As children are indoctrinated, they climb a ladder of communist
organizations to become soldiers in Cuba's official ideological battle against
consumerism, the Tribune's Laurie Goering writes.
Laurie Goering. Chicago
Tribune. Published July 27, 2001.
HAVANA -- Kenia Serrano, a dark-haired young woman in a red T-shirt and jean
skirt, is a card-carrying Communist.
Ever wonder what the card says?
"You have to have value to be a young Communist.
"You have to have character to be a young Communist."
You also have to be self-sacrificing and show talent. And if you're a real
individualist, the sort of self-sufficient self-starter that U.S. college
admissions departments love, you need not apply here.
"That kind of person doesn't feel much solidarity," notes Serrano,
27, a leader in the ideology section of Cuba's Union of Young Communists.
Forty-two years after Fidel Castro's Cuban Revolution, communist ideology is
holding its own in Cuba.
Legions of children on the island are Pioneers, the Communist Party version
of Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, best-known for their red neck scarves and fiery
speeches at government rallies.
Another 450,000 Cubans age 14 to 30 are Young Communists, the next step up.
And from there the cream of the crop graduate to being full Communist Party
members.
Keeping communist ideology alive in an increasingly globalized world that
glories in the materialist life isn't easy, but for Cuba's Union of Young
Communists, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, the fight is a
priority.
"We're in a strong battle to defend our culture," Serrano said. As
U.S. movies, music and radio broadcasts make their way to Cuba, along with
visiting Miami relatives and their fistfuls of dollars, plenty of young Cubans
have begun showing more interest in Nikes and Tommy Hilfiger than in the
revolution.
"With this generation we have to work much harder," she said. "People
want stereos, computers in their houses, but they have to think of at what price
that comes."
To shore up communist values among Cuba's young, Serrano's ideology division
produces magazines for young Cubans, designed to entertain and educate.
There's Zunzun for the little kids, a colorful collection of cartoons,
parables and short stories on the likes of Jose Marti, Cuba's independence-era
hero and poet.
One picture story talks about how the mission of Young Communists is to
defend the ideals of the nation and withstand "the blockade that Uncle Sam
imposes on us."
Pioneer magazine, for slightly older children, reminds kids that they are
protagonists in Cuba's ongoing "Battle of Ideas" pitting Cuban culture
against foreign culture. One issue features a cartoon in which a Pioneer, in
trying to help an old woman carry her heavy bag, unwittingly discovers she is a
disguised "counterrevolutionary terrorist."
The youth disarms the evildoer, garners recognition from the Committee for
the Defense of the Revolution and wins the attentions of a pretty, blond
Pioneer.
While the Pioneers organization is open to all young Cubans, becoming a
card-carrying Young Communist takes some work.
The organization is looking for "a person who has made sacrifices for
the revolution," perhaps by volunteering at school or in a job. Candidates
usually are nominated by friends and must present references from teachers or
classmates, which are then meticulously checked, which can take up to three
months. Two out of three applicants are turned away, Serrano said.
Individualism and self-sufficiency are considered faults; capacity for
self-criticism is good. A good ideological background helps.
Obviously, membership can pave the way for better jobs in the future, one
attraction of the organization.
Serrano, who became a member at 16, has already moved on to become a full
Communist Party member at age 27. "Ideologue" is even part of her
e-mail address.
The confident young woman sees creeping materialism as one of the most
serious threats to the socialist way of life. Exposure to U.S. consumer culture
"creates false material expectations for children," she said, and a "consumer
tendency" that has to be combated on the cash-short island, where most
people survive on income that scarcely pays for the necessities.
Over the years, the Union of Young Communists has had its ups and downs in
membership. In the past two years, membership has been on the rise again, which
Serrano calls "very favorable for us."
"I think the revolution will maintain itself for many years," she
said. "Right now we're just at a moment of moving to a more profound stage
of the revolution."
Copyright © 2001, Chicago Tribune | 
