José Martí continues to be the benchmark. José Martí continues to be the guide. 169 years after his birth, José Martí leads the way.
It might seem strange that a 19th century man continues to constitute the essential foundation of a nation project. Certainly, the handles of this ideological framework must be sought in the essences.
José Martí should not be assumed from the uncritical repetition of a set of phrases, often taken out of context.
Martí must be interpreted, and understood in the intense dialogue with his circumstances. His are not formulas; they are presuppositions, applicable in dialectical interaction with the moment.
It might seem that some of Martí’s ideas could be raised by individuals who militate on irreconcilable sides of the political spectrum.
And, obviously, in its most superficial dimension, it is possible.
But it is enough to understand the immense apostolate of the National Hero to discard any marriage with frankly reactionary conceptions.
José Martí led by example. His idea of the republic with all and for the good of all constituted the most progressive vision of his time.
Of course there are specific concepts that have been overcome by practice, but never fundamental assumptions.
Articulating the fundamental ideology of José Martí in the most authentic and current theory of the left is more than a possibility; it is the concretion of many of the edges of that thought.
The Cuban Revolution (understood in its permanent progression) has to be a Martian Revolution. Martiana must be the republic that we constitute. And the aspiration of a prosperous and sustainable socialism will never come into contradiction with Martí’s so often postponed dream.
