Cuba and its sovereignty are not negotiable

“The Antilles are on the crossroads of America, and if enslaved, they would be a mere pontoon bridge in the war of an imperial republic against the jealous and superior world that is already preparing to deny it power, a mere fortress of the American Rome.”
José Martí, 1894
Article “The third year of the Cuban Revolutionary Party,
The soul of the Revolution, and Cuba's duty in America.”

“The homeland needs sacrifices, it is an altar and not a pedestal, it is to be served, but not used for personal gain.”This is what José Martí taught us; hence our strongest rejection of the interventionist maneuvers, terrorist practices, manipulations and subversive acts promoted from the United States, with the complicity of unscrupulous elements, who under the pretext of making art defile our symbols and dishonor the sacred name of Cuba.

We are witnessing events reminiscent of the crude, outrageous, and still recent desecrations of Martí's busts earlier this year. All of this is part of the same strategy: to disregard and offend our purest essence, to erase everything that expresses deep-rooted Cuban identity, because it stems from the same contempt that, for more than two centuries, has driven our northern neighbor in its desires and attempts to seize Cuba.

Their media campaigns against the island and its inhabitants are longstanding. Let all Cubans remember José Martí's seminal text, "Vindication of Cuba," with which he responded to the defamation spread by American newspapers about the supposed moral and ethnic inferiority of Cubans, portraying them as "lazy" and "incapable" of fulfilling their destiny as an independent country, which, according to them, would never be worthy of being another state of the American Union. In those same offensive texts, the Ten Years' War was labeled a farce, and our heroes were called cowards.

That is why it is both infuriating and painful to see that an annexationist faction has taken root in a minority sector of our society, and that, under the guise of sordid interests, in a time of global and national crisis, it seeks to disrupt public peace. These elements, as is already known, have tried to involve restless young people, including artists and intellectuals with a need for expression and dialogue, in their scheme to destabilize the country and facilitate US interference in our internal affairs.

If we learned the necessity of dialogue from anyone, it was from Martí. He, like no other, was able to unite for the good of Cuba all those who deeply loved her and desired her full sovereignty. There is one principle that became the cornerstone of his thought: With everyone, and for the good of allWhoever is not worthy, whoever rises above the Fatherland, whoever offends it or its symbols, whoever endangers its integrity, does not subscribe to this Martí principle.

This is no time for hesitation or division. Dialogue with artists and honest citizens is guaranteed through existing cultural institutions, as it has always been since 1959. With enemies, dialogue is impossible: Cuba and its sovereignty are non-negotiable.

In these times, Martí has ​​become indispensable. His call is to take up his ideas as our banner and to save the homeland. The institutions affiliated with the Martí Program Office fully support the declaration of the Ministry of Culture and reaffirm our patriotic and revolutionary stance. We also invite all Martí institutions and all good Cubans, Martí enthusiasts at heart, to endorse this declaration.

Martí Program Office
Center for Martí Studies
José Martí Cultural Society
Martí Youth Movement
Chronicles Project

See Declaration of Cuban Centers that are members of CLACSO