CUBAN REVOLUTION
By Ross Dowson
The Canadian students who have just returned from a two-month work tour of Cuba "were especially impressed by the spirit and enthusiasm the people have for building socialism in their country."
Twenty-seven of the group of 45 arrived in Toronto on August 30 after having been delayed and split up due to the submission of British authorities at Nassau to U.S. pressure. A plane supplied by the Cuban government was refused permission at the last moment to land at Nassau and the students were compelled to return via Mexico, with some of their number flying direct to Vancouver and Calgary.
Organized by the Fair Play for Cuba Committee [FPCC] in collaboration with the Cuban government, the project drew students from university campuses across the country. Coming from widely varied backgrounds, many of them leaders in campus organizations, the 45 had been selected by a special committee of eminent educators in the
Toronto area,
The most impressive aspect of their reactions to what they saw and heard in Cuba was their almost unanimous, highly enthusiastio, approval, When they entered the air terminal at Malton, the students immediately presented two declarations to the press -- one signed by 27 of the English-speaking students and another signed by the 10 French Canadian students, Six had been compelled to leave the tour before the statements had been drawn up due to previous commitments, The press searched out those who did not sign. One who characterized the rest as “a bunch of starry~eyed people" explained that he had not signed because the declaration "was all positive and no negative," Another of the nonsigners made the same. criticism in response to probings of Canadian press representatives at a special conference that evening, But when asked to comment on some negative features, to her embarresszicnt she was unable to do so, Another replied that she had not signed because in the search for unanimity the statement had become "too watered down," although it was not inaccurate,
The declaration expressed gratitude to the Cuban people for “the opportunity to witness their revolution first hand" and "the hope that Canada will move to better her relations with Cuba in the form of increasing her cultural and trade exchanges, and of protesting the embargo with a bolder, more independent voice."
The declaration then marked out five points upon which on the basis of their own real experiences they felt that the Canadian people hold misconceptions, They state that the "overwhelming majority of the (Cuban) people support with enthusiasm the revolution and Fidel Castro"; that the revolution "is firmly established" and "will not be dislodged by an economic blockade nor by an invasion." They note that the people are not starving; "now everyone receives staple foods and children and-.old people get special attention," that there is freedom to criticize the revolution, and that any Cuban is free to leave the country.
The declaration signed: by the entire French Canadian contingent is, if anything, even stronger ~-- ending up with the words, "We have seen a free territory, the first in America," It scores American propaganda about Cuba as "completely false." "The enslavement of Cuba," they say, “is to the dignity of man; the tyranny to whioh Cuba is subjected is the freedom to work, the freedom to study at all ages, without distinction in color, or social.class, and freedom to construct a just and free society,"
The students were eight weeks in Cuba -~ 10 days of which they spent working on the site of the great school-city Camilo Cienfuegos, alongside of Cuban workers, digging foundations, hauling cement, eating the same food, sharing the same accommodation. One of the students characterized this as "a unique experience," Another commented on the strong spirit of the workers to build the school and the warm relationship between the workers and the supervisors. ‘Three of the
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students -~- Jacquie Henderson, Ruth Tate and Andre Beckerman -- wore honoured as Vanguard workers and another three -- Bob Mahood, Dave Adams and Fay Frazer -- with another award. in response to various questions as to constitutional government and elections, several of the students stated that there appeared to them to be more elestions in Cuba than anywhere else in the world. Kathy McLay said that the Cuban people are much closer to their government than Canadians are to theirs, "Fidel always goes to the people and they talk to him,"
David Middleton, a former federal candidate of the New Demo~ cratic party who supervised the tour, commented on the enthusiasm demonstrated by bakery workers who use Canadian flour and workers at a rope factory whose product goes to Canada, at meeting the Canadian youth, The rope workers insisted on turning up at the factory on their day off and pointed out with pleasure that Canada had not joined the OAS LOrganization of American States]. .
The students attended the July 26 celebrations at Santiago, There they played a baseball game with a Cuban team which included Fidel Castro, The Canadians were olobbered,
The students expressed enthusiasm over returning to their campuses. to tell their fellow students of their experiences, FPCC national chairman Vernel Olson told the press conference that the committee plans two elaborate booklets containing contributions-from -the students ~~ one in English, the other in French,
NEW WAVE OF