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<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element"> <font
size="-2"><a class="domain reader-domain"
href="https://mronline.org/2019/09/24/the-venceremos-brigade-at-50/">https://mronline.org/2019/09/24/the-venceremos-brigade-at-50/</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">The Venceremos Brigade at 50</h1>
<div class="credits reader-credits">Diana Block - September 24,
2019<br>
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<article> <a
href="https://mronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/VB50-banner-2.jpg"
rel="lightbox" title="The Venceremos Brigade at
50"><img
src="https://mronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/VB50-banner-2-600x400.jpg"
alt="VB50 banner" title="The Venceremos Brigade
at 50" width="600" height="400"></a>
<header>
<h3>Challenging Empire, Uplifting Solidarity Since
1969</h3>
</header>
<section>
<p>In January 1969, on the tenth anniversary of
the Cuban Revolution, a group of radical
American youth were inspired by Fidel’s call to
help with the harvest of 10 million tons of
sugar cane. The call came at a time when the
Cuban economy was already being targeted by a
strangling economic embargo first imposed by the
United States in 1960. The Cubans welcomed the
offer of support by these young people and later
that year the first Venceremos (“we shall
overcome”) Brigade of 216 people left for Cuba
by way of Mexico. They helped Cubans cut cane
for six weeks, gaining “direct experience of a
Third World Socialist revolution.” (<i>Venceremos
Brigade, </i>Levinson & Brightman, Simon
& Schuster, 1971, p. 14.) At the same time <i>brigadistas
</i>committed to confronting racism, sexism, and
individualism within the Brigade in order to
strengthen the possibilities for building
unified political movement in the United States.</p>
<p>Since 1969, the <a href="https://vb4cuba.com/">Venceremos
Brigade</a> has brought more than 10,000
people from the U.S. to the island where they
have worked together with the Cuban people on
agriculture, construction and other material aid
projects. To honor its fifty year history as the
longest-lived Cuban solidarity organization in
the world, the 2019 Venceremos Brigade mobilized
155 people from across the U.S. to show
continued solidarity at a moment when the Trump
administration is severely escalating <a
href="https://theconversation.com/trump-declares-economic-war-on-cuba-115672">economic,
political and social warfare against Cuba.</a></p>
<p>60 former <i>brigadistas,</i> including three
from the first brigade, participated alongside
95 people who had never been part of the Brigade
before. The youngest person was fifteen years
old and the oldest was eighty-six. As in the
past, the Brigade was diverse in race,
ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation,
occupation and political affiliation and came
from seventeen states across the U.S. It was
unified in its commitment to three fundamental
goals: to end the US blockade of Cuba and all
US-imposed travel restrictions; to end the
illegal US military occupation of Guantánamo
Bay; and to strengthen movements for justice in
the US through exchange and collaboration with
Cuba.</p>
<div id="attachment_109631" class="wp-caption">
<p><a
href="https://mronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Brigadistas-at-Fidels-Grave.jpg"
rel="lightbox" title="Brigadistas at Fidel’s
Grave"><img
src="https://mronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Brigadistas-at-Fidels-Grave.jpg"
alt="Brigadistas at Fidel's Grave"
width="790" height="400"></a></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-109631"
class="wp-caption-text">Brigadistas at Fidel’s
Grave</p>
</div>
<p>I had traveled to Cuba with the Venceremos
Brigade in 1977. At that time many radical U.S.
political organizations looked to Cuba, and
other global anti-colonial struggles, for
inspiration and direction. Following Cuba’s
lead, international solidarity was recognized as
a key organizing principle. Over the past fifty
years, solidarity practice in the U.S. has gone
through many dramatic ebbs and flows. <a
href="https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0j60s45v">The
FBI tried for decades to criminalize and
demonize the Brigade</a> and yet the Brigade
has survived. For me and many former <i>brigadistas,
</i>VB50 was a unique opportunity to celebrate
the 60<sup>th</sup> anniversary of Cuba’s
revolutionary project and at the same time
reaffirm the continuity of our own
anti-imperialist commitments.</p>
<p>VB50 was hosted by <a
href="http://www.icap.cu/">ICAP</a>, the Cuban
Institute of Friendship with the Peoples and
began with ten days at the beautiful <a
href="http://www.nnoc.info/julio-antonio-mella-international-camp-over-40-years-supporting-friendship/">Julio
Antonio International Camp</a>. This was
followed by an educational tour of the island,
including Guantánamo for those who stayed for
three weeks (I was on the ten-day contingent).
