The Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC) has called on all intellectuals and creators around the world to mobilize in defense of the Cuban cause.
“As Martí defined it in 1895, when writing about our duty in America: ‘Whoever rises today for Cuba, rises for all times,’” the text reads. It was shared this Monday by the influential Mexican newspaper La Jornada, and can be endorsed by writing to the email
The Island "resists and will resist this inhuman aggression, but counts on the active solidarity of all honest, humanistic, and good-willed men and women of the world. It is about preventing a genocidal act and saving a heroic people whose only 'crime and threat' has been defending their sovereignty," the document states.
“Cuba has never attacked any nation. Cuba practices international solidarity even under conditions of extreme blockade. To be with Cuba today is to defend peace and the right of all peoples, no matter how small, to the full exercise of their sovereignty.”
The appeal explains that the country has fought for centuries, first to achieve its independence and later to defend it staunchly. Such resistance against the most powerful and predatory empire in human history has come at the high sacrifice of its people. The conscious resistance of those of us living in the archipelago is based on convictions and reasons learned long ago.
“José Martí, the great poet and patriot, defined our noble destiny in 1894: ‘In the balance of America are the Antilles, which, if enslaved, would be mere pontoons in the war of an imperial republic.’
“The greatest wealth of Cuba lies in its people. We do not possess oil reserves or other highly coveted natural resources, but we have developed human capital capable of shaping resilience through creativity and knowledge.
“Cuba does not promote terrorism although we have been victims of it. We love peace indissolubly linked to our independence. We have always wished to build a just and supportive society. We eliminated illiteracy and reduced infant and maternal mortality to levels similar to those of the first world. We send doctors and teachers to other nations while others only drop bombs.
“We create vaccines that are distributed free of charge. We promote sport as a right of the people and are the Spanish-speaking country that has won the greatest number of medals in the history of the Olympic Games.
“We have an extensive free system of art schools, where dancers, actors, painters, filmmakers, musicians—many from humble origins—have been trained; they have generated a powerful artistic movement recognized internationally.
“Since the revolutionary victory of 1959, we have aspired to achieve the highest cultural level for our people. Fidel proved to us that illiteracy could be eliminated and that we must fight to eradicate, through a framework of laws and active vigilance, racism and discrimination in all its forms. We have advanced in the integration and defense of women’s rights, who are now parliamentarians, leaders, and professionals on equal terms with men.
“We have approved an advanced Family Code that protects love in its various forms of existence.
“Despite the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States since 1962, successively intensified to the suffocation implemented by the current U.S. government, we do not renounce our dreams of prosperity, justice, and peace.”
"Resistance costs us and imposes great sacrifices on our people every day, and means facing with stoicism the cruelty of the extraterritorial measures of the United States government.
'The empire says that Cuba represents a threat to its national security, which is ridiculous and implausible. It has imposed an oil blockade, resulting in the paralysis of hospitals, schools, industries, and transportation. They try to prevent our doctors from saving lives; they attempt to paralyze our free and universal education system, to plunge us into hunger, into a lack of energy to guarantee access to drinking water and the cooking of food; in short, they aim to extinguish a country slowly and cruelly.'
