As the 65th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution dawned, Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, greeted the Cuban people with an inspiring call to continue the great struggle for socialism and against the blockade.
Dear compatriots,
2023 is coming to an end and it is as if we reached the top of a very high mountain, through tortuous paths. As so often over 65 years, the climb has been arduous and at times we have had to go backwards. But we got there.
On the path of the socialist ideal, as Fidel and Raul have taught us, to arrive is to win, aware that each goal is a new starting point.
As we celebrate the 65th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, I want to send you a grateful hug for every step forward in the face of the colossal challenges imposed on us by six decades of reinforced economic blockade and the mistakes derived from the incessant search for ways out of the brutal siege.
Today everything seems more difficult than ever because of the long years of bearing the criminal weight of a policy of sieges and sanctions that seems infinite in its cruelty. But we revolutionaries have not arrived at this 65th anniversary to surrender and hand over flags.
The historical generation that, against the prediction of the doomsayers of adversity, brought the Revolution to this day, is still with us, with the conviction that it can be done.
From the cry in La Demajagua to the present day, the secret of the Revolution sustaining itself in the face of all adversities has been popular participation in a unique history of resistance and creativity, with firm leadership and a set of principles as a basis.
It is that story that inspires us to invite you today, on the eve of another challenging New Year, to enter 2024 with all the passion and joy that the great task of changing everything that needs to be changed needs and deserves.
Making, creating, destroying every brick of the blockade with the stroke of creativity, is what we have to do, aware that no one will do it for us.
The Revolution is not the work of a day, a year, or even 65 years. It's an idea, a will.
This is the Revolution. It's not any of us alone. It's all of us together, overcoming the impossible. And we will.
Homeland or Death! We shall overcome!