It is no coincidence that in the colonizing efforts of those who detract from the freedom of peoples, culture is an invariable target.

It is not a coincidence, because whoever strips a people of its culture, which is the same as stripping it of its identity, leaves it in the most extreme defenselessness, in a state of decadence and helplessness that armies or weapons or bombs cannot achieve. While culture lives, a people lives.

That was why that man, eminent like few others, an exceptional visionary of the destinies of humanity, understood that saving it was imperative for the survival of sovereignty, of the freedom conquered at such a high cost.

For this reason, the Cuban revolution was also, as well as social, a cultural revolution. One that removed that concept from its foundations, dignified it, and thus recovered the pride of a people due to the confluence of races, traditions, creeds, knowledge and arts in the depths of their essences.

From then on, culture became, like never before, the sword and shield of the nation, as the Apostle had already predicted, as history commanded, as the patriotic and rebellious nature of the Cuban imposed.

Every battle won in his name also counts as a victory for everything we believe in, for the country we dream of, for our always manifest defense of noble causes. Culture has become, in its own right, the banner of this Island, and one of the powerful reasons why we are admired in this world.

Defending it, saving it, has been an essential decision for us. Faithful to that promise agreed upon with heart and principles, we navigate the bloody waters of the perennial attempts at cultural colonization, at symbolic deconstruction, at incessant calls for the loss of identity, at recognizing ourselves as Cubans.

Ignoring these dangers, or pretending that they have no effect on us, would imply paying the highest price of ignorance, the macabre transculturation that comes hand in hand with conquest.

Let us then understand the danger, and be resilient and thorough in alternatives to the cultural siege. Let's let the enemy know, on this and every day, that Cuban culture and its values ​​were, are and will continue to be their unattainable desire, because there are many things that this people has never negotiated with, and their culture is at the top. of all of them.