Generations of Cubans have experienced volunteer work days in Cuba’s fields, days always remembered fondly, days that remind us that producing what we need with our own hands is a necessity and a privilege in Cuba.
This surely explains why, when a colleague asked Party First Secretary of the and President of the Republic Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, this July 26th, if he felt he had traveled back in time to an era time he loved, he answered in the affirmative, saying it was good "to be with the people, and at the roots."
The dialogue took place very early Monday morning, during what in Cuba is known as volunteer work, at the Boyeros farm in the Havana neighborhood of Fontanar, affiliated with the Metropolitan Agricultural and Livestock Enterprise. There, the President worked in the furrows, shoveling compost into a wheelbarrow and feeling the soil in his hands, along with some 100 young students and workers, and other Party and government authorities.
The morning ended with a relaxed meeting, marked by music, taking photos with the President, and a joy born of mutual understanding, of feeling that a special day in the history of the homeland was celebrated in the best possible way.
Sitting as if in the middle of a big family, accompanied by the National Coordinator of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution and decorated Hero of the Republic, Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, the President spoke to the group of young Cubans about the significance of a celebration like July 26th.
He referred to the date as one of "great political motivation, of great emotional motivation," and recalled the youth who, with tremendous courage and daring, went against the tide of their times and made the decision to launch an assault that did not produce a military victory, but set in motion the great victory that is the Revolution.
He evoked a Fidel who went from being the accused to becoming a defender of the people, commenting on how the youth who attacked the Moncada took advantage of their time in prison to study and prepare for the struggle to come.
Thinking of them helps us understand continuity, he said, after reviewing the timeline of a rebellion that remains unfinished, insisting that saying: We are continuity is "not as an empty slogan," but the certainty of a destiny that remains the same. "They overcame great adversities for the Revolution to triumph, and we are overcoming adversities at this moment."
Speaking to the young Cubans present, the President stated, "I know that in recent days, you have been meeting; you have been talking to other young people; reflecting on what is happening to you; and, I have been told, very good projects are coming out and I think this is what we need: Young people proposing how we can build a better country at this time, working with everyone."