As with all previous Brigades, we had a chance
to participate in collective labor alongside
Cubans, which included agricultural work and
preparing food at the camp.</p>
<div id="attachment_109634" class="wp-caption">
<p><a
href="https://mronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Victor-Dreke.jpg"
rel="lightbox" title="Victor Dreke"><img
src="https://mronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Victor-Dreke.jpg"
alt="Victor Dreke" width="331"
height="292"></a></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-109634"
class="wp-caption-text">Victor Dreke</p>
</div>
<p>The Brigade has also always stressed education
about Cuba’s history and current reality. Having
been on the Brigade in 1977 when Cuban
solidarity with anti-colonial struggles in
Africa was at its height, a highlight of VB50
for me was a presentation by <a
href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/victor-dreke-cruz-cubas-history-man-still-talks-of-revolution-2269020.html">Victor
Dreke</a> who had been in the Congo with Che
in 1965. A descendant of African slaves, Dreke
fought in the revolutionary struggle against
Batista and was also a captain in the military
units that defeated the U.S. invasion at Playa
Giron (aka the Bay of Pigs) in 1962. In 1965 he
went to the Congo as second-in-command to Che at
the request of leaders of the Congolese national
liberation movement after the CIA- backed
assassination of Patrice Lumumba in 1961.
Dreke’s reflections provided a bridge between
this iconic history and Cuba’s current material
and medical solidarity projects throughout
Africa, which he still leads at 82. Dreke is
adamant about Cuba’s future. “<a
href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/victor-dreke-cruz-cubas-history-man-still-talks-of-revolution-2269020.html">Cuba
will never go back to capitalism</a>,” he
asserted firmly in an interview.</p>
<p>During our time in Cuba, we met with students,
union leaders, scientists, professors, community
organizers and communist party members. We heard
about the outstanding achievements of the
revolution in education, health care, women’s
rights and the environment – accomplishments
that have become so well known around the world
that they are almost taken for granted, though
they have been won through fierce dedication and
exceptional innovation by the Cuban people.</p>
<p>The <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federation_of_Cuban_Women">Federation
of Cuban Women (FMC)</a> described its
advanced policies on reproductive health where
abortion and contraception are readily available
and free to all, remarkable at a moment when
such services are being gutted within the United
States. They discussed their ambitious plan to <a
href="https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Cuba-Family-Code-Will-D"
rel="nofollow">update the Cuban Family Code</a>
which was first enacted in 1976 over the next
two years which will include the redefinition of
marriage.</p>
<p>We toured <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Terrazas">Las
Terrazas</a> which was started in 1971 as a
reforestation project during which 6 million
trees were planted. It is now a unique
bio-reserve and home to a community built on
ecological sustainability. Significantly, <a
href="https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/While-the-Amazon-Burns-Cuba-Increases-its-Forested-Area"
rel="nofollow">Cuba’s forested area has almost
tripled since 1959, despite mass deforestation
in every other part of the world.</a> We also
visited <a href="http://www.cigb.edu.cu/en/">the
Center for Genetic Engineering and
Biotechnology</a> where we learned about
cutting edge developments like Heberprot-P, an
injectable medication used to treat advanced
foot ulcers in diabetic patients by accelerating
the healing process, a medicines which is
unavailable, due to the blockade, to Americans
who could benefit from such treatment.</p>
<p><a
href="https://mronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/VB50-banner-1.jpg"
rel="lightbox"><img
src="https://mronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/VB50-banner-1-1024x390.jpg"
alt="VB50 banner" width="1024" height="390"></a></p>
<p>All the Cuban representatives stressed that
Cuba’s achievements have been accomplished
despite the U.S. embargo and never-ending
attacks by multiple U.S. administrations. As one
member from the FMC stated, “We never forget
that we are eternally threatened by an empire.
We will defend our country to the very last, men
and women alike.” Since our visit in July the
assaults have continued on multiple fronts.
