I don't know how it would be conceived in other latitudes -I think that, in philosophical but also practical terms, it has a class character-, I only know that in Cuba ethics is, and cannot but be, sister or synonym of truth: of that truth that has allowed the country to win so many and, above all, the hardest battles throughout six and a half crucial decades.
I was thinking about it just a few hours ago while the President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, and the highest Cuban leaders, as well as those of the also vital provincial and municipal authorities, signed the Code of Ethics of the Cadres of the Cuban Revolution.
It must be because -as Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz demonstrated through a person's best weapon, his personal example- without ethics there is no truth, no exemplary conduct, moral strength, human sensitivity, spirit of sacrifice, unconditional dedication, revolutionary concern, attachment to legality, sense of duty or leadership, just to mention some of the values that should distinguish the real behavior of those who become public servants or, to be more precise, of the people they represent, from which they come and to which they owe.
As in previous occasions, our press reflected that moment, solemn but simple; serious, but of joy that, in terms of time, does not occupy the undersigned more than a few seconds.
And here is something worth meditating on: signing the document is not that formal act, reduced to an instant; it is the duty to be consistent with it, all the time.
The conception cannot be different if -both when signing and when assuming the responsibilities- we bear in mind that this Code becomes the very Cuban juice of the thinking bequeathed by Martí, Che, Fidel, Raúl, and, at the same time, continued, in the current circumstances, by Díaz-Canel.
Backbone of the Revolution -according to the very accurate definition left to us by the Heroic Guerrilla- thousands of cadres coined a commitment with society, with whom they transmitted more than 5 600 opinions and more than 1 800 proposals for modification within the preliminary draft of the Code of Ethics, during its consultation process.
It is also a commitment with history, with their children, grandchildren, with as many descendants as may come, and with their own personal shame: that for which a man or woman is followed or abandoned. And Cubans, truly, are not conceived for the second option.
