 Over the past few weeks, Dr. Aleda Guevara, daughter of the revolutionary icon Che Guevara, has been travelling through India. She has been addressing and interacting with leftists, members of progressive organizations, about values and concepts such as unity, love, humanity, and above all, unyielding resistance, which are cornerstones of the Cuban Revolution. Dr. Guevara herself has been travelling for decades, talking about these values as champion of the Cuban Revolution, the values for which her father fought and died for, the values for which millions of Cubans continue to struggle today. At Newsclick and People's Dispatch, we are very honored to have Dr. Aleda Guevara with us for the second time. Thank you so much for joining us. We are also very happy to have with us Professor Vijay Venkatraman of the Delhi University, who will be translating for us. Dr. Aleda, you have been travelling through various Indian cities, giving quite a rapturous welcome from leftists, from progressives, many of them very young men and women who were inspired by the example of Che and Cuba of Fidel. Could you maybe take us through what have been your experiences in India? The truth is that there is a great reception from the people and the expression of love for Che and Cuba, and that always moves you, doesn't it? It makes me very emotional to see the kind of response that the figure of Che and the memory of Che evokes in the people in India and the love that they have towards him. The truth also is that I have had times when I was a little brave because a lot of people on top were taking pictures and I explain to them a collective but an individual is impossible. But oftentimes I have had to, you know, make myself very harsh because people just come up to you and want photographs and they want individual photographs and I have not been able to deal with it. And I keep telling them that I can't give so many photographs so I've had to get a little annoyed at times also. But in general, the truth is that I have liked to see in the country people so different, different religions, different cultures, different languages and at the same time, united under ideals, in this sense of love for the Cuban revolution, Che Guevara. And what has struck her most is that people, she has met a variety of people of different religions, different speaking, different languages, different cultures and how united they are in their love for Cuba, for the Cuban revolution and for Che Guevara. I am always very Martian. I follow many things from Jose Martí and he said that when a man recognizes the virtues of another it is because he carries them in himself. So that means that there are many Che Guevara multiplied here. Martí says that I am a follower of Jose Martí and his ideals and Martí says that if you like something in another person, a part of it is within you. So that's why she finds that Che Guevara's ideals are multiplied in millions of Indians also and that's the reason why they feel so attracted towards him. Absolutely. In 2019, you visited India during the anniversary of the revolution and right after that, we know that the pandemic hit the entire world. Now Cuba's example was an inspiration during the pandemic. Cuban doctors going through various parts of the world, Cuban advances in vaccines, again giving hope to people in various parts of the world that it is not only the rich countries which could develop vaccines. So could you maybe tell us a bit about how people in Cuba responded to the challenges of the pandemic, how the government responded, how was Cuba different? Well, in the first place I have to say that the pandemic was cruel for everyone. It is a really difficult situation for any population because especially in Cuba, we are used to defending our lives through science and suddenly, they died in Cuba and we couldn't really do anything. We couldn't initially stop that. It was very hard. The pandemic was really cruel and it was very harsh for all over the world, not just in Cuba. And it was very hard for Cubans because Cubans defend life. And in that, we saw that, you know, it was in the sense that they could not save lives and so many Cubans also died. So that was something that it was very harsh and it was very hard to see that happen. We had a lot of problems because of the US economic blockade because instead of being softer, that is, allowing us to acquire things that we needed for the lives of the people, the US blockade became even stronger preventing boats with food and medication from arriving in Cuba. In Cuba, particularly the blockade played a very big role in how we could fight the pandemic because instead of making it easy for medicines and other supplies to come to Cuba, it became even more difficult and so the pandemic was particularly harsh towards Cubans because of the economic blockade that the US has been practicing. From a cultural point of view, for the Cuban people it was tremendously difficult because we were used to kissing, hugging each other and now we could not do it. So that was already hard for the population. Luckily, the state immediately assumed that we had to look for how to solve this and the best way is through vaccines, but no one was going to sell us vaccines. Cubans are very warm and affectionate people and we are very used to hugging and kissing each other and so it was very difficult suddenly this distancing and that we could not hug each other or come close to one another. That was very hard for the Cuban people to take. And the Cuban government of course got into action immediately and decided that the only way to fight this was vaccines and of course nobody was going to sell it to us so we decided to make our own vaccines. The Cuban state went up to its last reserves