Homeland or Death, We Shall Overcome: a cry for dignity and sovereignty.

The slogan has since become the banner of every speech of the Revolutionary Government, where the Patria o Muerte (Homeland or Death) of the speaker is followed by the energetic Venceremos (We Shall Overcome) of those who listen to him.

Since the first time the slogan «Homeland or Death, We Shall Overcome» emanated from the bowels of the island, the strength and determination of the Cuban people in defense of their national identity became palpable in socio-historical contexts where imperialism and foreign hegemony have not ceased in their efforts to take away their freedom.

The iconic expression had its origin on March 5th, 1960 at the funeral of the victims of the sabotage to the steamship La Coubre, when the historic leader Fidel Castro Ruz urged to support the revolutionary cause and be willing to fight and give their lives for it if necessary. The concept of «Homeland or Death» was born then.

But it would be a few months later, on June 7th, 1960, when at the First Congress of the National Federation of Barbershop and Hairdressers Workers, held in the theater of the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba, Fidel added the term «We shall overcome» to the heroic phrase, as an expression of the indomitable spirit of the Island, the certainty of triumph in the face of any challenge and, mainly, the promise of building a fairer and more prosperous future on the ashes of colonialism and social injustice.

In that scenario, the protagonism of the largest of the Antilles as the first trench of the Americas and the confidence of the people in the victory against any instance that dares to undermine their prosperity, autonomy and emancipation was pondered.

Throughout the decades, Patria o Muerte, Venceremos has symbolized the firmness of a people in defense of its socialist model and its sovereignty in the face of international pressures. It is a cry of resistance to the attempts to impose the neoliberal order and a living proof of the indomitable character of those who have written their history with the sweat and dedication of their own hands.

Since then, the slogan has become the banner of every speech of the Revolutionary Government where the emitter’s Patria o Muerte is followed by the energetic Venceremos of those who listen to him and, 64 years after its appearance, it still enjoys a strong historical and socio-political charge that synthesizes the firmness of the country before the onslaught of imperialism and foreign aggression, on the basis of an alternative project of solidarity and social justice that serves as an example for the rest of the world.

Written by Yadiel Barbón Salgado.