In Cuba with the Southern Cross Brigade
'All they asked us to do was tell the truth'
By Bernie Brian
In 1959 Fred Huntley, as a young British merchant seaman, made a brief stopover in Cuba. Over 30 years later, he made a return visit as a member of the 10th Southern Cross Work Brigade. Fred spoke to Green Left soon after his return to Wollongong about an experience he says he won't forget.
"When we arrived in Cuba, we received an invitation from the Federation of Young Communists to attend the anniversary celebrations in the Plaza de la Revolución in Havana. This square is the second largest in the world. During the evening it was announced that a million people were present.
"One of the things that impressed us straight away was the enthusiasm of the Cuban people." Although Cubans have had to do without many things during what they call a "special period", the brigade "left with the impression that morale remains high and their revolution will survive.
"Throughout the celebrations the crowd chanted 'Sí por Cuba' (yes for Cuba). But nothing prepared us for how the crowd erupted when Fidel made a brief appearance and, believe it or not, a very brief speech of half a minute. The crowd remained in the square listening to the official speeches despite the rain and were entertained for three hours by live music."
Clearly it was the Cuban people themselves who made the deepest impression on Fred Huntley. He describes them as warm and open.
"Of course there are always the few shady characters who want to sell you pesos in exchange for US dollars, or sell you anything from cheap cigars to anti-cholesterol pills that double as aphrodisiacs."
Cuba is now going through its most difficult period ever, with the tightening of the 30-year US blockade and the loss of valuable markets in and assistance from eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. But as far as Fred could see, this hasn't lessened the Cuban people's resolve to continue on the path they began with the revolution 34 years ago.
"There is all this talk of people trying to leave Cuba. Everybody is free to leave Cuba if they wish. In fact, 20,000 Cubans have been granted exit visas to the United States, but it is the US that will not accept them."
During their time in Cuba, Fred and his fellow brigadistas teamed up with another brigade from Costa Rica and picked 14 tonnes of oranges and planted two hectares of beans. "We felt we were doing something useful for the country", Fred said.
"Our camp was equipped with a bar, canteen, laundry and resident doctor and nurse. We worked for four days, and each day after work we things as Cuban history, the economic effects of the blockade and democracy in Cuba. The meals were Spartan and mainly based on pork and rice, but we had enough.
"During our stay we visited two neighbourhood CDRs (Committees for the Defence of the Revolution) at Caimito and Guayabal and were able to see how the average Cubans lived. Their houses were spotlessly clean and small, but they still seemed to have adequate space. The towns themselves were very clean because the locals organise rosters to keep the streets clean.
"One thing that was obvious, however, was the dilapidated state of the exteriors of most buildings, particularly in Havana. This is a direct result of the economic difficulties I mentioned earlier. There is a real shortage of building materials like cement and timber, and everywhere you go there are unfinished houses."
Another sign of shortages was the lack of buses. "There are long queues at most bus stops. In fact, the only other queues I saw were at the ice cream stands.
"We weren't particularly happy about the fact that we were riding around in a half-empty bus while Cubans had to queue. We even got to jump the queue at the ice cream stands. We questioned our guides about this and we were told it was for our own protection. Not only is it easy to get lost, but a tourist can get mugged anywhere, even in Cuba. (Although I must admit that I never felt uneasy walking around Havana at night, unlike in Mexico City, where there are 'no go' areas for tourists.)
"We raised with our hosts that we were uncomfortable with our special treatment, and on several occasions after that our coach stopped to pick up other passengers."
A severe shortage of oil has effects throughout the economy. "Many factories are operating below capacity, and tractors are sitting idle because of the difficulties in getting spare parts. Everywhere you go you are also hounded by children wanting chewing gum and pens.
"These shortages are likely to get worse with the implementation by the US government of the Torricelli Bill, which imposes sanctions on any company trading with Cuba. However, the US has been attacked for this action by usually close allies such as Britain, Canada, France and Spain, who no doubt recognise the potential value of closer trading relations with Cuba.
"The Cubans improvise where they can with alternative raw materials. For instance, on the Isle of Youth I saw a road that had been made out of marble. It seems they have loads of marble, and it's cheaper to use than importing other gravels.
"The Isle of Youth is also the site of the Namibian School, which is the living proof of Cuba's continued internationalism despite its difficulties, and the site of the prison where Fidel wrote his famous defence speech, 'History Will Absolve Me'." Cuba is developing tourism as a way of earning hard currency. "All over Cuba tourist shops have sprung up that are not available to the Cubans because they only accept US dollars. Cubans by law cannot hold US dollars. The Cubans seem to understand the necessity of this, but some do try to get around the restrictions by getting tourists to shop for them. The other side effect of tourism which is worrying the authorities is, of course, prostitution.
"On one day we visited the Eduardo Mesa Llull special school for the Deaf in Santiago de Cuba. It was here that we made a presentation on behalf of the Wollongong Solidarity Committee of $US100. This money, after discussions with the administrators, was used to buy 249 cakes of soap from one of the tourist shops. I had to do this personally because even our hosts in the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) were unable to use the special shops.
"The other impressive thing about the Cubans is their love of the arts, particularly music and dance. Everywhere we went there was music. We visited a medical school and the students put on a show for us. Although they were all amateurs they would have taken Wollongong by storm. Some of the brigade also went to the National Ballet of Cuba, and there wasn't a tuxedo or tiara to be seen anywhere in the audience.
"You begin to realise the sacrifices the Cubans made to get where they are when you speak to the veterans of the war against the former US-backed dictator, Batista. We were particularly moved when we met some of the survivors of the second front and were given the opportunity to lay a floral wreath on behalf of Australian supporters at the memorial for the martyrs of the second front near Santiago de Cuba."
Fred has been an active and committed socialist for many years and has been particularly active in the Committee in Solidarity with Latin America and the Caribbean (CISLAC). Green Left asked Fred what impact the trip had on him personally.
"It has boosted my morale, particularly because I was able to see that socialism can work. Cuban socialism is one with a human face — it's so unregimented. Democracy means many things to different people but I fail to see how popular elections to all levels of government and representatives being continually held accountable and subject to recall by their constituents, is not democratic. The Cubans do not have many of the material things that we in the West have access to, but they also have free education and free health care; nobody starves and everybody has work.
"All the Cubans asked us to do when we returned was tell the truth. The Cubans are going through a difficult time, but their morale is high and they are confident that with continued international support they will survive this period.
"We must step up our solidarity with Cuba in Australia. There was some discussion in Cuba that the new Cuban consul, who is due to arrive in Australia in March, will be upgraded to an ambassador. This will represent a long overdue recognition in Australia of Cuba's right ed States interference."