This April 19, 2023 has been a historic day. Together with valuable colleagues, and consequently with the position for which we have been elected, we have ratified our oath to serve the country, the Constitution, and the defense of the interests of the Cuban people.

Among so many emotions and thoughts that flow through my head, the family appears, especially my parents.

Today in the Cuban Parliament, I felt that they were by my side, and I dedicate this merit to them. To my mother Blasa Romero López, a black woman from “dirt floor” and “straw roof” in the hills of Baracoa, who went out to “seek life” in the midst of the revolutionary fervor of the sixties.

That girl who, faced with the thousands of opportunities that were opening up for the poor people of this country, with the arrival of Fidel and the bearded men, did not hesitate to enlist in any task and become a professional and a good worker.

To that young woman from the “picolino” tractor squad in the lands of Ceballos. To that CERD leader for more than 30 years. To that militiawoman who dragged me by the hand when I was 8 years old, for whatever militia march was called in the endearing eighties. To you mom this recognition.

I also extend it to my father Arnaldo Rodriguez Valdés. Communist leader, capable, intelligent, with an upright character, but very humane. To that young mulatto and partygoer who left the Luyanó slums as a result of the nascent Cuban Revolution, and proposed to move forward to get his family out of those crowded and hungry rooms of the "prosperous Cuba" of Fulgencio Batista.

To my father, that young founder of the Centennial Youth Column, to the businessman of various companies, to the contingent of the stone-way in Cayo Coco, to my hero.

This recognition is for you for guiding me on the right path, for teaching me the most beautiful and noble values ​​of life. For instilling in me the feelings of loyalty, honesty, and humility. I am not perfect. Maybe I wasn't everything you proposed to me. But know that I am an immensely proud man of myself, of what I learned from you, and of the enormous legacy that you forged with your effort, perseverance, and fidelity.