USAID has recently initiated a program aimed at
“<a
href="http://www.radiorebelde.cu/english/news/cuba-us-government-earmarks-millions-to-hinder-cuban-medical-cooperation-20190829/">financing
actions and the search for information to
discredit and sabotage the international
cooperation provided by Cuba in the area of
health in dozens of countries and for the
benefit of millions of people</a>. “ This
smear of Cuba’s voluntary medical aid program
indicates the lengths to which the U.S. will go
to undermine Cuba’s humanitarian and moral
stature in the world. And on September 11<sup>th</sup>,
<a
href="https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Twitter-Suspends-Accounts-of-Cubas-Largest-Media-Outlets-20190912-0004.html">Twitter
suspended the accounts</a> of all Cuba’s large
media outlets and their journalists without
warning or explanation.</p>
<p>Johanna Tablada from Cuba’s Foreign Ministry
described the current political moment as one of
the most reactionary in U.S. history where every
day new wild, unfounded accusations against Cuba
are made and the embargo is elaborated “as a set
of the most extreme manipulative and coercive
rules on earth.” She pointed to the April
implementation of <a
href="https://theconversation.com/trump-declares-economic-war-on-cuba-115672">Title
III of the 1996 Helms-Burton Act,</a>
spearheaded by John Bolton. This provision
allows Cuban Americans to <a
href="https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/world/latin-america/article224646995.html">sue
in U.S. courts</a> any company around the
world that benefits from property nationalized
in Cuba during the revolution. In June, the
Trump administration further restricted American
travel to Cuba by <a
href="https://www.thenation.com/article/cuba-trump-travel-restrictions/">prohibiting
people-to-people travel tours</a> that had
been made possible under Obama. Tablada declared
that the U.S. is attacking Cuba’s sovereign
right to build an alternative society. To
mobilize international solidarity against this
counter-revolutionary offensive, Cuba will be
holding an Anti-imperialist Meeting of
Solidarity for Democracy and Against
Neoliberalism in the beginning of November with
participants from around the world.</p>
<p>VB50 also heard presentations on the
complicated issues of sexuality, gender and race
in Cuba. A representative from <a
href="https://www.facebook.com/cenesex/">Cenesex</a>,
the National Center of Sexual Education,
described its founding in 1988 and its evolution
as an agency leading in education and advocacy
for LGBT rights. For example, Cenesex led the
passage of the 2008 law which provides <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender">transgender</a>
persons with free <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_reassignment_surgery">sex
reassignment surgery</a> and <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hormone_replacement_therapy_(trans)">hormone
replacement therapy</a> in addition to
granting them new legal identification documents
with their changed gender. According to Cenesex,
there have been increasing <a
href="https://portside.org/2019-02-25/cubas-evangelical-alliance-leads-crusade-against-gay-marriage">efforts
on the part of the U.S. to manipulate LGBT
issues</a> within Cuban society as another
tactic in its destabilization agenda. This
year’s annual Conga march against homophobia was
canceled by the agency due to fears that it
could be used to exacerbate tensions. Many in
the LGBT community disagreed with the decision
to cancel and organized an alternative march.</p>
<p>The presentation on race in Cuba included a
showing of the film <a
href="http://www.afrikanet.info/menu/diaspora/amerika/datum/2009/02/08/raza-first-film-on-racism-in-cuba/?type=98&cHash=8ca8cff996">Raza</a><i>
</i>made in 2008, which exposed the persistence
of racism in Cuban society. The film catalyzed
the establishment of the <a
href="http://www.afrocubaweb.com/comision-aponte-uneac.html">Aponte
Commission</a> which now serves as an
oversight body to promote the elimination of
racism inside Cuba. After the film, a panel of
Afro-Cuban university scholars and artists made
it clear that there is ongoing struggle and
debate about race. However, panel members
insisted that people from the U.S. needed to
appreciate the many advances that have been made
against racism in Cuba since 1959 and understand
that race in Cuba has a different dynamic than
in the U.S.</p>
<p>Since 1969, the Venceremos Brigade has also
been committed to tackling “competitiveness,
racism and male chauvinism” within the Brigade (<i>Venceremos
Brigade,</i> p. 16). This has always been one
of its most challenging tasks, due to the
profound contradictions of U.S. society which
are replicated within the left movement and
inside the Brigade. The VB50 leadership was
majority people of color and queer. <a
href="https://batjc.wordpress.com/category/accountability/">Principles
of transformative justice and accountability</a>
were prioritized as key methods for dealing with
white and male supremacy and U.S. chauvinism.
