Memories persist after 63 years. The aggressors continue to threaten to return, but they do not forget that in 72 hours we turned their blood fever into pure cowardice.
In that crushing defeat at the Bay of Pigs (Playa Girón), imperialism underestimated the people, that unredeemed mass that had suffered so many misfortunes. Fishermen, coal miners, peasants and the exploited of yesteryear, had much to defend; not even life mattered more than victory.
Their capacity for resistance was proven, and their bravery was more than enough. From that Girón, we inherited the loyalty, solidarity, heroism and bravery of simple men who rose to the fight.
That great Victory of April 19, 1961, as Commander in Chief Fidel Castro rightly warned, saved us once from living what we would have suffered if the invaders occupied this land.
The Houston rests at the bottom of the sea taking with it a costly lesson and April its flowers opened to embrace the Revolution, which transformed the place where the mercenaries disembarked into a place with opportunities for human beings.
The natural green of the Zapata Swamp was dressed in the white of doctors’ coats, teachers swept away ignorance forever, sports coaches and artists arrived to broaden spirituality.
At the same time, the new country was reborn, people who undertake daily exploits; the updating of our economic model in the effort of an even more socialist Cuba, more promising through creative work.
For that reason, Giron is the greatest military and political episode of a whole decade in the world, it is the feat of an April of 365 days, that of May Day with millions of workers taking to the streets to reaffirm their commitment to the Revolution, that of every September back in the classrooms, and that of a shining sun that continues to shine for new victories.
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