In the hours following the criminal and cowardly military aggression of the Yankee empire against Venezuela, opinions of all kinds arose regarding this event, which shocked millions of people around the world. The pain was immense when I learned that 32 Cuban brothers had fallen in fierce combat against the imperialist invader.

Immediately, I remembered the days in Angola, when we learned that one of our comrades had died in combat defending the people of that African country, or the Cubans who gave their lives in October 1983 in unequal combat against the Yankee invasion of the small Caribbean island of Grenada.

An experienced combatant of our Revolutionary Armed Forces told me, and I agree with him, that the blood spilled in Venezuela by our brothers in struggle will further unite our people.

In these difficult times, we Cuban revolutionaries must seek guidance and direction in Fidel's thinking and act accordingly. On August 14, 1959, he put forward an idea that he reiterated on several occasions: “We depend only on ourselves to defend ourselves.”

In the Central Report to the First Party Congress in December 1975, he stated:

“As long as imperialism exists, the Party, the State, and the people will give the utmost attention to defense services. The revolutionary guard will never be neglected. History teaches all too eloquently that those who forget this principle do not survive their error.”

And on February 9, 1990, at the closing ceremony of Pedagogy 90, he would say: “Independence is not a flag, or an anthem, or a coat of arms; independence is not a matter of symbolism, independence rests on development, independence is built on technology, on science in today's world.”

Without ignoring other factors that contributed to the cowardly imperialist attack on Venezuela, the technological component played a leading role. Previously, the land of Bolívar and Chávez had been the target of cyberattacks and the use of internet platforms and digital networks to orchestrate campaigns against the Bolivarian Revolution.

In this age of robotics, Big Data, process automation, Artificial Intelligence, the use of digital networks, the development of high-speed connections, and increasingly sophisticated espionage and interference systems, it’s essential to rethink everything done to strengthen cybersecurity and the protection of our country's radio spectrum—in technological and legal terms, in the management of human resources, and in the handling of risks, threats, and incidents.

This action against Venezuela is consistent with the global hegemony aims of a declining empire seeking to control essential raw materials, particularly fuels for its survival.

Faced with attempts to rigidly apply the Monroe Doctrine, Cuba will continue to strengthen its defensive capabilities, creatively implementing the doctrine of the War of the Whole People. As Army General Raúl Castro Ruz stated on the 45th anniversary of the founding of the Western Army, June 14, 2006: “Our certainty of victory rests on the blood of our fallen comrades and the rivers of sweat shed by millions of Cubans over several decades, and particularly in recent years.”

Eternal glory to the brave Cuban combatants who fell in the line of duty, fulfilling their sacred internationalist obligation!

Translated by Amilkal Labañino / CubaSí Translation Staff