Statue of Eusebio Leal at the entrance of the Palacio de los Capitanes Generales, currently the Museo de la Ciudad. Photo: Ariel Cecilio Lemus

“Death is not true when the work of life has been well accomplished.” The words of Cuba’s National Hero José Martí can be said about so many great men and women, but they mold around Leal as if they werewritten for him. His work was so vast, so beautiful, that, as Magda Resik, director of Communications of the Office of the City Historian and vice president of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, said: “When men forget him, the stones will still remember him.”

But they don’t forget him. How can they when he breathes on every cobblestone of the Wooden Street, greets from every square, turns every corner of the Historic Center, in his blue and gray clothes, walks to the City Museum and sits on his favorite bench in the inner courtyard?

There have been many tributes to his figure, from the plaque in the courtyard of the former Palace of the Captains General, the life-size statue at the entrance of the Palace, to the dedication of each event that the Office of the Historian has organized since 2020.

Rutas y Andares, a cultural program for the summer months devised by himself two decades ago, also pays tribute to him. Tras la ruta de Eusebio Leal (Following Eusebio Leal’s route) began last year with tremendous popularity. This August the invitation returns to explore a different facet of the historian’s personality and work every Saturday.

Leal collector, Leal cultural manager, Leal archaeologist and Leal y Roig are the names of the Routes that for four weeks will take the public through some of the sites where he worked, where he regularly went to supervise the works under restoration and many other sites that exhibit today the pieces that he collected with so much love over the years for his eternal bride, this city.

During the celebration of Havana’s 500 years, a visibly more tired than usual Leal told the guests that the 500 was over, that as of November 17 they would start working on the 501st.

This is, then, the best way to remember him, to work tirelessly to preserve what was achieved and continue to grow; so that Havana, ust like him, will never die.

(Taken from Granma)

On his Twitter account, the president congratulated teachers, workers and students of this education and recalled the years when he worked in that body.

That period of work there brought me closer to universities, the Head of State wrote on the social network, adding that this stage allowed him to reaffirm the conviction that the country’s future also lies in them.

According to the Minister of Higher Education, José Ramón Saborido, the Caribbean nation has a powerful educational system created by the Revolution, which is steered towards the development of the country.

The island has a network of universities and science and technological innovation entities committed to the Cuban social project, within which 50 higher education centers with 113 specialties.

Most institutions of this level in Cuba were created after 1959, and since then they have undergone various transformations seeking greater quality and efficiency in the training of new professionals.

MES was founded on July 19, 1976, due to the growth and strategic importance of university development.

Currently its work is focused on finding solutions to the main problems of the country, students and professors are in the front line of work in tasks of social impact, such as fighting Covid-19-

(Taken from Prensa Latina)

We could say a great deal about what she did, about the girl from Santiago – the second Cuban woman to graduate in Chemical Engineering – who chose a path that took her away from a comfortable existence, to Revolution.

Among the many images that come to mind is that of the young student conspiring to put an end to a corrupt, subservient regime, who began writing pamphlets and went on to become a member of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee and Political Bureau and president of the Federation of Cuban Women, the FMC, a huge organization fighting for women´s rights and dignity.

Lucid and confident, her words shone just as brightly alongside Frank País, in the early days of the July 26th Movement, as they did in every struggle she undertook. She was indispensable in the underground; in the Sierra Maestra; in the educational mission she assumed within the Revolution, changing mentalities and challenging prejudices; on the international stage, where she defended Cuba’s revolutionary work; whenever she spoke, with the warmth of her spirit, on any subject.

She chose to live on the side of duty; overcoming fear in the face of horror, never trembling; participating in events that others would have avoided; building the first childcare centers with other FMC members; supported by the family she founded, to serve as an example of a woman in Revolution, speaking to us every time we recall all that we have achieved.

Vilma: The feminine force shaped by your teachings, which today defends Cuba in Revolution and our people’s irrevocable decision never to return to the past you fought, are more than enough evidence to confirm that your death is a lie.

