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Dear comrade Diaz-Canel, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the President of the Republic.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The dedicated communists in the presidium.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Comrades and friends of Cuba,<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Over the course of its long history, the communist movement has produced some truly great figures. The real burden always rested on the shoulders of the unnamed heroes, the working people and the millions who rose to fight. That is beyond question. But yes, the communist movement also gave rise to great revolutionaries who inspired those millions and led them forward.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We should also speak of a very special category of historical leaders. Leaders who leave their mark on an entire era, who never lose their relevance and who continue to enrich the years that follow. There are few of them, very few. In my view, only three people in our history deserve that distinction.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Fidel Castro is one of those three and the last.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n That means Fidel Castro Ruz represents something greater than simply leading the Cuban Revolution. I do not mean to diminish that achievement. Leading the Cuban Revolution is itself an extraordinary achievement in history. But Fidel Castro is far greater than his role in the Cuban Revolution alone. That, I believe, is why the Cuban people have more reason than anyone else to take pride in him.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So why is that? Is it because he was a success story in almost every aspect of revolutionary struggle? As a guerrilla fighter, as the leader of a movement, as the founding leader of a country, as a thinker, as the father of a nation, and as an internationalist, he displayed exceptional ability in every responsibility he took on. That much is beyond dispute.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But I believe Fidel Castro is unique because he placed something at the very centre of all those achievements that nobody else did. Across every sphere of struggle that I have just mentioned, you can feel the presence of a profoundly developed ethical outlook. I want to stress this point because there was a time when I believed ethics could never occupy such a central place in the struggle for socialism, and that Fidel had shifted the emphasis.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Later, when I looked back over our entire history, when I examined the retreat of the communist movement after the 1980s and took account of the profound loss of credibility suffered by the left as a whole, I came to realise that Fidel had been right. Communism is also a system of values. My conviction will never change that Fidel’s insistence that we defend and develop a system of values must be treated as a fundamental principle.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We cannot regard it as natural to encounter the presence within our ranks of the very traits we have come to associate with bourgeois politics: lack of principle, laziness, selfishness, careerism, and corruption becoming the rule rather than the exception whenever the opportunity arises. Of course, revolutionaries and communists are not superhuman beings. They are flesh-and-blood people, with their own weaknesses and shortcomings, who make mistakes. What distinguishes them, however, is their ability to stand firm, to learn, to grow, and to constantly improve themselves. Above all, rather than adapting themselves to the system they seek to overthrow, they should be repelled by it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Let me speak plainly. If Cuba can withstand this unprecedented aggression today despite the hardships it has caused and we firmly believe it will, the fundamental reason lies in the existence of that very system of values.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The fact that communists fighting in completely different conditions, in another part of the world, make it a priority to recreate that same system of values in their own countries is itself proof of Fidel Castro’s greatness and legacy.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And because of these values:<\/p>\n We should strengthen the solidarity work for Cuba. We should find ways to send materials that the Cuban people need urgently. We should spread accurate information about Cuba. We should struggle against the lies. And above all we should fight in a more decisive way against capitalism and imperialism.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hands off Cuba. Viva Fidel Viva Cuba.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hasta la victoria siempre.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n *******<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Estimado camarada D\u00edaz-Canel, Primer Secretario del Partido Comunista de Cuba, Presidente de la Rep\u00fablica.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Los leales comunistas del pres\u00eddium.