The FEU expects 5,000 participants from at least 23 countries to attend. The meeting is "an excellent opportunity for American students to know the reality of the Latin American continent," González told Bellevue Community College (BCC) students, "as well as to learn the reality of Cuba."

The idea for a congress of Latin American students originated with Che Guevara, the Argentine-born Cuban revolutionary leader, González said. The "main principal and purpose" is to unite students of the continent "not because they all think the same way but because they are part of the same generation" facing similar challenges, he pointed out. Che's ideas "will be present at this congress." This includes, he added, Che's idea of "the 'new man' ready to fight anywhere in the world."

At a meeting at the University of Washington one student asked about Cuban students' perspective on the strike at Mexico's Autonomous University, where students shut down the university to protest tuition hikes and other austerity measures demanded by the government. Mexican students will have an important presence at the April congress, González said.

"Our federation is looking for closer relations with students in this country," he said. "In Cuba we don't know much about the situation of university students in the United States. It is great for us to learn from and to talk to you." This is a process Cuban youth hope to continue at the congress. Previous such conferences, he said, did not include many participants from North America.

"We have been educating people for 41 years," since the victory of the Cuban revolution in 1959, Pila said. Participants in the congress will discover "the political culture we have in Cuba. Young people are very political. It is part of the defense of our reality" against Washington's hostility towards the revolution.  
 

Supports revolution

At North Seattle Community College González was asked why, when students in other countries are often seen in the streets protesting government policies, Cuban students are supporters of the government. "When you know what the government of Cuba does for our people and the people of the rest of the world," he replied, "you believe in the government and support it."

"The best part of our society, of our revolution, and what I have learned is to work for other people," he said. "I work to help the society in which I live."

González pointed to the opposite example in the United States. There's enormous wealth here, he said, but it's spent by Washington on the military while universities are needed in Latin America and Africa, hospitals are needed in Africa, and vaccination programs are needed for children around the world. Despite the economic difficulties it faces, Cuba has built a new Latin American medical school. Students from throughout Latin America who study there "are from the poorest regions of those countries," he said. The school is free to these students. Another new school is being built to train Latin American physical education teachers. "That is why the vast majority of students support the revolution," he explained. "We support a government that has taught us to think first about the welfare of other people, not our own."

González said that during his stay in the United States he found out about the tens of millions of dollars spent on electoral campaigns here. "They say this is a democracy, yet you need millions of dollars to become president," he said. In Los Angeles, González said he learned that more money is spent on prisons and jails than for public universities, and he pointed to the brutality African-Americans face at the hands of the police as well as the metal detectors used in many high schools. "These problems can be solved," he emphasized, "and we have solved them in Cuba." Cuban students, "don't only support the government," he added, "but are fighting to make our society better."  
 

'Universities in Cuba are free'

In response to a question at the University of Washington, González explained some of the differences between universities in Cuba and the United States. "All universities in Cuba are managed by the state and are completely free," he said. This includes tuition, books, and dormitories. Each student receives a government stipend. The FEU "participates in all decisions made about education in Cuba," at every school and university.

"As a Third World country we face a lack of resources," he pointed out. "We cannot guarantee each student a computer," or frequent access to the Internet. To ameliorate this problem computer labs in Cuba are open 24 hours a day to maximize the number of students who can use them.

During the tour several students expressed interest in attending the congress.  
 
 
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