On March 8, 1931, International Women's Day was celebrated for the first time in Cuba.

The event took place at the Centro  Obrero in Havana, although it did not conclude because the police intervened and dissolved those present.

International Women's Day was instituted in the world during an international women's conference held on August 26-27, 1910 in Denmark.

More than 100 delegates from 17 countries participated in that meeting. This was the second international women's conference and was presided over by Clara Zetkin.

It was precisely this prestigious German communist militant who proposed the celebration of International Women's Day. 

Clara Zetkin was born on July 5, 1857 and died on June 20, 1933.

She was a tireless fighter against the exploitation of some men by others and was an uncompromising defender of women's rights.

At the conference, it was proposed that the day should be dedicated primarily to actions aimed at defending women's right to vote, as well as to the welfare of children and the strengthening of world peace.

The world's first celebration of International Women's Day took place on March 19, 1911 in Denmark, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Together, around one million men and women took part in these activities.

As the years went by, International Women's Day was celebrated in more and more countries. Subsequently, it was agreed to set March 8 of each year as a fixed date for the celebration.

Since the triumph of the Revolution to date, International Women's Day in Cuba has had a special significance.

In the first place, it has served to recognize and pay tribute to Cuban women who have contributed to the development and defense of the revolutionary process through their work. In addition, it has continued to reaffirm everything related to the full equality of women and to eliminate all vestiges of discrimination.

In Cuba, not only on the occasion of the celebration of this date, but also in everyday events, poems, musical creations, works of art and theater, books and publications, radio and television programs, documentaries and films, reference has been made to and homage has been paid to Cuban women.

The transcendence they have had in our history and in such decisive spheres as defense, education, public health, economy, science, culture, sports and the media, to cite just a few examples, has been highlighted.

The great role played by Cuban women in the fulfillment of international missions has also been recognized, giving their contribution to other peoples even in very adverse situations and conditions, such as when they have had to carry out such work in places that have been affected by atmospheric phenomena or even in very remote areas in different countries.

And I think it is appropriate to recall on this occasion some of José Martí's considerations on women that have a special significance and validity.

For example, in a work published in the newspaper "Patria" on April 29, 1893, Martí pointed out when summarizing the transcendence he attributed to the presence of women in any human work that nothing lasts without the grace of women, who instinctively see the truth and precede it.

And the following year, in this case on April 5, 1894, in a work titled "The holy woman", published in Patria Martí emphasized that delight and source of pride, she is a brave and self-sacrificing woman. 

Also in a letter he wrote to the young María Mantilla, dated April 9, 1895, he made reference to the characteristics that, in his opinion, a woman should have, from the spiritual point of view, expressing that an honest, intelligent and free soul, gives the body more elegance, and more power to the woman, than the richest fashions of the stores. 

Martí also said that without a woman's smile there is no man's complete glory and emphasized that when a woman encourages and applauds, when a cultured and virtuous woman anoints the work with the skin of her affection - the work is invincible.

I also quote some considerations expressed by the maximum leader of the Cuban Revolution, Commander in Chief Fidel Castro, in relation to women.

Both in acts celebrated on the occasion of International Women's Day, as well as in the constitution of the Federation of Cuban Women and in the closing of different congresses of this organization, and in other events, Fidel has exposed valuations that highlight the great value of women in our society. 

And by way of example I point out what Fidel said on November 29, 1971 in the "Lázaro Peña" theater in Havana at the closing of the Second Congress of the Federation of Cuban Women.

Fidel detailed: "The Revolution has in Cuban women today a real army, an impressive political force. And that is why we say that the Revolution is simply invincible. Because when women acquire that level of political culture and revolutionary militancy, it means that the country has made a very great political leap, that our people have surpassed themselves extraordinarily, that the march of our homeland towards the future can no longer be stopped by anyone."

Likewise in that speech Fidel assured: "...women are the natural workshop where life is forged. They are par excellence the creators of the human being. And I say this because, far from being the object of discrimination and inequality, women deserve special considerations from society."