Image via X
By Alina Perera Robbio, translated from the Spanish
Good men and women speak a common, humanistic language. And since they are always immersed in the essential, they see the borders that the world has as simple administrative lines, as a simulacrum of a map to which they do not pay attention because the suffering or happiness of human beings is for them a unique issue in any corner of the planet; because one is with the human species, or against it.
On that deep and powerful basis, a historic meeting took place between the President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, and the U.S. Youth Brigade "Let Cuba Live" of the International People's Assembly. The members of that group had arrived in the archipelago and had already navigated through the popular currents of the country for a week, gathering experiences about which they later talked with the president.
"We had to get to Cuba to find ourselves and our own struggle," said the young Manolo De Los Santos, director of the People's Forum and a U.S. social leader, who moderated a two-hour exchange of beautiful ideas in the Portocarrero Hall of the Palace of the Revolution – the content of which will make up the next broadcast of the podcast "Desde la Presidencia".
"Down with the blockade! The socialist world is the world we want!" With this slogan, the young visitors had received the Head of State in the venue, who arrived with his companion Lis Cuesta Peraza and joined a conversation guided by very interesting questions, asked by the students, and which was attended by the first secretary of the National Committee of the Union of Young Communists (UJC). Meyvis Estévez Echavarría, the President of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), Fernando González Llord, as well as student leaders, the Communist Party, and the Government of the Greater Antilles.
Sitting in a casual manner, accommodating the interests of understanding and the possibility of shared truths, the visitors heard the President say: "For us it is a pleasure to share with young Americans." Díaz-Canel wanted to express to them before starting the meeting: "We admire you a lot."
Photo: Estudios Revolución
He said this because, in his opinion, they have generated a "very unique" social and political movement in the United States and because they are an expression of how despite complicated issues good feelings, those of justice, freedom and emancipation, can break through; those feelings are present in American society through the young students.
The movement that has been set in motion, the president reflected, has as references men like Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. The head of state reflected that in such an unjust society, with a government that resorts to war as a solution to serious problems, young people like those who arrived in Cuba are "the most important people" that a country can count on.
Memories
Díaz-Canel told his interlocutors that he will never forget "the support that young people like you gave us in New York," where Cuba has so many times denounced the imperial blockade that grips it. And he returned to the hours of September 2023, when he went out to the corner of Lexington and 38 - in front of the Cuban mission in New York City - to demand, in the midst of a demonstration of young Americans, the end of the blockade.
"You were in the streets every day," the president acknowledged, referring to the company of brave youth. And another moment emerged with strength and clarity in the dignitary's memory: a Saturday on that day in September 2023, a rainy night at the New York Society for Ethical Culture, where hundreds of friends gathered in support of this nation that resists.
It was there that the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party – in a beautiful room – proclaimed that Cuba extends its embraces to the American people and to all the brothers and sisters of the world, to all those who dream of that world being better. Being able to share that night with friends was - and so the dignitary said in the Portocarrero Hall - an "extraordinary experience".
The beginning of an unforgettable conversation
"Welcome to the Palace of the Revolution, and let's talk as you young people do," the President told his valuable interlocutors in the opening minutes of the meeting. And Manolo De Los Santos, who introduced each student who spoke, was emphatic: "We are extremely grateful to the people of Cuba for receiving us in these times."
The young man stressed that, although these are difficult times, the people of Cuba have not stopped being in solidarity, not only with them but also with the entire world.
"It has been an intense week," Manolo said about the group's stay in Cuba, "where we have recognized the ability of the Cuban people to talk about all issues. Everything. We've been up late at night, discussing democracy, human rights, economics, philosophy, culture, everything. And of course, dancing a little with the Cubans."
Photo: Estudios Revolución
"We do that very well," President Díaz-Canel commented with a smile. And Manolo shared another thought: "How rare this opportunity, for young Americans, to be able to meet with a President.... We have been mobilizing in the United States for months, demanding that our President listen to us, and today we woke up seeing a White House surrounded, surrounded, impossible to reach; but here we arrive in Cuba and a revolutionary, socialist, honest, humane President, receives us openly and wants to listen to our questions."
