There's growing concern about the role Cuba's youth will play in the
future of the struggling island.
This week's communist party papers have reflected on the decreasing
number of youngsters who are members of the artists union and who -
arguably more importantly - toil on the country's arable land.
Today's Granma asks the pointed question: "Who works in the fields?"
The paper said Villa Clara's peasants own just 35 percent of the land
and produce nearly 70 percent of the food. Yet the average age of its
farmers is 50, which could spell trouble for future food production.
Today's paper also has an interview with Communist Youth Union first
secretary Julio Martínez Ramírez, who seems hung up on the 1960s "New
Man" communist rhetoric. He says the youth have to stop being so darn
capitalistic and get with the revolution program.
"Our work is focused on getting all Cuban youth to be conscious of the
high responsibility they have to continue the revolution," he said.
"That is the reason for our organization. We cannot lose sight of the
fact that we have some young people who painfully do not have a clear
idea of the value of the revolution."
Juventud Rebelde newspaper pointed out Thursday that only 1,453 writers
and artists in the UNEAC are under age 40. Just three percent of
participants of this week's congress were born after 1968.
-Frances Robles
April 04, 2008
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/cuban_colada/2008/04/cuban-youth-cri.html
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