The opening of the conference as delegates from more that 120 countries assembled in the Teatro Carlos Marx. Banners from all over - MST (the Brazilian Landless Workers Movement), ANC, FARC-EP (The Colombian revolutionary armed forces), Pastors for Peace (USA), PLO, Chile, Venezuela, Sweden, India, Canada, Catalonia, Martinique, Angola and Mozambique, and so on.
The Speech by Carlos Lage on the Cuban Economy, documenting the recovery from the low point of 1994 when Cuba had lost some 80% of its foreign trade after the counter-revolution in the Soviet Union. Lage explained in detail the circumstances under which foreign capital is used, and the safeguards Cuba has put in place to ensure that it serves the needs of the people.
The Speech by Felipe Pérez Roque on Cuba’s foreign policy. He was just back from the UNO where again the annual vote against the blockade was stronger than ever, opposed only by the USA and two of its closest clients.
The visit to the CDRs - we split into groups of 5 (the 4000 of us!) for a fiesta with a CDR, which covers about 30 families. The warmth of the welcome was truly moving, as was the honest conversation we had with ordinary Cubans who while noting the shortages of their daily lives were so positive about the advantages of life in Cuba (safe for children, excellent education and health care, adequate housing, etc.). As we left on our bus, a group of children, still dancing got on and danced down the aisle. They were followed by an old woman doing the same: ‘Dear Fidel! Dear Fidel! - she exclaimed ‘before, in the 50’s I was hungry, but never again, never again!’ After the difficult years of the special period this was a testament indeed to the reservoir of popular support for the revolution, something that I met several times talking to Cuban people unconnected with the solidarity conference.
Talking to members of the British delegation who had been on the very first Brigade in 1960, and had been present when Fidel announced the nationalisation of US compaies.
Seeing British ambulances sent by CSC / Salud at work in Havana.
Joining the NUM delegation for a talk with their Cuban counterparts (the mining, energy and chemical union) at the CTC in Havana. I was there to work on our group’s link with workers from an oil refinery between Matanzas and Cárdenas. We were able to identify a lot of the needs of the miners, and problem solve how to get some of the aid there.
A rather chaotic visit to the psychiatric hospital. We only had 4 places on this visit (somehow there were about 50 from the Greek delegation!), and I left with more questions than I went with. What was striking, however, was the extremely high level of activity by users and the skilled and energetic engagement of staff to facilitate a wide variety of activities, both therapeutic and occupational - a real contrast with similar settings in Britain, where the norm is so often sitting around smoking, with therapeutic activity on the margin.
The rally of 10,000 people in the Plaza José Martí- opposite the US interests office. We sat in front of some medical students from Honduras, in their first year at the Latin American School of Medicine, where Cuba trains health workers from other Latin American countries, for free. As one speaker noted, this is a stark contrast to the US School of the Americas, which trains armies and police forces in the methods and technologies of repression - graduates of that school include the murderers of the Salvadorian Jesuits in 1989, and many other similar atrocities. In a powerful speech, the MST speaker contrasted the technological advances of the last century with the woeful lack of social progress, where of course Cuba and its revolution remains such a symbol of hope to so many poor and the oppressed people.
Finally it was everyone’s dream to see Fidel closing the conference. I’m not convinced he had five and a half hours material, but certainly the first couple of hours showed us his broad grasp of the world system, and Cuba’s unique place within it. A flavour of this speech can be found in his UCV speech of two years ago - ‘A revolution can only be borne from culture and ideas.’ available from CSC sales.
And Compay Segundo played for us !