"The world cannot remain silent," the Cuban President stressed in the opening moments. He did so categorically and in the face of evidence of the holocaust suffered by the Palestinian people.
Is it the same Revolution?
Ask, you can also criticize something that you think is wrong. It was the invitation made by the Head of State to the students, to whom he also said that "for the Cuban people it will be very good to know how young people like you think."
"This is a small but very resilient nation," said student Celine Qussiny. For her, the imperial blockade causes Cuba to face many problems. It is a siege, she noted, by the same government that armed the attacks on Palestine.
The next step was a question first presented by the friendly group: How has this Revolution – which did not begin in 1959 but much earlier – evolved? The students wanted to know about it, particularly with regard to the last 60 years.
Understanding the scope of what was proposed, President Díaz-Canel said that the answer could be either very long or very short, but that he would strive to give it from an intermediate point. There began his journey to the beginnings of Cuban nationality, even to previous stages, when Columbus arrived in America and opened the doors to clashes of identity, to subsequent exterminations of the native populations, to the shameful chapter of the slave trade, to the emergence of the Creole who begins to feel Cuban and not Spanish, to the birth of a desire for independence that has always been closely linked to the very emergence of national identity.
The President went through stages such as the Mambi wars; like everything done by the Caribbean country – already in the twentieth century – for the sake of independence causes in Africa, because that commitment to the mother-continent has to do with the vindication of the slaves who arrived on Cuban soil tied up in boats and whose blood flows through the veins of Cubans today.
Díaz-Canel spoke of our Martí; of Antonio Maceo and his protest in Mangos de Baraguá; of the Centennial Generation with Fidel at the helm; the assault on the Moncada Barracks; of prison and exile in Mexico; of the incorporation of Che Guevara to the group of those who would later disembark on the Granma Yacht; of Fidel saying then, with only seven rifles in hand, that they would win the war against an army armed to the teeth.
On that last front, the president recalled that Cuba, in a line with its destiny, has tended to go from adversity to adversity, and from triumph to triumph, always without losing from its horizon a Fidelista conviction, inherited from all previous struggles: "What there can never be is surrender," Díaz-Canel stressed.
As Commander in Chief Fidel Castro also defined at the time – and this is what the Head of State recalled – the Cuban Revolution is one, from the Mambises to today.
When that Revolution triumphed, he said, that was a matter of great concern for the United States. And as for such an event - blocked by the empire for so long - the president stressed that revolutions can set an example but cannot be exported, because "revolutions are made by the people." Hence, he emphasized to the students, no one can influence them, no one guides them in the convictions they choose.
"We are not perfect nor do we want you to idealize us," Díaz-Canel told the young people; And he added that what Cuban revolutionaries do have is an enormous striving for perfection.
As for the youth of the Caribbean country, the dignitary said that they are present in all the important events and processes of society. He listed several examples in this regard; and affirmed that the Revolution is a history of continuity of generations that are united in principles; which may be distant from each other in time, but which mutually sustain each other by an essential unity.
"We're going to make that world better, guys!"
How does Cuba see the process of liberation of Palestine, the students asked. And that was the starting point for the President to affirm that the world has awakened at this moment in history, starting from the Palestinian cause.
It is as if, he reflected, the market had spread a blanket of idiocy over societies. This is how he spoke about a world marked by uncertainty, by the adverse climate situation, by inequalities that increased after COVID-19, by wars...
And more than one question then served to invite everyone to reflect: Regarding Palestine, which has been suffering a war of more than 70 years, why don't they talk about it and why is only Ukraine so worrisome? Why don't the mainstream media address the root causes of the conflict in Europe? Who caused that conflict in Ukraine? Who manufactured that war? Who benefits from it?
On what is happening to the Palestinian people, President Díaz-Canel meditated on how so many human beings have died in such a short time. He devoted special attention to the martyrdom of women and children; and he wondered aloud: What can there be in the conscience of those who have waged that war?
Palestine hurts us and it has to, he said, in that land their children are defending human dignity. "I think that everything we do for Palestine is small," he stressed; and he imagined the moment when that nation must be rebuilt, and spoke about the pain of broken families, of mothers and fathers who have lived through the terrible experience of seeing their children die.
