— Music Festival. (see story below).

lionel Edwards pamphlet
Tells of Cuban struggle

dy a4 CUBA, by Lionel
8, People’s Co-op

SOkstoy
Meouve, 339 W. Pender St.

Cuba ;
int 9 has become a focal

Oven World attention.

Md more € past two years,
ast fe Especially over the
Ords ha Weeks, millions of
tin io been written about
. fe aily press,

Betayj.g ” ttempt any sort of
: analysis of what is
Wer s “appening there. And
0 S69 Make any effort
of its paay's Cuba in terms
0 th a tical development
acent as Proper estimation of

he ce
I Kenunited States Presi-
is Seg claims that Cu-
€ar and present dan-
€ western hemis-
ae ala for such an
S~ essential.

> the

st Mphlet traces the
cos the. island by
he brutal exploita-

€ land and its peo-
By latter, one ah ie
ee of American In-
88 th ae know of in
y 1€ Siboneys, were
sh peuped out by the
hei berialists,
Place, Spain brought
ce Ma of -slaves
0S ang ° work the plan-
and po pened “a fright-
rrible chapter in

Man,’

€ People

back of Cuba

from the begi
gin-
pedom. Slavery was
nN the late 19th

a began

f the

4 str great 30-
8 f Wgle for independ-
“Adey Spain under the

ee Patyi: Ship of th
ele € great C
on Jose M uban

ry arti, But when
apni ead at hand, the Un-
Vto “st _ Provoked war

Cain Pain and moved in
Soi) Bteegin” asa prize,

f “ Y exploited the
h sugar harvest

vents can be obtain-

At the same time, it prevent-
ed development of any manu-
facturing industries.

Cuba thus maintained ser-
ious imbalances in its trade
relations with the U.S. Ed-
wards pointedly draws the
parallel between this situation
and the present circumstances
Canada finds itself in with re-
gard to its U.S.. trade rela-
tions.

‘And from the U.S. came the
brothels and gambling rings
which further defaced the na-
tional pride and culture .of the
Cuban people.

Canada, itself now dominat-
ed by the U.S., also contribut-
ed to the exploitation of Cuba
and its workers. Edwards
points out that Sir Herbert
Holt interests, and their fin-
ancial medium, the Royal
Bank of Canada, was one of
the biggest foreign holders in
Cuba.

In Cuba itself,-this foreign
control was made firm by bru-
tal. dictatorships, which came
to replace ‘official’ U.S. con-
trol.

But the Cuban people never
passively accepted their for-
eign or domestic suppressors.
The Communist Party of Cu-
ba was founded in the 1920’s
and played a leading role in
organizing the people.

In 1933, popular pressure
led. to the overthrow of the
Machado. dictator. His place
was taken by Batista, who in-
itially was forced to grant cer-
tain reforms, but who revert-
ed to fierce. tyranny in the
1940’s and 1950’s.

On July 26, 1953, under the
leadership of Fidel Castro, an
attack was mounted against
Fort Moncado. It was defeat-
ed and its leaders were im-
prisoned.

Popular pressure led to an
amnesty for these valiant
fighters for freedom. Castro
and the others went to Mexico
to prepare themselves better
for the task of winning Cuba’s
freedom and independence.

In 1956 they returned. The

world now knows that their
return marked the beginning
of a struggle by the Cuban
people which would result
three years later in the over-
throw of Batista.

Edwards’ presentation of
this outline is graphic and viv-
id. But equally so is his des-
cription of. the reforms insti-
tuted.

An end was made to absen-
tee landlordism, wages of. the
workers were increased, a
vast educational program
came into being to overcome
the widespread illiteracy, wo-
men were emancipated and
madé equal, discrimination

against Negroes and ° Indians |

was. abolished and independ-

ence and.soverignty were won,

for Cuba.
“There will be no. turning
back on the road upward” for

Cuba, states Edwards. But he

also sounds a necessary * warn-
ing against the plans of the
U.S. government to bring
about such a turning back —
a warning fully vindicated by
the invasion of Cuba.

