The tricolor flag at half-mast, a moment of prayer, seven artillery salvos, the certainty of eternity, because it was done with nobility… all the gratitude of the Bolivarian people.
Venezuela, and also Cuba, were moved the day before as they paid tribute to the heroes of both nations who, like an impregnable wall, “in unequal combat faced the imperialist enemy that desecrated the sovereignty of the Venezuelan homeland and protected the constitutional President, Nicolás Maduro Moros.”
The island was present at the ceremony, held at the Eclectic Monument of the Military Academy of the Bolivarian National Guard, because in the words of Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, member of the Political Bureau and Minister of Foreign Affairs, “honor and glory to the fallen combatants. Love and peace to the Venezuelans murdered by the imperialist horde.”
Cuba’s deepest solidarity with the brave people came in the name of Army General Raúl Castro Ruz and the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, who, through X, also conveyed his heartfelt condolences and assured that “we share with the people and the Government of Venezuela the pain of seeing brothers and sisters murdered by the imperialist invader (…) We will not cease to denounce this criminal act,” he insisted.
For his part, the Foreign Minister reiterated the commitment to fight together and win, “loyal to the thinking of Bolívar and Martí, following the eternal memory of Chávez and Fidel in the year of their centenary.”
“The Bolivarian and Chavista Revolution and the Cuban Revolution, in their destinies and in their common struggle, will be examples for the liberation of the peoples of our America. We will continue our work in defense of peace, in international mobilization, in the campaign in defense of international law and the right to life and peace of the peoples, for the liberation of the constitutional President, Nicolás Maduro Moros, and our comrade Cilia Flores,” he said, after receiving, from Acting President Delcy Rodríguez, a posthumous Offering of Honor to the 32 Cubans who fell in combat against U.S. forces.
“The brothers of Cuba, sons of Martí and Fidel, are also heroes of this homeland,” said Delcy Rodríguez, “because as one people they fought in defense against the illegal and illegitimate aggression” of the United States. “We are united in love; our concept of homeland is that the homeland is humanity,” she said.
The president recalled the words of Simón Bolívar: freedom is the only goal worthy of human sacrifice. She emphasized that during last Saturday’s attack, “no one surrendered; here there was combat for this homeland, for our liberators, Bolívar, Miranda, Sucre, Ribas, Urdaneta, Manuela Sáenz, Ezequiel Zamora, for Chávez and for Venezuela.” That, she said, is the greatest satisfaction.