Bomba and rumba ensembles consist of nothing but singers and drummers. While two of the drummers produce a steady background percussive melodic signature, the third drummer dialogs with the singer in call-and-response fashion. You can hear ensembles of this sort both in the countryside of the two islands, or in Central Park on any weekend.

Grupo Afrocuba de Matanzas was first to perform. The band was formed in the Matanzas province of Cuba, which is both a stronghold of African culture and the July 26th Movement. The band members are members of Cabildos--"cultural and spiritual mutual aid societies founded as much as two centuries ago by Africans of the same ethnic group," according to the program notes. Part one of their program was devoted to Yoruba chants and dances, while the second part consisted of rumbas. Francisco Chirino, the group's director and lead singer, has one of the most powerful and distinctive voices in the world of folk music. The other star is the dancer Luis Morales who performed as Ogun, the warrior deity, in the Yoruba portion of the program, and in all of the rumbas. He was especially convincing in a flirtatious Guaguanco, performed with Dolores Herrera. Next to them, tango dancers appear positively frigid.

The bomba portion of the program was in the hands of Los Hermanos Cepeda, an extended family from Santurce, Puerto Rico. The group stays close to its community roots and has a strong rapport with the audience. One number had everybody up on their feet doing something that looked like the Macarena, but what the band leader called a bomba like they do it at Jack Lalanne. Over half of the bombas paid tribute to their African heritage, such as "Deloye," a lament of Africans and their descendants about their mistreatment at the hands of the plantation overseer. Whereas African culture is encouraged in Cuba, bomba groups have had an uphill fight in Puerto Rico to keep the genre alive, where African forms of expression are not encouraged.

The final portion of the program brought both bands together, where a "Rumbombazo" was performed, a perfect musical synthesis. Dancers from both groups danced with each other and the various musicians embraced while performing. The leaders of both groups spoke as one to the audience. They said that the Cuban and Puerto Rican people are brothers and sisters and will always be in solidarity with each other.

This statement had added poignancy since Hurricane Georges had just laid waste to both islands and to other Caribbean islands that have historically been victims of imperialism as well as tropical storms. The AP reports:

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: At least 125 people confirmed dead by the government; Red Cross claims another 76 dead. Hundreds missing, 100,000 homeless. Seventy percent of bridges damaged, 90 percent of banana and other plantations destroyed. Damage to power grid tops $111 million. Heavy flooding in Santo Domingo and elsewhere.

HAITI: Twenty-seven deaths reported, at least nine missing. Flooding in Port-au-Prince, north coast around Cap-Haitien and other areas, dozens of homes destroyed.

CUBA: Two deaths, according to Mexican news agency Notimex, nearly 20,000 homes flooded in Holguin province, damage to coffee, cacao and banana crops, electricity knocked out in some areas, 200,000 people evacuated from their homes.

PUERTO RICO: At least three killed directly by the storm, eight others by heart attacks and other health complications, 28,000 people in shelters. Hundreds of homes lost, near-total blackout, most water service lost. Damages estimated at $2 billion.

All four countries have been invaded repeatedly by the United States throughout the 20th century. In a very real sense, the Hurricane is also a form of invasion as well since global warming has intensified weather patterns in recent years. Speaking at a news conference in Barbados in 1994, Castro said:

"I think that for the first time in Rio, politicians faced up to the tragedy that degradation of the environment means to the world. I would say they were in the process of learning at that time, but at this conference, I would say there was a greater awareness among the politicians as well as a greater awareness among the industrial nations, more than in Rio, and in a rather short period of time. Of course, the politicians from the small island states were more aware than anyone else at the Rio conference. I remember we had acted as contact between members of our delegation and representatives of those small islands. They were truly anguished over the future prospects for their islands because of climatic changes, warming of the atmosphere, the frequency of hurricanes, and drought. All these are real phenomena that we are witnessing, and they constitute a question of natural life or death for these nations. I was able to perceive in Rio that they needed something, they needed to strive to obtain some hope. Because they are isolated, these countries also have many economic problems. They are small countries, although they have large areas of sea. Communications are very difficult. It takes over 20 hours to travel from Samoa, near New Zealand; or from here to Barbados. It takes over 20 hours of flight. Maritime communications are very complicated. They do not have communication -- practically none. If a natural phenomenon occurs, it is a national disaster. It is not like a hurricane hitting Florida. A strong hurricane can hit Florida, but the rest of the country is enormous. It does not ruin the country. But to a small Caribbean island, a hurricane can mean ruin."

As recognition of the ties between global warming and the consumption patterns of the northern industrialized countries deepens, there is no question that a red-green synthesis will be embraced by broad sectors of the progressive movements in the southern hemisphere. The stakes are not over "quality of life" such as the sort taken up by the Sierra Club, but rather ones of economic and biological survival.

While Cuba has been represented as a fossil in recent years, clinging to an antiquated command economy, it may soon look like the only sort of economy adapted to conditions of capitalist crisis. When foreign capital has been condemning economies all over the world to misery and ruin, the Cuban people still seem to have some control over their own fate. This has meant that Fidel Castro and the revolution he leads will be less and less of a pariah as the capitalist crisis deepens.

What better symbol of this phoenix-like rise is Castro's recent trip to Grenada, the site of a terrible imperialist invasion during the Reagan years. Commenting on the visit in New York's Newsday, Les Payne writes:

"Upon entering Grenada last week, Castro was not at all rejected but embraced. Twenty-one guns saluted his arrival as he trooped the honor guard to the cheers of civilians attending on their own initiative.

Alimenta Bishop, the mother of the assassinated prime minister, had a warm reaction to Castro's visit. 'I showed him pictures of Maurice, growing up as a boy, different things,' said the 83-year-old widow. She was pleased that Castro's visit had stirred island memories of her son and the reform his New Jewel Movement had inspired. 'I told him he was looking tired. He said he had a full day in Barbados.'

"The 90-minute address by the usually longerwinded Castro spoke of his wearinesss. However, he did not pass up the opportunity to tweak the postCold War nose of the Great Satan to the north.

"Recalling no doubt President Bill Clinton's Beijing lecture about human rights, Castro called up memories of slavery in the United States, European colonization around the world and warned against western domination of the global economy.

"Though slower in his starched fatigues and ammo belt, Castro still can command an audience and display not only his enduring charisma but his flat-out endurance. He is working on outlasting his eighth U.S president, who, unlike the early ones, has no Cold War design on Havana. A teenager when Castro first came to power, President Clinton, unlike John F. Kennedy, has given no orders to have Castro killed or make his beard fall out."