economically to make it easy for people to stay at home and look after children and look after old people who needed to be looked after. And they were paid salaries even though they did not work during this period. So Cuba has economically gone down to its last reserves in this sense. They were able to make the vaccines but they did not have the syringes to give the vaccines and so finally because of international solidarity they managed to get the syringes and then they have vaccinated it is almost up to a level of 98% of the population has received four dosages of the vaccine. Just like the saying that love begets love. So she thinks that solidarity is something that has to be, you know, solidarity begets solidarity but at the same time it is also to be passed on or returned. So she says the Cuban Cuba will help people to, you know, will return this solidarity that it has received with so much of love and it has been able to do, this has been possible only because of the international solidarity that Cuba received. Right and while Cuba was an example of solidarity, the United States is great imperialist power was the exact opposite despite being the richest country in the world. We know that of course during the pandemic its blockade had caused a huge amount of problem for Cuba and even before we know for instance when Hurricane Ian hit the country, the United States was nowhere to be found. Instead it has actually promoted what is being called a hybrid war against the people of Cuba. So how are Cubans responding and resisting to this kind of hybrid war, to these kind of provocations? In these years of the pandemic, not only did we have hurricanes, we had other tremendous accidents in the country. A hotel, for example, exploded due to a gas deposition problem. They've had multiple problems in these years of the pandemic. It is not just the hurricane, a hotel exploded in La Habana. And after that we also had the fire of one of the centers where the oil was kept. They had an explosion also, a fire in one of the places where they store petroleum and it cost them lives. United States gave its homilies through telephonic messages but Venezuela and Mexico came immediately to help. In the United States we would have it as a good trade, because we are close, because they are good food producers. Naturally we could buy things, but if they don't want to, we respect that. What we cannot accept is that the United States government is trying for all the media in any other country in the world to freely trade with Cuba. The United States could have been a very good trade partner with Cuba because of the proximity it has and geographical proximity and it also produces a lot of things. So we could have been very good trade partners, but if they don't want to do it, so be it. But what is unacceptable is that the United States puts sanctions on other governments not to trade freely with Cuba. That is not acceptable. I say that talking about the blockade is relatively easy, but living it is a very difficult situation. For example, as a doctor I have had the need to find a specific medicine for a child, but since it is a patent from the United States, no one offers the medicine, because they are afraid of having money. It is very easy to talk about the blockade, but it is very difficult, very, very hard and harsh to live through it. She says, I can give an example from my own life that I am a doctor and when I was trying to get medicines for a child which was life-saving medicines, it was impossible because nobody wanted to sell it out of fear. So the United States follows the policy three things they do. One is if any firm, any company does any trade with Cuba, with any Cuban company or with the Cuban state, then if they have capital invested in that firm, then they withdraw the capital. That is one thing they do. If they don't have capital, then they put fines on the firm and going into, running into multi-millions. And thirdly, what they also do is that they debar that firm from having any trade in the US. So that debars the company and they are at a loss, so then they do not want to trade with Cuba. It is a tourist company with hotels. She had two hotels in Cuba and the United States threatened that if she did not withdraw the hotels from Cuba, the United States would close the two hotels they had in Miami. And the company got a firm and said, well, if you want, close both of them in Miami but you have to return everything invested. That would be a good amount of money. But it would also be, look at people without work, their own problems. Of course, the United States stopped. However, what is gratifying is that there are companies which are standing up to this kind of pressure from the United States and she gives the example of the Spanish firm La Melia which has hotels which is in the tourism business. There are two hotels in Cuba and they also have hotels in the United States, especially in Miami. And the United States asked this company to close down its hotels in Cuba and the company said that we will not close down our hotels in Cuba but if you do not want to do business with us, we will close down our hotels in Miami. But whatever money we have invested, you have to give it back to us and also the loss of jobs is your problem. So the United States had to step back. So this is one such example where people stand up to the blockade and people are with Cuba in that sense. As an interesting aside, Melia has more than 30 hotels in Cuba today because we also respect the value. So in this context, of course, the blockade is an issue which is now increasingly gaining a lot of attention globally. Activists, people from the left protesting against the blockade. Even countries in the UN are voting against