When a country is forced to live in a history, revised and corrected according to the interests of an undemocratic regime beyond its fiftieth anniversary, events crowd and overlap each other.
February 24th is primarily remembered as the beginning of the 1895 War of Independence, led by José Martí. More recently by the failed Cuban Council and the shooting down, in 1996, of two Brothers to the Rescue planes.
It is also the day that Orlando Zapata Tamayo died in prison of a hunger strike, two years ago. And this latest commemoration provokes, right now, one of the acts of repudiation — reprehensible — so notable in these time. This time the headquarters of the Ladies in White in the capital, where a significant number of them have gathered to honor the memory of fallen of February 23, 2010, whose funeral the political opposition was prevented from participating in.
Again, repression, arbitrary arrests and intimidation. The question continues to be when will we commemorate the end of this dark period of our nation. When will we celebrate the arrival of civil liberties. When will respect for the basic human rights of Cuban citizens once again be part of the Law of Laws of the Republic of Cuba.
26 February 2012
