Cuban companeros in belfast
BY FERN LANE
One of the many foreign delegations to the Festival was that from the Cuban Communist Party, which set up a stall in the entrance of the Cultúrlan Centre on the Falls Road to enable them to meet and talk with as many festival-goers as possible, as well as introducing many of them to the delights of the Cuban rum which they had brought with them.
The party was represented by Teresita Trujillo, a member of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist party and local community activist in Havana. Teresita told me over coffee on Friday afternoon about her party's identification with the Irish people, its desire to forge international links, and about the difficulties in maintaining the integrity of the revolution in the face of the continuing embargo and spread of disinformation by the USA.
``For us, this is a very important festival,'' she said, ``because we are trying to develop our relations with Ireland, north and south, and this is the biggest community festival in Ireland and possibly in Europe.''
``Here, there is the possibility of talking to people about our situation in Cuba. There is so little information - and sometimes people don't even know where Cuba is! And then the information is distorted. But here, we can try and explain in the broadest possible way what is going on in Cuba. We talk to trades unions, women's groups and community organisations to get our message across. We believe that from year to year we have been improving the knowledge of Cuba.
``The Cuban support group in Ireland is doing a very difficult job in promoting issues around Cuba. They are the ones who are permanently here and promote solidarity with Cuba.''
Teresita also spoke about the case, currently going through the Cuban courts, which the party is pursuing against the U.S. government. The tale sounds like the plot of a cheap novel, but is depressingly true.
In 1980, in an attempt to create civil panic and destabilise the Cuban government, the U.S. secret services released the haemorragic dengue bacteria into the water system in the hope of creating an epidemic. In the event, some 100 people died, mostly children, before the bacteria was contained and the epidemic prevented.
The Cuban government is now demanding material damages from the US of $181 billion dollars. Teresita explained that the legal action is being taken to counter U.S. allegations that the dengue epidemic is merely communist propaganda. However, she says, with a philosophical shrug and smile, she is not optimistic that the U.S. government will either admit its wrongdoing or pay reparations for it.
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