By Syara Salado Massip on January 28, 2025 from Havana
All photos: Victor Villalba Gutiérrez
Every January 27, the traditional Torch March is held in Cuba to pay tribute to our National Hero José Martí. Thousands of young people and people in general gather on the steps of the University of Havana from where they set off, holding torches, walking along San Lázaro, Infanta and Espada streets, until they reach the Fragua Martiana, the place where Martí was subjected to forced labor during his political imprisonment.
On this occasion, the 172nd anniversary of the birth of the Apostle is commemorated, whose universal projection went beyond the borders of the time in which he lived, to become the greatest Spanish-American political thinker of the 19th century.
The first march took place at midnight on January 27, 1953, on the eve of the centenary of the his birth. This tribute was an expression of protest and denunciation of the crimes of the US backed Fulgencio Batista’s tyranny and the persecution of young people who were willing to challenge the political course of the nation. That day, together with the students of the Federation of University Students (FEU) and the people of the Havana communities present, Fidel Castro paraded with a group of young people who, that same year, on July 26, assaulted the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes barracks, marking the beginning of the Cuban Revolution, that was inspired by Martí’s ideas.
The massive night time torchlight parade this year was led by Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, leader of the Cuban Revolution; Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, President of the Republic of Cuba and First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba; Commander of the Revolution Ramiro Valdés Menéndez; Commander of the Rebel Army José Ramón Machado Ventura; the nation’s highest authorities; together with members of the University Student Federation (FEU), the Union of Young Communists (UJC), solidarity activists from around the world, including many participants who were here for the 6th International Conference for World Balance along with many other sectors of Cuban society. In the march a cry was heard that is like that of the whole world: Free Palestine! A cry that Marti, a fighter of all just causes, would have carried. Other similar events will be held in all the provinces and municipalities of the country.
Under the slogan A fire that is forever young, accompanying the main parade from the University of Havana was a strong reminder that despite the US blockade and the decades long hostility of the U.S., Cuba remains determined and steadfast to be sovereign and free.
Source: Cuba en Resumen