June 1, 2024 from Havana
Norita Cortiñas with Pedro Pablo Prada, Cuba ambassador to Argentina
In Cuba they have also felt the passing of Norita Cortiñas, one of the first Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, Founding Line, who were formed into a human rights organization by mothers of detainees-disappeared during the last Argentine military dictatorship. The movement was born in 1977 from spontaneous meetings in the context of the desperate searching for information about their sons and daughters in various facilities such as hospitals, churches and state institutions. For decades they held weekly demonstrations in front of the Casa Rosada so that there would be no forgetting in the long search for justice.
Norita’s unconditional support for the Cuban Revolution is well known on the Island. She was vocal in her support of Fidel in his battle against the debt, against the genocidal blockade, in the regional fight against the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA) and for the liberation of the Five Cuban Heroes.
Messages of Cuba’s love for Norita have been coming in and here are a few;
Miguel Díaz-Canel, president of Cuba.
“We will never forget that small woman, who placed the value of Mothers in the #Argentina so high that the military Junta terrorized 30 thousand children by disappearing. Norita Cortiñas fought for them and for all the just causes in the world, including #Cuba , which will always honor her memory.”
Pedro Pablo Prada, Cuban ambassador to Argentina
“I remember how In October 2023 at the Cuban Embassy in Argentina we paid tribute to Norita Cortiñas and she received the distinction from the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC), called “23 de Agosto”, remembering the beginning of the Federation created by Vilma Espín and Fidel Castro in 1960.”
Joel Suarez: Martin Luther King Center, Popular Educators Network
Norita calling for a ceasefire in Palestine
“Nora Cortiñas was like the holy spirit, where one does not imagine it, there it is. She took the cause of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo to the world and unleashed the horror they lived to the world. She was an indefatigable warrior on the front line, on the red line and the first line of the color of the cause that needed her presence.
Norita, perhaps because of her size and apparent fragility, shared with Jubilee South, the battles for the abolition of the illegitimate foreign debt and solidarity with Haiti.
A friend of Cuba, always in solidarity in the struggle against the genocidal blockade and for the release of the Five; she was a pillar in the Continental Campaign of Struggle against the FTAA and brought us together in the streets of Mar del Plata, when we threw it to hell.
In a wheelchair, recently, her image returned to us demonstrating in solidarity with the Palestinian cause.
Mother of her square,
that of her disappeared son,
that of those who have not yet returned,
the immense square that haunts all the battlefields,
the square of the strip,
the fringe square of this May,
from the river to the sea, there, Palestine will win.
You know them, Norita, stay with them,
stay with them,
stay with us.
Aleida Guevara; medical doctor and daughter of Che
“when the fire grows you will be there, as you always did”
“What a great sorrow, they are leaving us, by the law of life their brave voices are fading away, but what cannot happen is that we forget that strength that made us react, that inspired us and allowed us to continue on our way when pain and despair left us inert. Those Mothers cannot die in the memory of our Peoples, because we cannot lose our disappeared youth, we cannot lose the hope that a better world is essential to sustain life. Farewell warriors for life, they will always be present in our daily action. Until victory”.
Mariela Castro Espín, director of CENESEX of Cuba:
Norita Cortiñas cried for her son and transformed her heartbreaking pain into solidarity and total dedication to the collective struggle against injustice. Norita suffered, screamed and stood up together with the Argentine mothers, for all mothers, for all their sons/daughters, for all oppressed peoples. Norita, full of love, searched for her son, discovered the face of the executioners and faced them with an open heart from the collective resistance.
Norita, Plaza de Mayo, white handkerchiefs, green handkerchiefs, all the flags, now the flag of Palestine, the mothers together who carry their daughters/son in their hearts, in their hope.
Norita, in her humble greatness, is inspiration and example for the anti-imperialist/anti-fascist/anti-Zionist struggle.
Norita Cortiñas, present. Now and always!
rebelliously tender in the hour of struggle
Graciela Ramírez – Argentine living in Cuba, editor of Resumen Latinoamericano – Havana and director of the International Committee for Peace Justice and Dignity
Ahh Norita Norita, how much we are going to miss you!!! We have your legacy and your handkerchief. In this orphanhood, your immense rebelliousness raises your small body to pass through the big door of history. May the gorillas, the fascists, the militiamen and oligarchs tremble, may the serial haters and the indifferent tremble. Let them tremble before so many ethics, before so much height, before so much handkerchief, before all the causes… Here comes Norita, the Mother of all Battles, opening the way to life.
Mother, Compañera, Norita Cortiñas Honor and Glory to your life and your memory.
Source: Cuba en Resumen