Our generations are always united by thinking about how we strengthen unity, how we defend the Revolution, what we must do in the times we live in, how we contribute to the times we live in, and how we do so in an original way, in a unique way, as an interpretation of the era we are in.
This was stated by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, in a meeting with the founders of the Association of Young Rebels (AJR, in Spanish), workers from the newspaper Juventud Rebelde (JR), and leaders from different levels of the UJC.
Veterans and young people gathered at the José Martí Memorial to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the creation of the AJR and the 60th anniversary of the Cuban youth newspaper, a celebration attended by Roberto Morales Ojeda, member of the Political Bureau and Secretary of Organization of the Party's Central Committee, among other personalities.
Díaz-Canel highlighted that this exchange, like the one held on October 3rd to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the constitution of the first Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and the creation of the Granma newspaper, are events that marked the unity within the revolutionary forces, as well as the birth of the main media outlets of the Party and the Youth. And in all of them, he affirmed, there is continuity.
YOUNG PEOPLE FOREVER
The exchange to celebrate the birth of the AJS and JR, the former on October 21, 1960—two years later crystallized in the Union of Young Communists—and the latter on October 21, 1965, was led by Meyvis Estévez Echavarría, first secretary of the UJC.
The first to speak were three founders of the AJR, representing the thousands of young people who came together in an organization that was created at the behest of Che Guevara and led by Commander Joel Iglesias, the youngest officer of that rank at the time, among other combatants of the Rebel Army.
Amalia Catalá Álvarez, a member of the Socialist Youth in Pinar del Río during her adolescence, until she joined the AJR and also a founder of the UJC, commented: "My generation had great merits, but today's generation has tremendous merit, and the torch that was lit with the founding of the Association of Young Rebels has not been extinguished; that torch continues to grow in you."
Luis Enrique Colomé Dagnesses, from Santiago, recounted those founding days: "Our struggle was hard, but yours is more difficult, because the enemy has much more sophisticated weapons, such as social media."
Current leaders of the UJC, the FEU, and the FEEM also spoke.
Carlos, from the UJC committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spoke of the many meetings with young people from all over the country to discuss the impact of the U.S. blockade on our daily lives.
Pedro, secretary of the grassroots committee of the Provincial Court of Havana, commented on similar meetings in workplaces, educational centers, and communities to discuss the fight against and prevention of drug use.
Mirialis, president of the FEEM in Havana, recounted the work of the Student Work Brigades, who dedicated their vacations to agricultural work and are now participating in the sanitation of the city.
Fernando, first secretary of the Provincial Committee of the UJC in Mayabeque, praised the creation of a youth column for Fidel's centenary, just as in the 1960s the Centenary Youth Column was founded for vital tasks.
National Journalism Award winner Juana Carrasco Martín testified to the history of Juventud Rebelde. There are many challenges in communication today, she said, but it is not just about social media; "the battle is also on the streets and at work, in always being on the job, in not allowing, for example, trash to accumulate on the corner and young people not going out to pick it up, because even though I want to, my age does not allow me to."
Raciel Guanche Ledesma, a young reporter for JR, spoke about how to make it attractive for students to join their newsroom, taking into account that they are neighbors of the Faculty of Communication at the University of Havana.
Yurisander Guevara, deputy director and editor of JR, reflected on the recent impact of three key events for communication: the 3rd International Meeting of Theoretical Publications of Left-Wing Parties and Movements; the Granma-Rebelde Festival; and now the celebration of JR's 60th anniversary.
Based on the results of these meetings, the discussions they generated, and the consensus that was built, the UJC media should undergo a transformation, he said, and spoke of projects, of the articulation of movements, from youth and university faculties, including those of Mathematics and Computing—which have results in artificial intelligence—to articulate content that goes viral, that imposes itself, that promotes critical thinking.
STUDY, WORK, AND RIFLE
In his exchange with young people, Díaz-Canel reflected on three concepts contained in the UJC slogan: study, work, and rifle.
"First, that one cannot defend what one does not feel and what one does not know; and only by defending, and by all defending and contributing, can we achieve unity. In difficult times, Fidel also called for what we know today as the Battle of Ideas. And a fundamental concept of the Battle of Ideas was that it was necessary to create a general and comprehensive culture among young people and the Cuban people."
"Also, from his holistic vision," he added, "Fidel spoke to us about how we had to prepare ourselves for life as revolutionaries. That meant knowing the essentials, knowing the roots, knowing history, knowing culture, being aware of scientific and technical advances, knowing how geopolitics works in the world, knowing fundamental political events, knowing the relationships between events and their historical background.
But first and foremost, he noted, we must feel Cuban. "And to feel Cuban, we must know the roots of Cuban identity. We have to know how the Cuban nation was forged, know our history, defend our culture. And that way we will understand (...) the Revolution's permanent commitment to continue defending, even in times as complex as these, socialism, which is not a whim, it is a necessity."
Socialism, the president explained, "is the only alternative, the only way for this country to be independent, to be free, to be sovereign. Because there is a whole history that shows that as long as there was no Revolution, as long as the Revolution was not consolidated, as long as there was no unity for the Revolution to be triumphant, neither sovereignty, nor independence, nor self-determination was achieved."
The President also highlighted the Commander-in-Chief's practice of always calling on the people to participate before major battles. "If we participate, we create a community of principles, experiences, and contributions, and that will strengthen us," he explained.
So, on the centenary of the Commander-in-Chief, "we are going to study his thinking, his legacy, and we are going to bring Fidel into the present day."
On the concept of work, the president returned to the experiences of the country's leadership in its systematic tours of the territories, in which it has been seen "that there are solutions to all problems."
"Anywhere in the country," he said, "you find work collectives with leadership that are doing things differently and achieving results through participation. And these are the same collectives that are facing a worsening blockade, that lack fuel, that lack supplies, that lack raw materials, that are sometimes facing an exodus of workers, that have problems with wages, but they find answers because they meet, discuss the problems collectively, and from there come contributions and solutions, and commitments to defend the ideas they have built together."
He stated that we will overcome the current situation even if the blockade intensifies. But we will overcome it by working; without working, we will not achieve it, because we have to create material wealth and distribute that wealth with social justice. But wealth is built, it is created by working; we have to work. Where there is more work, there are always more results.
On the concept of "rifle," Díaz-Canel said that he will always seek to defend the country and defend the Revolution. "In one way or another, we all participate in some of the structures of which we are part of the conception of the war of the entire people."
The First Secretary of the Party's Central Committee also referred fondly to Juventud Rebelde, with which he always had "a special connection."
He recalled that as a student, this newspaper was his favorite because of the lyricism of its texts. "Juventud was always written with prose and verbosity... Juventud also addressed a greater diversity of topics from a youth perspective.
"Later," he continued, "when I was Ideological Secretary of the National Bureau of the UJC, and second secretary, in the middle of the special period, when JR had to become a weekly, I had the task, every Saturday afternoon, of going to the newspaper's closing, which was sometimes at 11:00 p.m.; But when the Commander-in-Chief wanted something very important to be published, because it was the only newspaper that came out on Sundays, then they could keep us there until 7:00 a.m. But during that time, a debate would arise, a discussion would take place, and I am grateful, very grateful for those times, because I learned a lot at JR."
