Economic Aide to Cuba, Chile Supports Black Activists' Role

A former adviser to Cuban President Fidel Castro and Chilean leader Salvador Allende yesterday linked black activism in the United States with revolutions in underdeveloped countries as the prime source for social change in the world today.

Speaking at the Harvard-Radcliffe Afro-American Cultural Center on "Racism in the United States and Cuba," Marxist economist Edward Boorstein said, "Black nationalism in America serves the same function as nationalism in Cuba. It has performed an educational role and taught them to value their own values."

Boorstein said Cuba, which is about 50 per cent black, has attained a high level of racial equality. "There is no comparison between the racial situation now and before Castro," he said.

Educational Lag

Although most high government positions are still held by whites, Boorstein said this was due to educational differences rather than racism. "Jobs newly created by the government now accurately reflect the racial balance of the population," he said.

Some of the roots of Cuban racism can be found in the influence of American business contact in the late 19th century, Boorstein said. He said that Americans visiting Cuba expected special treatment as whites, and spread racist attitudes.

"Even Batista was not welcome in the Havana yacht club because he had black blood," he said.

In his lecture, Boorstein elaborated on American influence in the third world. He blamed U.S. multinational corporations, which he termed "the sanitized form of American imperialism," for worsening conditions in developing countries.

Optimistic About U.S.

"The third world is in effervescence," he said, "and we Americans have to start thinking about imperialist problems."

But Boorstein emphasized that he is optimistic about America. While warning that "fascism is going to come to us unless we stop it," he said that signs of an emerging "anti-imperialist awareness" in the United States are increasing.

As an example, he cited the recent disclosures of the role of the International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation in Chilean domestic politics and antitrust violations here.

ITT proposed to the Central Intelligence Agency in 1970 that the two cooperate in creating disorder in Chile to make Allende's election less likely.

Boorstein received a Ph.D. from Columbia University.