(Taken from Granma)

Compañero Raúl, who has prepared, conducted and led this process of generational continuity with tenacity, with no attachment to positions or responsibilities, a heightened sense of duty and of the historic moment, with serenity, maturity, confidence, revolutionary firmness, with altruism and modesty, on the basis of his own merits, authority and because Cuba needs him, will be consulted regarding the most important strategic decisions impacting the nation’s destiny. (Applause) He will always be present, well informed of everything, fighting with energy, contributing ideas and arguments to the revolutionary cause, through his advice, his guidance and alertness to any error or deficiency, ready to confront imperialism as the first with his rifle in hand on the front lines of combat.

The Army General will continue to be present because he is a reference for every Cuban communist and revolutionary. Raúl, as our people affectionately call him, is Fidel’s best disciple, but he has also contributed a great deal to revolutionary ethics, the work of the Party and to improvement of government

The work done under his leadership at the head of the country over the last decade is colossal. His legacy of resistance in the face of threats and aggression and in efforts to perfect our society is paradigmatic.

He assumed the leadership of the country in a difficult economic and social situation. In his dimension as a statesmanship, forging consensus, he has led, pushed for and encouraged profound, necessary structural and conceptual changes as part of the process of perfecting and updating the Cuban economic and social model.

Raúl was able to achieve the renegotiation of an enormous debt, honestly and respectfully abiding by the word given and the principle that the nation would honor its commitments to creditors, thus strengthening confidence in Cuba.

He led, with wisdom, the debate that culminated in a transcendental update of our Migratory Law; insisted on transformations in the agricultural sector; promoted without prejudice the expansion of non-state forms of economic management, the approval of a new Foreign Investment Law, the creation of the Mariel Special Development Zone, the elimination of obstacles to the strengthening of Cuban state enterprises, investments in the tourism sector, the program for the computerization of society, and the maintenance and improvement, to the degree possible, of our social conquests.

With patience and intelligence, Raúl achieved the release of our Five Heroes, thus fulfilling Fidel’s promise that they would return.

His trademark style was evident in wide-ranging, dynamic activity in the country’s foreign relations. With firmness, dignity and mettle, he personally led the process of talks and negotiations directed toward the reestablishment of diplomatic relations with the United States.

Raúl’s unquestionable qualities as a statesman, as a defender of Latin American integration, distinguished in a special way Cuba’s period as pro tempore president of CELAC. His most important legacy, the defense of unity within diversity, led to the declaration of the region as a Zone of Peace and contributed decisively to the peace talks in Colombia.

Raúl has defended the rights of Caribbean countries and particularly those of Haiti in international forums like no one else. With deep pride, Cubans listened to his emotional voice and precise language at the Summit of the Americas in Panama, where he recalled the true history of Our America.

He achieved these accomplishments while facing the illness and death of his beloved companion in life and struggles, our extraordinary Vilma (Applause), with whom he shared his passion for the Revolution and with whom he founded a beautiful family. During this period, he also suffered the illness and death of his principle reference in revolutionary life, who was also his boss and brother, compañero Fidel, to whom he has been uncompromisingly loyal. (Applause)

He put revolutionary courage and sense of duty before his human pain. He kissed the urn that held Vilma’s ashes and offered a military salute before the boulder bearing Fidel’s name, and led the country without rest, with success, energy and dedication. His contributions to the Revolution are transcendental.

The Raul we know, admire, respect and love, made his political debut as the leader of a group of young university students who in April of 1952 symbolically buried the 1940 Constitution, trampled by the March 10 coup; in January of 1953, he was one of the founders of the March of the Torches and in March of the same year he attended the International Conference on the Rights of Youth and preparatory meetings for the Fourth World Festival of Youth and Students. Upon his return, he became one of the Moncada assailants, becoming a leader in combat. He was then imprisoned on the Isle of Pines, participated in preparation of the struggle against the Batista’s dictatorship during his exile in Mexico, set sail on the Granma, was reunited with Fidel in Cinco Palmas, embarked on the struggle in the Sierra Maestra, and given his merits and courage, was promoted to Comandante and founded the Frank País Second Eastern Front, in an exemplary manner.

He is also the political leader who promoted debate on improving Party work, always demanding a strong connection with the people, with his ear to the ground. To him we owe decisive phrases and decisions at crucial moments for the country, such as that warning that “beans are as important as cannons” and the emblematic “Yes, we can!” which raised national spirits in the darkest moment of the Special Period.

