Miraflores, July 26, 2015
Commander Fidel Castro Ruz
Father and Maestro:
From the hearts of the people of Bolívar
and Chávez, I want to convey our respect,
admiration and warmth when today 62
years has passed since the attacks on
the Moncada and the Carlos Manuel
de Céspedes barracks. On this glorious
anniversary, we celebrate your beloved
presence and the pleaant reference you
embody. We fete the Father and Maestro
of all the revolutionary
men and women
of Our America and the world; the Father
and maestro of his beloved child, Our
Everlasting Commander.
We fete the champion who led a handful
of brave, a group of women and men
mobilized by what Martí called homeland
decorum, what would end by turning into a
true assault for the future.
That July 26, 1953 heroism and sacrifice
shone in the heights since the vindication
of the brilliant and undying legacy of José
Martí was attempted. No wonder in that
memorable speech which is History will
Absolve me, you noted that the mastermind
and maximum leader of this deed was the
Apostle and nobody else.
Some 62 years have elapsed since the
attacks on Moncada and Carlos Manuel de
Céspedes barracks, however, today we feel
more than ever the fire of liberation alive
which burned that day in all Our America
and beyond, indicating a path followed by
generations, still today and in the future.
From 1953 to this day, the spirit of
many Moncadas has encouraged and is
encouraging the struggle of the peoples of
the Great Motherland for the definitive
independence. We can affirm that July 26th
will live on. And as the great Cuban singer
songwriter Noel Nicola stated: There’s a
calendar full of 26s.
Haydée Santamaría, Melba Hernández,
Raúl Gómez García, Boris Santa Coloma,
Abel Santamaría, Giraldo Córdova Cardín,
Juan Almeida, so many are those who are
not today among us but they continue to
illuminate from somewhere so beautifully
expressed by that immense Cuban voice of
Fina García Marruz: ...where the light does
not forget its warriors.
Every July 26, when the attack returns to
life, Commander, memory is radiating
again to warn us, who have thrown in our
lots with the revolution that only through
sacrifice we can conquer the future.
Believe me, Commander, the indelible
memory of Moncada is reflected on us as
the uppermost revolutionary commitment.
We are the continuers of Bolívar, as well
as José Martí, Fidel and Che Guevara.
Certainly the true Revolutions are not
a copy, as Mariátegui said, they are the
heroic creation of every People, but we are
aware that the Cuban Revolution is the
cornerstone within the historic evolution of
the Great Motherland.
Homeland is an altar rather than a pedestal
as Martí said. That fighting confirmation of
the Moncada Barracks Attack, seen from
the distance, is the historic embodiment of
the sacrificial stone envisioned by Martí, in
front of which the very best of the human
soul is delivered for subsequently expectant
revelations. And that was a collective
revelation erupting that July 26th : a
victorious Revolution.
I guess when that 1953’s
decisive hour resounded in you,
Commander, that great certainty
of Martí: ...A true man does not
seek the path where advantage
lies, but rather the path where
duty lies, and this is the only
practical man, whose dream of
today will be law of tomorrow.
In days like this of dignity and
victory, the presence of our Giant
can be felt with higher intensity.
Nearer, Fidel, today for you I recall your
words since I identify with them and make
them all mine: I want to pay tribute to Fidel
and on his long path through our peoples,
awaking us. Fidel is a soldier, a dreamer,
a doubtless example for us all and for the
entire Latin-American and Caribbean
generations and fighters around the world.
With the greatest revolutionary fervor,
receive the strongest and endless embrace
from one who feels like a Moncada attacker
of these days of Latin-American and
Caribbean Revolution.
¡¡¡Chávez lives, the homeland goes on!!!,
¡¡¡Until victory forever!!!,
¡¡¡Independence and Socialist Homeland!!!,
¡¡¡We’ll live and we’ll overcome!!!,
¡Long live to the Cuba-Venezuela
brotherhood!
¡Long live Chávez!
¡Long live Fidel!
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