Cuban voices rise up against the empire: The Homeland defends itself!

It is May Day, and the great international day of action for workers around the world begins, a large part of which will be dedicated to defending their most basic rights.

Our working class and its unions present a very different reality and link the commemoration of this important date to the centenary of the birth of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro and to the patriotic reaffirmation in defense of the Cuban Revolution, which, since its triumph, put an end once and for all to the oppressive regime of exploiters, misery, ignorance, discrimination, landless peasants, and the humiliation of national sovereignty by the interventionist policies of Yankee imperialism.

The plazas throughout the country are once again adorned with the magnificent colors of our flag, and with joy they resonate as a nation, united in their commitment to contribute to the country’s economic recovery efforts and condemning the genocidal, criminal, and intensified economic, financial, and commercial blockade imposed by the United States.

In this celebration, Cubans are not alone; solidarity and support reach us from afar during these difficult times. We are joined by union leaders from various countries, as has been the case for years, but this time in greater numbers, gathering in plazas, towns, and workplaces, reflecting the unity of the Cuban people in the face of the situation the country is experiencing.

They arrive in Cuba at the opportune moment, to share in the daily resistance of a people who overcome all the difficulties imposed upon them to suffocate them. The working class takes to the streets the same conviction they have shown with their signatures for the Homeland in recent days. And we will continue to defend it from the fields, the factories, the classrooms… from every trench of combat.

This grand celebration is made with the joy of living in a sovereign and independent Cuba, and it constitutes a new and resounding demonstration that Cubans remain steadfast here, standing tall and fighting!

Today’s commemorations include the historical remembrance of the Chicago martyrs (United States), the first celebration of International Workers’ Day in Cuba in 1939, just three months after the constituent congress of the Confederation of Cuban Workers (CTC); the first May Day parade in 1959 in the Civic Plaza (now José Martí Revolution Square), presided over by Raúl Castro and Juan Almeida, and the parade in Santiago de Cuba on the same date led by Ernesto Che Guevara; the successive parades with diverse motivations each year; the transcendent Concept of Revolution enunciated by Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro on that historic May Day of 2000 and its exceptional relevance.

On that memorable day, Fidel called for action with a “sense of the historical moment” and for continued struggle every May Day, as the concept of Revolution also indicates, “for our independence and our dreams of justice.”

Long live May Day!