Message to the Workers and People of Cuba: Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez

By Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic of Cuba, translated from the Spanish

Dear compatriots:

May Day, International Workers' Day, is approaching, a tribute to those who produce and who sustain life.

More than 30 years ago, after the fall of socialism in Europe, the massive celebrations of this day were limited to a few countries, Cuba among them.

With legitimate pride, we can say today that, amidst the most extreme hardships, we never stopped raising the banners of Socialism.

Over the following years, delegations from all over the world came and continue to come to celebrate the day in this small and exceptional nation where the workers rule.

They want to witness and share the strength of our difficult yet joyful resistance.

They don't want to miss the impressive example of this people, capable of celebrating the rights they have won, even under the worst economic conditions, while simultaneously criticizing and demanding that, along with the blockade, we be able to overcome our own shortcomings and mistakes.

That's what the working class was empowered to do after the 1959 victory, and that power was further strengthened when Cuba declared itself the first socialist state in the Western Hemisphere.

These days are no better than those, when utopia was an invisible horizon under the weight of the defeat of Socialism in other latitudes.

Just as we marched then, celebrating the sustained power of the workers and peasants, creators and artists, we are here today, ready to march and to continue celebrating.

The hurricane-force winds of imperial power have blown, and continue to blow, stronger than ever over our economy, determined to erase this example of bold, creative resistance from the world's political map.

Let us demonstrate once again that we are not alive and standing because the greatest enemy of the Cuban people wanted us to be. We are alive, standing, resisting and creating, thanks to the will of Cubans.

And this time with a special inspiration. May Day marks 25 years since Fidel's historic speech in the Plaza, overflowing with people, when he called on us to act with a "sense of the historic moment," to "change everything that must be changed," and to "emancipate ourselves through our own efforts."

As Fidel stated then: "Revolution is unity, it is independence, it is fighting for our dreams of justice for Cuba and the world."

Let us march on the First Day, showing the strength of UNITY. For our independence and our dreams of justice.

Against the blockade and against the resurging fascism. Against the genocide in Gaza and against the silent genocides caused by the sea of ​​injustices that threaten our species.

Let us march for the better possible world that Cuba wants and deserves.

See you on the First at the Plaza!

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