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A century and half ago, Cuba was a colony and a class-divided country. It had no history or government or own economy, and half the population was considered inferior for not being white. All the advances of the 19th century were known, but the vast wealth of the island had risen over the barbaric slavery of one million workers. With an iron hand, a foreign country ruled the island. From 1868 until today, Cuba has managed to transform its people and the society so deeply, that it now has a real national independence and the self-determination of its people. The people works and struggles daily to defend and develop their chosen path: socialism. Only by many revolutions could we face challenges and change so radically; only then could the impossible become reality and it has been possible to see dreams come true.
The anthem and the flag of Cuba constitute the most symbolic synthesis of a long journey of wonder and anguishes, sacrifices and joys, defeats and victories. A brief warlike melody whose eight lines state that fighting until death is life itself. The tricolor flag puts a red triangle and a star above all and above everyone. All countries have a national anthem and a flag, but only when people have shed blood for them, given their will and hope, they become a meaningful symbol. It transcends everyone and unites us all, even the most diverse. It is when the relationship becomes solid and the past, with the present, are able to make us believe in the future and move towards it.

(Excerpt from the foreword to the book «With Its Own Light», by Kaloian Santos Cabrera).