February 7, 2015
Knock, knock. Who’s there? The pigeon and the clover leaf… Open the gate!
Knock, knock. Who’s there? The scorpion and the centipede… Close the gate!
—Nicolás Guillén, 1958
When we talk about the dangers of the new bilateral dynamics and the need to be alert and ready, we must not lose sight of the fundamental fact of the recent events: The move of the Obama administration towards restoring relations with our country and the release of our heroes is a victory for our strength and our principles; and moving towards a progressive and mutually beneficial “normalization” is something that we definitely welcome.
It is not news that the subversive aims of US policy can come sugar-coated as if they were extending a helping hand, while they keep saying they will continue trying to “promote democracy” in Cuba and sponsor or finance programs to “help the people.” The emphasis yours truly, and many others, make is on the need to know such plans and the alluring subterfuges of our nation’s historical enemy.
Having said this, it is also very important to avoid over-simplified or extremist defensive attitudes, uncharacteristic of our behavior. In no way will our people or our institutions identify those who visit us—and receive our hospitality—with the plans of our enemy, which we reject. We’ll be alert, but not alarmed. The better-informed our people are, the better prepared will they be to do the right thing.
An effective defense must be based on being ourselves—on not changing our nature, but on showing our characteristic openness, warmth and friendliness … which are the qualities that have earned the liking of most of those who visit us and see the truth of our imperfect, but admirable reality, and who recognize the lies they had been told by the media, in particular by the tabloid press which is so powerful in many countries.
Many in the US and the world received with legitimate emotion the simultaneous announcements on December 17. We have always been able to differentiate the US government from the US people. This is a concept and a principle that can be found in all of Fidel’s pronouncements and in our Revolution as early as January 1959. And many of us in Cuba have had the chance to meet very friendly US citizens from different walks of life, many of which later joined the movement of solidarity with our country.
I’m certain—because I’ve experienced it—that the widespread adverse opinion that people in the US have of our country and its system has a very superficial, shallow foundation. When those views are “challenged”, when we move outside certain circles in Washington and South Florida, the US citizen in general does not have a set opinion but just a simplistic image fed by the media. This is changed when they meet and make the acquaintance of a “Cuban from the island,” and even more so when they visit Cuba.
So let’s welcome the exchanges and strengthen our input in the so-called “people-to-people contacts” while keeping informed and prepared to face US government plans to confuse us and “kill us with love.”
We can co-exist with the northern neighbor, but there is no reason for us to love the imperial and arrogant nation. We love—as Marti said—the nation of Lincoln, not the nation of Cutting, and we may add that we do not love the nation of the Ku Klux Klan, or McCarthyism. We remember and love—because they are part of what makes possible the goal of a true normalization of relations—everyone who has been part of the 45 contingents of the Venceremos Brigade, of the 23 caravans of Pastors for Peace led by Reverend Lucius Walker; the millions who supported the right of Elian Gonzalez to be back with his father in Cuba; and so many others who—in that country—were in solidarity with the our Five Heroes.
It is also the country of Henry Reeve and Pete Seeger; of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X; of Harry Belafonte, Ángela Davis, Sandra Levinson and Danny Glover; of Leonard Weinglass and many other lawyers in solidarity with Cuba; of Saul Landau and many scholars and intellectual friends. It is also the land where a million Cubans reside. Most of these hold strong ties with their families and our country.
It is a nation whose women have been at the forefront in the struggle for women’s rights. It is the homeland of the millions who mobilized against the war in Vietnam; against nuclear weapons and to stop the fury of the attacks that originate from the US, including those which have occurred against our country. These people will surely remain active against the blockade and any new form of aggression.
Therefore, together with the need to remain vigilant in defense of our sovereignty and the urgency to mend vulnerabilities and loopholes, these lines are written without prejudice against the friendship between our peoples. These issues must be on the table because the moment demands it and because US society is still dominated by imperial structures and logic.
But with the same emphasis, I join my voice to many others who, on these issues, try to see things in multi-color, with all their nuances. This means understanding the complexities, avoiding rigidities, or perhaps paranoia, which is unlikely given our nature.
As educated people, patriotic and committed to this revolution, we take a stand and will be vigilant against any disrespectful or hostile action; and will not make slips or be naive toward the subtle approaches that are in the agenda aimed at injecting the poison.
And at the same time, we’ll remain as we are: sure of ourselves, welcoming to our visitors, revolutionary with the measures of love that Che mentioned and Marti’s concept that Homeland is Humanity!
