photo: Bill Hackwell
By Ana Hurtado on August 13, 2023
They were big ships and they were loaded with souls. Each one with a story. Hundreds of feelings were taking shelter inside the Atlantic looking for hope; a better life. If they looked into the distance there was only water. The sea.
The same sea that unites and separates us. The one that brought him to Cuba. The one he made his home. And there Angel took root to life.
There his children were born. And precisely on a day like today, 97 years ago, Fidel was born.
José Martí explained:
“There remain in the spirit of men the traces of the character of their parents… The qualities of the parents remain in the spirit of the children, as the fingers of the child remain on the wings of the fugitive butterfly”.
Fidel came into the world in a family where love reigned above all things. Not only among the members, but also with others. He learned the love that his parents passed on to him, he grew up with love. He saw how his father’s hardworking employees were treated with love. Fidel was born loving. And he dedicated the rest of his life to love. To those whom no one loved. To those who were not listened to. To the voiceless. To those who had no privileges. To the world.
If for anything he has been persecuted and fought by his enemies and those of his people, it is because the world has never been prepared for the capacity to love and for the humanism that he brought in his heart, already from the cradle.
What better duality than humanist sentiments with Marxism. He forged his life for others. A life of dedication and sacrifice. A life that makes him continue to live it even after he is physically gone. Few people in the universe have left such a trace in history. Few have been like Fidel.
When the Revolution triumphed, he endowed his people with culture, solidarity and ethics. These were bastions impossible to conquer in a capitalist economic and social system. And many outside Cuba are still surprised because his people love him with the same passion with which he loved them.
He walked his whole life leading by example. And he showed the rest of us that people and human beings can be free and masters of our destinies. And that there is not and will not be any force that can destroy the liberation of a cultured people.
Because to stop and look at Fidel is to respect the triumph of a century. It is a daily apprenticeship of a man who from the first moment they tried to silence him. But he did not stop at every dog that barked at him along the way. His moral height dignified him by placing each character of the battle in a place. Fighting at the right time who deserved to be fought and not entering into battle with those who do not exist; one does not fight with the insignificant.
Being an observer and going back and forth to Cuba has given me the possibility of approaching its people from the affection and knowledge of history. From respect for Fidel. On this 97th anniversary I can say that this people continue the work that took so much work to create. I believe that its people are aware of the origin and cause of the needs and difficulties that the country faces every day since the sun rises. I think that just as Raul Torres’ song says, “the grateful are with you” Fidel.
Because you left the best inheritance that any person and homeland can have.
You left your people wisdom, conscience, freedom of thought.
You left culture, love, sensitivity and solidarity. Patience.
You left altruism, science, internationalism and good friends.
You left everything you had.
For leaving, you stayed among the people, and you never left.
To Fidel Castro Ruz, on his 97th birthday.
Source: Cubadebate translation Resumen Latinoamericano – English