Remarks by Ambassador Pedro L. Pedroso Cuesta, permanent representative of Cuba to the United Nations at a virtual seminar commemorating Jose Martí.
Dear friends of the Hands off Cuba and Venezuela Coalition,
Friends participating in this webinar,
A few days ago, on 28 January, we celebrated the 168th anniversary of the birth of the most universal of all Cubans, whose legacy constitutes the cornerstone and ethical foundation of the Cuban Revolution. Nothing of what has been done and built by Fidel’s Revolution, from Sierra Maestra until today, can be explained if not through José Marti’s thoughts, and his dream to attain “all justice” for Cuba and the world.
The colossal struggle against U.S. imperialism was understood by Fidel as the continuation of the one undertaken in silence by Martí. The Apostle of Cuba´s independence is, without a doubt, the main source of Latin American feelings and of the expressions of solidarity and internationalism shown throughout all these years by Cubans.
The humanistic thought and the emancipatory work of Martí, who lived 15 years here in the United States and was brilliantly knowledgeable of the American society of that time, offers us an immense legacy with fundamental lessons for all those who seek to ensure that Cuba and the United States can coexist in an atmosphere of peace and mutual respect, which necessarily involves the lifting of the criminal economic, commercial and financial blockade against my country.
We, Cubans, who have been educated in a profound anti-imperialist feeling, toughened in more than 150 years of struggle for our independence, have not been and never will be anti-American. Marti and Fidel´s anti-imperialism was not a synonym of anti-Americanism, neither was it divorced from the readiness to establish cordial and respectful relations between the two countries.
Martí, with his ability to express in one phrase particularly complex ideas and feelings, stated: “… “We love the land of Lincoln as much as we fear the land of Cutting’…”, in reference to that figure who tried to annex Mexican territories to the United States. The idea of learning how to differentiate between the virtues and values of the American people, on the one hand, and the imperial appetites of its government and the rapacity of its system, on the other, is something we Cubans grow up with and educate ourselves with.
That key principle explains why Cuba, even in the moments of greatest confrontation with the U.S. government, has always been willing to establish and strengthen its links with the American people, with whom we share historical background, values and culture.
Another of Martí’s teachings was that, based on those common values, Cuban patriots could count on people of good will who lived in the United States, both those who were of Cuban origin and those who were not. That is why Martí turned to Tampa and Key West tobacco growers, and to many good people who lived in this country at the time, and who contributed, in one way or another, and almost always anonymously, to Cuba’s independence efforts.
Today we are not fighting against colonialism, but our independence struggle is not over, since the United States government has not given up its appetite to control Cuba’s destiny. As Martí wrote to his dear friend, Gonzalo de Quesada, in 1889, about Cuba “…there is another more sinister plan than any we have known up to now in our history, and that is the iniquity of forcing the island, of precipitating it into war, – in order to have the pretext to intervene in it, and with the credit earned as guarantor and mediator, to keep it as its own…”.
The blockade against Cuba, intensified during the last four year to levels which had not precedents, particularly in times of a global pandemic, is based on that plan of domination, in order to bring Cubans to their knees through hunger and despair; and it is combined with the subversion agenda aimed at bringing about a social turmoil and bloodshed in the country.
In the fight against the blockade, we are certain that we will continue to count on the support of the American people. Firstly, because the objectives of the blockade and its impact on the lives of the people, are contrary to the values of the people of this country. Secondly, because the blockade affects both, Cubans and Americans. Just to mention one example, how much could Americans, particularly the poorest sectors, have benefited from the Cuban experience in the field of health, if there was no blockade?
Finally, another of Marti’s teachings, who worked all his life for the independence of Cuba, and which has been taken to its highest expression by Fidel as leader of the Revolution, is that we, revolutionaries, do not have the right to get tired. I can assure you that we Cubans will not stop defending our right to decide our own destiny, nor will we stop demanding the lifting of the blockade, which is clearly a despicable, unjust and morally unsustainable action. I am sure that you will continue to join us in this struggle.
Thank you.
