The last lap towards freedom

On November 2, 2026, a 57-year-old man arrived at the door of his mother's house in Hull, England. He had been trying to return for 28 years. He had neither been lost nor forgotten the way: he had chosen to take the hardest route.

Karl Bushby, a former British paratrooper, completed a journey of approximately 50,000 kilometers, crossing four continents and around thirty countries. His story contains a lesson that we Cubans must embrace: no extraordinary goal is achieved without perseverance, sacrifice, and the ability to overcome what seems impossible.

Bushby set out on November 1, 1998, from Punta Arenas, at the southern tip of Chile. He established two rules for himself: not to use any means of transportation to make progress and not to return home until he had completed the journey. He thought it would take much less time. In reality, it would require nearly three decades. Each day depended on his legs, his will, and often the kindness of strangers.

While that British man began to walk north, we Cubans had already spent four decades taking another path, infinitely painful: the path to regain the lost freedoms. Those who defended human rights in the seventies and eighties were joined in the nineties by new opposition movements, civic organizations, and independent journalists. Before us, we did not have mountains of ice, but rather prisons, torture, surveillance, threats, and a repressive apparatus determined to prevent every step.

In 2001, Bushby entered the Darién Gap, between Colombia and Panama: a dense jungle, dangerous rivers, diseases, and the presence of armed groups. He managed to cross it, but ended up detained for eighteen days in Panama. That experience could have convinced him to give up. He did not. He learned that the path to a legitimate goal can force us to endure setbacks without abandoning our purpose.

The Cuban democratic movement has also faced its challenges. The fear sown over decades, imprisonment, torture, the infiltration of political police, acts of repudiation, and distrust among fellow citizens have been—and still are—difficult obstacles to overcome. However, initiatives such as the Varela Project, civil society efforts, and independent media emerged. Each signature collected, each denunciation publicized, and each organization established represented another step forward.

In 2006, Bushby faced one of the most formidable dangers: crossing the Bering Strait from Alaska to Russia. It was fourteen days spent on shifting and breaking ice floes, amidst waters capable of killing in minutes. He and his companion came close to death. Then came further detentions and immigration issues. But he pressed on.

Three years earlier, during the Black Spring of 2003, the Cuban regime had sentenced 75 opponents, journalists, and human rights defenders to long prison terms. It aimed to turn prisons into an impenetrable barrier. It did not succeed. Families, the Ladies in White, and other activists kept the demand for freedom alive. Where some were imprisoned, others took up the cause, committing themselves to the struggle.

Bushby was not defeated by the entry bans in Russia, the loss of sponsors after the financial crisis of 2008, the pandemic, or the wars that closed borders. He even walked thousands of additional kilometers to obtain a visa. Perseverance did not mean mechanically repeating the same attempt, but rather finding new paths without betraying the essential rules of his endeavor.

For Cubans, this teaching is crucial. Resistance has had to reinvent itself time and again: from underground activism to public initiatives, from printed flyers to social media, from opposition organizations to citizen mobilizations. On July 11, 2021, thousands took to the streets demanding freedom and rights. The repression was harsh, but those voices proved that fear had not silenced thousands of Cubans determined to claim their freedom.

In 2024, with land routes blocked, Bushby swam across the Caspian Sea in a 31-day operation. In October 2026, he also swam the English Channel because he did not receive permission to cross the tunnel on foot. Finally, on November 2, he arrived in Hull and embraced his mother. He had aged while walking, but he had not given up on his dream.

Our journey has now surpassed 67 years. We have lost loved ones, endured imprisonment, exile, divisions, and disappointments. And, unlike Bushby, we did not choose these obstacles: they have been imposed upon us by a communist regime that denies fundamental freedoms. However, we have also found solidarity and many reasons to carry on. Today, we have a very supportive friend in the government of the United States, as well as other important allies.

In these current times, we must think like the 10,000-meter runner entering the final lap. Their body is exhausted, muscles aching, and breath on the edge. Yet, they do not slow down: they tap into their last reserves, focus their mind on the finish line, and accelerate. Cuba needs that final push: more unity, organization, solidarity, civic participation, and determination. Freedom is earned; it is not something that falls from above.

Bushby arrived home because he never stopped moving forward. We also want to reach ours: a free, democratic, just, and prosperous Cuba. The goal deserves every effort. And the time has come to quicken our pace to Save the Motherland that is suffering.