At daybreak this May 9, a sublime date in the history of humanity, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, leader of the Cuban Revolution, and First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, led the political act and military ceremony to commemorate the 78th anniversary of the Victory over Fascism.
The Cuban National Anthem initiated the tribute held in the Mausoleum to the Internationalist Soviet Soldier, a site on the outskirts of the capital city which keeps the remains of a group of combatants of the former Soviet republics who lost their lives in our country in duty.
With the presence of members of the politburo Roberto Morales Ojeda, Secretary of Organization of the Party Central Committee; Army Corps General Alvaro Lopez Miera, Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces; Major General Lazaro Alberto Alvarez Casas, Minister of the Interior, and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, six floral tributes were placed in front of the eternal flame in honor of the deceased, on behalf of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, the Russian Federation, the Republics of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, as well as the people of Cuba.
Also attending were other top chiefs of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior, Party and government leaders, ambassadors, and a representation of the military diplomatic corps accredited in Cuba.
Viktor Koronelli, ambassador of the Russian Federation to Cuba, spoke about the indelible traces of the bloodiest war in the history of mankind, which ended almost eight decades ago, the very high price paid by the former Soviet Union for the victory, amounting to more than 27 million lives sacrificed on the battlefields, the annihilation of cities, villages and towns, and the incalculable damage to industry and agriculture.
Despite so much devastation, the Russian diplomat recalled, the Red Army was able to defeat the German military machine, and thus free Europe from the fascist plague. Unfortunately, he added, "not everyone learned the lessons of that war, and today neo-Nazism is reemerging in different countries of the world.
We see how monuments dedicated to the soldiers of the epic are destroyed and symbols of the great victory are banned; that is why, Koronelli said, "we highly value the contribution of the Republic of Cuba to the fight against the glorification of fascism".
Roberto Morales Ojeda also recalled the heroic deeds of the peoples that made up the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), whose unity and heroism made it possible to contain and then crush the fascist war onslaught in World War 2.
The partisan leader did not overlook Cuba's worthy contribution to the victory over fascism. The blood of 250 Cubans who fell in battle attests to this, as do the names of the sons and daughters of this people who fought the Nazi hordes in the USSR, North Africa, Normandy and other places.
In the words of Morales Ojeda, the events we commemorate today and the lessons they taught us have to do with the essence, objectives and methods of imperialism, and with the harsh reality that its hegemonic pretensions did not disappear in 1945, but were encouraged and incubated in a new empire, this time closer and more hostile: the Yankee empire.
But they also prove, in his opinion, that a people determined to fight, with a solid unity, courage and heroic will, with a revolutionary and patriotic tradition that it is honored to defend, is capable of overcoming any aggression.
The victory over fascism, said the Politburo member, "preserved the lives of millions of people, saved the millenary legacy of human culture, the sense of human dignity and was a triumph of progressive humanity".
In recalling those heroic events, it is imperative to continue moving forward to preserve world peace and denounce with all possible force anything that threatens it, as an essential guarantor of human survival, he said.
"Let us build a world where friendship and solidarity among peoples prevail," was the call that sealed his speech. "Let us not, under any circumstances, allow fascist ideas to impose their designs on the future of humanity".
After the passing of the troops, Raúl and Díaz-Canel, and the rest of the members of the leadership, laid red roses at the statue in honor of Army General Issá Aleksándrovich Plíyev, twice Heroe of the Soviet Union In World War 2, who took over the responsibility as head of the Soviet troops in Cuba during the sad days of the Missile Crisis in 1962.
The procession then walked to the eternal flame, guarded by the floral offerings, as a tribute. Red roses were also placed there.
It has been 78 years - recalled Morales Ojeda in his speech - since the images of the soldier fixing the Soviet flag to the top of the Reichstag went around the world. However, in the face of new threats to humanity, it is urgent not to forget the Holocaust, if the peoples really want to avoid repeating it.
