Current legacy of the Battle of Ideas

This month marks the 21st anniversary of the consequential words of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz in the Open Tribune of March 31, 2001 in Havana, where the leader of the Revolution stated key concepts on what he called the largest mass rally ever held in Cuba, sparked by the demands for the return to the country of the child Elián González.

The Battle of Ideas began on December 5, 1999, when Cuba denounced the violation of the rights of Juan Miguel Gonzalez, a humble Cuban father whose six-year-old son who had miraculously survived after he was kidnapped and secretly taken to the United States on a boat that eventually sank.

The child was rescued on November 25, 1999 and taken to Miami-based relatives who, in explicit agreement with the Cuban-American mafia, refused to send him back to his father.

It was around the turn of the century and, despite every bad omen, Cuba was reaching the first decade of successful resistance to the US following the collapse of the USSR and the socialist bloc in Eastern Europe.

The Cuban people got fully involved in the campaign for the return of the child Elián González, bound to be the first episode of a much intense struggle that would become reality in the Oath of Baraguá of February 19, 2000, which Fidel Castro read in the historic spot where Lieutenant General Antonio Maceo rejected the Pact of Zanjón.

Fidel said at the time: "What good would the simple return of this child bring if tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, any day of any week, any month or any year, another Elian, dozens of Elians, hundreds of Elians, thousands of Elians, can disappear in those turbulent waters, taken to the United States illegally, separated from one or both parents without their permission or any possibility of legally recovering them?"

The Oath outlined what would be the people’s historic goals for generations to come: fight against the Cuban Adjustment, Helms-Burton and Torricelli Acts and for the end of the blockade, the criminal economic war and the terrorist acts, as well as for the return of the Guantanamo Naval Base.

On June 28, 2000, after a long battle, Elián González returned to his homeland, thanks to the united strength of his fellow countrymen and the goodwill of some people in the United States who helped justice prevail.

In the historic Open Tribune of March 31, 2001, as Fidel ratified the Oath of Baraguá, he warned that there were tasks for many years to come and called to reinforce Cuba’s cultural and educational effort through projects such as University for All, the Round Tables and the development of Art Instructors Schools, among other initiatives.

He referred to the heroic past of our people at a time when 40th anniversary of the imperialist defeat of Bay of Pigs was drawing near by saying that, “in the battle of ideas we dare to predict that nothing but a gigantic Bay of Pigs awaits the imperialists".

More than 20 years after those words, on top of the usual U.S. blockade and subversive policies, Cuba is under attack in the fields of culture and education, as well as on the Internet. Therefore, we must bear in mind the lessons of unity and integration of the revolutionary forces, our preparedness and our loyalty to the principles of the Battle of Ideas, conceived and launched by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro.