May Day in Matanzas: battle-tested unity and joy

It has been pretty tough for Matanzas these years. However, nothing has been able to take away hope from this city. I witnessed it this morning when dawn was yet to come and the city was full of colors: red, blue, and white…It was our flag, the Cuban one, which has never kneeled to no one.

I have always believed my city is Oshun’s daughter, that she is blessed and prolific to creation and flow like the rivers it treasures. And so it marched, fresh, happy, like the Goddess who wins its battles singing and dancing, like many did not want to see her, enthusiastic, party-loving, with poetry, familiar.

When others betted on a shameful silence, Carilda’s Matanzas, sang again to Fidel. And it was a sign of faith in this working, alive Cuba. This Cuba, which will not allow that shameful campaigns, or blockades, or warfare of third generations, take away the dreams. This is a nation made by workers who decided their own fate: Let’s go all out…for the Revolution!

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff