Cuban and South African Youth Leaders Hold Talks

The first secretary of the Communist Youth League of Cuba (UJC), Liudmila Álamo, met on Wednesday with Andile Lunguisa, the first vice president of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) based in South Africa and president of the National Youth Development Agency. During an animated conversation, the two leaders talked about the enduring friendship between the Cuban and South African peoples and about the main issues that will be discussed at the upcoming 17th World Youth and Students Festival to take place December 13-21 in South Africa

The first secretary of the Communist Youth League of Cuba (UJC), Liudmila Álamo, met on Wednesday with Andile Lunguisa, the first vice president of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) based in South Africa and president of the National Youth Development Agency.

During an animated conversation, the two leaders talked about the enduring friendship between the Cuban and South African peoples and about the main issues that will be discussed at the upcoming 17th World Youth and Students Festival to take place December 13-21 in South Africa. 

Attending the meeting were Secretary General of the World Federation of Democratic Youth Jesús Mora, and members from the UJC national board and the ANCYL.

Participants at the meeting also spoke about Fidel’s reflections and the ongoing preparations for the upcoming 17th World Youth and Students Festival that will be especially dedicated to independence fighters Nelson Mandela and Fidel Castro.

Issues to be dealt with at the event include strategies to encourage leftwing youth organizations worldwide to become more progressive and active in the struggle for world peace, independence, democracy, progressive reforms and against war. 

Raising awareness among the youth regarding the importance of integration and unity to achieve the goals of the student movement and finding alternatives to capitalism and imperialism are also topics included in the meeting’s agenda.

During the forum, delegates from 150 countries around the globe will unanimously demand independence for Western Sahara and Palestine. They will also express their support of Cuba and request the immediate liberation of the five Cuban antiterrorists being held in US jails for more than a decade, and the lifting of the half-century-old US blockade of the island.

The event will also serve to pay special tribute to the courage of Cuban internationalists who have fought throughout history for a better world, especially those who fought in African nations against the Apartheid system.