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)

Thousands of people attended the event here in Ñico López Park, where Federico Hernández, first secretary of the Party in the province, recalled the pivotal event as “a declaration of war against an oppressive regime the dictator Batista” intended to “change the course of an enslaved society to a nation in which all are equal, a perfectible society with capacity to improve itself legitimately only in the hands of its people,” while emphasizing the importance of the constitutional reform process underway and the upcoming popular discussion.

The commemoration was presided by Comandante de la Revolución Guillermo García Frías and attended by Army Corps General Ramón Espinosa Martín, deputy minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, among other leaders.

Meanwhile in Santiago de Cuba’s Heredia Theater a cultural gala was held last night, in which the examples and ideas of Fidel, Abel, and Frank were recalled in a variety of artistic presentations.

Attending were Víctor Gaute, member of the Party Secretariat; Lázaro Expósito Canto, first secretary of the Party in the province; and Beatriz Johnson Urrutia, president of the Santiago government.

Set to take place tomorrow is the provincial commemoration in Segundo Frente and Thursday, July 26, the national political-cultural act celebrating the 65th anniversary of the historic assaults.

Cubavisión, Cubavisión Internacional, Radio Rebelde, and Radio Habana Cuba will broadcast the national event live beginning at 5:12 am.

(Granma)

The members of what would become a transforming, revolutionary movement recognized the critical moment in which they were living. They reflected the conception of the people that Fidel would later define in his defense statement following the Moncada assault known as “History will absolve me.”

The spark of a true revolution was lit among broad layers of Cuba society: campesinos, workers, modest professionals, unemployed youth, and those with precarious and seasonal jobs, drawn to the political program presented to the nation as the Moncada Manifesto. The insurgents were not only audacious. They understood and wanted to achieve more than a simple change of government.

The organization’s program was outlined by Fidel. A part came from the 1940 Constitution, abolished by Batista during the coup. This document, among other precepts, abolished the possession of vast areas of land, but laws to implement a land reform were never approved. Fidel’s proposal included as a fundamental point rejection of U.S. companies’ control, like that of the United Fruit Company, and others of all kinds, including those providing electricity and telephone services, as well as gasoline refineries.

Also among fundamental elements were the development of public education, a health care program within the reach of the entire people, and many other social demands that became a reality after the January 1, 1959, triumph of the Revolution, following the victory of the Rebel Army led by Fidel in the Sierra Maestra.

One antecedent is worth recalling, to better understand this silent organization of youth, ready to give their lives for the homeland. Throughout the decade, Cuba had seen a mass movement, described by many as “populist,” led by one unchallenged leader, Senator Eduardo Chibás, who advocated virtuous, honorable administration by the government as his political platform, which had as its symbol a broom, to sweep away all the evils inherited from a republic that was born lame, after the U.S. intervention at the end of a three-decade struggle for independence waged by Cubans since 1868, when Carlos Manuel de Céspedes launched the anti-colonial war, beginning by freeing slaves he held at La Demajagua plantation and inviting them to join the fight for Cuba’s freedom, as free men. A unique event in the history of the Americas.

In 1953, the youth who would become the 26th of July Movement stated in their Manifesto that they were assuming “the revolution of Céspedes, Agramonte, Maceo, and Martí; of Mella, and of Guiteras, of Trejo, and of Chibás», since “in the conscience of Cuba’s men lies the triumph of the Cuban Revolution.”

For different tactical reasons, the definitive victory was no won at other historical moments, but the composition of the revolutionary, insurgent group of 1953 was similar to that of the great wars 50 years earlier, before the crippled first republic.

Illiteracy was growing in the 1950s, since public education and healthcare were of little concern to the governments of the moment, but political culture, in the most advanced sense of the term, was developing rapidly in our society, thanks to the patriotic tradition.

This is evident when considering a few examples of the social origins of the July 26 insurgents killed, the majority murdered, and some survivors. This is a representative list. Since Fidel was able to recruit about 1,000, most of whom would later join the 26th of July Movement, play important roles, and become heroes and martyrs. They represent, as he said, the people of Cuba, when it comes to struggle, the social composition of the group is revealing.

The brothers Horacio and Wilfredo Matheu Orihuela, and Remberto Abad Alemán Rodríguez, bricklayers, cement mixers; Lázaro Hernández Arroyo, Pedro Véliz Hernández, Armando Mestre Martínez, Tomás Álvarez Breto, and Juan Almeida Bosque, bricklayers; Rafael Freyre and Hugo Camejo, textile workers; Flores Betancourt Rodríguez, worker in gem cutting shop; Pablo Agüero Guedes, assistant bricklayer; Emilio Hernández Cruz and Manuel Saiz Sánchez, carpenters; Armando del Valle López and Juan Domínguez, furniture builders, woodworkers; René Bedia, house painter.

