Statement of the Ambassador of Cuba on the occasion of the 165th Anniversary of the birth of José Martí.

Dear friends:

Today is a special day. The 160th Anniversary of the birth of José Martí, our National Hero is celebrated.

In addition to the collective of the Embassy of Cuba in South Africa, we are accompanied in this celebration by representatives of the beloved Cuban cooperators in the sectors of health, education, construction, hydraulics and the revolutionary armed forces.

There are also members of the Cuban resident community and South African brothers graduated in Cuba.

January 28 is not only celebrated on our island, but also in many other parts of the world. And it is that our Apostle is much more than Cuban and even more than Latin American.

As Fidel said, José Martí is the most universal of Cubans. It went beyond the borders of the time to belong to all of America, Asia, Europe, Africa and anywhere in the world where there are oppressed, unjust wars and men and women who fight in defense of justice and against inequality.

In the barely 42 years he lived, Marti was a committed, sensitive and profound man. Intellectual of vast culture, brilliant speaker, keen art critic, precursor poet of modernism, teacher, essayist, sharp journalist, writer of vibrant prose, excellent translator and diplomat.

Author of an amazing work, essential as a source of knowledge and consultation, we inherit a rich cultural heritage for all time. His Complete Works total more than 11,000 pages and you learn in each of them.

Nothing of the human was indifferent  to him. He transcended geography and history when he said "Homeland is Humanity", synthesizing in that masterly phrase the noblest and most solidary principles of human culture.

Its historical merit lies not only in having been the organizer of Cuba's War of Independence in the 19th century, but also in warning about the danger of imperialism to all the peoples of Nuestra America.

Martí was the first anti-imperialist militant of our continent. He denounced, before anyone else, the danger of the United States for Latin America and the world.

His alert was clearer than ever, when a few hours before falling on the battlefield in Cuba, he wrote to his beloved Mexican friend Manuel Mercado: "I am already in danger every day of giving my life for my country and for my duty, - since I understand it and I have the courage to do it - to prevent through the independence of Cuba that the United States does not spread through the Antilles and fall, with its force, on our lands in America. All I have done so far, and will do, is for that…"

Martí's deep vision and brilliant talent warned about the risks that were coming and the contemporary history has corroborated them.

Even more. Our National Hero since the nineteenth century warned that the only way to successfully confront the imperial danger was the union and integration of Latin America and the Caribbean. In this regard, he emphasized: "America is one and all of its children have the duty to keep it united, so that no imperial government can divide it and make it their own. The best way to achieve this unification is through the solidary help of its members. "

That Sunday, May 19, 1895, he fell fighting in the Cuban jungle, facing the sun, as he wanted. But we all know that Martí did not really die in Dos Ríos. On the contrary, from that moment on, he passed for history through his dedication to the cause of the poor and to the freedom of the peoples, and he became a symbol of Cuban nationality and identity and of all those who dream and fight for a better world.

Martí continues to speak and teach us today. Because that's what great thinkers and revolutionaries have: they never die. Their ideas and legacy do not age over the years.

Dear Comrades:

One hundred years after the birth of Martí, Fidel Castro and his companions resumed on July 26, 1953 the struggle for the independence of Cuba, which began on October 10, 1868.

It was not a coincidence. The attackers of the Moncada and later the guerrillas of the Sierra Maestra, were inspired to make the Revolution in the ethical principles of Martí, and in his high sense of honor and human dignity.

In the revolutionary preaching of Martí, Fidel found the moral foundation and historical legitimacy to initiate the last and definitive war for our independence.

The Cuban Revolution is nothing other than the project to materialize the thinking of José Martí. Ours is a Martian Revolution.

Dear Comrades:

There are many ways to honor Martí. He can be honored by quoting his masterly phrases or remmebering each year the date of his birth, as we do today.

Above all, Martí should be honored in the way he would prefer to be honored, when he said: "The best way to say, is to do".

We can and must relive him with our behavior and daily actions. The best tribute that we can give to Marti is to deepen the study of his always valid thinking and follow his example of struggle for justice, for equality and for the decorum of the human being.

I would like now to share with you an idea that we have been thinking about and that we hope can be converted as soon as possible, with the support of all, into a reality.

Surely many know that the first statue of José Martí was the one that was located in the Central Park of Havana, on February 24, 1905, which was achieved as a result of a popular collection.

Since that date, and with particular strength after the Triumph of the Cuban Revolution, thousands of busts and statues of the Master, have come to occupy prominent places in squares, parks, schools, workplaces and other places throughout our Island.

Precisely today, a majestic bronze statue of José Martí, an exact replica of the one that exists in New York, in which he appears mounted on his horse "Baconao", will be officially inaugurated in the 13 de Marzo Park in Havana. 

Up to now, 88 busts and statues of José Martí have been placed in different countries of the world, from all continents. This effort has contributed to the dissemination of Martí's work and thought internationally.

So far, South Africa is not among the countries that honor our National Hero with a monument in his memory.

Our intention is to start a project without delay so that the figure of our National Hero is also present in a prominent public place in South Africa.

We want this to be a collective project, to which all the friends of Cuba and José Martí present in South Africa can voluntarily contribute, a country to which we are linked by historical ties and solidarity. 

To conclude, dear friends, I would like to remind you that of all the loves of Martí, his greatest love was always for children and young people. He dedicated his most tender pages to them.

"For children we work, because they are the ones who know how to love, because they are the hope of the world," he said.

That is why this celebration of Marti's birthday is dedicated especially to our children and young people, who are the future.

Thank you very much.