Cuba was dressed in memory, dignity, and youth; it took to the streets in its finest outfit, that which is brimming with energy and knows no age, that which exudes patriotism and knows no imperialism. Yesterday, as the crowd honored the eight medical students cruelly executed by Spanish colonialism, they chanted: "Neither dead nor forgotten!"
The ceremony was presided over by the First Secretary of the Party's Central Committee and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, who, like those present, descended the steps of the University of Havana to the La Punta monument, where offerings were laid and homage was paid to "the innocence of those eight students vilely murdered."
Thalía Beatriz Morell García, an ideologue from the National Secretariat of the Federation of University Students (FEU), stated this, emphasizing that the march was also held "for this homeland, built with the blood of its finest sons and daughters."
"The Cuban Revolution, since its triumph, has not been limited to remembrance," Morell García stressed. "Our Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz transformed pain into action and memory into a beacon. He made the health of the people a sacred priority and, where there was once inequality, he established universities."
"These institutions of higher learning were erected not only as acts of justice, but as bastions where the compassionate spirit of our doctors is forged. Thousands of young people have found here the opportunity to fulfill the same dream as those eight: to serve their people," she emphasized.
Floral offerings were also placed at the monument to the student leader and anti-imperialist Julio Antonio Mella, near University Hill.
Also present were Yuniasky Crespo Baquero, head of the Ideological Department of the Party's Central Committee, and Rolando Yero Travieso, head of the Department of Social Sector Affairs; Deputy Prime Minister Inés María Chapman; Meyvis Estévez Echevarría, first secretary of the National Committee of the Young Communist League (UJC); Liza Elena González Desdin, national president of the Federation of University Students (FEU); as well as the main Party and Government authorities in the capital.
