"On this historic staircase of the University of Havana (...) we once again seek the essence of who we are," said Meyvis Estévez Echevarría, member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and first secretary of the National Committee of the Union of Young Communists, during the evening commemorating the 9th anniversary of the passing of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz.
In the presence of the First Secretary of the Party's Central Committee and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, she recalled that it was in this house of higher learning that Fidel discovered his destiny and forged his revolutionary and socialist vocation under the guidance of José Martí.
More than a decade after his passing, she expressed, on behalf of all those who are grateful and committed: your light will never fade. It will not fade from the eyes of your young people, it will not fade from any corner of the world, it will not fade from the hearts of your people.
"We remember the living certainty that when peoples rise up, they can change the course of the stars," she said. That name—which means "the triumph of hope over fear, of dignity over submission"—becomes a battlefield and demonstrates how a united people can write history for themselves.
"We will arrive at our 9th Party Congress not as spectators, but as conscious heirs of the battles fought, convinced that we are the guardians of this collective dream. That is why, amid tensions and challenges, we take on the Government Program as a roadmap for the construction of socialism, even in times of 'war economy,'" she declared, with certainty in the success of these challenges, as the leader took on each task.
Remembering his warning about the possibility of destroying the Revolution ourselves, and under the gaze of the Apostle from a wall of the Alma Mater, she made an oath: "not to let the leader who did not let the Master die die on his centenary."
The slogan "One Hundred Years with Fidel" appeared on screens, printed on some sweaters, and imprinted for so many years in that region of the soul where truth is written without words.
The atmosphere was accompanied by phrases that emerged in those days of November and December 2016, when several young people reaffirmed the decision of their lives: "I am Fidel," and a crowd gathered in the Revolution Square responded "Here" to Daniel Ortega's question about the whereabouts of that universal father for all time.
Also presiding over this evening of remembrance were members of the Political Bureau and the Secretariat of the Party's Central Committee, other Party and Government leaders, representatives of mass organizations and the Union of Young Communists. Also present were members of the FARs and the Minint, and relatives of the Commander-in-Chief. Special guest was the Commander of the Rebel Army, José Ramón Machado Ventura.
