th

\hy ¢ @ six-year struggle was conducted

mk hl they prevailed. By August

| m byj The the organizations -trying to Cy erest in and friendship with

1|"F the ‘sib have visited Cuba as part

. tthe assault on Moncada, July, 1953.

ace July 26, 1953, a group of young ata sai including Fidel Castro, “a ed the second largest fortress in ny: the Moncada garrison. m lack was put down by the forces : sffer Fulgencio Batista, who had © Power a year earlier through a eich short-circuited the electoral *S and prevented the probable vic- At Popular forces. er the attack on the Moncada bar-

Coy,

Uba

a tevolutionaries, and in Jan-

if the revolutionary government ized all U.S.-owned companies Well os cdr 36 sugar mills, as panes. elephone and electric power Sent in January 1961, the United rye Bounced its commercial em- Matic she Cuba and broke off diplo- tlations with the revolutionary

a Severnment. Cuba Ag the official sanctions against Ween . People-to-people relations be- States at country and the United The Gve been growing steadily. odes a been six Venceremos Bri- Pople “a the United States, groups of Wilding ‘ting ge to Cuba to work on @ country’s economy.

"tional! Ih

hes the U.S.-Cuba Health Ex-

+ Me Center for Cuban Studies,

‘Utces " Cuba and the Cuban Re- Center,

1 this j tens *!8sue we present articles by U.S.

.

tt to build understanding and

e onde: \ “Ship for that country.

Tre Apes

ty i957 time I went to Cuba was in NOwn 4, 4, an named Fidel Castro, Sierra Ae th it 0 a Mountains with a.small vatt®tship ighting against the Batista ty Print 0 th

e *, The Ceovernment and Castro for-

as filet as wi To forces were always re-

W

or Shere out. Otherwise the strug- Me, tis Teedom and the overthrow “titution S ignored, and the poverty, th aid an ee went on. .And

° lave Ista. wet ee 4 worker and active trade rank a working life. I have tiene 2® Sho € organizer in the food, al indnere’ Steel, maritime and elec-

UStrj Union I was secretary of an

alway Ways been concerned about

0 a all workers, everywhere, ee I learned from se- ee me Workers that their ae ta setae fronts ruled by ao, Nam, ainly. U.S.) through a Ni and a qtujal. Except for a few, Cong oic in Itions ‘were bad. Workers Ds j € unions. a Countryside were ap- etm 80 elect dirt floors, no sanita- ity we oymen pecily were everywhere. Ment 88 th, 4S widespread. Illiter-

e "schoo awe and only the well-off a ’ “xtreme poverty-was the Us Ma : "Solin Membe, "Ss trade unionist,

the Sixth Vence- fer this year and

l hay, orltion ae

mMmunist Party

lot of the peasantry and workers. Even the middle class opposed Batista.

Terror and fear dominated the atmos- phere of a Cuba pregnant with revolution not yet fully organized. I learned much later that in the cities and countryside or- ganization was taking place, led by Fi- del’s 26th of July movement with the par- ticipation of the P.S.P. (Communist Party) and the students. So the successful revolution led by Fidel Castro was not the work of a few men in the mountains, but of difficult and dangerous organization all over Cuba by a coalition of different class forces.

The outside world was jolted by the victory of the Castro forces in 1959. All eyes focused on this little nation of six million. just 90 miles from the U.S.. which for years had controlled Cuban economic and political life through its Cuban poli- tical puppets.

In December 1960 I went to Cuba again with a group called Amigos de Cuba. Dur- ing. the two years of the revolution an un- easy alliance between the 26th of July movement and some anti-Batista middle class and upper class supporters was in effect. These unstable class forces did not want to go beyond some reforms, and they sabotaged Fidel’s plan for Agrarian Re-

form and the program on which the revolu-

tion came to power.

These counter-revolutionary forces played anti-communism to the hilt in ord- er to destroy Fidel’s program for real change. But Fidel, Raul, Che, Camilo and the overwhelming majority of the 26th of July movement saw the danger to the revolution and fiercely fought anti-com- munism. They won. —

Urrutia and others were forced to re- sign. Dorticos became president of Cuba; agrarian reform advanced; rents were reduced by 50% — which meant a real increase in wages. Free medical care was instituted; army barracks were turned into schools and a program for education and school construction was planned.

