By John Laidler, Globe Correspondent, 1/21/2001.
The Boston Globe.
State Representative Peter J. Koutoujian recently had a first-hand glimpse
of conditions in modern-day Cuba, and came back saying the time has come to end
the US trade embargo.
The Newton Democrat was part of a delegation of 30 Massachusetts people,
including seven legislators, who took part in an eight-day visit to Cuba from
Jan. 5 to 13.
According to Koutoujian, who represents parts of Newton and Waltham, the
trip was organized by Democratic state Representative Jarrett Barrios of
Cambridge, who is a Cuban native. Oxfam America did the planning and obtained
the license for the tour, which was paid for by the participants. In addition to
the lawmakers, the group included Cambridge library officials and people active
in Oxfam.
''The whole purpose of the trip was to bring books and small amounts of
medicines down,'' Koutoujian said. Traveling around the country by chartered
bus, the group distributed books at libraries and medicines at health care
facilities.
For Koutoujian, it marked the second time in the last year that he has
traveled to a foreign country on an official tour. Last August, he spent two
weeks in South Africa on a trip organized by the American Council of Young
Political Leaders.
''I was very impressed with the Cuban people,'' he said. ''The standard of
living over there is not high, but then it not as low as I saw in South Africa,
or in most if not all of the other Latin American countries. What sort of
surprised me was the fact that while no one lived particularly well, I didn't
see .. people starving. I didn't see anyone homeless. Everyone is entitled to
health care and everyone is entitled to an education.''
He was also struck by the apparent racial harmony in the country. ''When
we'd walk through the streets or be out for dinner, we'd see white, black,
yellow, and brown people all together. ... It was probably the most race-blind
culture I'd seen in my life,'' he said.
But Koutoujian said the general poverty of the country is evident in
everything from poorly maintained buildings and roads to the lack of books on
library shelves. He said the trip had left him convinced that the US embargo
trade against Cuba should be lifted. ''I'm no fan of communism, but this isn't
doing anything but hurting people right now. I wasn't able to see the compelling
US interest in maintaining the embargo.''
Koutoujian said the trip has prompted him to seek donations of books in
Newton and Waltham to be sent to Cuba and South Africa. Working with Koutoujian
on the book drive will be Wayne Dudley, a Salem State College professor and
Oxfam activist who was on the Cuba tour and who also traveled to South Africa
last year on a different tour than Koutoujian's.
This story ran on page 3 of The Boston Globe's Globe West section on
1/21/2001.
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