60 Years of Revolution! ¡ 60 Años de Revolución y Más!
- Isaac Saney, CNC Spokesperson, December 31st, 2018-
The people of Cuba enter 2019 celebrating the 60th anniversary of the triumph of the Cuban Revolution.
Across the world and throughout 2019 many events are planned to mark the significance of this occasion. But how can the singular meaning, the seminal nature, the effervescent history of the Cuban Revolution be sufficiently encapsulated? How can speeches, essays and ceremonies adequately convey the transcendent essence and substance of the work of Fidel, Che, Raúl, Vilma, Celia and so many other heroes and protagonists of this history transformative event?
Perhaps, it suffices to say that the significance of the Cuban revolution extends beyond the physical boundaries of the island. Indeed, the geography of the Cuban Revolution is the planetary geography of the global struggle for justice, social development and human dignity. The Cuban Revolution, flesh, bone and idea, is part and parcel of the wave of anti-colonial and national liberation struggles that swept Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean in the second half of the 20th century. Under the leadership of Fidel, the Cuban Revolution amplified the island nation's profound historical international revolutionary and anti-imperialist tradition, theory and practice, stretching from and organically tied to, among many others, the Taino cacique, Hatuey, Toussaint L’Overture, Simon Bolivar, José Martí, Karl Marx, Vladmir Lenin, Rosa Luxemburg, Franz Fanon, Ho Chi Minh, Amilcar Cabral, Claudia Jones, Malcolm X.
In the 60-years since the glorious triumph of the Revolution on January 1st, 1959, the Cuban people have shown what it is possible to achieve when a united people defends its independence and right to control its own destiny. After a century long struggle for national affirmation, liberation and independence, Cuba embarked on a path that established authentic self-determination, placing the Cuban nation firmly in the hands of the people of Cuba. In these 60-years of struggle, trials and tribulations, the Cuban people have resisted all attempts to take away their independence and freedom, and the machinations to reimpose foreign domination. They have repeatedly repelled the unceasing all-sided, military, economic, financial and propagandistic assault by U.S imperialism.
As the Cuban people confidently march forward renewing their Revolution, their example assumes even greater significance as the 21st century unfolds: a century increasingly fraught with grave dangers and crimes against peace, the rights of peoples and nations, the physical environment: dangers and crimes that threaten the well-being and the very existence of humanity. For any country to confront and try to overcome this worldwide crisis in a manner that favours its people, not the global imperial powers, would be no small feat. This is all the more true for a country like Cuba which is subjected to a brutal all-sided commercial, trade and financial embargo from the United States, with extra territorial consequences which even affect businesses from other countries which trade or would like to trade with Cuba. The U.S. economic blockade is the principal obstacle to Cuba’s social and economic development, constituting a flagrant violation of the human rights of the people of Cuba and having cost the island nation in excess of $1 trillion U.S.
Cuba holds an admirable place in the international community regarding the protection and promotion of the rights of its citizens. In Cuba everyone is guaranteed an education and access to universal and free healthcare. In Cuba no one is “disappeared” or the victim of extra-judicial execution. In Cuba there are no homeless roaming the streets, no one is left to fend for themself, eking out an existence in a dog-eat-dog society. The island-nation is not a haven for the economic violence that reigns in so many countries. Cuba’s impressive achievements in human development have occurred in the face of all-sided aggression by Washington, which has never accepted the January 1, 1959 verdict of the Cuban people. Washington’s objective is the negation and extinguishing of Cuba’s right to self-determination and independence.
Cuba’s path of social justice, human dignity and international solidarity, is an inspiration to humanity, establishing an unparalleled legacy of internationalism and humanitarianism that makes manifest in deeds the immortal words of José Martí: “Homeland is Humanity. Humanity is Homeland.” In southern Africa, for example, more than 2,000 Cubans gave their lives to defeat the odious racist apartheid regime in South Africa. Today this Cuban commitment to humanity is mirrored in the hundreds of thousands of medical personnel and educators who have served and continue to serve across the world, battling in the trenches against disease and illiteracy.
In the midst of profound challenges, Cuba refutes those who argue that relations among the world's nations and peoples are -- and can only be -- determined by self-interest, the pursuit of power and wealth. Cuba demonstrates that it is possible to build relations based on genuine solidarity and social love; it is a living example of the alternatives that permit people to realize their deepest aspirations for peace, justice and dignity. By holding aloft the banners of Justice, Peace, Internationalism and Socialism, Cuba is a living example that another better world is possible.
On October 16th, 1953 at his trial following the Moncada attack aimed at overthrowing the U.S. backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, Fidel laid our his vision of national independence and social justice that the Cuban nation began enacting on January 1st, 1959. At the trial, Fidel declared, “Condemn me, it does not matter, history will absolve me.” The subsequent unfolding of history has not only absolved Fidel but also vindicated the path that 60-years ago the Cuban people, together with Fidel, freely and defiantly chose.
60 years of revolution!
60 years of resisting the empire!
¡60 años de revolución y más!
¡Viva la Revolución Cubana! |