But most immediately important for the revolution was agrarian reform which guaranteed land to the small peas- ants, confiscated the huge estates and built new homes for the peasants at little or no rent.

Agrarian reform guaranteed firm °

peasant support for the revolution. I visi- ted the countryside in Pinar del Rio, Las Villas and Havana Provinces. I talked with the small farmers. I saw their new houses and the old earth floor bohios.

In 1960-1961 life was still unsettled in Cuba. As the U.S. increased its pressure and gave full support to the counter- revolution — it prodded the church to counter-revolution, cut off vital spare parts, cut the sugar quota and refused to process Soviet oil — Cuba struck back by first intervening in U.S. banks and in- dustries and then nationalizing them.

At the same time, 1961 was pro- claimed the year of education. A nation- wide campaign was begun to teach the alphabet to the peasants in the moun- tains and countryside. Thousands of vol- unteers, young teachers and students, swarmed over the countryside patiently teaching illiterate workers and peasants to read and write. Fidel and the revolu- tionary government knew that knowledge would release the revolutionary devotion, energy and initiative to build a new Cuba.

The counter-revolutionaries also knew what the campaign against illiteracy meant and were determined to stop it. They tortured and murdered many young teachers and their students, but the cam- paign went on and did its 00. cae

In 1973 I met some of the illiterate peasants and workers of 1961. Many held ‘responsible jobs in all sectors of the econ- omy — trade unions, schools, industry, and the Communist Party. They are proof that an educated working class and peas- antry are capable of running the most complex economy and the machinery of state. ,

When I returned to the U.S. on Jan- uary 3, 1961, I learned that the United States had broken relations with Cuba. This meant that Cuba was ‘in danger of- a military invasion by the U.S., so we

The 6th Venceremos Brigade relaxes for a while.

iHAN VENCIDO!

They have won!

By Julius Margolin

Armando Broche Venceremos Brigade

set out to warn the people. We organized demonstrations and urged opposition to any such aggression. Meanwhile, thous- ands of Batista assassins and politicos, the dispossed rich and middle class, poured into the United States, hoping to organize a counter-revolution. They col- lected millions of dollars from U.S. sup- porters for such an invasion.

Meanwhile, many of these Batista Cu- bans got jobs while millions of American workers were unemployed, proof that U.S. capitalism is patriotic only to prof- its. :

Later in 1961, I went to Mexico City as a delegate to the first Latin American Conference for Sovereignty and Independ- ence of Latin America. The conference warned against U.S. aggression in Cuba and Latin America and organized for world-wide protest.

A short time after my return, I was elected secretary of the New York Fair Play for Cuba Committee.

When‘ learned this year, 1973, that the Venceremos Brigade was planning its

Venceremos Brigade

sixth contingent to Cuba, I volunteered to go and work in the construction of work- ers’ houses, schools, hospitals.

When we arrived in Cuba, we were welcomed as brothers and sisters — Cu- bans see a big difference between the people of the U.S. and their reactionary big business government. The Cubans and their government want friendly relations and trade with the United States, but only ona basis of complete equality. They want the embargo and blockade lifted, the return of Guantanamo and the end of U.S. interference in Latin America, We heard these reasonable demands where- ever we want.

From José Marti airport we were taken to our camp “Julio Antonio Mella” in Havana Province. Here we lived and worked on the construction of a new town, named “Los Naranjos."’ For six weeks we worked on constructing workers’ hous- es and on a ditch for a pipeline. to carry water to these houses.

It was a hard-working brigade, and we were all thrilled to see the houses go up, day by day. The greatest thrill, though, was reaching our goal on time, achieving 167% of our plan. Cuban construction work ers and volunteers worked alongside us in close comradeship and we developed the warmest relationship and lasting af- fection for each other-

I was an electrician before I went on the brigade. But Cuba gave me another skill — I became a cement finisher and mason. I got a real bang every time my Cuban work partner and teacher, Broche, slapped me on the back and called me a “tecnico.”. and when the other skilled construction’ workers did the same, I knew I had a new skill.

After the six weeks of work ended, we traveled throughout Cuba. It was hard to say goodby to our construction comrades; they gave us a taste of what future human

relations can be. See. MARGOLIN pg. 6

Celebration in 1959 The banner reads: Agrarian Reform Will Take Place __ _ , PACIFIC, TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, AUGUST 3, 1973—PAGE 3

=