Organizers repeatedly urged <i>brigadistas</i>
to ask questions in the spirit of genuine
curiosity rather than bringing preconceived U.S.
ideas of how things should be done. They also
encouraged us to see the Cuban revolution as a
process which is imperfect but has made enormous
progress since 1959 and continues in the face of
monumental obstacles. These perspectives didn’t
eliminate contradictions but they helped <i>brigadistas
</i>to address them when they arose.</p>
<div id="attachment_109632" class="wp-caption">
<p><a
href="https://mronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Fernando-Gonzalez-at-Brigade-Celebration.jpg"
rel="lightbox" title="Fernando González
Llort, President of the Cuban Institute of
Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), speaks
at the 50th Anniversary of the creation of
the Venceremos Brigade, held at the
headquarters of ICAP, in Havana, Cuba, on
July 30, 2019. ACN PHOTO / Omara GARCÍA
MEDEROS."><img
src="https://mronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Fernando-Gonzalez-at-Brigade-Celebration-350x233.jpg"
alt="Fernando González Llort, President of
the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the
Peoples (ICAP), speaks at the 50th
Anniversary of the creation of the
Venceremos Brigade" width="350"
height="233"></a></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-109632"
class="wp-caption-text">Fernando González
Llort, President of the Cuban Institute of
Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), speaks at
the 50th Anniversary of the creation of the
Venceremos Brigade, held at the headquarters
of ICAP, in Havana, Cuba, on July 30, 2019.
ACN PHOTO / Omara GARCÍA MEDEROS.</p>
</div>
<p>On July 30<sup>th</sup> Fernando González
Llort, President of ICAP greeted the Brigade in
ICAP’s garden courtyard during the official
ceremony marking the 50<sup>th</sup>
Anniversary. Fernando had been one of the <a
href="https://secure.avaaz.org/en/community_petitions/Obama_Administration_Free_the_Cuban_5/">Cuban
5,</a> imprisoned for almost 16 years in U.S.
prisons on false espionage charges, sharing a
cell for four years with Puerto Rican
independentista <a
href="https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Oscar-Lopez-Expresses-Much-Love-to-the-Cuban-People-on-1st-Visit-to-Island-20171113-0014.html">Oscar
Lopez Rivera</a>. It was particularly moving
for those of us who had been part of the <a
href="https://www.counterpunch.org/2013/12/03/obama-give-me-five/">successful
campaign to Free the Five</a> to meet Fernando
in the context of the Brigade’s anniversary.
Fernando thanked the Brigade emphatically for
its ongoing solidarity and stated that the
Brigade has demonstrated that, “Cuba is not and
will never be alone.”</p>
<p>Leslie Cagan, who was part of the first
Venceremos Brigade said that the Brigade “<a
href="http://en.escambray.cu/2019/venceremos-brigade-celebrates-50th-birthday-in-cuba/">has
taught us all that solidarity is much more
than a beautiful word and that it must be
taken on as a commitment to life, both
individually and collectively, and live it,
and practice it, every day.”</a></p>
<p>Two of the young leaders of VB50, Rachael
Ibrahimi and Malcolm Sacks, stated
unequivocally, “<a
href="http://en.escambray.cu/2019/venceremos-brigade-celebrates-50th-birthday-in-cuba/">We
have challenged our government and its unfair
ban on traveling to Cuba and here we are, as
the Brigade has been, year after year, to
defend and also to help build this Revolution,
convinced that a better world is not only
possible, but essential.”</a></p>
<p>As the U.S. ramps up its global efforts to
protect genocidal racial capitalism, it is a
crucial time for a new generation to study and
learn from Cuba’s 60-year effort to build an
alternative socio-economic system. That system
may be imperfect, but arguably it has advanced
further than any other socialist project to
date. Building collective solidarity with Cuba
in defiance of empire has been the mission of
the Venceremos Brigade for fifty years. It needs
to be to be a priority for all of us who are
determined to fight for a better world. <a
href="http://www.granma.cu/mundo/2018-10-31/cuba-si-bloqueo-no-31-10-2018-22-10-17">¡Cuba
Sí ,Bloqueo No!</a></p>
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