Back to 23 and 12 to raise the flags of Socialism

Photos: Vladimir Molina

By Dayán González Ramírez, translated from the Spanish

The Cuban people have written many glorious pages, and April 16th is undoubtedly a date that has entered the history of this indomitable land. Sixty-four years ago, imperialist hostility caused this people suffering and, at the same time, awakened their most patriotic and Cuban sentiments.

At the corner of 23rd and 12th streets in the capital, a crowd gathered, rifles in hand, to pay tribute to the victims of the treacherous bombing of Cuban airports and demonstrate their willingness to fight until victory, as they did.

During that gathering, Commander in Chief Fidel Castro defined the character of the Revolution when he stated: “Because what the imperialists cannot forgive us is that we are here. What the imperialists cannot forgive us is the dignity, the integrity, the courage, the ideological firmness, the spirit of sacrifice, and the revolutionary spirit of the Cuban people (Applause). That is what they cannot forgive us, that we are there right under their noses and that we have made a socialist Revolution right under the noses of the United States!”

And the people of the capital returned to that historic corner this morning, led by Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Party Central Committee and President of the Republic, and Roberto Morales Ojeda, member of the Political Bureau and Secretary of Organization, to reaffirm that the banners of socialism, under which they fought and won at Girón, continue to be raised by the new generations who aspire to build an increasingly just and prosperous society, despite the imperialist efforts to economically suffocate this people.

This date also commemorates Militia Day, for its heroic and decisive participation in the battles at Girón, and is designated as the founding date of the Communist Party of Cuba. Because, as Fidel Castro noted, "At Girón, the socialist character of our Revolution was proclaimed. At Girón, our Party was practically formed; it was at that time that we worked precisely on the task of uniting the revolutionary forces in a single direction. We can therefore say that our Party was formed at the same time that we carried out this task."

As we all know, imperialist aggression is not a thing of the past. Today, Cuban doctors are the target of a vicious campaign of defamation that seeks to discredit them and that resorts to blackmail and all kinds of pressure to tarnish the noble work they do in Cuba and around the world. But Dr. Mery Leydi Torres Lahera reaffirmed their commitment to not give up at the event.

Before concluding the commemoration, which combined art with history, the First Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee in Havana, Liván Izquierdo Alonso, said that unity, resilience, and creativity have allowed the banners of socialism to be kept high, while expressing the commitment to work toward building a prosperous and sustainable socialism.

This work was translated and shared via a License CC-BY-NC