Reflections by comrade Fidel
WE WILL HAVE TO GIVE OUR ALL
Yesterday, I had a lengthy talk with
Miguel d’Escoto, president pro tempore of the United
Nations General Assembly. I had listened to his remarks at the ALBA meeting in
I
admired his significant statement. I had first met him after the victory of the
Revolution in
The backwardness
that situation brought throughout seventeen years, and the economic and social
disaster imposed by the U.S. “democracy” on the noble Nicaraguan people, led to
the return of the Sandinista government to the country; this time with
constitutional limitations and a marked dependency from the United States.
Daniel denounced it on April 17, at the
It
was in this capacity that he attended the Non Aligned Movement’s ministerial
meeting held in
The
words of the announcers were heard from the rostrum vibrant with emotion as
Miguel d’Escoto and many foreign relation ministers
and representatives of
The
poem dedicated by Fayad Jamis
to Manuel Navarro Luna, a revolutionary and communist poet who lived in Granma province since he was a six year old child --the
same province where our last war of liberation started-- was quoted more than
once.
From
his early childhood, Navarro Luna was forced to give up school and start
working in various trades. He worked as a janitor, a shoe shiner, and a diver,
a night watchman and a clerk. He studied by himself to acquire some knowledge.
In
1915 he published his first poems and in 1919 his first book. In 1930 he joined
the Communist Party.
He
worked at the first Communist Mayor’s office in
…For this freedom of
song beneath the rain
We will have to give our
all
For this freedom of
being closely bound
To the heart of the
people sweet, firm we will have to give our all
For this freedom of a
sunflower opened in the dawn of factory furnaces
And illuminated schools
And of crackling earth
and waking child
We will have to give our
all
There is not alternative
but freedom
There is not other path
but freedom
There is not homeland
but freedom
There will be no poetry
without the violent music of freedom
For this freedom which
is the terror
Of those who always
violated it
In the name of lavish
misery
For this freedom which
is the night of the oppressors
And the definitive dawn
of the whold invincible people
For this freedom which
lights up sunken eyes
Bare feet
Leaking roofs
And the eyes of children
who wander in dust
For this freedom which
is youths empire
For this freedom
Beautiful like life
We will have to give our
all
If necessary
Even our shadows
And it will never be
enough.
The
white, red and blue colors of our flag, sustained by the industrious hands of
thousands of students from the University of Informatics Sciences closed the
parade, preceded by the youths of the university and middle level education students’
federations from the capital; the disciplined and active youths of humble
origins being trained as Social Workers; the children from La Colmenita art troupe and other creations of the Revolution;
they are all aware that they carry a flame that nobody will ever be able to
extinguish.
I
was very pleased to know that Miguel d’Escoto was
there watching the parade. Three days
before, in his remarks to the foreign ministers and representatives of the Non
Aligned Movement he had said:
“…The
world order exists based on the capitalist culture in which having more means
being better; the same that promotes selfishness, greed, usury and social
irresponsibility. These anti-values of the capitalist culture have led the
world to a number of converging crises that should be effectively taken care
of; otherwise they might endanger the life of the human species and the
capacity to sustain life on Earth.
“At
the root of all of the different crises we are facing lie an enormous moral
crisis, a deep crisis of ethical values and principles. We have all betrayed the values derived from
our respective religious and ethical-philosophic traditions. By succumbing to
the capitalist temptations we have betrayed ourselves, and by assuming its
anti-life values of hatred and selfishness, we have become the worst predators,
enemies of our Mother Earth, we have dehumanized ourselves…
“…
“…In
this 21st century, a century of reconciliation and peace through the
rule of law, social justice and democratic inclusiveness, we respect every
minority and we want to hear them all. It is at the G-192, the General
Assembly, where we shall decide on the path to take in order to avoid the trap
of the insane and suicidal selfishness that capitalism has led the world to. It
will not be with any kind of revanchism but with the
spirit to build a better world for all, without exceptions or exclusions…
He did not run for the position of president
of the UN General Assembly he now occupies. He learned of his candidacy through
the Nicaraguan Ambassador to the UN. It was
He
handed me a document he signed as president of the UN General Assembly designating
He
said in his remarks many other interesting things that I am not quoting here to
avoid being to extensive.
His
words and deeds have honored our Revolution.
…. We will have to give our
all
If necessary
Even our shadows
And it
will never be enough.
These were the final words of
this poem by Fayad Jamis.
Fidel Castro Ruz
May 1, 2009
7:23 p.m.