- The Last Noche Buena

Tonight, the 24th of December, 2007, will be a special night. Not only because the family will be together to share the great food and spirits that accompany Noche Buena, but because I truly believe that this year will be the last year we all toast, “Next year in Cuba.”

This Noche Buena will be the last one where a vile dictatorship keeps families apart. This Noche Buena will be the last one where exiled Cubans who have spent more years in exile than in their own land will shed tears for the horror that has stricken their island home for so many years. This Noche Buena will be the last one where the conversations will be dominated by the Cuba that once was, instead of the Cuba that will be. And most important of all, this Noche Buena may very well be the last one where our brothers and sisters in Cuba will have to commemorate this cherished Cuban tradition in secret.

On the 24th of December, 2008, a different toast will be raised. No longer will we offer a hopeful toast to the coming year. Instead, we will toast Cuba’s newfound freedom and the final end of tyranny. For many of us, this toast will be partaken with family members we have not seen in decades. And for many others, such as myself, we will toast with family members we have never met.

Tonight will be a special night indeed for it will be the last time we proclaim Cuba Libre with the hopes that it will someday come to pass. Next year, we will all shout Cuba Libre because for the first time in forty-nine years, it will be.