The military chief of the Second Eastern Front who, amidst the war of liberation, undertook organizational and governmental experiences for the benefit of the population, which would later be extended across the country after the revolutionary victory. He directed for almost half a century the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, making a decisive contribution to the independence of Angola, Namibia and the end of apartheid. At the same time, he was instrumental in achieving important results in the preparation of the country’s defense and in developing the strategic concept of the War of the Entire People. Under his command, the Revolutionary Armed Forces became the government’s most disciplined and efficient body, in which experiences

were organized that later served the country, including enterprise improvement, with its valuable concepts of administration, sustainability, efficiency and control, from which the FAR Enterprise System was born, going on to achieve remarkable results that contribute to the country’s economy.

Raúl, the guerrilla, in permanent contact and alliance with nature, acquired a special sensitivity to environmental issues, which would later mark his efforts to promote the water diversion program and Tarea Vida (climate change).

The Comanadante en jefe of the Cuban Revolution, who placed on the Army General’s chest the highest decorations, dedicated precise words to his work as a leader during the closing of the Fifth Party Congress. Speaking of his brother in blood and ideas, Fidel stated: “Life has brought us much satisfaction and many emotions, much luck, and I can truly say that it has been a stroke of luck for our Party, our Revolution and for me, that we have had a compañero like Raúl, of whose merits I do not need to speak, of whose experience, capacity and contributions to the Revolution it is not necessary to speak. He is known for his tireless activity, his constant and methodical work in the armed forces, in the Party. How fortunate that we have had this.” This good luck, described by Fidel, is called Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz.

(Taken from Granma)

When on July 26, 1953 Raul Castro snatched the pistol wielded by a Batista police chief attempting to take him prisoner in the Santiago de Cuba Court and pointed the gun at his would-be captors, in less than a second he radically changed the course of the history he was living, saving not only his life and those of his comrades, but also a piece of the Revolution that had begun to take shape that very day.

Fidel spoke of his loyalty and service to the homeland at the First Party Congress, when he recalled that in the Revolution “nepotism cannot and will never exist,” but that sometimes “two cadres get together,” and that Raul, beyond being an extraordinary cadre, happened to be his brother.

Something very similar was recalled by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, upon assuming the position of Party First Secretary, when he evoked Raúl’s immeasurable contribution to the Revolution, from the Moncada and the Sierra to the process of continuity that he prepared, conducted and led, always on the basis of loyalty and modesty.

This is the same altruism described by Nikolai Leonov in his biography Raul Castro, a Man in Revolution, when he came across a seemingly insurmountable obstacle to his literary project: His hero, also his friend, does not seek publicity, “he rather avoids it,” Leonov stated.

When the collapse of the Soviet Union and the disintegration of the socialist camp fell like a curse on Cuba, and the usual enemies began to rub their hands in glee, he made no apologies for the Revolution, assuring his people, as he had already proven in the luminous days of the Second Front, that resistance was possible; and in the long run he was right: it was possible and is possible.

This was not the last difficult test. He faced the death of Vilma, his companion in all battles, and Fidel’s illness, that obliged him to assume positions to which he never aspired.

At the head of the country, he did his job, not allowing the blockade to prevent him from looking to the future and undertaking the updating of our socio-economic model; renegotiating foreign debt and promoting non-state forms of management; achieving the release of the Cuban Five and leading talks with the United States; while supporting transcendental laws for the country and leading the democratic process of drafting the new Constitution of the Republic.

He has done more than enough to earn some rest, but always the guerillero, he told Cubans last April 16 that, as long as he lived, he will be ready “with his foot in the stirrup,” a phrase that, for a people who know him well, needs no translation.

(Taken from Granma)

-On what album does this song appear?

-The song “Todo el mundo cuenta” is on Pi 3,14, born in the context of some very particular years. Buena Fe’s work cannot be interpreted in a comprehensive manner without understanding the context in which our songs were written. This is an album from 2011 that addresses the social reality of that time. Those were the years when the convocation was made for the 6th Party Congress, which was held in April of that year, after 14 years without a Congress being held, and Raul called for debate, for people to say what they thought, to go deeper in changing a number of things.

