Viva La Revolucion!
Cuban fever warmed up London this winter with a series of events commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution. Joining in was the Cuban Embassy, which hosted a huge celebration at the Melia White House Hotel. Hundreds of fellow diplomats, politicians, trade unionists and friends of Cuba – including a legendary television hero – joined Ambassador René Mujica and his wife Silvia and toasted the Revolution with a mojito and a fine Cuban cigar. Addressing the guests against the backdrop of the financial crisis, Ambassador Mujica praised his compatriots for building “a society based on cohesive solidarity rather than individualism and greed.”
He said his country had paid “a heavy price” in choosing this path and thanked the countries that had supported Cuba in its campaign to have the US trade embargo lifted and those that had come to the aid of Cuba in the aftermath of hurricanes.
Despite these challenges, the Ambassador listed Cuba’s achievements in the fields of education, medicine, culture and human development, saying: “Whatever price we have paid for the freedom and independence that have made them possible, has been worth paying” – which elicited cheers of Viva La Revolucion!