Alfredo Concha Cinta, Manuel Isla Pérez, Marcos Martí Rodríguez, Carmelo Noa Gil, Manuel Rojo, Gerardo Antonio Álvarez, José Labrador, and Ismael Ricondo – all small framers or agricultural workers.

José Luís Tasende de las Muñecas (cell leader), and Vicente Vázquez, refrigeration mechanics; Juan Manuel Ameijeiras, Mario Martínez Ararás, drivers; Francisco Costa Velásquez, drivers assistant; Jacinto García Espinosa and Antonio Betancourt Flores, longshoremen; Virginio and Manuel Gómez, cooks (working at the Belén Jesuit preparatory school); José Ramón Martínez, leather tanner; José de Jesús Madera, laborer; Félix Rivero Vasallo, bartender; Pablo Cartas Rodríguez, restaurant worker; Andrés Valdés Fuentes, baker; Ángel Guerra García, sheetmetal worker; Pedro Marrero worked in a brewery; Víctor Escalona, shoemaker.

Abel Santamaría Cuadrado, employed in an important commercial office and a student, as was Boris Luís Santa Coloma, also a trade union leader; Julio Reyes, bank worker; Oscar Alcalde, owner of a pharmaceutical laboratory; Ramón Méndez Capote and Elpidio Sosa, traveling salesmen; Miguel Oramas, worker and photographer, like Fernando Chenart Piña; Raúl de Aguiar, student; Raúl Gómez García, teacher, poet, and trade union leader; Renato Guitart Rosell, shipping agent at his father’s company; Julio Trigo, student and traveling medicine salesman; Oscar Alberto Ortega, store clerk; Gildo Fleitas student and professor, as well as office worker; Guillermo Granados and Roberto Mederos Rodríguez, commerce workers; Rigoberto Cocho, electrical worker; Gregorio Careaga, mortuary worker; Ciro Redondo, employee, traveling salesman; Ramiro Valdés, employee, like Pepe (José) Suárez, principal cell leader in Artemisa. With a few exceptions, all were members of the Orthodox Party or youth group in their hometowns.

In this profile, brief but eloquent, gives some idea of the movement’s social composition. But the unemployed, or marginally employed, must also be added, including Osvaldo Socarrás and Humberto Valdés Casañas, who were day workers earning just enough to eat, as car parkers; or Giraldo Córdoba Cardín, who was trying to make a living as a boxer; Rolando San Román, occasional oyster saleman and José Testa Zaragoza, who sold flowers; and Antonio Ñico López, produce seller in a Havana market. Ñico López was saved, was exiled to Guatemala, and during the government of Jacobo Arbenz, the first of the revolutionaries to meet the young doctor Ernesto Che Guevara, who he later introduced to Fidel and Raúl. It was from Nico that Che learned the details of how the Moncada assault, and that on the garrison on Bayamo, were organized, July 26,1953.

Others who must be mentioned to complete the picture of “the people, when it comes to struggle,” as Fidel said during his trial: Pedro Miret, engineering student; Raúl Castro, student; Mario Muñoz, doctor; Haydée Santamaría, self-taught homemaker; Melba Hernández Rodríguez del Rey, practicing lawyer, as was Fidel Castro Ruz.

All – mentioned or not – were imbued with historical knowledge, from the independence days to the most contemporary. As was demonstrated during the Moncada trials, they knew, for example, about the importance of the sugar workers leader, Jesús Menéndez, who Abel especially admired, since he had worked in the former Constancia mill, in Villa Clara where the Santamaría family lived. Abel, Haydée’s brother, was the movement’s number two leader. He was captured during the assault, tortured horribly, and murdered in the Moncada Garrison.

(Granma)

Television networks Cubavisión and Cubavisión Internacional will broadcast the event at a deferred time, 8:30 pm.

Also today, the provincial event in Granma is to be broadcast live at 6:00pm by Cubavisión, Cubavisión Internacional, Radio Rebelde, Radio Habana Cuba, and local stations.

(Granma)

La Habana, July 19, 2018.

Dear Daniel and Rosario:

I wish to express my congratulations to you, those of the Cuban people and Communist Party, on the 39th anniversary of the triumph the Sandinista Revolution.
Over all these years, we have constructed indestructible ties of solidarity and brotherhood with Nicaragua and the FSLN. I reiterate our unwavering support and solidarity in the face of attempts to destabilize this sister nation, to overthrow the legitimately constituted government.

