Cuba: The Revolution reaches its 50th anniversary (I)
Forever
Cuba Read Spanish Version
Cuba:
The Revolution reaches its 50th anniversary (I)
By
Orestes Martí – Manuel Alberto Ramy
Las
Palmas de Gran Canaria – Havana, Cuba Dec. 18, 2008
Dictionaries
define "anniversary" as the day that commemorates an event
that happened on the same date in a previous year. When it comes to
"national anniversaries," dictionaries state that many
countries carry out such celebrations, and that these may be related
to the day of independence, the adoption of a new Constitution, or
the form of government of the country in question, among others.
Blessed
by the dispossessed masses, hated by the usual exploiters, the Cuban
Revolution — which leaves no one indifferent — is about to mark its
50th anniversary.
Many
people lived the events that led to "the triumph of January
1959." Others — too young at the time, or perhaps not even born
then — have had (or have) only a historical or media reference to
the complex process.
Without
a doubt, the Cuban revolutionary process has had (and has) great
impact and influence over people and society, both in the country
where it occurred and on an international scale.
As
soon as this process made it clear that it was not just another
quantitative change, that it wasn’t — as proclaimed from the start
by the Cuban revolutionaries — an insignificant Band-Aid but a
profound political, economic and social movement within Cuban
society, the most retrograde, powerful and dark forces of
international reaction, led by the United States empire, began a
constant and permanent attack that included not only armed violence
— by an organization of terrorist gangs and organizations — but
also other forms, within the asymmetric war, that have sought the
implosion of the new system.
Those
forms remain active until today and their best expression can be
found in the inhuman economic, commercial and financial blockade that
has lasted for almost the duration of the Cuban Revolution, despite
the constant denunciations of not only Cuba but also the
international community, expressed in the various ballotings
conducted by international organizations.
But,
along with being a liberating process, the Revolution is a product of
human society and therefore totally, constantly and necessarily
perfectible. It is for that reason that it must be adapted both to
the changes that occur in the society in which it exists — changes
derived mainly from the actions of the process itself — and to the
changes that occur around it. It is in that stage of perfecting, of
eliminating objective and subjective obstacles, of adapting to the
internal and external changes that the Cuban revolutionary process
currently finds itself.
What
perception exists about the process, in the time that has elapsed?
What are the possible paths to take in order to achieve the desired
perfection? What are the expectations and the possible scenarios for
the next several years? In search of an answer, we have turned to
several actors, analysts, observers and ordinary people, with whom we
have discussed and exchanged the ideas that we shall be presenting in
future articles.
Orestes
Martí, a Cuban-Spanish writer who specializes in Information and
Communication, writes regularly for Canarias Insurgente.
Manuel Alberto
Ramy is Havana bureau chief for Radio Progreso Alternativa and editor
of Progreso Semanal, the Spanish-language version of Progreso Weekly.
