The schools of higher education (schooling is obligatory until age 15) are open to those with "good grades and a correct attitude." Part of that attitude is evident in Quintero's statement that "It is a privilege to study, so each student must recompense society." This idea was formalized in the recently promulgated Social Service Law, under which all graduates of higher education must work for three years in locations and positions assigned by the educational ministry. Those men and women who enter the military, whether as volunteers or draftees (men only), are exempt from such service.

Despite educational reforms and enthusiastic participation by the Cubans in both their salaried and their volunteer work, the Cuban economy remains troubled. When the rich fled the coming Revolution they took both material wealth and technical expertise with them. They also destroyed the machinery they left behind. When the Revolution came to power, "it was not a question of distributing the wealth, but of distributing the poverty," Quintero remarked.

Since then, as the economy has grown, the distribution has been kept nearly egalitarian. The highest government officials receive about 700 pesos a month while the minimum wage is between 85 and 92 pesos a month. Quintero earns 350 pesos (roughly $375) a month as an engineer, but he pays nothing for health service, education, and many cultural activities. There is full employment and nearly complete job security. While some general inflation has occurred recently, aggravated by the increased numbers of working women, the government has prevented any rise in the price of food, clothing, and rent.

By accepting massive amounts of economic aid from the Soviet Union, Cuba has avoided cutbacks in its social and political reform programs. According to Quintero, the country has made significant investments in pollution control and it has a broader and more effective resource conservation program than most developing nations. A population control program also exists with social pressure used to limit most couples to two or three children, Quintero said.

The Revolution's most important reform in the last few years has been the increased emphasis on mass organizations: the women's and students' organizations, the trade unions, and the block groups, or Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR's). Under the new Constitution adopted last year, these organizations form the basis of the "popular power." This power structure builds upwards from the mass organizations, through municipal and provincial assemblies to the national assembly and the council of state, of which Fidel Castro is president.

At the block level the municipal representatives are required to periodically convene assemblies and report to their constituency. Representatives are not exempted from their job responsibilities; they are full-time workers as well as part-time public servants. Elections are held without personal campaigning-candidates are allowed to post only a photo and a biography, Any person may run for office, but Party members are usually elected, because they are most often the best citizens, Arce asserted.

The five Cubans are home now, having skipped a planned visit to Yale to avoid the type of confrontation with pickets that Carrillo found there. They also escaped a misadventure one of their countryment had in Boston last Christmas--an encounter with an American pay toilet. They don't have such things in Cuba; they haven't had them there for quite a while.