Dear friends, members of the solidarity movement with Cuba in Europe:
I am writing to you on the occasion of the National Rebellion Day, a date on which many organizations in different countries normally hold various activities to demonstrate their solidarity with the Cuban Revolution, motivated by the meaning of the brave action promoted by dear Fidel on the 26th July 1953 and that this year, as a result of the consequences caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, it will not be possible to commemorate it massively.
Before the attacks on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes barracks in Santiago de Cuba and Bayamo, respectively, Fidel addressed his colleagues and I quote: “We may win within a few hours or be defeated; But anyway, listen up, comrades! In any case, the movement will triumph. If we win tomorrow, what José Martí aspired to will be done sooner. If the opposite happens, the gesture will serve as an example to the Cuban people to take the flag and move on”, End of the quote.
Undoubtedly, that phrase sums up his leadership capacity, his firm political conviction, his confidence in the masses and the continuity of the revolutionary work begun in the first deed of independence in 1868. Unfortunately, the actions in both Santiago and Bayamo did not they had the surprise factor and the enemy, being superior in arms and men, was able to repel the attack. That day the revolutionaries did not succeed militarily, but they achieved the objective of drawing the people's attention and marking the beginning of a new stage in the revolutionary struggle against the Batista dictatorship. Those actions led by Fidel made it clear that the armed struggle would be the only way forward to conquer the victory, which was definitively obtained on January 1st 1959 with the overthrow of the tyranny and the seizure of political power. From there began one of the most glorious pages of our history, in whose construction we have felt accompanied at all times, even when the European continent was the epicenter of the pandemic at the global level.
So we want, from ICAP, to send you a message of thanks for the dissimilar actions of solidarity undertaken by you in recent months. In the same way that the cruel and inhuman blockade imposed on Cuba has been intensified, by the current administration, in times of pandemic, achieving a doubly harmful effect on our national and domestic economy, solidarity with Cuba has been strengthened in most countries.
The humanitarian work of the Henry Reeve Brigade, specialized in cases of disasters, earthquakes and pandemics, has had a lot to do with it, whose members have reached 35 countries in the world and for the first time in countries in the area such as Italy, Andorra and more recently Azerbaijan, carrying with it the altruistic and humanistic spirit that characterizes Cuban medicine.
The action of our medical personnel in saving lives and in the fight against this disease has motivated that, spontaneously and using the different platforms created, friends and organizations in the area have launched the initiative to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to our physicians. The worldwide demand for this initiative is, without a doubt, the main response to the discredit campaigns promoted by the Trump administration against international medical collaboration.
We appreciate the successful union of political parties, trade union, youth, parliaments, personalities, academics, intellectuals, artists and opinion leaders, among others, who, together with solidarity organizations, have endeavored, through different channels, to spread the truth of Cuba and highlight our achievements in the confrontation with Covid-19, which the powerful enemy of the North has tried to silence and overshadow with strong campaigns of political subversion, trying to create a negative pattern on the management of our leaders in handling the disease.
The numbers speak for themselves. The political will that characterizes us always means that this blocked country has at this moment the number of 2,428 confirmed cases. Of them 2,268 recovered, that is 93% and only 87 deceased. Generally, that is not in mentioned by the mainstream media. For this reason, we ask that you do not cease in the effort to spread the truth of Cuba in every possible way.
The work deployed by you in social networks and the online events or video conferences held has been very useful, as they have contributed to denouncing the effects of the blockade on the health sector and highlighting the strengths of our system, compared to that of Other developed nations such as the United States itself, which being one of the richest countries in the world, is currently the epicenter of the disease, unfortunately for its people.
The Trump government is determined to ignore its mismanagement in the face of the pandemic, while remaining in absolute silence, after almost three months, about the terrorist attack against our Embassy in Washington, in clear violation of all the principles and rules that govern relations between nations and international law.
European friends, the blockade is tightening, the truth is manipulated, the humanistic essence of our public health is attacked and false stories are invented about our country. This commits us much more, to all of us. For this reason, I urge you to organize the UnblockCuba2020 campaign in each of your countries, starting next October 19 and lasting until the presentation of the Cuban resolution against the blockade takes place in the United Nations in early November.
That initiative was promoted by German friends last year, achieving actions to condemn the blockade in almost 50 cities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Let us make it broader and more comprehensive this year, in correspondence with the increasingly growing need for this criminal policy against our people to be eliminated, which is one of the main demands of the movement of solidarity with Cuba in the world.
It is imperative to try to involve as many organizations as possible and to present the campaign in an attractive and fresh way, so that it impacts the sensitivity of various audiences, all with the aim of achieving broad and diverse political mobilization, representative of societies. European. We trust that it will be so.
Comrades, on this very significant day, we congratulate you on July 26. On behalf of our people, ICAP and my own, I thank you for your accompaniment to our arduous fight for truth and justice, which is also yours, and I convey to you the assurance that our Revolution will never give in to imperial pressure, however strong it may be.
You can continue to count on all our trust and friendship, in the same way that we will continue to count on your support to face the challenges that lie ahead. In the year of the 60th anniversary of the creation of ICAP, many of our dreams, projects, solidarity brigades and international events were postponed to 2021, including the XIX European Continental Meeting of Solidarity with Cuba in Moscow, Russia, but what we did not will be postponed is never our commitment to you.
Together we continue to honor the legacy of our Historic Leader, Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, who guides us daily, just as he did personally, 67 years ago in Moncada.
A hug to all.
Thank you very much.
(Video): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Lmj9KOTgLPL_H0NQTvJQHVoepZ8eJIrG/view?ts=5f19ebbe
@CubaMINREX - @embacubairlanda