Who can doubt that on this International Workers’ Day the capital will be awakened by the contagious rhythm of the improvised Congas of those who want to be among the first at the José Martí Revolution Square?

It is a tradition of many who have come to the main stage of our struggles – to which we return in this 2025 – not to wait for the light of day to be present at the event. It is the place that has won the admiration of the world for its numerous parades that express with images -more eloquent than words- the decision of this small nation not to be subjugated by the Empire and to defend its independence and sovereignty at all costs.

It is a celebration not only of the workers, but of all the people, in all the squares and streets of the nation. Although the circumstances call for greater rationality and organization, they do not spare enthusiasm. The celebration has always brought together men, women, the elderly and children, hand in hand with their parents or standing on their shoulders, enthusiastically waving their little Cuban flag. And how many of those little ones are now adults and remember that experience with emotion? And how many of the marchers are proud of the number of parades they have participated in?

In this sea of patriots, the youth, the protagonists of the present and the guarantors of the continuity of the work, advance with determination, mixed with young people from other latitudes who have come to support a society that prepares them to work for their own.

Unity is the word that can summarize each of the parades for more than 60 years. It’s a strength that successive U.S. governments have tried in vain to break in their efforts to erase the dangerous universal example of Cuba, liberated forever from its neocolonial tutelage.

Perhaps they were betting that with the intensification of the blockade and the redoubled emphasis on suffocating us, they would have achieved their stated goal of creating discouragement and lack of faith in the social project we are building, and therefore the May Day mobilization would fail. But they are wrong.

The most powerful of the reasons that call us to the parade is to proclaim that we have resisted and that, far from giving up, we are constantly looking for ways to move forward and not give up on our dreams.

The people suffer the hardships imposed on us from the north, but the attitude of the worthy Cubans can be summed up in an idea of the Apostle: «When our eyes are fixed on high, neither brambles nor pebbles divert the traveler from his path, the energetic ideals and fervent consecrations are not diminished in a sincere spirit by the setbacks of life.

Twenty-five years have passed since that memorable May Day, when Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz proclaimed his Concept of the Revolution, which contains the essential reasons and motivations for that call and reflections for these times.

Thus, when he calls us to act with a sense of the historical moment, perhaps one of the most difficult since Victory, which compels us to emancipate ourselves by ourselves and by our own efforts, which represents for each worker the imperative to be increasingly efficient and creative in his work to meet the needs of society.

As Fidel pointed out, we are constantly challenging powerful dominant forces inside and outside the social and national spheres, which obliges us to maintain a critical analysis of the road ahead in order to change in time what needs to be changed and to be prepared for the maneuvers of the enemy. And in this endeavor, we must not allow the values that have characterized us as patriots to be damaged: modesty, selflessness, altruism, solidarity and heroism.

This is the moment to reaffirm with Fidel the willingness to fight with boldness, intelligence and realism, never giving up our dreams of justice for Cuba and the world.

All this is May Day, a day of reaffirmation of our unity, of loyalty to the homeland and of support for those who fight in the world for the defense of their rights and for peace. And the invitation is to be one of the first in every square on May Day.