Counting on Young People

Certainly, one cannot speak of Cuban youth in absolute terms. To say that "young Cubans" are one way or another, they do one thing or another... it´s to ignore nuances or dissimilar attitudes and positions of a very dynamic sector of Cuban society.

But those who oppose the Revolution love to generalize... when generalizations serve to sustain the usual discourse. Obsessed with the supposed rejection of the vast majority of citizens to Cuba's political and social system, they want to establish the narrative that all young people oppose the national project that the Revolution defends.

Young people want a change, they say. And in fact, they are right. But the sense of change that "all young Cubans" want is the one that should be analyzed. Cuban youth is not fundamentally the one that joins the destabilizing campaigns on social networks, the one that can be easily manipulated. The majority of Cuban youth is not the one that turns its back on the rest of society, the one that wallows in apathy or immobility.

Not all young Cubans want to leave the country, as the spokesmen of an alleged and hoped-for failure of socialism in Cuba repeat over and over again.

The majority of young Cubans go every day to study, to work, to recreate. They understand the challenges of contemporary times. They dream of a better future and don't sit idly by waiting for it to come effortlessly. The majority of young Cubans assume the complexities of the moment with common sense, with responsibility, with a critical vocation.

Of course, not all young Cubans are members of the Young Communists League(UJC), but they are all within the radius of action of that organization, and the permanent aspiration is to live up to the demands of that youth.

The country has young people. The Revolution counts on the youth. April 4th is not simply the anniversary of the UJC or the José Martí Pioneers Organization (OPJM); It’s a date that symbolizes the confidence in the new generations of Cubans, who are the guarantee of sovereignty and social justice of the future.

There are many, many young people who dedicate their best energies to building a better society. They are not extraordinary beings, they are in the people, they are the people. An authentic Revolution does not age, it’s nourished by the sap of the new... and makes its aspirations and daily struggles its own.

Translated by Amilkal Labañino / CubaSí Translation Staff