The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.62/No.44           December 7, 1998 
 
 
Cuban Youth Leader Begins Sweden Tour  

BY CATHARINA TIRSÉN
STOCKHOLM - Olga Díaz Ramos, a leader of the Union of Young Communists of Cuba (UJC), arrived here November 12. She was met at the airport by a delegation from the Committee for Youth Exchange with Cuba.

During the first days of her stay here, Olga has had a chance to address more than 100 participants in different meetings.

She was welcomed to the University of Stockholm on November 13 by Johan Blaus, the president of the student union. He stressed the importance of academic freedom and cultural exchange at a meeting at "Interpub," a pub organized by the student union with different international themes.

Díaz kicked off a "Cuban Night" with a meeting of 50 participants. She began by describing the measures the Cuban government had to take following the loss of trade at favorable conditions the country had enjoyed earlier with the Soviet Union and eastern European countries. She stressed how the people were consulted in a process of discussions that took several months. "People had a chance to say what they thought and what they didn't like before the drastic measures were taken to expand tourism and foreign investments."

Tourism, she said, employs a great number of youth and is very important for the economy of Cuba today. Answering a question, Díaz described how youth organizations and others put a lot of emphasis on working with employees in tourism, to improve the service, but also to counter its social effects and the inequalities created by the fact that workers in tourism get access to hard currency. "Every year we participate in a campaign to encourage workers to give their tips to a fund for cancer medicines. They are very expensive and the contributions from these workers are a real help."

During Díaz's visit to Stockholm, the papers carried daily news reports of the rising death toll of Hurricane Mitch in Nicaragua and Honduras. More than 10,000 people were killed, and hundreds of thousands lost their homes.

"Cuba and other countries in the Caribbean and Latin America have to deal with these storms. You can not avoid them in that part of the world," Díaz said. "In Cuba we are well prepared. Everybody knows exactly what to do in case of a hurricane to save not only himself but also his neighbors. It has all been organized beforehand. So when something happens we have smaller material and human losses." Díaz mentioned that six people had died during the hurricane George that hit Cuba some weeks ago, mainly because they had been in the wrong place, like close to a high voltage wire that had fallen down.

Díaz also described the efforts Cubans were making now to help neighboring countries. Medical brigades have been sent to the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and countries in Central America.

Díaz was asked whether the present economic crisis has affected Cuba. "We never got any loans from the IMF before so we don't have so much to lose. Cuba also has a planned economy, which means we can decide on our goals. But of course we are affected too. If the crisis really hits Brazil, it will affect Mexico and eventually even the United States. Then the whole world economy will be affected."

A party including dance and salsa lessons followed the meeting at Interpub. During the evening Díaz spent hours mixing it up and discussing with groups of students and individuals, who signed a banner that Díaz will take back to Cuba.

Díaz spoke at a November 15 seminar on international struggles organized by Faltbiologerna (Field Biologists), a youth organization that is involved in studies of nature and ecology. That evening, a welcome party for the Cuban youth leader drew 40 participants, who spent an hour and a half after dinner asking questions about Cuba.

At both these events Díaz was asked about the importance of Ernesto Che Guevara, the Argentine-born leader of the Cuban revolution. Díaz took the opportunity to encourage everyone to read some of Che's works and not just look at him as a symbol on a T-shirt.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home