Palestine opened an important space of consciousness; And in that the protests of the American students have been very important. This is how Díaz-Canel Bermúdez assessed it, not overlooking the fact that not since the days of the protests against the war in Vietnam have there been such intense demonstrations in North America.
The president confessed to the young people that he was among those idealists who imagined there would be a better world after the devastation caused by COVID-19, because the systems “broke down so much…”. But sadly – the president said – the world went to war, blockades were tightened, and governments like that of Israel have brutally attacked the Palestinian people.
We want a better world, where there is more equality, a fairer world; that world is possible, what we have to do is defend it. The Head of State noted this and added that that world is defended by Cubans every day, despite the blockade; and by the Palestinian people as well.
“We are going to make that world better, guys!” the President said firmly and optimistically.
“Here we fight every day”
How do you deal with pessimism; how do you create optimism with such difficult issues? Manolo De Los Santos asked President Díaz-Canel. And that was the launching point for the President to enumerate many of the problems that plague life in Cuba; among them, the lack of medicines and food, power cuts, shortages of all kinds.
“And one says: we must face the situation, we must be in the streets,” said the Head of State, and then explained why “the answers to all our problems are in the history of our country.”
The essence of his argument was that we must “believe in history,” because Cuban history has been and is the struggle against all adversity and in the midst of permanent attacks.
The other path that the President spoke of to respond to current challenges is ethics – “we must explain the truth,” he said; and the third element – he stressed – is justice, the law.
The imperialist logic that is based on economic and media asphyxiation was also explained in detail by him, sating that “here we fight every day,” and that the logic of socialist construction, consists of leaping over the blockade with one’s own effort and talent, with the philosophy of creative resistance, which consists of going beyond resistance to aspire to growth that takes precedence over the adversary’s plan.
The priorities of the Party and the Government for the current times; the unforgettable story of how Cuban scientists saved an entire people from COVID-19 - and they did it with their own vaccines; these are the normative processes within society. The president spoke about such experiences with the young people; and when Manolo De Los Santos asked him how he explains to the people how complicated these moments are, he was blunt:
“With the truth, Manolo, with the truth.” And at that point in the exchange he explained that the Government does not wish to burden the people with all the difficulties that weigh on day-to-day life, and that there is no more effective formula than the “you to you” exchange, as Fidel and Army General Raúl Castro Ruz have taught.
Questions about hope
How can we make the future hopeful for young people in Cuba? What are the main issues being debated today in the spheres of the Communist Party and the Government?
Based on these questions asked by the students, the Head of State continued to share reflections alluding to the value of ideas, and to all the effort deployed by the Revolution in social projects; and among the essential topics discussed, he said, is that of generational continuity.
Regarding the latter, Díaz-Canel Bermúdez referred to the challenge of maintaining continuity despite the fact that the current generations are already far removed in time from January 1, 1959. And he spoke of other cardinal challenges: “How can we ensure that Fidel always remains among us?”; How can we ensure that all the revolutionary epic, all the greatness, is not lost?
“We can win, but we have to believe it,” said the Cuban President at another point in the meeting, and he also warned that it is a long struggle, and that there will even be generations that will not see the fruits of the effort, but that will have created the conditions for the triumph of future generations.
The afternoon in the Portocarrero Hall - the same space where Fidel took his long strides so many times - was full of emotions and very useful truths. Among many other certainties, Díaz-Canel said that "what the people defend is what triumphs."
Manolo De Los Santos - who had already called the blockade that Cuba suffers "silent genocide" - told the hosts at the Palace of the Revolution about a week full of emotions, about dialogues with young Cubans who "are not robots" and who have a very critical discourse. And he told about the experience of having walked the streets and having been able to taste the sensation of freedom.
"Cuba for us is also what Palestine means. It is the flag of our generation," said the director of the People's Forum, who did not let the day pass without first giving very heartfelt thanks. The social leader assured that with them - the young people who have made headlines in the world for their protests and for the way they have been mistreated - they will be able to count on Cuba, the Revolution and its leaders. And that will be the case today, tomorrow, and always.
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