A flame in the darkness
President Miguel Díaz-Canel climbed the steps of the University of Havana this Tuesday night. He did it in front of thousands of young people holding homemade torches, in the traditional Torch March that remembers José Martí.
But this year, the smoke and fire are mixed with something else: a palpable tension. The island faces a severe economic crisis while receiving harsh threats from Washington.
Words for a critical moment
The main voice was not that of the president, but that of Litza Elena González Desdín, leader of the Federation of University Students. His speech made it clear that this was no mere ritual.
“This is not an act of nostalgia, it is a call to action,” declared González.
He made direct reference to the rhetoric of US President Donald Trump, which intensified after an operation in Venezuela against Nicolás Maduro, a key ally of Cuba. Trump even stated this Tuesday that the island was close to collapse.
The response from Havana was clear and directed to that new generation with torches in hand.
“I raise my voice to say that we do not accept new or old chains. That our generation… does not give up or sell itself,” said González.
An inevitable historical nod. The first Torch March was led by Fidel Castro in 1953, shortly before the assault on the Moncada Barracks. The parallelism between that moment before the revolution and this present of maximum pressure is not coincidental.
At the end, they sang the anthem and placed white flowers in front of the monument to José Antonio Mella. A ritual completed, a message sent. The question now is what comes next after the torches are extinguished.
