The difficulties and the much that remains to be done continue to be the guiding principles of the Revolution 

On January 8, 1959, after sailing through a sea of people for more than a thousand kilometers, the Caravan of Liberty arrived in Havana, led by Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, to begin the complex process of the Revolution in power.

Millions of Cubans followed the procession that brought the bearded men from the Sierra Maestra, a new generation of mambises who this time did achieve full independence for the island.

It was the beginning of a new Cuba. Sixty-seven years after the event that shook an entire country, January returns with its load of dreams and goals to be fulfilled, in a nation that continues to be a warrior in its present, committed to its future.

And it does so, amid great challenges, confirming what the Leader of the Revolution said that day: "Tyranny has been overthrown. The joy is immense. And yet, much remains to be done. We do not delude ourselves into believing that everything will be easy from now on; perhaps everything will be more difficult from now on. Telling the truth is the first duty of every revolutionary."

How much truth, how much certainty in those words. In a country plagued by misery, as soon as the revolutionary transformations began in fulfillment of the Moncada Program, the historical enemy of our people, the United States, initiated a policy aimed at putting an end to the triumphant transformative epic.

Only a people like ours, hardened in the heat of battle and guided by Fidel's teachings, has been able to withstand so much pressure and so much adversity.

Today, the challenges are different. The empire, emboldened, has dusted off the Monroe Doctrine once again to gain control of what José Martí called Our America. To this end, it is using the vast arsenal at its disposal and blatantly violating the laws and principles that govern international relations.

Recent events in Venezuela, including military aggression and the kidnapping of its legitimate president, Nicolás Maduro, demonstrate this. Imperial cynicism does not hide its intention to deliver the coup de grâce to the Cuban Revolution when the time comes.

In this hour of trial, when only the light should be seen, as our National Hero said, and when the homeland is in danger, Fidel, on the centenary of his birth, warns and calls, as in 1959, on a people that does not surrender and will never surrender.