An embrace,
Raúl Castro Ruz.
First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuban Central Committee

———————————————————————————————————-

La Habana, July 19, 2018.

Esteemed Daniel and Rosario:

I convey my congratulations to you and those of our people and government, on the 39th anniversary of the triumph of the Sandinista Revolution.
We reiterate our solidarity with Nicaragua in the face of interventionist actions and attempts to destabilize the nation, which have produced unfortunate loss of life and significant material damage, undermining citizen security and the economic and social gains achieved.
On such a significant date, I wish to reiterate our unbreakable friendship and support, and unqualified willingness to continue strengthening the historic ties we that unite us.

A fraternal embrace,
Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez
President of the Councils of State and Ministers of the Republic of Cuba

(Granma)

In a draft resolution adopted by consensus, the Special Committee once again urged the United States to assume the responsibility of promoting a process that allows Puerto Rico to take sovereign decisions to address its urgent economic and social needs.

Promoted by Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Ecuador, Russia and Syria, the text was added to the 36 resolutions and decisions on Puerto Rico adopted by the Committee since 1972.

A press release on the UN news site highlights that this year’s document refers to the devastation caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, which exacerbated unemployment, marginalization and poverty, in addition to aggravating problems related to education and health.

The resolution calls on the General Assembly to comprehensively examine the question of Puerto Rico and decide on the issue as soon as possible.

It also urges the United States to guarantee the protection of the human rights of the Puerto Rican people, and to return the territory occupied by its military bases, in particular the Vieques and Ceiba islands, and to assume the costs of cleaning and decontamination of these areas.

The text also expresses concern about actions carried out against pro-independence activists and calls for rigorous investigations.

The first speaker was former political prisoner Oscar López Rivera, who highlighted the accelerated depopulation of Puerto Rico, to the point that there are just over three million people on the island and over five million have migrated to the United States.

He highlighted the high number of professionals and young people who have left the island in search of employment and a better future. He reiterated his criticism of the Fiscal Control Board, which manages the finances of the government of Puerto Rico and orders the austerity measures to be implemented.

López Rivera expressed his hope that the General Assembly take up the case of Puerto Rico, as the only body with the power to end colonialism.

(Granma)

The proclamation of Angola’s independence on November 11, 1975, by the forces of the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola, led by Agostinho Neto, opened the way not only to the building of a new Angola, but also to external threats, such as that from South Africa’s apartheid regime, which wished to expand across the continent.

In response to a request from Neto, thousands of Cuban soldiers and civilian collaborators crossed the Atlantic, committed to assisting their Angolan brothers and sisters in a struggle that had plunged the country into a serious crisis.

A ceremony presided by the President of the Councils of State and Ministers, Raúl Castro, was held on Wednesday, November 11, in Havana, to mark the 40th anniversary of Angola’s independence and Cuba’s contribution.

We witnessed the birth of a free and independent state, each battle was a lesson that cemented the faith in victory, expressed Army Corps General Álvaro López Miera, a member of the Politburo and first deputy minister of the FAR, during his speech at the event.

He went on to stress the heroic resistance of the Angolan people and the strategic vision of the leader of the Revolution, Fidel Castro.

Cuba is filled with joy at seeing Angola celebrating four decades of independence, López Miera, also chief of the Army General Staff, stated, while noting that the cooperation of the island in the African nation continues today, in areas such as health, sports and civil construction.

Thanks to the “Yes, I can” Cuban literacy method, over a million Angolans have learned to read and write; through Operation Miracle more than 34,000 have been operated on; and 7,500 young Angolans have graduated in Cuba, he added.

Angolan Minister of Former Combatants and Homeland Veterans, General Candido Van-Dunem, attended the ceremony on behalf of Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos. During his speech, he expressed the gratitude of the Angolan people to Cuba and noted the strong bilateral ties between the two nations.

The date is a matter of pride but also of reflection on the long and glorious struggle up until today, the Angolan General added, noting that both countries continue to be united by the ideals and the blood shed by their people.

An emotive moment was the posthumous presentation by the Cuban President of the title of Hero of the Republic of Cuba and the Máximo Gómez Order, First Degree, to the daughters of Brigadier General Raúl Díaz-Argüelles and Victor Schueg Colás.

These decorations were also awarded to Major General Carlos Fernández Rondín, minister of the Interior, following a proposal from the State Council.

In turn, the head of the Political Directorate of the Interior Ministry, Major General Romárico Sotomayor, received the title of Hero of the Republic of Cuba and the Order of Playa Girón.

(Granma)