By Gustavo A. Maranges on November 28, 2021 from Cuba
photo: Maykel Espinosa Rodriguez
Yesterday morning the streets of Cuba were flooded by a multitude of people who will not surrender their history. Young people, adults, students, and workers from the most diverse sectors of society marched early in the morning to pay a well-deserved tribute to the 8 medical students executed in 1871 when Cuba was still a colony of Spain.
This massive march is proof that the pride of being Cuban can survive any destabilization attempts or anti-communist campaigns aimed at young people and Cuban society in general. That pride transcends political signs or ideologies because it is based on traditions, on the Cubans’ perception of family, on their authentic culture, and the worldview of those born on a small and coveted island. Being independent is an unchangeable part of Cubans’ mindset and an inherent aspiration of all those born and raised on this Caribbean Island.
This is something commonly forgotten by those who seek to bring Cuba down because they have never lived on this island. They try to change the mind of millions of people through more or less hostile acts, but they ignore that Cuba is not a 62 year-old nation. It has ages of history, marked by tough resistance to anyone who has ever tried to control it.
With an impeccable honor guard at the monument to the eight Cuban heroes, medical students paid tribute to their brothers killed 150 years ago, while thousands of Havana residents, together with the Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and other student leaders of the country, marched for almost three kilometers to pay the well-deserved tribute. However, this march was not only to the memory of these eight sons of Cuba but a proof that all the values they embodied and for which they died, are still alive a century and a half later. That is precisely the most powerful message of this date. This November 27th, the Cuban people ratified their sovereign decision to defend their economic, political, and social project from any attempt to destroy it, even at the cost of their lives.
Moreover, the significance of this November 27 is even stronger in the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, doctors are saving the country again with their work and their vaccines, but this time they are not facing the fearful guns of the volunteer corps (a militia made up of Cubans who defended the Spanish government on the island), but a virus that compromises the future of Cuba and a foreign government that has spared no resources in undermining the enormous effort of thousands of Cuban doctors. Cubans are aware of this and if cowardly bullets could not kill the example of eight medical students, neither will US sanctions be able to surrender the will of an entire country. There are many Cubans who have fallen in this battle, but those who are still standing are not willing to let the sacrifice of their brothers and sisters be in vain.
After the failed opposition attempted to march on November 15, some tried to extend the actions to destabilize the country until November 27. Their strategy of re-signifying the dates of national history met with the resistance of millions of people who do not forget how much blood and effort it took to free themselves from the oppression of foreign powers. Those who remember and love, took to the streets to show the world which side the youth and the people of Cuba are on.
Cubans demonstrated that there are not enough blackmails to stop them from building a sovereign and independent country, just as medical students were not willing to publicly show their respect for Gonzalo Castañon, who used his pen to prevent Cuba’s independence. In 1871, there were eight innocent medical students; today, there are thousands who would rather die than stop being loyal to Cuba.
Fermin Valdes, who was a friend of the eight students shot with impunity, and who later became a friend of the National Hero of Cuba, Jose Marti wrote: “whoever has a heart, can never forget this day”. Cuba has proven to have not only a heart but a lucid historical memory.
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – English