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Achiever of the impossible

fidelDuring this very tense, difficult year, in which we were obliged to confront COVID-19, as well as an unprecedented imperial offensive, Fidel has been at our side. Cuba’s response to the pandemic, here and in other countries around the world, has been admirable. As Díaz-Canel has reiterated, Fidel’s strategic thinking in the field of medicine and science, his extreme sensitivity to the most vulnerable and his deep conviction that nothing is worth more than the life of a human being, carried decisive weight in this victory.

We owe to Fidel the large-scale training of doctors and nurses with a different kind of professional training and ethics; the early creation of a public health system that reached every corner of the island and every one of its inhabitants; the internationalist collaboration that began in 1960 and has its maximum expression in Latin American School of Medicine and the Henry Reeve Contingent; and the foundation and development of cutting-edge scientific centers in a small Caribbean country. Also essential is the participation in neighborhoods and communities of the organized and conscious people, protagonists in all the battles fought by the Revolution with Fidel’s guidance.

Our enemies hoped to strangle us with the ruthless tightening of the blockade and the economic war, and they have managed to make the daily life of the population very difficult. But they have not been able to break the confidence of the people Cuban in those who lead us, working day and night to move our country forward, with no one left unprotected.

Raúl reminded us, during Fidel’s farewell ceremony, that “his authority and close relationship with the people were decisive to the country’s heroic resistance during the tense years of the Special Period.”

In 2020, working alongside Raúl and other figures of the historical generation, Díaz-Canel and many younger cadres very close to the people have maintained this “intimate relationship.” Our Party and government have gained more authority and prestige facing difficult challenges, precisely at a time when our enemies have insisted on achieving the opposite.

It is no accident that this year was marked by an escalation of terrorist and subversive actions, supported by the hegemonic media, so-called “independent” press and social networks.

Some of these projects attempted to acquire “artistic” trappings to improve the image of certain mercenaries. This was a mistake. The counterrevolution’s think tanks forgot that Fidel himself designed an inclusive, anti-dogmatic, unitary cultural policy, based on permanent communication with creators, which has been capable of rectifying errors and misunderstandings and of laying the foundation for deep ties between authentic intellectuals and artists and the Revolution.

The campaign against the Henry Reeve Contingent also failed. No lie, no insult, has been able to stain the unquestionable moral example offered by our doctors.

Fidel was the main developer of the new consciousness that would germinate among the Cuban people following the triumph of the Revolution in 1959, a consciousness that was anti-imperialist, patriotic and – at the same time – generously internationalist and solidary. He contributed with his words and his example to build the unity of the nation and its spirit of resistance.

An expert in foreseeing dangers and traps, and exposing deceptions, Fidel showed us (as Raúl also said) that it is possible to overcome “any obstacle, threat or disturbance, in our firm determination to build socialism in Cuba, or what is the same, to guarantee the independence and sovereignty of the homeland!”

Cintio Vitier saw, in the struggle of the Cubans for their definitive emancipation, which had failed so many times, a permanent duel against “the Impossible.” And he saw, “The glorious day, January 1, when a ray of justice fell upon all,” the defeat of that ominous fatalism that seemed to condemn us to ignominy.

1959 was, Cintio insisted, “The most beautiful year, the decisive year of our lives,” adding, “Other battles were beginning; but since then the future has had roots, coherence and identity. (…) And everything that seemed impossible was possible.”

(Taken from Granma)

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