The same reason of that morning in Santa Ana: we are Cubans

The weeks prior to that Santa Ana morning, in 1953, must have been quite disturbing, motivating, uncertain, but at the same time, a mixture of rebellion and optimism, a patriotic feeling capable of moving mountains, uniting men and women, defy walls, fears, carry out the most unimaginable challenges.

Those young men, who would later be known as the Centennial Generation, arrived in Santiago de Cuba from various parts of the Island. Most of them did not know each other, had different ages and origins, some almost illiterate, others literate; some with better economic support, others capable of selling even their few work instruments and personal belongings to raise money and move; but all dreamed about the same goal: the beginning of a new stage of struggle against the Batista dictatorship and the enormous desire to see Cuba free, to build a just society, "with all and for the good of all."

They say that the move to the East side of the country would also take different forms, through various routes, and it was able to camouflage itself thanks to the hustle and bustle of those days, as carnivals festivities took place in the city of Santiago. There should not be, for these young people, not a single moment in which they did not think about the risks, about the real implications of what they were willing to do, how much it could cost them, without knowing for sure what was the action to which they had been summoned, its dimension and transcendence.

The days closest to the events of July 26, the preparation at Granjita Siboney and the subsequent move to the city and Bayamo, the closeness with the main leaders of the action, knowing just a few hours before what it was about, the details of what was already looming, dangerous but shocking, marked for sure each of these young men, many of whom would lose their lives during the 72 hours after the attacks on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes Barracks.

"You may be victorious or defeated in a few hours, but hear this well, comrades! This movement will triumph anyway. If you are victorious tomorrow, Martí’s aspirations will became true sooner. If not, the gesture will serve to set an example for the Cuban people to take up the flag and keep going forward. The people will support us in the Eastern region and in the entire island. We the Youth of the Centennial of the Apostle, just as in 1868 and in 1895, here in the East we cry out for the first time: FREEDOM OR DEATH!”, Fidel told them on July 25.

The hours, the days, the weeks that followed the actions were deeply painful, the tyranny unleashed a carnage against those who had changed, in just a few hours, the course of their country's history and marked its future forever. It hurts to think about what many of them went through: harassment, persecution, torture, kidnapping, threats, deceit, loss of friends and family in the most cowardly and cruel way possible, imprisonment of all those who could supposedly be linked. "We are already in combat," had been the call of one of them -recognized as "The Poet"- before going out to fight, and so it was. Despite everything that would come later, that fight did not stop until the final victory in January 1959, and continues today against those who still want us to become a colony again.

What the then young Fidel Castro would define as "the small motor that would drive the big motor of the Revolution," continues today to be one of the most extraordinary milestone in our history, which we Cubans will always have to approach time and time again. Every time we think times are difficult, when the roads seem darker, because despite all the lives lost, it has been shown that it is possible to turn setbacks into victory, without time for fatigue, when it comes to a better future for everyone.

The rebellion spirit of the protagonists of the actions occurred on July 26, 1953 in Santiago de Cuba and Granma is similar to that embraced by our people nowadays. The one that we brace deep inside and makes us continue building this Revolution under the very nose of the most powerful empire in history, the one that makes us smile every day and move forward despite blockades, sanctions, economic crisis and the wildest media war.

Time has changed, other challenges are to be faced, very complex ones, but when I remember that Santa Ana morning, I always come back to our historic Leader in his self-defense plea "History Will Absolve Me": "There is a reason that assists us and it is the most powerful of all, we are Cubans and being Cuban implies a duty. Not fulfilling it is a crime and treason." Enough said.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff