It was the night of Sunday, April 18, 1819, when in an aristocratic mansion in the colonial city of Bayamo, a man was born to be a landholder by family inheritance, who instead, against all odds, would become “the first among Cubans able to give his country and his compatriots both a homeland and honor.”
With his own resources, he challenged a colonial power far superior in military forces and weapons, able to unite the rich and the poor to wage war in the scrub, calling slaves "brothers" for the first time, turning his family sugar mill into a altar of freedom. Thus, with the responsibility of an entire people on his shoulders, he became the eternal Father of the Nation.
In that human volcano that, as Martí said, "... brought us all to life," Cuba has an example of dignity and decorum that we cannot ignore in any of our daily battles.
To this day, at a time when imperialism continues to interfere with an economic war and hateful campaigns, Céspedes' response – more than a century and a half ago – serves us well: “Our motto is and will always be: Independence or death. Cuba must not only be free, but never again enslaved.”
