Helmsman of an Infinite Expedition
A media avalanche broke loose after the message from Commander-in-chief Fidel Castro. Like clones, countless headlines from around the world spoke of the end of Fidel in power. Analysts are putting a lot of effort into figuring out and outlining the course of Cuban society into the future, with the idea of this event being the gate to a “democratic transition” repeated over and over. Some say this is only a “cosmetic change” which will not bring any substantial transformation on the island.
It’s always the same. When something in this small part of the world shakes, it is hardly possible to navigate through the oceans of the Internet to find a warm sea, a familiar expression, a word that sounds similar to the rhythm marked by those who live in this part of the world.
What is unleashed in abundance is the coldness of strangers who do not know us. It is here where the mystery of who we are widens, like a powerful and saving weapon. Those unaware find it even stranger; they find it harder to understand the easiness with which many of us wake up every morning, the emotions that are not dramatic at all but modest, because Cubans are calm when the life circumstances demand it.
I talk of the emotions that have shaken the feelings of millions of Cubans when we read in silence or out loud that Fidel, the elected representative to the National Assembly, will not aspire to nor accept the positions of president of the State Council and Commander-in-chief when the elections of the president, vice presidents and secretary of the Council of State occur in the next few days.
This is a matter of great importance, rooted in the deepest memory. Fidel is not a traditional president; he is not a “figure” one can wash their hands of just like that. For my generation, born in the 1970s, he became present through his TV appearances that lasted hours. Our parents listened to carefully while we were playing and the ether was filled by the voice of the man who, as the adults said, knew what he was doing and had a long-term vision. He knew the Yankees very well, they said.
Our conscience woke up in that environment grew up there so we could find out some truths by ourselves. Now we understood very well what Fidel meant in his message when he said: “The adversary to be defeated is extremely strong; however, we have been able to keep it at bay for half a century.” We have been part of that virtue that the head of the Revolution has known how to guide very well. And it is clear that this will not be definite, that it will depend on our daily work.
Another expression inviting us to think are the references of Fidel, in his message, to a letter written by him in 2007, in which he shares his deepest conviction that “I strongly believe that the answers to the current problems facing Cuban society (...) require more variables for each concrete problem than those contained in a chess game,” because we are an educated people. Equally chilling is the concept in which he says that organizing and leading a revolution is a complex and almost unattainable art.
All this means that those who have preferred to live in a society where intelligence prevails instead of barbarism and destruction; we must, once and for all, have to take our aim, shine like the sun wherever we are, be efficient in untying knots that bound our creativity, imagination, hard work, capacity for astonishment, devotion, braveness and deepness.
“Perhaps my voice will be heard. I shall be careful,” Fidel has written in his message. His exceptional experience will be important in this hard task of making this Revolution possible in favour of the human being. It will be a privilege to still count with the thoughts of such a special comrade of struggles. And it will be a great responsibility for all of us, especially for those who should make decisions and prevent timely ideas of long-term from falling in a broken sack.
In those dispositions we will always be accompanied by the qualities of that helmsman that lead us in an infinite expedition.
