>from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >subject: Fidel: A star without Fear > [MORE THAN A WEEKLY] > [BIENVENIDOS A GRANMA INTERNACIONAL] May 20, 2000 > > A star without fear > > * Fidel attends a ceremony marking the anniversary of two >important dates for the country. Seven thousand schoolchildren and >young people at the Anti-Imperialist Tribunal. > BY MIREYA CASTENADA (Granma International staff writer) > > Two moments of immense importance in Cuba's history, the 150th >anniversary of the first occasion on which today's national flag was > >flown and the 105th anniversary of the death in combat of Jose Marti > >were marked in a ceremony held at the Anti-Imperialist square which > >bears his name. > > President Fidel Castro, accompanied by leaders of the state, the >government, the party and youth organizations, attended this latest > >open tribunal in front of the U.S. Interests Section building. The >ceremony included the unveiling of a magnificent bronze statue of >national hero Marti, created by sculptor Andres Gonzalez. > > A plaster prototype of the statue had been in position since the >inauguration of the square on April 3, but during the tribunal on >May 19, the exact anniversary of the death of the great man at Dos >Rios, the original was finally revealed. > > The statue is different to others previously seen. Marti has one >hand extended accusingly towards the Interests Section building >whilst with the other, he cradles a tiny child protectively to his >chest. > > Young sculptor Andres Gonzalez explained before revealing his work, > >that he wanted to represent Marti in the same way that he is >portrayed in texts. A strong and energetic man who was capable of >starting the war of independence, but who at the same time knew how > >to defend with passion and love, the treasure of childhood. > >The artist added that he had taken inspiration from the spontaneity > >and fortitude of the Cuban people in their campaign for the return >to his home land of six year-old Elian Gonzalez who is still held in > >the United States. > >Immediately after the opening of the Anti-Imperialist Tribunal, the > >seven thousand schoolchildren present, resplendent in their school >uniforms and blue neckerchiefs, gave cheers and warm applause to the > >thousand young people who received their Union of Young Communists >membership cards directly from Fidel's hands. > >Cuba's culture, recognized as the heart and soul of the nation, was > >presented in the form of dancing, poetry and song. > >Pupils from the National Dance School performed their version of the > >writings of Jose Marti to music written by Amaury Perez. These >included his poem to Rosario where he advised him to walk upon the >earth with eyes wide open, his quote that in order to live, you must > >know how to die and his writings to his wife, Carmen, where he spoke > >of her beauty and said that when he kissed her it placed a mere >human close to divinity. > > The chorus of the National Music School performed an arrangement of > >Guajira Guantanamera which includes words taken from Marti's Versos > >Sencillos (Simple Verses), while a country music quintet from the >same school dedicated songs to Marti which described how the hero >"remains present in the breeze all around us," even though "he fell > >with his rifle hardened by battle". > >Yamil Cuellar, a pupil at the National Theater School recited one of > >Marti's most powerful poems where he speaks of being a star that >knows no fear and that both illuminates and kills. > >Four generations of Cubans spoke at the tribunal. The first was >schoolboy Ernesto Fidel del Caval, who addressed his message to the > >world. He said that Cuban children were assured of their schools >where they learnt the ideas of Marti and where for more than five >months they have been fighting for the return of Elian. "We will >never tire, because we are fighting for a just cause," he said. > >Miriam Martyn, provincial president of the Organization of >Schoolchildren, explained to the thousands of children present why >it was so vital to read the works of Marti, whether it be his La >Edad de Oro (The Golden Age), Ismaelillo (Little Ismael), his works > >written whilst a prisoner of the Spanish or his letter to Manual >Mercado, the Mexican whom he called "dearest brother" and which >remains incomplete since he wrote it just hours before he went into > >battle. > > She continued by saying that we read the works of Marti because his > >writings contain the meaning of our lives and our history. We read >him because he teaches anti-imperialism, anti-racism and of >solidarity with the Revolution. > > The president of the Media Studies Student's Federation, Roberto >Conde, reiterated that "today's epic battle of ideas has its basis >in the ideas of Marti." > >Finally, Eliades Acosta, director of the National Library which also > >carried Jose Marti's name, referred to the development of the hero's > >political thought during his period as a prisoner of the Spanish, >his eventual deportation to Spain and his time spent in the United >States where he saw "the forces that ruined the dreams of that >nation's founders." > >Acosta continued by explaining how, 150 years ago, today's flag with > >its single star arrived in Cuba in the hands of Venezuelan General >Narciso Lopez. The general, he said, had been brave, but had badly >formed ideas inasmuch as he wanted to try to annex Cuba for the >United States. > >Nevertheless, Jose Marti himself wrote some years later that "the >standard was assured by the blood of Lopez," who was executed at La > >Punta in 1851 by the Spanish after being captured while attempting >another landing on the island. > >Acosta recalled however, that the flag itself never fell. It arrived > >in the hands of the Camagueyan patriot Manuel Sanguily who delivered > >it to the Guaimaro Constituent Assembly where it was approved as the > >national banner in 1869. > >It was this same flag that later flew in the encampments and during > >the machete charges of the Mambi independence fighters, that >returned to Cuba with Marti and that General Maximo Gomez would not > >allow to be hauled down at El J'baro when the United States entered > >the war against the Spanish colonialists, a war which the Cubans >were already on the verge of winning, said Acosta. > >In his brief historical summary, the National Library director added > >that the single star flag had been held high in Cuba throughout the > >years of the pseudo-Republic, during the worker's and farmer�s >strikes and at the triumph of 1st January 1959 after the defeat of >Batista's tyranny which cost the life of 20,000 young people. > >Acosta finished by asking the thousands of children and young people > >present at the Anti-Imperialist Tribunal to renew their promise to >never haul down the flag and to continue to ennoble it with their >just ideas. JC > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
