Articles and Reflections
To your health, Guevara!
Or better still, from the very depths of the Americas: Wait for us!
We will depart with you.
We want to die so as to live as you have died;
and live as you live on.
Che: Commander and friend.
That was the beautiful final stanza of a poem written by the National Poet.
He professed to be a wise man, and in fact he was. But he made a little mistake.“Cuba must be punished”, he said one day. Our country had never even pronounced his name. It was an absolutely unwarranted offence.
His prestige is gaining strength as an example of Cuba’s great sporting figures. His age and health portray him as the ideal prototype to preside over the Cuban Olympic Committee.
Such predictions seem to be right!
Se nos ha ido Stevenson. Después de las cuatro de la tarde de ayer llegó la noticia. Ningún otro boxeador amateur brilló tanto en la historia de ese deporte. Podría haber obtenido dos títulos mundiales adicionales, si no hubiese sido por deberes que los principios internacionalistas impusieron a la Revolución. Ningún dinero del mundo habría sobornado a Stevenson.
Every man lives his own time. These are infinitely changing times if they are compared to any former time. I had the privilege of observing his conduct when he was bitterly paying the debt contracted by the one who had sold his soul to the devil for a few swigs of Vodka.
These are a method whereby I try to convey the modest knowledge acquired throughout long years which I consider to be useful to the Cuban officials responsible for the production of foodstuffs that are essential for the life of our people, a task that I gladly share with Talía González, an old friend from the times of the campaign to free Elián González.
“Thanks to a long New York Times piece by Jo Becker and Scott Shane, ‘Secret 'Kill List' Proves a Test of Obama's Principles and Will’, we now know that the president has spent startling amounts of time overseeing the "nomination" of terrorist suspects for assassination via the remotely piloted drone programme he inherited from President George W. Bush and which he has expanded exponentially.
Was it correct, from the military and revolutionary points of view, to attack the entrenched and well armed garrison close to the seashore, in the same place used to ship the timber extracted from that area? Why did we do so? It so happened that at that time, on the month of May, the “Corynthia” expedition had already landed, headed by Calixto Sánchez White. A strong feeling of solidarity made us launch the attack against the military garrison at El Uvero.
In our homeland, the problems described here do not exist: would this be the reason why the empire is trying to make it surrender by starvation and hostility? Half a century has not been enough, and I very much doubt that the empire can wait for another half a century before it sinks deep in its own mire, sooner than later.
This very important anniversary of the victory could not be understood under the colours of a flag or a name other than the one that presided over the heroism of the combatants of the Great Patriotic War. Without a doubt, something untouchable and unforgettable remained: the anthem whose unforgettable notes accompanied millions of men and women to challenge death and to crush the invaders who wished to impose a thousand years of Nazism and holocaust on all humanity.
We watched the US President in shirtsleeves, running up a steep staircase, walking at quick pace down an overhead corridor and stop to give a speech to a large military contingent that applauded unwillingly the words of the illustrious President. Those men were not all American-born. I thought about the colossal expenses this meant, whose burden is being borne by the world. After all, who is bearing the burden of that huge cost which exceeds already 15 trillion dollars? That is what the illustrious Nobel Peace Laureate offers humanity.
Chávez, a leader who has not had a minute of rest in the last twelve years and enjoyed an iron constitution, was, however, affected by an unexpected illness that was discovered and treated by the same specialized staff that usually assisted him. It was not easy to persuade him of the need to pay maximum attention to his own health. Since that moment, with an exemplary behavior, he has rigorously followed the treatment prescribed without neglecting his duties as Head of State and leader of his country.