'Leading organizer' of campus protests praises Communist Cuba
By Toby Westerman. © 2001
WorldNetDaily.com
A leader of protests against America's war against terrorism is an avid
supporter of the Cuban communist revolution and its architect, Fidel Castro,
according to official Cuban sources.
Gloria La Riva, identified as a "leading organizer" of the
anti-war movement and key member of the International Action Center, is rallying
support around a "common theme" already used by leftists "throughout
the country," using the slogan,
"War and racism are not
the answer" as her anti-war motto.
"The response from people has been amazing … [from] over a hundred
campuses," La Riva boasted.
La Riva made the statements during an interview conducted and broadcast by
Radio Habana Cuba, the official broadcasting service of the Cuban government.
Included in La Riva's arsenal of tactics are "teach-ins,"
frequently used in 1960s protests, and as yet undefined "new, creative"
strategies intended "to try to keep the energy going, to educate the
people."
Despite a response La Riva described as "great," she also stated
that politicians who would usually support her organization were remaining
silent "because of great fear – and intimidation by the government."
Other observers note that President George W. Bush's extreme popularity,
which ranges somewhere over 90 percent, may more readily account for the
reluctance of some politicians to oppose a popular president, rather than "government
intimidation."
La Riva urged Radio Habana's listeners to "contact us to find out how
to get involved and begin the work in your community" and provided a
website and e-mail address.
La Riva and her group are fully engaged in organization and propaganda
activities. "Regional actions" are planned for Oct. 27, "to build
the visibility and voice of this new anti-war movement," according to the
website of the International Action Center.
The International Action Center has also established a separate group tagged
"ANSWER" – an acronym for "act now to stop war and end
racism."
Founded and headed by long-time leftist guru and former Attorney General
Ramsey Clark, the International Action Center has opposed U.S. military activity
in Iraq and Yugoslavia, as well as U.S. foreign policy in the Near and Middle
East in general.
La Riva herself has made no secret of her socialist/communist politics and
is effusive in her praise of Cuban President Fidel Castro.
In her interview with Radio Habana, La Riva quoted Castro as stating that
leftists' anti-war activities involve a struggle in which "the very
survival of humanity is at stake."
In a 1999 speech to the socialist/communist Workers World Party
commemorating the 40th anniversary of the communist Cuban revolution, La Riva
described Castro's Cuba as "a revolutionary society created by workers in
industry and agriculture and by students" having "mass organizations
in every workplace, school and neighborhood."
La Riva ended her speech with the exhortation: "Long live the Cuban
Revolution!"
Observers note that the most eloquent refutation to La Riva's laudatory
description of communist Cuba is given by refugees from the island risking death
in shark-infested waters in hope of gaining freedom in the United States.
Those familiar with the communist system on the island recognize the
ubiquitous "mass organizations" as tools to control the behavior of
possible dissidents.
In a moment of historical irony, Cuban/communist support for the anti-war
movement is occurring at the same time Havana is commemorating the 1967 death in
the Bolivian jungle of Castro's revolutionary associate and guerrilla leader,
Che Guevara.
Bolivian troops ambushed Che's rebel band, capturing and executing the
leader soon after the skirmish ended.
The Castro government still reveres the memory of Che, and holds in high
esteem his activities as a guerrilla fighter. Havana still pays for periodic
expeditions into the Bolivian jungle to relocate and bring back to Cuba the
remains of Che's defeated communist band, where they are placed in a special
memorial.
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