Edwards:deals with the im-
pact of Cuba on the wor!d and
on Canada. He points to the
new epoch of socialism which
has permitted a small country
of 614 million people to throw
off the shackles of U.S. im-
perialism.

For Canada, this is a lesson
of what can be done, since Can-
ada is also tied so closely to
the U.S. And it isin the inter-
ests of Canadians to express
the fullest amount of solidar-
ity with the Cuban people,

not only because their cause if

is just, but also because their
call for solidarity against the

U.S. will one day be the same |;

call of Canadians to the peo-
ple of Cuba and Latin Amer-
ica.

Edwards’ pamphlet is not
long and it is easy to read. It
is an invaluable contribution
to understanding Cuba and
the role Canadians must play
on behalf of that country and
on behalf of Canada. (B.

‘WO cultural groups of the
Ass’n of United Ukrainian

tion of Karl
achieved outstanding success
in the recent competitions of
the 39th annual B.C. Music
Festival.

Competing in the Orchestra
—open class, the AUUC String
Orchestra played the finale of
a Ukrainian Symphony, author
unknown, to achieve a top
mark of 93 peints and win the
Gold Cup presented for this
class.
ture item of the
will be performed by
group pictured above, at the

June 2 and 3.

“Sing For Seeger’
Alex Kucher, Vanc°uver,
writes in part: Pete Seeger,
when giving a folk-song con-
cert,. always introduced his
songs by a commentary of
their origin. This is what he
had to say at, one. of his many
concerts about a German folk
song: My Thoughts Are Free.
“Here is a song which start-
‘ed off in Germany, oh—about
four hundred years ago and
some say it started off at the
time of the peasant wars.
Some ~person in - Germany
wrote a song simply saying:
‘thoughts are free — you can’t
‘put them in jail.” Many a top-
‘ical song written about a par-
ticular situation will die off
when the times change, but,
every so often, when times got
tough, this song would re-
appear.”

Pointing to: -Seeger’s im-

|
|
|

|

/

\CITY AUUC GROUPS
WIN TOP HONOURS

In adjudicating the orches-
tra’s performance, Dr. Nelson

| Canadians, under the direc-! said, “it was ensemble playing
Kobylansky,! of the highest order, beauti-

fully balanced, excellently
timed, and above all played
with such vitality and -musi-
cianship.” In awarding the
marks, he stated, “This is the
highest. mark I have ever
given in Canada, but it was
the most. outstanding -instru-
mental playing I heard in this
country.”

The AUUC Rusalka Wo-
men’s Choir, performed in the

This work, which is a fea-| Folk Song Choirs—open class
National, with
Shevchenko Festival program, | Piper’”—Ukrianian Folk. Seng
the! and, “When I Saw the Flax”

two selections. “The

— Russian folk seng, They

Provincial Shevchenko « Con-| were awarded marks of 8%
cert to be held in the Exhibi--and 84 respectively te win the
tion Gardens in Vancouver on} Shield for the winning entry

in this Class.

OPEN FORUM. |

prisonment in the U.S., Kuch-
er suggests the ideals of this:
song. should re-appear -in full
force. He says: :

We in Vancouver could do
much to urge to the U.S.. gov-
ernment to release this great
people’s artist ... Why not a
“Sing for Seeger” picket line
around the U.S. Embassy.

U.S. in Laos

A.S., North Vancouver, sent
us a piece from the U.S. Farm
News on how the U.S. tried to
make a deal with Batista,
which we published last week.

He also sends a copy of a
letter to the Vancouver Sun
which quotes a New Yotk
Times article in which Prince
Souvanna Phouma of Laos
charges that the U.S. financed.
a revolt against his govern-
ment.

MEXICO’S GREAT ARTIST BEHIND PRISON BARS. Piciure
shows David Siqueiros, one of the three top giants of Mexican.
mural painting, in prison where he has been held for almost
a year without being brought to trial. Letters of protest should:
go to the Ambassador of the. Republic’ of Mexico, Ottawa,
D.- |demanding freedom for him and his friends.

May 5, 1961—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 5