New generations of Cubans remembered International Youth Day while enjoying their summer vacations and others continued their productive activities and services, both at the state level as on their own.

Young people are not marginalized from the gradual changes taking place in Cuba within socialism, as they are contributing to the creation of goods and the expansion of knowledge, culture and sports.

In Cuba, where the economic model is updated in line with its domestic needs and the international situation, new spaces for youth to contribute to the necessary economic leap towards greater diligence and efficiency are created.

In other places around the world, however, the human rights of millions of young people are called into question because 39% live in poverty, 10 million suffer from unemployment and over 30 million try to earn a meager living in the narrow margins of informality.

Young Cubans do not suffer the direct consequences of neo-liberal globalization.  They enjoy free education and health care, and have jobs after finishing college or technical level courses.

And they freely express their anxieties as those derived from housing problems, which make it difficult to secure their family projects, and those issues related to their entertainment and free time.

Right now, during the summer break, the Cuban government is making an effort to organize recreational alternatives that are added to traditional beach, parks and camping options.

Nevertheless, the condition of a poor and blockaded country, the impact of the current global financial crisis and local insufficient economic efficiency restrict the possibilities for designing wider leisure alternatives.

At the same time, recreational concerns of a sector of the older Cuban population are still conceptually limited because they do not notice other enriching options related to culture.

Still in Cuba, for instance, most of recreational spaces in the community are not fully used, even with the talents of amateur artists and the initiative of physical education teachers.

Unfortunately, some towns offer fewer recreational activities and a small segment of adolescents and youth avoids the tedium by opting for escapist ways, with harmful addictions.

Cuban society, thanks to the possibilities offered by sound and trained institutions, is eagerly concerned to educate families and descendants within the best habits.

By expanding the overall culture of young people will facilitate the proper realization of their spiritual uplifting options, and the whole society is eagerly working in that direction even with the current material shortages.

With talent, instruction and will, as the ones showed by the boxer Robeisy Ramirez, the new Olympic champion who is only 18 years old, young Cubans will make their way in a changing society, with opportunities for all.