The Popular Socialist Youth ( es, Juventud Socialista Popular) was a youth organization in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, the youth wing of the Popular Socialist Party. Raúl Valdés Vivó was the general secretary of the organization. By 1960, the organization was estimated to have around 13,000 members.

Raúl Castro Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz (; ; born 3 June 1931) is a retired Cuban politician and general who served as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the one-party communist state, from 2011 to 2021, succeedi ...

was a member of the organization for some time.

Founding

The Popular Socialist Youth was founded on November 18, 1944. The organization was founded as a continuation of the

Young Communist League The Young Communist League (YCL) is the name used by the youth wing of various Communist parties around the world. The name YCL of XXX (name of country) originates from the precedent established by the Communist Youth International. Examples of YC ...

and the Cuban Revolutionary Youth (JRC).UJC.
Antecedentes históricos de la Unión de Jóvenes Comunistas
''

Organization

The Popular Socialist Youth was open to membership for persons between 15 and 35 years of age, who had the approval of two members of the party or the youth organization.

''Mella''

The organization began publishing the forthnightly ''Mella'' in 1944. In 1955, during the

Fulgencio Batista Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (; ; born Rubén Zaldívar, January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who served as the elected president of Cuba from 1940 to 1944 and as its U.S.-backed military dictator ...

regime, ''Mella'' was converted into a clandestine monthly publication. As of 1960, ''Mella'' was a forthnightly newspaper had a circulation of 30,000.
Nuestro pueblo
'. 1960 The symbol of the organization carried a portrait of

Julio Antonio Mella Julio Antonio Mella McPartland (25 March 1903 – 10 January 1929) was a Cuban political activist and one of the founders of the original Popular Socialist Party (Cuba), Communist Party of Cuba. Mella studied law at the University of Havana but ...

with a

red star A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. I ...

as background.''Juventud Rebelde''.
Biografía del emblema de la Unión de Jóvenes Comunistas
'

Campaigns

The Popular Socialist Youth played a major role in campaigning against the proposal to send 2,000 Cuban troops to participate on the American side in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. The Popular Socialist Youth formed part of the Independent Youth Bloc (BJI, later renamed the Opposition Youth Bloc) together with the Orthodox and Authentic youth organizations.

Sixth congress

The Popular Socialist Youth held its sixth congress on April 6, 1960. At the congress, held in the aftermath of the

La Coubre explosion The French freighter ''La Coubre'' () exploded in the harbour of Havana, Cuba, on 4 March 1960 while it was unloading 76 tons of grenades and munitions. Seventy-five to 100 people were killed, and many were injured. Fidel Castro alleged it wa ...

, a poster with the slogan ''Patria o Muerte'' ('Fatherland or Death') was displayed. This was the first expression of the slogan, voiced by

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

at a March 4, 1960, funeral of victims of the bombing, in print.

Merger into UJC

In 1962 the organization merged with the Rebel Youth Association (AJR, the youth wing of the

July 26 Movement The 26th of July Movement ( es, Movimiento 26 de Julio; M-26-7) was a Cuban vanguard revolutionary organization and later a political party led by Fidel Castro. The movement's name commemorates its 26 July 1953 attack on the army barracks on San ...

), forming the

(UJC).Martínez Pérez, Liliana.
Los hijos de Saturno: intelectuales y revolución en Cuba
'. México: FLACSO, 2006. p. 19 The symbol of UJC was based on that of the Popular Socialist Youth, but with

Camilo Cienfuegos Camilo Cienfuegos Gorriarán (; 6 February 1932 – 28 October 1959) was a Cuban revolutionary born in Havana. Along with Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, Juan Almeida Bosque, and Raúl Castro, he was a member of the 1956 ''Granma (yacht), Granma'' ...

(and in 1967,

Che Guevara Ernesto Che Guevara (; 14 June 1928The date of birth recorded on /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ernesto_Guevara_Acta_de_Nacimiento.jpg his birth certificatewas 14 June 1928, although one tertiary source, (Julia Constenla, quoted ...

) added.

References

{{Authority control Cuban Revolution Youth wings of communist parties Youth wings of political parties in Cuba Popular Socialist Party (Cuba)