Dear ambassadors and representatives of the diplomatic corps of Latin America and the Caribbean,
Dear colleagues and friends of the Austria-Cuba Friendship Association,
On January 28, 1853, José Julián Martí Pérez, the National Hero of Cuba, was born in Havana, and today we gather in front of his bust in this Latin American square to pay tribute to him.
Martí was a diplomat, writer, politician, philosopher, journalist and thinker. He made politics from his prose, founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party, wrote a children's book, his pen was read in the main graphic media of the continent and left an important literary legacy based on poems and essays.
In addition, he was a faithful follower of the emancipating ideas of “The Liberator”, Simón Bolívar, a lover of man's freedom, of the land where he was born, of the dreams of independence and of a united America.
Throughout his short and fruitful life he dedicated all his efforts to the liberation of Cuba from the Spanish colonial yoke, although he kept as a long-term priority the betterment of humanity.
It is not by chance that together with the Austria-Cuba Friendship Association we have summoned the embassies of our continent: José Martí, beyond being a Cuban, was a man of all America.
Several aspects undoubtedly influenced José Martí's Latin Americanist conception, but it was undoubtedly strongly influenced by his stay in several countries of the continent, such as Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, Venezuela, Haiti, Costa Rica, Panama, and the Dominican Republic; the study of their cultures and histories, as well as the approximately 15 years he lived in the United States. Not to mention that he also served at times as Consul to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.
More than a century after his death in combat, Martí and his ideas are still very much alive. The challenges are still, to a large extent, those known and envisioned by the Cuban independence hero: the pending task of completing the economic, social, cultural and environmentally sustainable development of our American republics.
José Martí's thought is key to understanding the processes that Latin America is undergoing today and to understanding many of the world's problems.
As Martí taught us, only the alliance of all the forces in the region will make it possible to establish a regional integration plan based on solidarity, reciprocity, social justice, preservation of culture and peace.ur countries are living a crucial hour. The challenge is not an easy one. Without unity, Latin America will not be able to build its future, free and independent.
Our countries are living a crucial time.The challenge is not an easy one. Without unity, Latin America will not be able to build its future, free and independent.
Our America is living intense days. There is no reason, nor time, for discouragement.
At a time when history repeats itself, let us remember once again what José Martí wrote in his essay “Our America”, when he warns about the neighbor that ignores and disdains the peoples of the continent, but also urges unity as an urgent strategy to assert itself. “(...) the trees must line up so that the giant of the seven leagues does not pass!It is the hour of the count, and of the united march, and we must walk in a tight square, like the silver at the roots of the Andes”.
Thank you very much.