In these sad days, as the seventh anniversary of the departure of the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution approached on November 25, a Latin American friend wrote to us from afar: The world greatly needs Fidel’s word today!
Such a phrase, reiterated in various ways by millions of citizens of this planet, confirms once again that humanity would be better if the Commander in Chief of the largest of the Antilles were physically among us, with his forceful verb, his always walking in step, firm, and his vision of the future.
It was Fidel who said for the first time that a better world is possible, when not a few years ago he warned that our species and planet Earth were in danger of disappearing due to wars, aggressions, blockades, the unbridled arms race, the extreme greed and damage to nature, among other evils, that have us on the brink of the holocaust.
We are currently suffering everything that the visionary leader of the Caribbean island predicted on the five continents, from war conflicts and disasters caused by climate change, to diseases and pandemics that cause so many deaths.
The long light of the head of the Cuban Revolution could show us the path to take to try to overcome so many adversities, and provide hope in the face of the uncertainty that currently torments the vast majority of human beings.
A giant like him, respected and admired in all corners of the planet, could surely help us get out, with the accurate compass of his thoughts, from the rugged and dangerous tunnel through which we walk.
After seven years of their journey to immortality, their compatriots do not stop repeating a phrase from a beautiful song titled Riding with Fidel that says: “Today I want to shout to you, my father, do not let go of my hand, I still do not know how to walk well without you.”
And there is not a single day that Cubans don’t remember Fidel, whom they consider their eternal guide, as is expressed by millions of people in all the nations of the world, and especially in the most dispossessed in Africa and Latin America, to whom he always offered and provided unconditional solidarity.
It is understandable then that we hear men, women, elderly, young people and children express, wherever we are, that the historical leader of the oldest Caribbean archipelago should accompany us eternally to protect us.
Fidel is Fidel, he is greatly missed, although he is every second, every minute, every hour and every day in the hearts of the people, and no one will ever be able to erase his immense legacy.
Rubén G. Abelenda is the Ambassador of Cuba to The Gambia
