From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive
Subject: Cuban Youth Leader Speaks in SF
Date: 10 Oct 92 03:32:55 GMT
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Organization: PACH
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu

/** reg.cuba: 201.0 **/
** Topic: Cuban Youth Leader in SF Bay Area **
** Written  7:27 pm  Oct  7, 1992 by ttomasko in cdp:reg.cuba **
Hundreds in San Francisco area hear Cuban

By Elizabeth Whittaker

From the Militant, October 9, 1992

San Francisco--Some 110 students and others turned out 
September 3 to hear Ibis Alvisa Gonzalez at a meeting held at the 
University of California at Berkeley (UCB). Members of the group 
of Students Against Intervention in Central America  and the 
Organization of Latin American Students participated in 
publicizing the campus meeting by setting up informational 
tables, leafleting, hanging up a banner on campus, and writing an 
article in the Daily Californian, the campus newspaper.

        Alvisa, a researcher at the Center for Youth Studies in 
Havana, Cuba, was in the San Francisco Bay Area as part of a 
national tour by two Cuban youth. She spoke at San Jose State 
University, Laney College in Oakland, and the University of 
California at Santa Cruz. She also attended a potluck at the 
Independent School of the Arts in San Jose and a wrap-up 
reception at UCB. Close to 800 people heard Alvisa speak over the 
course of the week.

        At the Berkeley meeting, Alvisa focused her presentation 
on the current situation in Cuba.

        "The period of rectification of errors in Cuba is not over," 
she stated. "Cuba initiated this process as a way to seek our own 
solutions to developing a strategy of economic independence. It 
has been compared to what happened in the Soviet Union known 
as 'perestroika.' But time has shown that these are two completely 
different things. Che Guevara's studies in the 1960s of the Soviet 
economic model invalidated that model and we found that 
copying the Soviet model did not fulfill the needs of the Cuban 
population.

        "In Cuba, the economy is put at the service of human 
beings," Alvisa continued. "Through rectification, volunteer labor-
-which had been abandoned--was reintroduced as part of the 
political education of a new generation of Cubans."

        "Cuba is living through a very difficult moment' Alvisa 
explained. She described a "double blockade" Cuba faces, with the 
ongoing embargo imposed by the United States intensified by the 
collapse in trade with Eastern Europe and the former Soviet 
Union.

        Alvisa said the importation of oil has dropped from 13.8 
million tons per year to 6 million. "The drop in oil has had a major 
effect on the economy. Cuba has very little hard currency so it is 
difficult to buy oil in the international market. Our food supply 
has also been affected."

        For two hours the room was filled with raised hands. 
Students strained to get two or three questions answered at a 
time.

        A student pointed to Fidel Castro as the figure the 
revolution is based on, and asked, "What will happen when he 
dies? Can you comment on how to demystify Fidel?"

        Alvisa replied, "This question always comes up. Fidel is a 
symbol to the people in Latin America. However," she continued, 
"the revolution's triumph and development has shown that it is 
not one man's revolution." She challenged the audience to 
consider two facts: "Cuba has withstood more than 30 years of a 
blockade and has managed to develop; and just recently 100,000 
students during their school vacations volunteered to help on 
agricultural projects. Do you think these things could be ordered?" 
she asked.

        Applause greeted her answer to "What do you think of 
Sendero Luminoso?" known in English as the Shining Path. 
Sendero Luminoso has waged a decade-long war against the 
government of Peru, using terrorist methods against working 
people.

        Alvisa said that, while she was "no specialist on this group," 
she "disagreed with their form of struggling" and pointed out that 
"if you study the history of the world and revolutionary 
movements, history has proven that their path is not the way to 
carry out a revolutionary fight." She also said that "many people 
have been victimized because of their actions."

        Asked, "do differences exist between conditions in rural 
versus urban areas of Cuba," Alvisa answered, "Yes. A great deal 
of attention has been given to rural areas by the revolution but 
development in these areas has not yet reached that of the cities." 
She pointed to the "big role students are playing in this area by 
making a moral commitment to work two years wherever the 
revolution needs their efforts."

In Pittsburgh.

By Arnold Weissberg

PITTSBURGH--The City Council here declared September 15 and 
16 "Pittsburgh Cuba Friendship Days" in response to a visit to the 
city by Ibis Alvisa Gonzalez, a Cuban youth leader. The resolution, 
introduced by council member Jim Ferlo, was unanimously 
approved.

        Ferlo handed Alvisa an official copy of the resolution to 
applause from the council. Following the presentation, Ferlo, in 
brief remarks, called on the U.S. government to end the embargo 
on Cuba and establish normal diplomatic and economic relations.

        During her stay in Pittsburgh, Alvisa spoke at the 
University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, and 
Edinboro State University, addressing a total of about 200 people.
________
The Militant newspaper is a socialist newsweekly.  An 
introductory subscription costs $10 for 12 weeks. Write to The 
Militant, 410 West Street, New York, N.Y. 10014. 


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