Commemorating July 26th and the eve of the forty-fifth anniversary of Haydée Santamaría’s death, Casa de las Américas (Havana, Cuba) has made the volume Hay que defender la vida [We Must Defend Life (Fondo Editorial Casa las Américas, 2022)] available to all, especially “lovers of the history of the Cuban Revolution and those interested in the cultural future of Nuestra América.” You may download the PDF at https://cutt.ly/NrP5DOtQ.
Casa las Américas writes:
Hay que defender la vida, edited by researchers Jaime Gómez Triana and Ana Niria Albo Díaz, is a compilation of speeches, interviews, letters, and various writings by Santamaría, one of the heroes of the Revolution and founder of Casa las Américas.
We also share this book as a tribute to the centenary generation, to the martyrs and heroes of the homeland, and to all the men and women of this nation who supported, with determination and courage, the struggles for Cuba’s definitive independence.
Here is an excerpt from the book’s introduction*:
Haydee Santamaría, a warrior of Moncada, the underground, the Sierra Maestra, and exile, was a passionate and upstanding woman. As founder and director of the Casa de las Américas, she carried out the enormous task of consolidating Cuba’s cultural ties with the rest of our continent. Her loyalty to the Cuban Revolution and the leadership of Fidel Castro was unwavering. Her faith in the triumph of justice and her understanding of the role of culture in the liberation of human beings never wavered. We know that, for many, the texts gathered here will constitute a novelty and that a good portion of readers will be surprised to discover the dazzling stature of a heroine with previously unknown facets. This is not, however, a definitive selection, nor could it be, so we hope it will stimulate new approaches that will continue to shed light on her character and on the ideas that she always embraced and defended.
Haydee Santamaria’s thought—a reflection of an era and of her political commitment—was always audacious, never dogmatic or rhetorical; and she will continue to contribute to the ideals of emancipation in the present and the future, as well as to the struggles of Cuba and other peoples for total justice. That is why, as [Roberto Fernández] Retamar wrote in the poem dedicated to her upon her death, “we continue to need her.”
Available to download in PDF at https://cutt.ly/NrP5DOtQ.
Sources: https://www.facebook.com/photo?9 and https://www.facebook.com/CasaAmericas
*Excerpt above from https://books.google.com.pr/books/about/Hayd%C3%A9e_Santamar%C3%ADa.html Also see http://www.cubadebate.cu/opinion/2023/02/01/hay-que-defender-la-vida/ and https://cubarte.cult.cu/periodico-cubarte/haydee-santamaria-hay-que-defender-la-vida/
For more on the meaning of July 26th, see (in Spanish) https://cubarte.cult.cu/periodico-cubarte/el-movimiento-26-de-julio-cambio-cuba-y-america-latina/