New York, 31 January 2017. As part of the program for his visit to New York, Eusebio Leal, Historian of the City of Havana, met with the staff of the Permanent Mission of Cuba to the UN.
Diplomatic officials, employees and their relatives had the privilege to listen to the emotional evocation of the Historical Leader of the Cuban Revolution made by Dr. Leal who, with heartfelt words, gave an overview on the life and work of the Commander in Chief.
He stressed the values cultivated by Fidel during his childhood and youth, that defined his personality and shaped his character. He regarded the University of Havana as his political school. He also described him as a great intellectual and a man of a vast culture, qualities he predominantly manifested in his extraordinary talent as a speaker.
Dr. Leal pointed that the sources that nurtured Fidel´s thinking were his Christian background, his profound vocation towards Martí, his wide knowledge of the Marxist Philosophy and above all, his devotion to the history of Cuba.
Referring to the long years of work as the most important leader of the Revolution, Leal underlined his proverbial physical strength, his unlimited capacity to work for hours without interruption and his unique quality to deeply address a number of issues at the same time.
As a general assessment of what Fidel means to Cuba and to the Cubans, Leal noted: “He was the architect of the unity of the nation; he was accounted for leading one of the few true revolutions in modern times; he never believed in Providence and he was a fervent believer of the triumph of ideas. Only a personality like his profoundly humane personality could be rooted so deeply in the spirit of the people. Let us learn how to interpret and put into practice each of the precepts he included in the concept of Revolution he left to us. Let us never turn him into a dogma.”
Eusebio Leal´s working days in New York will conclude with the visit to historic sites of the city related to the life of José Martí and other heroes of the Independence of Cuba.
Permanent Mission of Cuba in New York.