Memories and Images of Revolutionary Cuba

Internet is very expensive in Cuba in comparison to the rest of Latin America so we haven´t been able to update our blog in the last few weeks. We want to apologise to the many 100´s of our avid readers worldwide who have sent us countless emails explaining that their lives have been empty and meaningless without our hard-hitting, incisive and informative blogsite entries. In the month that we have remaining in Latin America we pledge to do our darndest to satisfy the ever increasing desire for information.

After the highs and highs of our participation in the Venezuelan solidarity brigade we were very keen to get to Cuba and try to compare the two revolutions. We managed to see a fair bit of Cuba in the 3 weeks but both of us have decided that this fascinating and inspiring little nation if definetly worth a second, much longer, trip.

Highlights included the vast Museum of the Revolution in Havana, walking along Havana´s famous Malecon (sea wall), visiting the very moving Che Guevara monument in Santa Clara, the UNESCO world heritage protected town of Trinidad with its well preserved colonial architecture and the walking through the small house in Central Santiago were the famous revolutionary brothers and underground movement leaders Frank and Jose Pais) grew up in Santiago de Cuba.

The 46 year old economic blockade on Cuba illegally enforced by the US has certainly had its negative effects on Cuba. The shortage of building materials and resources is evident in the neglected state of many of the buildings and apartments. But even in the depths of Cuba´s special period Cuba not only managed to survive but survived with the key gains of the revolution intact. Not one hospital bed or school has been closed and Cuba today has the best health, education and social services in the third world (and is better than many first world countries including the United States).

Despite the sabotage, assassinations, invasions and ecomonic warfare Cuba has been subjected too as punishment for choosing to follow a different economic and social path from that dictated by the White House and the Pentagon the grassroots base of the revolution appeared to be very strong. Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR´s) are voluntary mass organisations with a membership of around 4 million people (out of a total popualtion of 11 million). The activity of the CDR´s were hard to miss walking down the streets of Cuba´s cities and towns. Their major campaign revolves around support for the return of the Cuban Five. The Cuban Five are currently held in US prisons as foreign spies for attempting to gather information on extremist Cuban exile groups based in southern Florida and prevent future terrorist attacks on Cuba.

To find out more about this
important cause visit www.freethefive.org/