the blockade. But I want to talk about another issue which has not got the kind of attention it should which is the family code. And from what we understand, the family code is truly revolutionary. It's an example for people across the world, for countries across the world. So could you maybe talk about the process of how Cubans actually received it and how they supported it? In Cuba, all important legislation is discussed with the people. And as you said, the family code is something which is going to affect each and every family, each and every household. So therefore it was widely discussed. It was discussed at the centre in the workplaces. It was discussed in the schools. It was discussed in the pre-university students just entering university. And also at the secondary level, it was discussed in all these levels and also in colonies, neighbourhoods. Officially Cuba is a Catholic country, but in actual practice, if you look at the African cultural, religious practices, as well as the Catholic practices are equally strong and have an equal influence on the Cuban cultural life. And both these religious cultures are very male chauvinistic. It was a long work. It was months of discussion with the population, listening to what the National Assembly was saying, and then working on articles. It was a very serious work. And so there was a lot of back and forth discussion, movement, and it was a very long and slow process, but which ultimately bore fruit. It is accepted in Cuban society that the gender discrimination is just not acceptable. And that is a fact, which is the basic fundamental fact accepted by all. But despite that, there are homes in which discrimination takes place and that was the most touchy subject to deal with, but it has been dealt with in there. Any discrimination or violence against women is condemned by the Family Code. The Code also recognizes the rights of children, although they are very small, but children's rights are very important and the Family Code places special emphasis on that. Children are the pillar and strength of society, and they are the future, they are the hope for a better society. So children have to be protected at all costs and the Family Code places emphasis on this. And the people did not understand it, so they had to explain it or change it in the Code. If the people did not accept it like that, they had to explain what it meant and if they understood it, they would accept it, otherwise the phrase would be changed. Another example is that there were words or phrases which people did not understand, or so either there was an attempt made to explain it to them so that they understood and accepted it or if it was not possible to explain, then they had to change the words. There is a fundamental concept of religion, which is the man, the human being. No religion can be above the well-being of the human being. And they do not understand that a person can have a different sexuality to which you think is correct, but he has to be happy, he has to be respected, and he has to have his rights preserved. One of the most thorny issues was the issue of equal rights for people of different sexual orientation. And in that respect, the Catholic religion is very, very conservative and they do not... The most important thing to understand is that no religion can be above human beings. And the human being is this... Every human being has the right to be happy despite following any sexual orientation which you may think is correct or incorrect. So that was one of the most difficult points for some people to accept. But luckily, it was the majority who decided. And in that respect, more than 62% of the Cuban population said yes to the new Code of Family. So this was one of the most difficult issues where there was a lot of discussion and dissent also. But fortunately, the majority of the Cuban population agreed to all these points and so the Family Code was passed with 62% of votes. And finally, very briefly, so that not to take too much of your time as well, for the millions of people who follow, who believe in Che's legacy and Fidel's legacy in the inspiring work that the people in Cuba are doing right now, what would be your message? Well, the truth is that Che and Fidel, not only should they be taken in shirts or in flags, you have to study them to be able to practice them because the strength of these men is not in their image, it is in the facts with which they lived. It is important to say that it is not enough to carry Che and Fidel t-shirts and flags, but it is important to study them because these men are more than their appearance and what they have written or what their ideas were is what and that should be practiced. To put it into practice, you need to read them. I think that's what I always say. You have to study them to be able to know them better and then decide if they are really going to be our example of life or not. So that's what I say everywhere I go, that people must read what they have written, people must read what they stand for and then decide whether they want to follow them, whether they want them as their heroes or not. Thank you so much Dr. Alera for talking to us about the Cuban experience, the Cuban resistance and the Cuban struggle. I also am deeply grateful to the Indian people for standing so solidly with Cuba despite the geographical distance and the cultural distance that may separate us. I am deeply grateful to the Indian people for standing with Cuba through our difficult times. Thank you. And thank you so much Professor Vijay as well. Welcome. And that's all we have time for today from Newsclick and People's Dispatch. Do keep watching our videos, many of which talk about the struggle of the Cuban people and their resistance.