May Day in Cuba: Day of commitment, NOT of claims
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A commemoration, an event, a foreign threat. Every May Day the Cuban people defines its political stance before any of these events. It seems as if our destiny was marked by an inborn and eternal rebelliousness, which does not allow us to remain impassive before injustices, interferences and practices of imperial domination.
It has been like that for many years and this day has become a battleground for denunciations and claims of the most elemental human rights, violated in Cuba by the criminal blockade that now the US government intends to strengthen with the implementation of the Helms-Burton Act Title III.
Hence, this date increasingly has a special significance and there are motivations to reach the squares throughout Cuba —with names of renowned patriots— to reaffirm that we bet on a free and sovereign Homeland.
The plenaries held in all territories to put the final touches to the organizational details have been a prelude of what this people will experience that day. There was so much enthusiasm at “Lázaro Peña” theater, located in the headquarters of the Cuban Workers’ Federation (CTC) that the space became insufficient for the initiatives shown there.
The workers are organizing themselves in time; they are preparing posters and build models according to the task of the entity they represent: teachers take huge pencils, books, notebooks; builders and health personnel carry their corresponding working tools.
But above all things the International Workers’ Day is also a popular celebration. Millions of patriots march with their families, and children, teenagers and youngsters await dawn outdoors, enjoying an unforgettable morning.
This May 1st in Cuba —as a young man from Guantanamo said— will take place a few days after the successful celebration of the 21st Congress of CTC and a year of mandate of President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, whose government management has been characterized by his bonding with the people and his constant concern to meet their needs in the short and medium term.
These have been twelve months of hard work for him and his government team, amid economic difficulties and meteorological setbacks, like the tornado that ravaged Havana last January 27.
However, much work has been done in the determination to improve the living conditions of the population and to increase productivity and efficiency levels; fostering the potentiality of the socialist state-owned enterprise, together with other forms of economic management.
Today, as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee, Army General Raúl Castro underlined, the two essential battles are focused on the defense of the country and economy. Those are the two main pillars that will allow us to survive in the midst of an increasingly troubled region, because of the escalation of the right-wing and stooge and servile governments allied to the empire.
Nevertheless, the defense of principles, optimism and security in the victory, along with well-defined economic strategies (saving of energy carriers, import substitution, increase in exports, productive linkage and local development) will help the country move forward in all possible fields.
Thus affirmed on Monday President Díaz-Canel, it will be a space to express the solidarity of the Cuban people and government with the sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicaragua, and to demand the release of Brazil’s former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, unfairly incarcerated. This May Day, the squares throughout Cuba will be brimming over with joy, enthusiasm and loyalty to the revolutionary process. That’s how it will be, we’ll see it!
Translated by Jorge Mesa Benjamin / CubaSi Translation Staff
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