenings. in Cuba to-

reside in to the government.
| The state is now the temporary |
| landlord. By» decree, rents |

| have been cut in half. Tenanis|

day. In essence it is this: land-

lord owners of more than one}
| home. or apartment must give]
,;up the property they do. not

| now pay their rent to the gov

on events |

» | ment’s

ernment for a period in most

There is one instance of a}
S wealthy Cuban owning 12,000
Y| buildings in Havana. Like the

technical}
are!
syndi-|!

They j

wage for|
unskilled labour is about four |

has-been the!
law on}
| home property and rent. This}

cases not exceeding five years.
At the of that time, the
worker - receives fuil
title and his |
home and any
more rent.

end
tenant
ownership . of
does not pay

The government in turn uses
the collected rents to pay pen-
| sions to the dispossessed land-
lords in minimal amounts of
one hundred dollars a- month
to the small rentier and a max-
imum of six hundred dollars
a month to the very wealthy.

other landlords, he. will receive
his pension for five years and
then it will end. It may be pre-
sumed that by that time, they
all will have had time reflect
on the trend and state of the
world and act accordingly.

I have before me a copy of
the front page of the newpaper
| “Revolucionario” showing pic-
| tures of the old landlords lin-
ing up for their first pension

cheques. Some faces are sad
and some others appear to be

very glad. It is an interesting
commentary on the emotions
of the ‘‘dispossessed.”

But what are the feelings of
the new owners? There is no
sadness. there. The Cuban
worker now: has-.dignity, honor
|}and respect... Is it any wonder

| that he loves his government,
| his country and the new de-
veloping society of non-ex-
| ploitation of man by man. For
| these things, he will stand up
| and fight to .the very, bitter
k-|end and. he -will-never, never
surrender.

We were most heartened by
the news. that from. friendly.
| Canada; one of its provincial
| trade union federations was
sending a fraternal delegation
to Cuba. Imagine our disap-
pointment, when‘ on returning
' home, we heard*that the. C-L.C.
over the signature of its presi-
dent, had: vetoed the-B.C. dele-
; gation from going.

Next week: “The farmer and
his land’’—the story of Cuba‘s
far-reaching land reform.

CANADA-USSR ASSOCIATION FORMED

At
King

ber 6,

a meeting in Toronto’s
Edward Hotel
a Canada-USSR Associ-

was formed to extend

Decem-

ation

exchanges in all fields of ac- |

tivity and promote trade be- |
tween the two countries.
In line with the Govern-

drive for exports the

| Association» will do | every-
| thing possible to assist busin-

{ess men to get acquainted
opportunities . in
ithe USSR.

; with trade
|

Les Hunt of 329 Maple Leaf
| Drive was elected executive-
| secretary. A national confer-
|ence will be held early in
1961.

}

WORKERS SUPPORT

discuss their problems.

CASTRO. Photo shows. Castro
meeting with representatives of Cuba’s: sugar workers to

The workers have pledged their

full support to the plan to industrialize Cuba and improve

its economic situation,

Jobs, Columbia deal to
highlight CP campaign

A plan of campaign for the
forthcoming spring session of
the B.C. Legislature will be
prepared by .the 35-member,

B.C. Provincial Committee of
the Communist Party this
.weekend.

Date for convening of the
newly-elected Legislature :was
announced recently for Jan-
uary 26th. Premier Bennett
has given no indication of the
government’s legislative pro-
gram or length of the Session

which. usually lasts from eight.

to ten weeks.

A vigorous campaign to
compel action on the unem-
ployment: problem ~ was . pro-
jected. by Nigel. Morgan, B.C.
leader of the Communist
Party: “‘That is the’ key issue
to which our Party is going
to devote its main attention,’
he said, “and closely. related
to that central problem is: the
battle to halt the Columbia:
giveaway and: save its vast po-
tential as a low-cost energy
source for Canadian develop-

ment and. jobs.”
B:C.’s jobless - crisis; ‘the
Columbia and Wenner-Gren

developments are expected to
provide the main fireworks of
the. Session.

Also expected is filing of
the Chant Report on Educa-

tion (reportedly delayed be-
cause of embarrassment.to the
government in certain of its
recommendations), a progress

report on _ federal-provincial
negotiations for a new tax-
rental agreement, and some

indication. of Socred. policy: on
suggestions of reintroduction
of a provincial’ income tax or
increased sales tax.

Conference
Of Communist
Leaders Ends

“The. results of the; interna-
tional conference of the world
Communist’ movement. are of
the. greatest importance not
ohly for every Communist but
for all, lovers of peace.”

This was Said by British
Communist Party secretary
John’ Gollan of the meeting of
81 Communist and workers
parties held in Mane ow. in. No-
vember.

“The ‘conference strongly
and unanimously reaffirmed
the’ view that due to the®
change in -the> balance — of
world forces; war is no lorig-
er inevitable,” :he ‘said.

@ Next week the PT will
carry. an extensive article: by
Leslie Morris on the confer-

ence. We urge our readers not
to miss it.

December 9, 1960—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 2