A symbol of defiance: Cuban flags outside the US interests building in Havana.
At the closing ceremony of the conference we met the families of the Cuban Five and expressed our unconditional solidarity with the struggle to free the heroes of the Cuban revolution.
After a morning of voluntary work on a new agricultural project we interviewed a farmer about democracy under socialism. When we told him about reactionary 'critics' in Britain who label Fidel Castro a dictator he responded that "We can say what we like and we want socialism... there is no-one behind me telling me to say that!"
We had a meeting with a class of agronomy students, many from poor countries in Latin America such as Bolivia and Ecuador, studying in Cuba for free.
We met Cuba's national olympic rowing team, who answered questions about capitalism and the fact that sportspeople from Cuba have been offered huge sums of money to go professional in the US and Europe. They answered that their motivations were for the Cuban people and socialism, not in getting rich and sacrificing their principles. The meeting was inspiring for the whole brigade.
In our discussions with Cuban Communist Party and UJC leaders, the Cuban comrades were not afraid to criticise and admit to huge problems facing their society. The debate initiated by president Fidel Castro in late 2005 on the future of the revolution has become widespread, with the focus on raising productivity and combating corruption and bureaucracy.
...nowhere else in Latin America has the same high standards in education for all students as Cuba. This is something the revolutionary movements in Venezuela and Bolivia are striving to achieve.
Social care starts from birth. This creche in Caimito is one of many, with childcare readily available for all children.
Comrades were interviewed and appeared on Cuban state TV, talking about RATB's caimpaign work in Britain.
In Havana city all 14 members of the brigade were delegates to the First International Youth Conference to Free the Cuban Five, political prisoners in the US. The RCG was invited to speak on the platform on the first day and comrade Paul gave a well recieved speech on the tasks of revolutionaries in oppressor nations. Hundreds of people from anti-imperialist and progressive organisations from all over the world attended, with particularly militant delegations from Venezuela and Ecuador.
Listen to the speech (MP3)
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