This is one of the albums we have made that most reflects Martí, given the very Cuban character it has. It is no accident that we had Eliades Ochoa on “Mamífero nacional;” “Despedida” with Pablo Milanés, and Los aldeanos for “Miedos.” We brought in guest artists because it was a year that needed consensus, needed for everyone to see themselves reflected in the country that was to be constructed, and to chart the guidelines we needed to move forward. That song is a summary of everything we wanted to express in the album, of the need to build a nation with everyone and for the good of everyone, but also emphasizing the need to understand all the parts. We could no longer think of Martí in stock phrases, but of another Martí who can be a father, a teacher, who accompanies us as a brother, blood of the poor, in doing our duty; a Martí who leaves us wondering how he could do so much without the Internet. I tell you that song is the one I am most proud of, since, apart from the context in which it emerged, it is a song that can still accompany us.”

-What value do you give the dimension of Marti’s thought in setting an ethical course for us, as a referent for conduct in the 21st century, addressing issues ranging from morality to altruism, goodness and beauty, to mention only a few?

-Martí cannot be understood if one does not comprehend his great school. It was not only the pro-independence, revolutionary environment in which he was born. I think that to have punished such a young boy, with his sensitivity, a boy who took to poetry, literature, to have condemned him to such a horrible prison in which, incredibly, the boy did not die, was the bomb. This is what forged his moral universe, his ethical universe. What horrors could that boy have seen, what pain he must have faced, making all other sacrifices seem like mere trifles? God knows how many horrible things that young boy witnessed, a boy who came from an intellectual environment, suddenly finding himself surrounded by delinquents, where some even younger than him died. This is what broadened his vision of the world, of human nature, in terms of the perverse and sends him running toward the light of beauty, toward valuing everything beautiful as if it were the last of the day. This is why when we open ourselves to Martí, his enormous moral stature shines through, his enormous vocation for service, his tireless capacity for work, his dedication and love for others.

How lucky this country has been to have a man like this, to have an example like this! Everything great and everything good is summarized in Martí, because he hoped for nothing more than that his thought survive him. If Marxists define human beings as actors and thinkers, Martí adds feeling. Martí always makes clear to us that, if ideas do not first pass through the heart, they are sterile. This is almost a revelation, a revealed truth. For me, Martí is someone to whom I always return, not to quote him by heart, but to try to understand his formula for triumphant love. Martí’s way of understanding the character of human nature, the prism through which he sees life and attempts to make thinking, doing and feeling go hand in hand. This is admirable and I try to get closer to it every day.

-Do you think that Martí’s indomitable will to fight on the battlefield against the enemy represents an eloquent example for those of us who are willing to give our lives for the welfare of our people?

There are small men, the homeland’s shrimp, who attempt at all costs to make Martí look like a conciliator, a man incapable of being radical, incapable of being intransigent. They have tried many times to sell us a faint-hearted Martí, a soft Martí. This is totally false. Martí was as radical and as intransigent as Antonio Maceo and Máximo Gómez. He was always very clear that it was impossible to build a republic, to win Cuba’s independence, trying to get along with everyone. He understood that all work was done for the good of all, he understood willpower, effort and dedication, attempting to summon all on the basis of their best side, the side that illuminates. He was very clear about human nature, about the beast that dwells inside every man and, of course, he spoke of the need for good to prevail over that beast. But he was not calling for tigers and rabbits to live in the same cage. Whoever attempts to say that does not understand Martí. This is why I have more respect for those who do know that Martí was a radical and attack him today. It is clear to them that Martí’s stature is so great that they do not have the courage to emulate him. They prefer to deny it. They prefer to judge him on the basis of their own smallness. Those who are not capable of understanding insult him. Those who prefer to fabricate a fifth column Martí and know very well that’s not the way it is, are an offense to his greatness. Martí was capable of signing in blood everything he dreamed, everything he loved. Martí was for real.

(Quelle: Granma)

Second Front, Santiago de Cuba –On a clear morning, rarely seen here, where mist usually covers the hills at daybreak, flowers arrived for Vilma Espin, from her partner in war and life, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, first secretary of the Party Central Committee, on the 91st anniversary of the heroine’s birth, yesterday April 7.

At the foot of the monumental boulder that holds the ashes of the exemplary fighter in the underground and guerrilla struggles, within the Frank País Second Front heroes and martyrs mausoleum, the flowers were placed, alongside a wreath sent on behalf of the Cuban people, carried to the site by Lázaro Expósito Canto and Beatriz Johnson Urrutia, president and vice-president of the Provincial Defense Council.

