Keeping Fidel alive from the University of Havana

On the occasion of the 71st anniversary of July 26, National Rebellion Day, Francisca López Civeira (Paquita), Senior Professor of Meritus of the University of Havana and winner of the 2022 Social and Humanistic Sciences Award, talked about the currency of Fidel’s thoughts and the Moncada program.

“It is impossible to talk about this subject without mentioning that it was at the University of Havana (UH) where Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz was formed and, as he said on the 50th anniversary of admission, where he became a revolutionary, a follower of Marti, and a socialist,” she remarked.

As the heroic deed of the Moncada lives on and thrives among professors and students now that Cuba is facing quite difficult times, the UH has promoted the knowledge of history and, since the opening in 2017 of the honorary chair for the study of Fidel's ideas and work, organized presentations, talks, panels, lectures and other activities such as the establishment of the Students Forum of History.

Professor López also mentioned a meeting of the Marti, Fidel and Che Guevara chairs in which faculty and students alike presented papers on Fidel’s role in the development of Cuban technology, meteorology and other sciences and his efforts to make knowledge available to all, as he always insisted on and pioneered our university reform on January 10, 1962 to make radical changes in higher education.

“Opening universities to all regardless of class or skin color was a major milestone in Cuba, as the role of these institutions in society is about more than just teaching, in line with Fidel’s assertion that they must create new knowledge and embrace research,” she added, “as well as with his words on November 17, 2005 at the UH, when he warned about the serious danger that our own mistakes could pose to the survival of the Revolution and assured that it cannot be destroyed from outside but from within, to the detriment of Cuban sovereignty and a society based on equity and justice for Cuba and the rest of the world.”

Many remember and miss Fidel's surprise visits to the UH and his pleasant talks with the students, who would listen to his views about the books that they had or needed to have for studying, which paved the way for the creation of Ediciones Revolucionarias.

Many hold that Fidel's legacy is alive today not only in the department for studying him, but also among the students who echo the popular phrase ¡Yo soy Fidel! [I am Fidel!], a widespread nationwide motto since November 25, 2016.