By: MSc. María Inés Álvarez Garay (*)
It was on January 28, 1853, on Paula Street, in Havana, Cuba, Leonor Pérez gave birth to José Julián Martí Pérez, a Cuban who, from his early youth, would make the largest of the Antilles, the epicenter of her passion, for independence and freedom.
The love for the country, duty, wisdom, human sensitivity and social justice that found the universal thought of José Martí Pérez, make him immortal in the face of the current challenges of humanity, to build a better and more equitable world for all .
168 years after his birth, we remember that human being who defended his people with his hand and letter, for the work of his life, for his example and his teachings, his preaching, his way of saying and doing that, as a sacred legacy, they are part of our revolutionary doctrine with an extraordinary force of presence.
The Heroic Guerrilla Ernesto Che Guevara, during a speech he gave in commemoration of the birth of José Martí, on January 28, 1960, expressed:
“Martí was the direct mentor of our Revolution, the man whose word should always be used to give the correct interpretation of the historical phenomena that we were experiencing, and the man whose word and whose example had to be remembered every time you wanted to say or do something transcendent in this country … «
And he added: «… his ideas are incorporated into our struggle and are our motto, they are our combat flag.»
The leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, was loyal to the Apostle’s doctrine and this can be easily verified by just preparing to go through, with the necessary care, not only the course of his thought from the days of the Moncada to date, but also, the process of all his political and revolutionary activities.
«I carry in my heart the doctrines of the Master», with this electrifying phrase, Fidel let the court know that he was judging him for having directed the actions of July 26, 1953 that José Martí was the true intellectual author of those events, and that his generation would not allow the Apostle to die in the year of his centenary, and that if necessary, he and all his comrades would offer their lives in magnificent reparation by his grave.
Fidel resembles Martí to us when we perceive his immense capacity as a political statesman, his skill in doing the most opportune at each moment and in each place, without going ahead or lagging behind what the political consciousness of the masses allows, his total understanding that in unity there is strength, his deep conviction that trenches of ideas are worth more than trenches of stones, his ability to turn reverses into victories, his ability as a political educator, colossal culture, optimism in victory, universal vision, humanism, camaraderie, ethics, sensitivity, acute vision of the evils of capitalism and a deep social vocation.
Our people have deeply rooted the legacy of Martí and Fidel, how can we not be in solidarity? How can we not be ethical? How can we not love our country? How can we not fight against the evil of the imperialist monster? But Martí can and should be honored in the way he would like it to be done to him, when he said at the top of his lungs: «The best way to say is to do.»
That is why the Cuban Medical Brigade in The Gambia, faithful to Fidel and Martí, we follow the path that both leaders, mentors of our revolution taught us, instilled in us, trained us as worthy citizens, capable of creating, developing and preserving the Cuban nation, our principles and values, because without moral rectitude and honesty it is not possible to be a good patriot.
Today, due to our own convictions, our ethics and our passion to do and do well, we are in this African land, next to this people who need our altruism, kindness and solidarity to save many lives, restore health, alleviate suffering, and shout like Martí: «Homeland is Humanity.»
(*) Professor and collaborator of the Cuban Medical Brigade
"An Island on a Continent" 