Speech by Leima Martínez Freire at a solidarity event held at the Cuba-US International Normalization Conference
Dear sisters, brothers and comrades.
In September 1960, Malcolm X and Fidel Castro forged an alliance of solidarity in Harlem. At the Theresa Hotel, where Malcolm ensured that Fidel was received with dignity in the midst of U.S. hostility, their dialogue transcended borders.
This encounter deepened their understanding of the inseparable links between anti-imperialism and anti-racist struggles in the United States and anti-colonial battles in the Third World.
Under these principles Fidel founded ICAP in December of the same year in which this meeting took place with the call "the cause of the oppressed is one", from Cuba to Harlem, from Africa to Latin America.
If they were among us today, they would no doubt be debating how neocolonialism is reinventing itself in the digital age, the impact of global capitalism on the climate crisis and the urgency of stopping the genocide in Palestine, and the economic war against the Cuban people.
Today we cannot forget the legacy of another fighter.
We commemorate the 147th anniversary of the Baraguá Protest, where Antonio Maceo rejected colonial humiliation, as proof of the indomitable spirit of Cubans.
Malcolm and Fidel, like Maceo, taught us that dignity is non-negotiable. Backing down is not an option.
They would call for a new generation to reclaim humanity from the clutches of greed.
Malcolm would urge awakening critical consciousness and reclaiming power through education and collective organization. **Fidel would insist on the unity of the marginalized, on turning social networks into trenches of revolutionary truth, and on defending the sovereignty of the people against technological monopolies. Together, they would remind us that the struggle is not a story of the past, but a present mandate: "It is not a matter of waiting for a better world, but of building it with our hands on the ground and our eyes on the horizon."
Q vivan Fidel y Malcolm