On September 28, before the monument to Julio Antonio Mella, students from the University which bears his name in Santiago de Cuba, condemned maneuvers by the U.S. government, such as the World Learning program, which attempt to manipulate Cuban youth.
“I will be returning to my city of Las Tunas in a few months as a civil engineering graduate and in these five years our Revolution has guaranteed all my studies, free of charge, which is why we don’t need any scholarships from the U.S.,” stated Orestes Martínez Guerra, speaking to Granma at the demonstration.
In addition to Martínez Guerra, the over 14,000 students enrolled in the 55 degree courses offered by the University across its 13 faculties, outlined the true intentions of the supposed scholarship programs launched by the “non-governmental” organization World Learning, at a country with one of the best education systems on the planet.
Young people from various educational institutions in Ciego de Ávila joined in protests against new schemes by the U.S. government. Students from the José Assef Yara Faculty of Medical Sciences gathered in the university’s Ernesto Che Guevara Park to denounce the project.
Second year Dentistry student and a member of the faculty’s Federation of University Students (FEU) secretariat, Pedro Miranda Hernández condemned the subversive and manipulative nature of U.S. scholarship programs aimed at creating supposed opinion leaders and agents of change which have nothing in common with the Cuban Revolution’s social project.
Meanwhile, FEU President Abel Mayea categorically stated: “There are no ulterior motives in the scholarships awarded. It’s clear that they want to subdue us.
“Cuba is not opposed to exchanges, but these must be undertaken with respect and with complete adherence to institutionality. They won’t be able to offer us more than what the Revolution has given us in 58 years,” he stated.