There are human beings who, although they are not physically among us, survive in the imaginary and daily actions, not only of their contemporaries but also of the generations that succeed them.
This quality is not granted by decree, nor is it the result of impositions of any kind. On the contrary, it is only possible to ascend to such a dimension when the peoples identify, and assume, that the one who inspires them is a paradigm, from the unfinished, of the better world to conquer.
Fidel Castro is, in his own right, and merits that can never be sullied, one of those chosen in any latitude. His imprint, in innumerable dimensions, goes far beyond the Antillean geography to penetrate, to the marrow, in the very marrow of the Global South that does not resign itself to be vilified.
Since the dawn of the revolutionary struggle, it penetrated deep into the hearts of millions of people in the most varied latitudes. After the epic triumph of 1959, and the extraordinary journey undertaken to mold a new man and a new woman, and a society emancipated from capitalist hindrances, the strength of his example increased every day.
He shone with unparalleled light, not only in the "luminous and sad" days of the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, as he was described by that other giant of action and ideas, Che Guevara, but in each of the undertakings he undertook in favor of the peoples of the world.
That rebellious and indomitable bearded man, who built bridges everywhere for the sake of world peace, gave himself body and soul to the revolutionary cause with passion and sidereal energies. The permanent contact with the people was his greatest stimulus, and the sap from which he drank to defeat imperialism in every trench.
It is not possible, in a few lines, to examine all his contributions. In his brilliant performance there are countless pillars. The struggle for world peace, and the cessation of the arms race and denuclearization, is one of them.
From a very young age, he understood that the system of international relations, on a global scale, was compelled to carry out structural transformations, as a sine qua non condition to guarantee the existence of the human species.
At the beginning of the revolutionary epic, he reflected on these issues. He did so, not by describing the shortcomings of an unjust order, but by offering multiple alternatives, through which he expressed a view committed to new directions.
On September 26, 1960, on the occasion of his memorable speech at the 15th General Assembly of the United Nations, he shook the audience gathered in New York, and the entire international community, when he sentenced, sinking his words into the very root of this issue: "Let the philosophy of dispossession disappear, and the philosophy of war will have disappeared! Let the colonies disappear, let the exploitation of countries by monopolies disappear, and then humanity will have reached a true stage of progress!
At 34 years of age, he embodied, in a genuine way, an international leadership, by raising the causes of greater global scope from a clear Third World perspective. It is through this prism that his fundamental points should be scrutinized, which became the axis around which he articulated a coherent thought throughout his life.
Among many of the assessments he made on that occasion are the following ideas: "While progress is being made on the road to disarmament, we must also advance on the road to freeing certain areas of the Earth from the danger of nuclear war"; "The General Assembly must discuss the proposal for total and complete nuclear disarmament"; "With one fifth of what the world spends on armaments we could promote the development of all the underdeveloped countries, with a growth rate of 10% per year"; "War is a business. It is necessary to unmask those who negotiate with war, and those who enrich themselves with war".  As an expression of his integral analysis, he affirmed that "the problems of the world are not solved by threatening or sowing fear."
He would return to these issues again and again. In 1979, on the very premises of the United Nations, and in his capacity as Chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement, he remarked that "we aspire to a new world order, based on justice, equity and peace, to replace the unjust and unequal system that prevails today. Peace, for our countries, is indivisible", to which he added: "The effort to consolidate détente and avoid war is a task in which all peoples must participate and exercise their responsibility."
In 1995, during the celebrations for the fiftieth anniversary of the creation of the UN, and in 2000, at the so-called Millennium Summit, Fidel continued to develop in-depth evaluations on these issues.
Politicians, intellectuals, academics, social fighters, religious leaders, environmentalists, among other professionals from multiple sectors, studied his proposals in order to find solutions to the conflicts and other evils that endangered life on Earth.
At the hemispheric level, the impact of his tireless work in promoting peace and resolving disputes through diplomatic channels is incalculable. The Colombian case, by no means the only one, is emblematic because of the originality that distinguished the role played by Cuba in its wake. Such was its moral authority that, in that and many other examples, each of the parties invariably recognized its unquestionable prestige to mediate, in order to advance in negotiations and avoid bloodshed.
His inexhaustible thought is a wellspring to which we are obliged to turn, creatively and in a spirit of victory, at every moment. This ideology is not a decalogue to be repeated mimetically. It is, from the protean vigor that sustains it, a flame that illuminates the path to follow, no matter how many pitfalls are visible on the horizon.
Fidel is an imperative that comforts us, and he will live for all times. Not in a passive way, contemplating inertly the social evolution, but fighting, and defeating, against the current demons and their future metamorphoses.
Its gallant image will reach us more and more as an expression, and certainty, that we will never surrender to those who try to trample us underfoot.
In the successes that even today we cannot anticipate, he will also play a leading role. He will continue to be, for the joy of millions, the Commander-in-Chief of ideas and the revolutionary epic, wherever they emerge, as a result of the telluric commotions that spring from the bowels of the peoples. That smiling Fidel, synthesis of the best of our multipolar culture, is reborn every morning. With him, likewise, those of us who believe, from Marti's heritage, in the usefulness of virtue and human improvement.