The recent experiences I had in Cuba, with nine other members of the Cuba Solidarity Campaign from Britain, to see first-hand how the Cuban people are confronting their deep economic crisis, confirms for me the importance of building the "Cuba Lives" festival in August.
In the province of Santiago de Cuba we talked with schoolchildren, medical students, teachers, farmers, agricultural, railroad, factory, and construction workers, as well as senior citizens. We discussed with members of the Union of Young Communists, Communist Party, the national women's organization, union representatives, and others.
We had daily discussion with our tour interpreters and the driver of our tour bus, who at the age of 12 was a messenger for the July 26 movement in the Batista days. The majority of those we spoke to proudly told us of the achievements of their revolution and that despite the hardships they suffer as a result of the U.S. government embargo, are adamant that there can be no capitulation to imperialism and no turning back to a system rooted in the exploitation of labor.
Workers told us how through their assemblies and community discussions they are finding ways to improve things - to increase food supplies, repair and replace worn out machinery and equipment, and deal with the issues of redundancy, unemployment, and transport.
One of the most important experiences I had was learning what it means for Cubans to talk with people from around the world who are in solidarity with their struggle, and to discuss together Cuba's vanguard role in the context of the world crisis of capitalism. We were frequently told how this helped and encouraged them in continuing their struggle, whatever sacrifices have to be made.
The Cuba Solidarity Campaign is supporting the festival, and is organizing a national march and rally in London in October, when activists from many other countries will be holding solidarity demonstrations.
The campaign is also planning a rally in London on June 17 to celebrate the send-off of two containers of material aid.
Connie Harris London, England
Affirmative action
In Laura Garza's article "Government takes aim at affirmative action" she points out how existing affirmative action programs are eroding.
The result is that there continues to be a significant disparity between the wages of white men and the wages of women, Latinos, and Blacks.
Why is it that in this day and age employers continue to pay working people who are not white men lower wages?
All working people only receive a small fraction of what our labor is worth. Although we are never allowed to have the fruits of our labor, we can see where the wealth goes that working people produce.
In every major city in this country we can see numerous skyscrapers, each one costing hundreds of millions of dollars to build. The people who work in these buildings are required to wear expensive clothing just to have what is considered an acceptable appearance. However, for the most part, nothing is ever produced in any of these buildings that working people either want or need.
This being the case, when we buy a commodity that working people produce, the cost of these skyscrapers is factored into the price we have to pay.
What does all of this have to do with discrimination? Since employers pay workers only a fraction of the wealth that we produce, and Blacks, Latinos, and women receive even lower wages, we must conclude that these workers are in fact superexploited. The lower the wage of those who are discriminated against, the larger the profit for the capitalist.
In other words, the skyscrapers that I mentioned are in part paid for with the dilapidated housing, run-down schools, and substandard health-care facilities in the Black and Latino communities.
When we look at discrimination in this light I think we can conclude that the root cause of discrimination has nothing to do with race or sex, but has everything to do with money.
Therefore the fight for affirmative action is a fight for the dignity of all working people.
Steve Halpern
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
h3>`Judicial generosity'
I had to drop you a line to let you in on a little quirk
of justice, as it is practiced in the Northwest Territories.
Here are the facts.
A man flies into Yellowknife to commence an employment contract at Colomac Mines. Colomac is a subsidiary of the company publicly traded as Royal Oak Mines, under the direction of the notorious CEO Peggy Witte.
This man is arrested on arrival by Yellowknife RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] on outstanding warrants. Coincidentally, this man was a scab, helicoptered in during the labor dispute at Royal Oak Giant mine.
In court, the man is sentenced to 21 days. In a very strange gesture of judicial generosity, the man is permitted to fulfill his employment contract of six weeks before he is to be taken into custody.
We bring this to your attention as the latest example of questionable justice in the territories. We suggest that the incident should raise questions about the proclaimed independence of the judges and the administration of justice.
It also provides another glimpse at just who is really calling the shots up here. We don't like what we see!
Al Shearing Tim Bettger Yellowknife Correctional Centre Northwest Territories, Canada
Notes from our readers
I bought my first Militant in 1969 at an antiwar demo in
Boston. It was a good paper then. It's an even better paper
now. Keep up the good work. Venceremos!
A reader Lawrence, Massachussetts
Great working-class newspaper. If possible would like to see articles on conditions in former socialist countries.
A reader
Baltimore, Maryland
Couldn't do without you! Especially your Irish coverage.
A reader
New York, New York
I like the Militant very much, as it is clear and to the
point, and helps to gain a better understanding of
socialism.
A reader
Hartford, Connecticut
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