EDITORIAL

A Girón in July
This people has fought tirelessly for its independence. It wins every time someone tries to take it away from it, it fearlessly faces those who try to deprive it of its right to decide how it wants to live. It will therefore never submit to provocations or threats

Author: Granma | internet@granma.cu
july 11, 2022 12:07:15

Photo: José Manuel Correa
For Cubans, the month of July is clearly synonymous with revolution. For this is the month with the glorious 26th, when José Martí was reborn to lead, from his immeasurably great legacy, Fidel and the entire generation that continued the irreversible path to Cuba’s full dignity.

So much human greatness, so many sacrifices, so much history are symbolic expressions of our perseverance, our resistance, our principles and our sense of justice.

This people has fought tirelessly for its independence. It wins every time someone tries to take it away from it, it fearlessly stands up to those who try to take away its right to decide for itself how it wants to live. It will therefore never bow to provocations or threats.

The economic, trade and financial blockade, the practiced state terrorism and the invasion attempt are the proof. And since all this did not bring about the planned overthrow, our enemies are now relying on the so-called soft coup. They tried it with the greatest audacity on July 11, 2021, not knowing how deeply rooted the revolution is in those who create it, perfect it and stand firmly by it.

With a large-scale political communication operation, they wanted to opportunistically take advantage of the coincidence of the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the resulting economic crisis and the measures to tighten the blockade to an unprecedented level.

The very obvious goal? To create the false impression that the shortages and material difficulties were the result of inefficient revolutionary government policies, thus concealing the real cause: the inhuman economic siege by the United States.

Before the world, they sold the idea of a social uprising that would “overthrow the dictatorship.” But their plan was based on a mistake: they underestimated the unity of the nation, the majority support for the revolutionary project, the will not to allow peace and social gains to be challenged. Thus, as always, they were doomed to failure.

They have not yet understood that continuity in Cuba is not demagogy and that defending the Revolution at all costs is not an empty slogan, but testifies to the firm determination with which the people oppose their enemies.

Because they are aware of the dangers, the Cuban people have always been in combat readiness. This was demonstrated on July 11, when they put down this skirmish within a few hours.

Thus, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, called with an open heart, as if Fidel, Raúl, Martí and all the heroes of the Fatherland were speaking, for the defense of the Revolution in the streets, and the people were already there without hesitation.

It was an act of fidelity to the legacy of the Comandante en Jefe, who had once explained on January 8, 1959, how he intended to act in situations of imminent danger: “I tell you that the first thing I will always do when I see the Revolution in danger is to call on the people. Because by talking to the people, we can avoid bloodshed. Before we fire even one shot here, we must address the people a thousand times…”.

And with great courage, this people has asserted its status as the supreme protectors of this work, showing that the peace and tranquility of the people are sacred and that just and sincere demands do not need violence to be heard.

It is also the people who reject impunity, for no one in the service of foreign interests has the right to undermine the order of this sovereign nation.

Those who wanted to hijack July 11, the day we revolutionaries foiled a vandalistic coup, for their paymasters are to be pitied.

July 26 is so important in the history of our country that the month is not long enough to celebrate it properly. How can we accommodate so much glory when now we add to it the crushing victory of the 11th, so similar to that 13th on which Maceo routed an entire army of Spaniards in the fields of Peralejo in 1895?

For the cunningly planned mercenary attack and for the illusory goal of obtaining a “beachhead” from which to demand Yankee intervention, there was already a place and a date that represent the greatest disgrace of the Empire: Girón.

But if the enemies of Cuba, in their servility, do not let themselves be dissuaded from getting a new Girón every time they try, they will get one every time, as they did in April 1961, as they did in July 2021.

Revolutionary Cuba, on the other hand, remains cheerful, lives in peace and stands on the side of reason, truth and justice. We know that times are hard, but we also know that together we are able to overcome the pitfalls of a complicated reality that does not only affect our country.

We will continue to stand upright, with a critical eye, with a transformative spirit, with creative resistance, and with dreams and hopes for a future in revolution.