EFF MOURNS THE PASSING OF COMMANDANTE FIDEL CASTRO OF THE CUBAN REVOLUTION
26 November, 2016
The EFF mourns the passing of the leader of the Cuban Revolution Commandant Fidel Castro who passed away at the age of 90 today. We send our revolutionary condolences to the family and close friends as well as the people of Cuba as a whole. We know too well that Commandant Fidel Castro's 90 years of existence touched the lives of many in the world, particularly socialist militants who are still fighting capitalism and imperialism. We pass revolutionary condolences to them as well, hoping wishing revolutionary peace to their painful hearts.
The passing of Commandant Castro is a loss to us in the African continent as well for we benefited from his leadership and the revolution he led on behalf of his people. This revolution, the Cuban Revolution is the greatest human gift of the 20th Century because through it, and because of it, the people of the global South benefited from the example, the benevolence, selflessness and generosity of the Cuban people. After they inaugurated a socialist order, they did not focus only on their well being, but continued, and in many instances, to their own detriment, to contribute to the freedoms of others in the world.
This is encapsulated by his own words delivered in a speech at the Mass Rally called by the Cuban Youths, Students and Workers on the Occasion of the International Labor Day at the Revolution Square in Cuba, May Day, 2000, Commandant Castro argued that "Revolution means to have a sense of history; it is changing everything that must be changed; it is full equality and freedom; it is being treated and treating others like human beings; it is achieving emancipation by ourselves and through our own efforts; it is challenging powerful dominant forces from within and without the social and national milieu; it is defending the values in which we believe at the cost of any sacrifice; it is modesty, selflessness, altruism, solidarity and heroism; it is fighting with courage, intelligence and realism; it is never lying or violating ethical principles; it is a profound conviction that there is no power in the world that can crush the power of truth and ideas. Revolution means unity; it is independence, it is fighting for our dreams of justice for Cuba and for the world, which is the foundation of our patriotism, our socialism and our internationalism."
The founding of the EFF relies on the memory and history of the July 26 Movement which laid foundation and guaranteed victory for the Cuban Revolution in 1959. Only at the age of 27, Comandate Castro led this movement from its first military activities in 1953 up to its revolutionary victory in 1959. We draw inspiration that revolution and militant struggle often requires the youth in its forefront as it manifested in Cuba itself.