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By Paul Davidson
During ten days, from July 28th to August 5th, Cuba was the setting for the most significant global youth encounter in fifty years. The 14th World Festival of Youth and Students brought together 12,335 delegates from 136 countries, representing over 2,000 organisations. Delegates participated in numerous discussions, meetings and other festival activities in the spirit of anti-imperialist solidarity, peace and friendship.
THE largest delegation was from the US where over 840 young people defied their government to attend the festival. In this, the biggest challenge to the US travel ban ever, they risked heavy fines and potential prison sentences. Upon their return to the US, many delegates were forced to endure hours of questioning by customs agents who also accused some of being 'agents' of Cuba, thereby contravening the new anti-terrorism laws.
An emergency meeting of the National Network on Cuba will be held in New York on Oct. 3-5th to discuss defence strategies.
South Korea also banned its citizens from attending and vowed to prosecute festival delegates.
The festival itself was a huge success. Cuba had expected 6,000 guests, itself a big increase on the 1989 festival held in North Korea, but double that number arrived. This was very significant. Since 1989 much has changed. The demise of the socialist bloc, the Gulf War and the global impact of neo-liberalism have created a new situation for world youth.
One might have expected smaller attendance, a result of demoralisation due to these changes. But youthful enthusiasm abounded; in the conference halls, in discussions, encounters and of course on the dance floors where delegates pulsated almost until dawn night after night, to live salsa, rock music and impromptu drumming.
After the US, the next biggest delegations were from Mexico (628), N.Korea (511), Argentina (469), Germany (434) and Angola (398). Britain had 84 delegates including many who had come directly from a work brigade. Delegates came mostly from Scotland and England and included members of CSC, trade union, solidarity and political organisations.
In Havana 11,000 Cuban families opened up their homes and treated delegates as family members. The hospitality was overwhelming. Meals were cooked, clothes were washed, every consideration was shown.
Nationwide, Cubans had voluntarily donated millions of dollars to host the festival, which was a gigantic strain on the nation's resources. Each neighbourhood organised nightly clubs with live entertainment. Fleets of buses delivered us to meetings, excursions and other events, to and from the neighbourhoods. To accomplish all this was a testament to Cuba's deep internationalism, to its openness and to its obvious need to foster solidarity.
The festival opened with a people's marathon on Havana's Malecón, followed that afternoon by a march of over 5,000 delegates to the inauguration ceremony attended by President Fidel Castro.
The events were described in the Cuban weekly, Granma International, as an 'avalanche of friendship', and a 'tidal wave of solidarity engulfing Havana'.
There followed the first of many evening concerts of rock and salsa which gave the whole festival the air of a non-stop party.
But the festival also had a more serious purpose. Every day, conferences ran concurrently on major themes such as Human Rights and People's Rights, Anti-Imperialism, International Solidarity, Democracy and Participation.
Unfortunately, due to the huge number of delegates, participation was limited and only a minority of the 400 or so in each debate were permitted speaking time. Each debate was led by a major international speaker and ended with a declaration, based on sentiments expressed by delegate speakers and amendments/additions from the floor. Each region of the world had its own clubhouse, in Havana, with conference, cultural, sports and recreation facilities. Many had there own beaches. Each day delegates lunched at a different regional clubhouse (e.g. Middle East, Europe, The Americas, Cuba, Africa etc.), allowing broad informal contacts to develop, organised encounters between delegations and participation in discussions on specific issues.
In the European clubhouse there were meetings on Ireland, Southern Africa, Colombia, Turkey, Pastors for Peace, Che Guevara, Human rights in the US and much more. There were two Irish delegations, representing differences between the Workers Party and the other delegates, many sympathetic to Sinn Fein. The meeting was therefore quite heated.
Many other national and regional questions were hotly contested in the clubhouses. Israeli and Palestinian divisions were reflected as were different orientations to the Spanish State. Each clubhouse had a video room where films were constantly shown, a 'political cafe' where groups could set up meetings, large display areas for posters and propaganda, halls where media and merchandise could be sold and discussed and stage areas for cultural and political performances. CSC put up a limited stall at the European clubhouse and shared the table with other groups from the British delegation.
During three days of the festival 2,450 delegates went on tours of the provinces where events, visits and cultural activities were arranged to give delegates a further taste of revolutionary Cuba as well as some experiences of the problems facing Cuba today.
Encounters were arranged with Cuban youth on a number of questions allowing the tours to be at once personal, political, reflective and hands-on educational. Actions were held near the US naval base at Guantanamo to denounce the illegal occupation of Cuban territory.
During the last few days, specific discussions were held on themes such as Young Parliamentarians, Young Believers, Young Trade-Unionists Young artists and Young Business People etc. These were smaller affairs with greater participation which I found uniquely productive. Often the larger discussions were repetitive, prepared speeches, each group giving its own analysis, position, story or denunciation of imperialism etc., but with little real dialogue. The latter discussions were more engaging, spontaneous, more real. Nevertheless, the declarations produced sum up the general realities in the world today.
That world imperialism, led by the US, is responsible for, or exacerbates, all the major problems we face, from regional and religious conflicts, human and political rights abuses to starvation and ill-health. That it bears the guilt of being "the main material and intellectual source of crimes against peace, security, youth and humanity"
In addition, the festival took up the solidarity discussion's declaration to declare 1998 a Year in Solidarity with Cuba, the 130th anniversary of the opening battles of the Independence War and the 100th anniversary of the first US invasion of Cuba. Demonstrations were called for October 10th outside US embassies to commemorate the murder of Ernesto Ché Guevara in Bolivia 30 years ago.
The final declaration was read out at a mammoth closing ceremony and called for the formation of a new international youth movement as well as symbolically opening the next 15th World Youth and Student Festival. 5,000 young Cubans participated in huge, human-picture displays and a gigantic firework show ended the event with revolutionary slogans booming out from loudspeakers in different languages, enchoeing away into the night across Havana and across the five continents.
But to me, the significance of the festival was not only in the declarations, but in the fact that 12,000 young people from every corner of the globe, were able to meet, live together for two weeks, exchange and argue ideas, walk down the streets of a real revolution, leave aside dogma and witness the true reality of Cuba and go away more awakened to their own power to shape their destinies.
I also believe that Cuba, as one place in the world where humanity has taken
a step forwards, must be defended. This to me is the key underlying significance that youth will take back with them. Many of these 12,000 young people will be in the forefront of future solidarity actions. Congratulations to Cuba on the successes of this festival.
Congratulations to the many youth who sacrificed to get to Havana. It is now up to us to build on the positive messages they have given us.