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Camaradas y amigos de Cuba:<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n A lo largo de sus casi 170 a\u00f1os de historia, el movimiento comunista ha dado lugar a figuras verdaderamente grandiosas. La verdadera carga siempre recay\u00f3 sobre los hombros de los h\u00e9roes an\u00f3nimos, los trabajadores y los millones que se alzaron a la lucha. Eso es indiscutible. Pero s\u00ed, el movimiento comunista tambi\u00e9n dio origen a grandes revolucionarios que inspiraron a esos millones y los guiaron hacia adelante.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Debemos hablar tambi\u00e9n de una categor\u00eda muy especial de l\u00edderes hist\u00f3ricos. L\u00edderes que dejan huella en toda una \u00e9poca, que nunca pierden su relevancia y que siguen enriqueciendo los a\u00f1os venideros. Son pocos, muy pocos. En mi opini\u00f3n, solo tres personas en nuestra tradici\u00f3n merecen esa distinci\u00f3n.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Fidel Castro es uno de ellos, y el \u00faltimo.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Eso significa que Fidel Castro Ruz representa algo m\u00e1s grande que simplemente liderar la Revoluci\u00f3n Cubana. No pretendo menospreciar ese logro. Liderar la Revoluci\u00f3n Cubana es, en s\u00ed mismo, un logro extraordinario en la historia. Pero Fidel Castro es mucho m\u00e1s que su papel en la Revoluci\u00f3n Cubana. Creo que por eso el pueblo cubano tiene m\u00e1s motivos que nadie para enorgullecerse de \u00e9l.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00bfA qu\u00e9 se debe esto? \u00bfAcaso a que cosech\u00f3 \u00e9xitos en casi todos los aspectos de la lucha revolucionaria? Como guerrillero, como l\u00edder de un movimiento, como fundador de un pa\u00eds, como pensador, como padre de la naci\u00f3n y como internacionalista, demostr\u00f3 una capacidad excepcional en cada responsabilidad que asumi\u00f3. Eso es indiscutible.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Pero creo que Fidel Castro es \u00fanico porque coloc\u00f3 algo en el centro mismo de todos esos logros que nadie m\u00e1s hizo. En cada \u00e1mbito de la lucha que acabo de mencionar, se percibe la presencia de una perspectiva \u00e9tica profundamente desarrollada. Quiero enfatizar este punto porque hubo un tiempo en que cre\u00ed que la \u00e9tica jam\u00e1s podr\u00eda ocupar un lugar tan central en la lucha por el socialismo, y que Fidel hab\u00eda cambiado el enfoque.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n M\u00e1s tarde, al repasar nuestra historia, al analizar el retroceso del movimiento comunista tras la d\u00e9cada de 1980 y al considerar la profunda p\u00e9rdida de credibilidad que sufri\u00f3 la izquierda en su conjunto, comprend\u00ed que Fidel ten\u00eda raz\u00f3n. El comunismo es tambi\u00e9n un sistema de valores. Mi convicci\u00f3n nunca cambiar\u00e1: la insistencia de Fidel en que defendamos y desarrollemos un sistema de valores debe considerarse un principio fundamental.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n No podemos considerar natural encontrar en nuestras filas los rasgos que hemos llegado a asociar con la pol\u00edtica burguesa: falta de principios, pereza, ego\u00edsmo, arribismo y corrupci\u00f3n, que se convierten en la norma en lugar de la excepci\u00f3n cada vez que surge la oportunidad. Por supuesto, los revolucionarios y los comunistas no son seres sobrehumanos. Son personas de carne y hueso, con sus propias debilidades y defectos, que cometen errores. Lo que los distingue, sin embargo, es su capacidad de mantenerse firmes, de aprender, de crecer y de superarse constantemente. Ante todo, en lugar de adaptarse al sistema que pretenden derrocar, deber\u00edan rechazarlo.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Perm\u00edtanme ser claro. Si Cuba puede resistir esta agresi\u00f3n sin precedentes hoy, a pesar de las dificultades que ha causado \u2014y creemos firmemente que lo har\u00e1\u2014, la raz\u00f3n fundamental reside en la existencia de ese mismo sistema de valores.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n El hecho de que comunistas que luchan en condiciones completamente diferentes, en otra parte del mundo, prioricen recrear ese mismo sistema de valores en sus propios pa\u00edses es prueba de la grandeza y el legado de Fidel Castro.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Y debido a estos valores:<\/p>\n Debemos fortalecer la solidaridad con Cuba. Debemos encontrar la manera de enviar los materiales que el pueblo cubano necesita con urgencia. Debemos difundir informaci\u00f3n veraz sobre Cuba. Debemos luchar contra las mentiras. Y, sobre todo, debemos luchar con mayor determinaci\u00f3n contra el capitalismo y el imperialismo.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a1Manos fuera de Cuba!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a1Viva Fidel, viva Cuba!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a1Hasta la victoria, siempre!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dear comrade Diaz-Canel, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the President of the Republic. The dedicated communists in the presidium. Comrades and friends of Cuba, Over the course of its long history, the communist movement has produced some truly great figures. The real burden always rested on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":28077,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[255,258,257],"tags":[1720,1722],"yoast_head":"\n