On a historically resonant day marking the 131st anniversary of José Martí’s death in combat, Cuban civil society delivered a powerful demonstration of national unity at Havana’s iconic José Martí Memorial Wednesday. Provincial delegates formally presented over 6.2 million signatures collected through the grassroots ‘My Signature for the Homeland’ movement to Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic.
The massive collection of signatures stands as a collective rebuke of long-standing foreign policy measures targeting Cuba: the decades-long economic blockade, the energy embargo, foreign political interference, and all threats of military aggression against the island nation. Framed by a deep, enduring love for Cuban national sovereignty, the movement also rejects what organizers describe as ongoing efforts at external domination and covert colonial influence over the country’s domestic affairs.
Top Cuban political leaders joined the ceremony, including Esteban Lazo Hernández, President of the National Assembly of People’s Power and the Council of State; Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz; Roberto Morales Ojeda, Organization Secretary of the Communist Party Central Committee; alongside senior representatives from the Young Communist League, mass organizations, and civil society groups across the country. Each territorial delegation brought its own set of signed forms as a documentary record of local participation in the movement.
After accepting the compiled signature collections, Díaz-Canel reaffirmed Cuba’s long-stated commitment to national dignity, noting that this core value ‘is not implored, it is exercised; it is not begged for, it is defended; it is not negotiated, it is lived.’
Ana María Mari Machado, Vice President of the National Assembly of People’s Power, emphasized that the more than 6 million signatures reflect the unified collective conscience of the Cuban people. She added that the vote of signatures opposes not only external intervention and illegal exclusion lists, but also ‘the attempt to govern us from abroad.’
The ceremony also included a tribute to José Martí, Cuba’s national apostle, ahead of the premiere of an eight-part docuseries titled *El Misterio de un Hombre* (The Mystery of a Man), directed by filmmaker Roly. An original allegorical poster for the new series was presented to Díaz-Canel and attending members of the Communist Party Political Bureau to mark the occasion.