- Fidel Castro writes a brief response to the Union of Young Communists, expressing belief in their revolutionary fervor while noting that “None of you were born when the revolution triumphed.” An AP correspondent looks at the thoughts and motivations of
- Some dissidents survey opposition positions and search for common ground.
I found that the youth had wildly off imaginations of what was the reality of el norte. People flipped out when I told them there were 80,000 homeless people in Los Angeles, for example.
ReplyDeleteI actually went around my neighborhood this weekend with a camera, with the theme in the back of my head of the "Real United States," ie. what I would show to Cuban youth if I could (based on therealcuba.com model)... sick homeless women living in a car, the mentally ill wandering, the blight of advertising and billboards, the private property fetishes, the security grills everywhere, etc. I know the regime paints not too pretty a picture of the US, but I feel the youth need to see it to beleive it.
I think part of the problem is they get most information from US movies and TV shows, which hardly ever show realistic portrays. But also I've found that migrants are eager to tell (themselves and others) a happier version of their experiences in their new country, rather than talk about difficulty. I met a Cuban rapper a few weeks ago who is barely eeking out a living in the South Bronx with rats and roaches, avoiding bullets and needles. He is not so sure about his decision, but can't tell his family that...