President of the Republic Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez remembered Vilma on the occasion, posting a comment on Twitter, “She was the Revolution dressed as a woman. Her tender firmness in founding a work and a family, in organizing with women a Revolution within the Revolution, must serve as a permanent school in the Cuba she loved so much. A flower for Vilma Espín in her 91st year.”

(Taken from Granma)

Segundo Frente, Santiago de Cuba.– A symbol of the struggles of Cuban women for their full emancipation, heroine of the underground and guerrilla struggle, Vilma Espín Guillois, was honored, this March 8, before the monumental boulder where her ashes rest, in the mausoleum to the heroes and martyrs of the Frank País Second Front.

A bouquet of white roses and lilies, placed very close, and a floral wreath at the foot of the memorial, arrived to pay tribute to the extraordinary Santiago native, whose determination, sensitivity and love for the family, and especially for children, won her admiration in Cuba and abroad.

Leyanis Riquelmes Batista and Yudith Aguilar Valverde, president and vice-president of the Municipal Defense Council, led the commemoration and the subsequent meeting of women living in these historic mountains, who relcalled anecdotes about the legendary revolutionary fighter.

On a proud date for Cuban women, a representative group of women from Santiago also honored Mariana Grajales Cuello, Mother of the Homeland and of the legendary Maceo brothers, placing flowers, on behalf of the country’s women alongside the tomb that holds her remains in Santiago de Cuba’s patrimonial Santa Ifigenia Cemetery.

(Taken from Granma)

In a message released on the occasion of International Women’s Day, the National Secretariat of the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) congratulated all women in the country and called for commemorations of the date, despite the difficult conditions created by COVID-19.

“Nothing can overshadow the advances in equality and social inclusion that have been achieved over these 62 years of revolutionary triumph, during which we have been protagonists and direct beneficiaries of programs promoting health, motherhood, diversification of food production, educational advancement for professionals and skilled workers, broader employment opportunities, promotion to management and decision-making positions, the visualization of women’s work in all branches of artistic creation and much more,” the statement asserts.

The FMC leadership recounts the many reasons women are marching around the world today, demanding equal rights which, for millions, are only a dream.

The document reiterates the satisfaction Cuban women feel in having their rights enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic, and in permanent efforts underway to improve the work of those responsible for their enforcement.

The FMC National Secretariat reiterated its defense of the conquests achieved in our country, describing Cuban women as “worthy daughters of this indomitable, free, independent and sovereign homeland,” and reaffirmed its loyalty to the Revolution under the principle of intransigence captured in the words “Homeland or Death.”

AN EMBRACE FROM CUBA

Consistent with the spirit of continental sisterhood reflected in its name and raison d’être, Cuba’s Casa de las Americas reiterated its solidarity “with the struggles of Latin American and Caribbean women for their rights and, specifically, for a post-pandemic future with less violence, less gender discrimination and more equity.”

Noted in the message are the difficulties women on the continent face, which have been exacerbated by the epidemic, in terms of employment, income and family responsibilities, and reiterated the institution’s commitment to supporting their demands for full equality.

(Taken from Granma)

Necessary, nothing more, because no other descriptor was needed. There was no need for any other adjective, no need to use any other word. This word was more than enough. Because what is necessary is what cannot be postponed, that which is crucial, unavoidable. Necessary, because there was no other way to reach the goal, and the man of unlimited vision and indescribable political maturity who was organizing the war, decided that this was the case.

The uprising was a new beginning, the product of a dream denied, one more lacerating blow to the enemy’s skin, the next step in the historical spiral leading to the homeland’s full dignification, although unfortunately it would not be the definitive victory.

That February 24 did not acquire its relevance in the annals of history solely as the day the Mambises returned to the battlefield, but as a result of the sacred lessons learned through the process leading to this point, lessons that would never be forgotten by Cubans. Saying unity, is enough to summarize many of them.

The true essence of that return to the battlefield, where the blood of its greatest ideologue was shed all too soon, was the understanding that the differences between men vanish when the cause for which they fight is more significant.

