Human rights at the core and roots of the Revolution

We arrive at a new December 10, Human Rights Day around the world by mandate of the United Nations (UN), engaged in great battles to assert the truth and essence of the Cuban Revolution’s principles of democracy and justice and to work for economic and social development at a time when manipulation and deception are rampant in the media and social networks openly defrayed by an enemy who wants more than a reinforced U.S. blockade that brings plenty of suffering to a population motivated by Marti’s ideas of respect for the full dignity of man.

Cuba recently appeared in new unilateral and false lists, such as one “denouncing” the country as a violator of religious freedoms, something that would be laughable if it didn’t pave the way for more measures to make living even harder for a people that keeps working to develop the nation and improve everyday’s life without yielding, as they wish, to the huge and coercive force of that enemy.

An example is that Cuba has been elected five times to the UN Human Rights Council—the last time on October 13, 2020, effective from 2021 to 2023—and the fact that the majority of humanity has once again voted in the UN in favor of the Cuban Resolution urging the U.S. to put an end to its genocidal Cuba policy.
Only a country like Cuba, committed to profound programs that ensure equity, gender equality, the protection of children, the progress of women, adequate care for the elderly, among other long-standing issues, can earn so much support from the world and walk with its head held high despite severe limitations of material and financial resources.

All this is going on in a society that is not perfect, where mistakes are made which Fidel Castro himself urged to eliminate in his time, as they are totally at odds with the spirit of the Revolution resolved to fight for equity and justice ever since its victory on January 1, 1959 by implementing a mandatory education system and programs to eliminate racial discrimination, promote women’s empowerment, create jobs, provide decent housing and offer free medical services across the board. Are or are not these basic human rights anywhere on the planet?

A far cry from the unfortunate experience of a society whose government has appointed itself as champion of this cause, stolen from the true fighters for freedom and democracy of their peoples through sinister organizations like the CIA, specialized in torture, sabotage, terrorism, targeted and other killings, and bloody coups d'état in several nations, just to mention a few items of its résumé.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla has repeatedly ratified at the UN the unity and resistance of his people in the face of the serious obstacles and threats caused by the unilateral U.S. policy of hostility, aggressions and blockade in violation of the Cuban people’s human rights and has described the country’s progress in terms of cooperation and solidarity with the rest of the world, which is aware of the drama that the American people live in their country, often ravaged by mass shootings, race-based police brutality and inhumane treatment of undocumented immigrants, without the elite in power doing anything about it.

Regardless of its difficulties, Cuba boasts achievements such as effective COVID-19 vaccines, increased tourism as the driving force of the economy, and the development of a program that guarantees food sovereignty.

There is no doubt that we have made great strides when it comes to human rights, although the motto here is to always go for more.