Imaginary lit torches, but torches at last, we bring this January to that great man to whom we owe so much and we will always be in debt: José Martí, the Master of so many battles, the one who taught us to be much more Cuban.
After almost a year, we continue to live, perhaps, one of the most complex moments of this pandemic that has been ruthlessly afflicting humanity.
But the hope and certainty that we will come out of this are on, as this has happened on so many times throughout history. With that immense security and confidence I remembered a phrase that one day I studied, said by the illustrious Spanish writer Calderón de la Barca and I quote: “A lucky man is the one who has time to wait”; And of course yes, we Cubans are waiting for that miraculous Sovereign vaccine who will put an end to this pandemic and will achieve that after a time, not too distant, and these events would only be remembered as a horrible nightmare; which we were able to overcome thanks to the dedication, responsibility and unity of all our people.
When we also remember the 130th anniversary of the creation of the essay “Our America”, written by the Apostle, which revolutionized due to its new political, philosophical, historical and even cultural approach, we realize its validity; for its Latin Americanist, antifascist and humanist postulates.
That’s when we think that nothing was alien to him, and he always had a meridian light to intuit life and events more or less important for humanity. We also realize how committed all of us who live on this earth are to feel more worthy of it, to contribute more and more with our efforts, in the way we can, to better serve the country that needs us now more than ever.
That is why these days I have felt nostalgia, yes, for that parade that has already become a tradition, but although virtual, because we did not see the fire lit by the usual torches; it did achieve the fire of patriotism, that one which has never left or will never let the author of the Moncada attack die.
Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García
