Forever Cuba
Cuba: The Revolution reaches its 50th anniversary
By Orestes Martí - Manuel Alberto Ramy
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria - Havana, Cuba Dec.
18, 2008
Dictionaries define "anniversary"
as the day that commemorates an event that happened on the same date in a
previous year. When it comes to "national anniversaries," dictionaries state
that many countries carry out such celebrations, and that these may be related
to the day of independence, the adoption of a new Constitution, or the form of
government of the country in question, among others.
Blessed by the dispossessed
masses, hated by the usual exploiters, the Cuban Revolution -- which leaves no
one indifferent -- is about to mark its 50th anniversary.
Many people lived the events
that led to "the triumph of January 1959." Others -- too young at the time, or
perhaps not even born then -- have had (or have) only a historical or media
reference to the complex process.
Without a doubt, the Cuban
revolutionary process has had (and has) great impact and influence over people
and society, both in the country where it occurred and on an international scale.
As soon as this process made
it clear that it was not just another quantitative change, that it wasn't -- as
proclaimed from the start by the Cuban revolutionaries -- an insignificant Band-Aid
but a profound political, economic and social movement within Cuban society, the
most retrograde, powerful and dark forces of international reaction, led by the
United States empire, began a constant and permanent attack that included not
only armed violence -- by an organization of terrorist gangs and organizations
-- but also other forms, within the asymmmetric war, that have sought the
implosion of the new system.
Those forms remain active
until today and their best expression can be found in the inhuman economic,
commercial and financial blockade that has lasted for almost the duration of the
Cuban Revolution, despite the constant denunciations of not only Cuba but also
the international community, expressed in the various ballotings conducted by
international organizations.
But, along with being a
liberating process, the Revolution is a product of human society and therefore
totally, constantly and necessarily perfectible. It is for that reason that it
must be adapted both to the changes that occur in the society in which it exists
-- changes derived mainly from the actionns of the process itself -- and to the
changes that occur around it. It is in that stage of perfecting, of eliminating
objective and subjective obstacles, of adapting to the internal and external
changes that the Cuban revolutionary process currently finds itself.
What perception exists about
the process, in the time that has elapsed? What are the possible paths to take
in order to achieve the desired perfection? What are the expectations and the
possible scenarios for the next several years? In search of an answer, we have
turned to several actors, analysts, observers and ordinary people, with whom we
have discussed and exchanged the ideas that we shall be presenting in future
articles.
Orestes Martí, a Cuban-Spanish
writer who specializes in Information and Communication, writes regularly for
Canarias Insurgente.
Manuel
Alberto Ramy is Havana bureau chief for Radio Progreso Alternativa and editor of
Progreso Semanal, the Spanish-language version of Progreso Weekly.
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