Ramon Labanino: I’ve Been, and I Am, a Fortunate Man
News from Cuba | Thursday, 13 June 2013
by Ramon Labanino, reprinted from Juventud Rebelde
From the low-security prison in Ashland, Kentucky, Cuban anti-terrorism fighter Ramón Labañino sent this message dedicated to all the people he loves on the occasion of his fiftieth birthday.
Today I'm 50 years old.
Yes, it’s true, I’m a man of 50 summers and I want to dedicate these words of love to all the people I love:
If I look back to these “short years of my life” I can say so many beautiful things - I always stick to beauty, the sin of dreamers.
In 50 years I’ve had the fortune of meeting a special woman who loves me and I love her, who accompanies me with fierce loyalty and tender sweetness. To her I owe my gratitude for making me who I am in so many ways and she knows it.
In 50 years I’ve had the fortune of having three beautiful daughters who are sweet, loving and tender, whom I love crazily just as they love me. To them I owe my eternal gratitude for making me the father I am.
Ramon with two of his daughters and wife Elizabeth
In 50 years I’ve had the fortune to meet and fight next to four exceptional brothers. To them I owe my gratitude for being with me in this determined struggle for Cuba, and for mankind.
In 50 years I was born and have grown in a humble and loving family that has given me the bliss of meeting new families, big families that are with us in this just struggle. To them I owe my gratitude for making me the son I am, the brother I strive to be, the human being that thinks with love and acts for love.
In 50 years I’ve met sisters and brothers from the entire world who are like blood of our blood, who run at our side, who fight side by side with us. To them I owe my gratitude for their eternal company, for the solidarity.
And also in 50 years of life, life has given me the fortune of serving my people, this Revolution that is made from the soul to the infinite. To her I owe everything I am: the son, the father, the comrade, the friend, the patriot, the man.
For all these things I can say today that in the first 50 years of my life I’ve been, and I am, a fortunate man.
Thanks to Life!
That’s how I celebrate my birthday today.
Ramón Labañino Salazar
Labañino Palmeiro Family
