Shall we fear the habits of authority established during the war, which in a way, are anointed with the daily disdain for death? For, either I do not know what is brave about the Cuban soul, or what is wise and experienced about Cuba’s judgment, or to the extent in which the old authorities would count on the pristine authorities and that admirable concert of republican thoughts and heroic action which honor, with barely no exception, all the Cubans who wielded their arms; or rather, as I know all that, to anyone suggesting that we are to expect from our veterans that criminal love of theirs, or that postponement of the homeland for the sake of their own interests in an iniquitous betrayal of their country, I would say: - “You lie!”
Pues no conozco yo lo que tiene de brava el alma cubana, y de sagaz y experimentado el juicio de Cuba, y lo que habrían de contar las autoridades viejas con las autoridades vírgenes, y aquel admirable concierto de pensamiento republicano y la acción heroica que honra, sin excepciones apenas, a los cubanos que cargaron armas; o, como que conozco todo eso, al que diga que de nuestros veteranos hay que esperar ese amor criminal de sí, ese postergamiento de la patria a su interés, esa traición inicua a su país, le digo: -"!Mienten!"