The legacy of that day is so rich, emerging from the intense ideological battle that preceded it and the practically inexplicable energy of Martí devoted to seeing it through, with his deepest sentiments revealed, it can be said, without fear of misunderstanding, that on this day the heart of Cuba beat again with all its strength. New kindling revived the flame of independence once and for all, and the real possibility of victory was dispersed like gunpowder once again and pride was reborn among a people that was not born to be enslaved.

That February 24 was necessary because only events that rattle history from its foundations can move the depths of those who are predestined to write it.

For sure, the foreseen deception of a thoroughly rotten monster, making use of the weaknesses of a decadent empire, detained the hurricane that threatened to detach the fruit, knowing that it would not gravitate toward another tree, but rather take root and grow on its own.

But history is wise and its protagonists persevere. This is why, for us, the Necessary War was not a lost battle. The deed’s undeniable vindication of the liberating spirit of ’68; Martí’s capacity to build unity, making him forever an apostle of independence; and, above all, our enemy’s recognition that there was not even the slightest chance Cubans would renounce the dream of freedom made the return to arms a turning point, an inexhaustible source of determination for generations to come.

From then on, there was no rest, no resignation or oblivion. The annexation was never as they dreamed it would be, because the growing rebellion of an entire people gave them no respite, and not even the most criminal repression was enough to silence the constant call for a free Cuba.

Thus, far from dying as they had foreseen over so many years of ignominy, Martí was born again one hundred years after the first birth that brought him into the world, but this time it was not a woman’s womb that gave him life, but the nobility of youthful souls, of a generation that took for itself the reins of the homeland’s destiny, that chose to be the depositary of the ideals that, despite our oppressors, did not die with Martí in Dos Ríos.

Within that deep well of willpower and optimism, of youthful impetus mixed with an uncontainable desire for freedom, a star of unique light rose, a being of such advanced thought and convictions, that the ideas of the Teacher sowed in his heart emerged anew in another time, in another reality, but with the same goal: independence, and for that, another battle was already necessary and this time, the enemy, unaware, found his days numbered as “protector” of our island.

In the skin of that young lawyer, Martí was once again the ideologist of the revolutionary process that was taking shape, and when that morning of Santa Ana dawned in 1953, and Santiago de Cuba trembled, and much more than the walls of the Moncada shook, July 26th was another February 24th.

The struggle was re-launched once again, although it was never completely detained, to retake Marti’s concepts, to rethink them in light of the historical moment and enrich them with the brilliant, advanced thinking of Fidel and his contemporaries, which implied giving it an unimaginably broad scope. No further arguments were needed, except those that came with time itself, to affirm that when these initial concepts matured, there was nothing capable of preventing Cuba’s victory.

This time the revolutionaries carried machetes within their souls, while carrying other weapons in their hands, riding history as their steed. The lives lost were an inspiring force, and the vibrant youthful blood was fuel for the gears to engage, destined to advance the colossal struggle that would follow.

History has shown that this display of such courage was not a setback, and the call made by the natural leader of the feat, was call of all patriots who, devoted for years to their land’s defense, did not have the opportunity to look the oppressor in the eyes and openly state the sincere, just truths that he deserved to hear, and would not remain ensconced in brilliant words alone.

One by one, the steps taken by the Generation of the Centennial yielded the fruits that all of Cuba yearned for. The Moncada was the first step to reach the summits of the Sierra Maestra, but the foundation was laid in Marti’s struggle, as well as in La Demajagua.

This is why Cuba is, in itself, the heart of continuity, this is why our Revolution is one, because ideals, if they are true, live longer those who advocate them, because patriotism is inherited like the genes that unite us in a family tree, because Cubans do not conceive of life without the homeland.

Only this people is capable of conceiving the sacrifice that our decision to be free has cost and has more than enough morality and reason to refuse to allow third parties to impose a destiny and a course that are alien to our most elementary convictions.

When a land has so much history, so much invaluable legacy to turn to, so much tradition of persevering in its efforts, no matter how complex they may be, it acquires a maturity, an attachment to values, to principles, which cease to be an individual asset to become a collective one, very difficult to break, even if the most unimaginable resources are deployed to do so.

Much more than rivers of money and waves of imperial power are needed to intimidate us, if such a thing exists, because in this firm, redemptive sovereign land, every day dawns with the conviction that the daily defense of our independence is also a necessary war.

(Taken from Granma)