IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 2 ENGLISH | Page 64

this world, everyone, peoples and men must pay
their way.”13
About family and school, he recommends that
love of them “should be cultivated in early age,
and that in them feelings of independence and
dignity should be promoted.”14 This is something
that has been ignored in the Cuban educational
system, with its pretense about shaping the “New
Man,” which in reality is a neo-slave whose dignity is shamed and dependent on totalitarian
power.
Some emphasized values: honesty and transparency
For Martí, honesty is an essential value in one’s
upbringing and conduct: “It is preferable to not
exist, than to not be honest15…One can except all
that is good from a society in which women are
virtuous and men are honest.”16
He holds transparency in relations equally important to honesty, for which he states: “All honest men can account for his acts at all times, and
should always be prepared to do so.”17 He insisted
on the need for transparency in public figures and
institutions. In referring to local government, he
said they are “ a kind of testing ground for public
men; because the management of funds requires
a responsibility to apply them usefully, visibly
and clearly.18
He reveals that he understood the modern concept
of social capital and its ability to create wellbeing
and wealth: “A man who wants a generation of
hypocrites and egotists for his people is no man at
all! Let us be honest, no matter what it costs.
Later, we shall be wealthy. — Only virtues produce constant and serious wellbeing in peoples.”19

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Many Martí devotees agree with Ariel Hidalgo’s
call: “This is why I believe it is no longer possible
for all Cubans of good will to begin this exchange
of ideas that Martí wanted to bring to fruition, but
was never able to realize. For our very necessary
dialogue-debate, it is very necessary that we base
our conversation on precisely this ideology, one
that reflected a beautiful dream for a future Cuba,
one that through consensus would realize José
Martí’s ideal of “sublime justice.”20
Notes:
1-Martí, José. Obras completas VI (OC). (La Habana: Ciencias Sociales, 1975): 245 s.
2- OC VI, 332.
3- OC VII, 349.
4- OC XVIII, 139.
5- OC I, 321.
6- OC VI, 227.
7- OC VI, 448.
8- OC II, 298.
9- OC VII, 331.
10- OC X, 475.
11- OC XIX, 382.
12- OC VIII, 379.
13- OC III, 117.
14- OC VI, 202.
15- OC XXIII, 143.
16- OC XIX, 168.
17- OC XXII, 57.
18- OC VI, 322.
19- OC IV, 188 s.
20- “José Martí y la República de los Pasos Perdidos,” Cubaencuentro (20 de mayo 2013).
, 20 de mayo 2013.