He opened the door to us with a smile, he was convinced that we were eager to know a little about his life: Róger Enrique Mastrapa Pérez, leader of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) in several provinces, including Las Tunas, for more than 30 years.
WITH FIDEL AND GERARDO
Recently, Gerardo Hernández, Hero of the Republic of Cuba and now national coordinator of the CDR visited his home. That meeting is our first topic of conversation:
"The visit, he says, was a formidable stimulus for me. We exchanged some experiences of the work we carry out in the sense of how to move forward. We talked about a problem that the organization is facing today, which may not be in all areas, but which exists and is the lack of a call. The people are there, the revolutionaries, ready to do. That call is failing today and the fault is not the people's because they have always responded to the call.
This restlessness does not diminish their confidence in the organization. He is sure that "Gerardo's presence will be an extraordinary direction for the youth, who have an inspiration in him because he is an example for our whole country.
Mastrapa feels CDR is half his life: "I have the merit of having worked with all the coordinators since the organization was founded, because I started at the age of 12, and therefore it is part of the feelings I have inside. That is why every time I have the opportunity to help with experience and what I currently think I do it because I love it as I love the Commander in Chief, who was its creator".
You don't separate from your beret, why?
"I attended the Commander in Chief's last public act for the 50th anniversary of the CDRs, in front of the old Presidential Palace, now the Museum of the Revolution, in Havana, where he founded them on September 28, 1960. That's why I'm taking it because it's a way to remember him."
His memories of that day are intact. And it evokes his meeting with Fidel on the spot, from the clothes of the Historical Leader of the Revolution, all olive green and his cap with a star also in the center, like the one he wears today in his beret: "I keep that honor together with the two occasions when I shook his hand, one abroad and the other in our country.
Taking the organization to the top is not an easy task and continuing his legacy as a revolutionary is also a challenge: How to achieve this, Mastrapa?
"In a meeting, I had with students from the elementary school, a young woman asked me something similar, what advice would I give to the new generations, my answer: simple! There is a document that has become a programmatic platform that is the best manual to prepare us for the future. The concept of the Commander-in-Chief's Revolution. It's all there, it's a guide that the youth must follow, to train great revolutionaries in the future.
Where do you see the CDRs in 10 years?
"I see a bright future because they are made for battle, hence their name: Committees for the Defense of the Revolution. They were created to defend the country at the time it was needed.
"At this time of pandemic, we must fight our way out of this disease. Saving electricity is the other battle; sowing in the yards everything that serves to counteract, even a little, the food crisis. It is here, in these key moments that we must count on the people, because this organization is theirs."
A DIFFERENT KIND OF CELEBRATION
The presence of COVID-19 makes this 60th anniversary an unprecedented celebration. It will be the first time that it is not celebrated with the usual revelry; however, this does not take away the sleep of Róger Enrique. He knows that it will be from our homes, from a distance.
"This is also an opportunity to pay homage from our homes to all those who have done for the CDR, for the defense of the country. The most important thing is that this birthday becomes a springboard to jump to new victories, to conquer the future. I am sure that we will overcome this pandemic and we will comply strictly with all the measures that are necessary to move forward because, as Raúl and Fidel said, we could, we can and we always will.
These are 60 years of constant struggle because the Revolution is a process made by the youth and it is to them that Mastrapa says.
"Look at the world because we are capable of criticizing what we have and not sitting down to see, that compared to other places, our Revolution is a marvel, it is a treasure. The world is full of poverty. It is very important that people become aware of the current situation and see that what is ours must be defended."
Mastrapa is not afraid of the push of youth. How do you imagine the Cuba of the future?
"Beautiful, because it must undergo a transformation, that is why Fidel says that everything that needs to be changed must be transformed. I am sure that in 10 or 20 years we will be in better conditions; even if there is a blockade, an epidemic, the country is projected to be in line with the current situation. The work of the Revolution in the development of the country will be greater.
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Róger Enrique Mastrapa Pérez, a man who has just celebrated 73 years of life, and who has seen the Cuban Revolution grow from the ground up, transmits security at every step.
"Until my last breath, I will be fighting in every way I can, in every way I can contribute to the organization and defense of the Revolution, which is my current concern: to help to build the future of the country.
