Cuban women 'not worried about the recession'

Louise Nousratpour
Thursday March 12, 2009
The Morning Star

CUBAN activist Carolina Amador Perez told a Morning Star meeting in Scarborough that Cuban women were not worried about losing their rights in the recession because the socialist government puts human beings first.

While governments in countries such as Britain are threatening to curtail equality rights and do little to protect jobs, women in Cuba are enjoying a high level of political and economic participation and their rights are enshrined in the country's constitution.

The last general election saw women take 43 per cent of the National Assembly seats, compared to just 18 per cent in the British Parliament, delegates heard.

Cuban women also play a vital role in the country's economic sphere as they dominate some of the most important sectors in Cuba such as education, biotechnology and tourism, Ms Perez noted.

She was speaking on behalf of the Federation of Cuban Women, which represents 85 per cent of Cuba's female population over the age of 14.

"Even after the collapse of the socialist bloc, which resulted in the worst crisis in our country, women did not lose their rights because we put human beings first," she stressed.

TUC women's committee member Mary Davis said that the achievements of Cuban women should be "an inspiration to all of us and we must learn from their success."

She added: "In the long term, I would like to see Britain follow the example of Cuba and overthrow the capitalist system, but in the short term we need to unite around a programme to challenge the recession and create a fairer society."

The meeting was supported by Unite and the Cuba Solidarity Campaign.