Cuba and the permanent battle of ideas

Havana, Mar 31 (Prensa Latina) The speech of Historic Leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, delivered 21 years ago, in which he spoke about the comprehensive program known as Battle of Ideas, the genesis of the current changes undertaken by the country, are still significant nowadays.

Fidel Castro recalled Cuba’s call, 15 months and 16 days before, for the return of Cuban child Elián González, held in the US Florida state without his father’s consent.

The campaign for the return of the six-year-old child, who was cast away on a vessel together with his mother, who drowned, and other people trying to reach the United States, had Cubans massively take to the streets and ended legal and political disputes with his arrival in Cuba in his father’s arms.

That feat paved the way for ideas as the main tool to fight Cuba’s political adversary and led to a social development strategy, according to reporter Julio Garcia Luis in his book “La Revolución Cubana. 45 grandes momentos” (The Cuban Revolution: 45 Great Moments).

For Fidel Castro, this was “the largest mass mobilization in the country’s history” and “the spark that ignited the fight,” because the Revolution undertook 150 new social plans only three years after those events.

Every new program led to the discovery of another one, so new issues such as crime, the fact that some people did not study or work, the perfectioning of social justice, and the boost of culture were detected and investigated, Luis explains.

In his speech on March 31, 2001, Fidel Castro spoke about some of these Batalla de Ideas undertakings such as the launch of the TV programs Mesa Redonda (Round Table) and Universidad para Todos (University for All) and the inauguration of Art Instructor Schools.