Sixty years have passed since that historic April 16. The contemporary Cuban context is different. We have approved a Constitution that recognizes the irrevocable nature of socialism in Cuba, but the collective commitment to the continuity of our socialism must be updated day by day.

"Comrade workers, this is a socialist and democratic Revolution of the humble, with the humble and for the humble. And for this revolution... we are ready to give our lives." Such were the words of Fidel on April 16, 1961, to a people deeply hurt and outraged by the imperialist aggression they had just suffered. He was not repeating a slogan, the next day he would be among the first to confront the Bay of Pigs invasion, and inflict a legendary defeat on imperialism. The people were literally giving their lives.

Some say that this is not the time for slogans, and they are right. No slogan can capture the history we have lived, the way we have resisted the systematic violence of one of the strongest centers of capitalist power in history, without surrendering the nation’s sovereignty. No slogan can capture the intelligence and determination necessary to carry out the changes demanded by the present, or the honesty with which we must face our limitations in a self-critical manner, or the strength and conviction with which we must work to build the country we desire.

The day the socialist nature of the Revolution was proclaimed, we had just defeated a dictatorship. Without a system that would break the structures of capitalist domination and put an end to all forms of exploitation, the bourgeois legal-political apparatus, despite being republican, would continue to serve the elites to the detriment of the humble. The Revolution would not betray the people who brought it to power.

Sixty years have passed since that historic day. The contemporary Cuban context is different. We have approved a Constitution that recognizes the irrevocable nature of socialism in Cuba, but the collective commitment to the continuity of our socialism must be updated every day.

Today the challenges are different in our efforts to implement changes that have been approved and to move the economy forward - an economy under siege, of course, but we need to advance. We must be clear that no economic change is a mere technicality. This is a process with complex political, social, subjective, and cultural implications. How can we ensure that the required economic transformations broaden and deepen justice, equity, and democracy in our country? Abandoning the path of socialism is an option.

This would seem to be a foolish project in a region where neoliberalism is so entrenched. But it is, precisely, because of the need for another possible world that our foolishness makes sense. We are not capriciously defending a pipe dream; we are advocating and advancing the best alternative because we are aware of the historical moment and the geopolitical enclave in which we are stranded.

On a day like today, as if I were among the multitude of people ready to fight April 16, 1961, I would say: We will triumph! Venceremos! Although our challenges may be different, we are here, and this is not a slogan! For sure, we are here!

Taken from Granma