(SANITIZED)ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS OF SPEECHES DELIVERED BY FIDEL CASTRO AND OTHER CUBAN OFFICIALS/PAMPHLETS RELATING TO MISCELLANEOUS PROPAGANDA TOPICS(SANITIZED)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00247A004200270001-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 389
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 9, 2014
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: October 12, 1964
• Content Type: MISC

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SPEECH DLIIVERED BY M,JOR FIDEL C.ETR.C, PRIM MINISTER Of THE
REVOLUTION;iRY GOVERNMENT NB FIRST SECRET:,RY OF THE UNITED Pi...RTY
OF THE SOCIaIST REVOLUTION) ON JULY 26) 1964) ON THE OCC;.SION
OF THE ELEVENTH ANNIVERS;aY OF THE i.TTC1( ON THE YONC.D. WaRi,CKSe
Distinguished guests; Relatives cf the comrades who fell in the assault_on
the Moncada Barracks and in the struggle for the triumph of the revolution; Work..
ers; Farmers; People of Oriente- province; Cubans:
Never in the town of Santiago de Cuba, nevqr in this indomitable province)
STAT
has such an enormous multitude congregatodA On the Morning of the 26th.Of.41441',;
when we advanced on the Moncada Earrackb, we were thinking of many things, of the
battles which faccd us) of the struggle.: itsdf, of the tasks to be carried'out.when,
the revolution triurghed.
But we dicing think tht eleven years .,fter that morning, .a multitude like
this would meet to com=oratc the date. Y
When men gp out to b.Ittio, and are preparing to sacrifice themselves, they'?
_
don't think about commemoration sl when men go out to battle they don't
consider whether they will see the day when the people meet to celebrate their
triumphs. But commemorations are the result of battles, of the people's efforts
and struggles to fulfill their own destiny.
In any case, for us, for all the mon who have aruggled and contributed to
these victories) for the lundf;rs of the revolution, a demonstration such as this
is a source of very profound natisfactich.
Such n meeting cannot be pr?pared, or invented; this is hot a product of
,mistaketi,
fantasy. Unless we are gre!...tly/ the hundreds thousand of Citizens meeting to-
gether here this afternoon are men and W,men of real flash a.mi blood. It.menns,,
th7t the people have come to give their rocognition, their support and their
strength to our nationpl development to the story which began to be written in this
very city of Santiago de Cuba, the morning of the twenty sixth of July, 1953..
Major Fidel Cistre pointl out that thc support of the Cuban people is not
simply a tribute to thoso who gave their livs for the cause of the people, hit-is
the resultof the process of that strugle, and is the fruit of sacrifice.
He said that a U.S. journalist had asked the reasons for the attraction of
Mr. Fidel Castro. The answer --said Fid41-- is that it is not-the.attraction-ef.
Fidel Castro, but the attraction of the -Revolution, and the CPAISCS will tejound
in the history of the Revolutionary laws The answer is not in any one-Person, but
in the work of the Revolution.
This is not n country of fanaticc4 but of men road women who think and feel.
Our people are not used to pnying tribute to anyone; we arc a people who have been
greatly deceived in the past. The fAth of the pe:-Tle has been awakened by deeds
not by words or bY personalities.
The Revolution --said Fidel-- is not the work of a man ,r of a group of men;
the Revolution is the work of a, people.. i?hd what we are doing today, good or bad,
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He explained that the re9pluticonary go4ernnent in posse has endured because
it has the suppoit of the people: Cotes from the people, betause bower is their
strength, is the weapons in the hands of the People.
Hee in Cuba --said Fidel.- the only ones who are afraid are the CIa agents,
the exploiters, the enemies of the Revolution. The country has seen so many of
its beat sons murdered, has been the Victim of so many attaCks, sabotage, and murde.
ers, it is not logical that the people will handle their enables With kid gloves.
We can nct handle enemies who are asking for a blood bath With kid glovesi
There an be no haPpiness, or sedurity withih the Revolution Lot the enemies of the
people and of the Revolution.
. Fidel added that it is only because of the help, support and stimulus Of
Successive governments of the United States that the counterrevolutionary elements
decided to oppose the will of the people and were fooled by vain hopes. They first
thought it would be a matter of days, then of months, or perhaps years. But now
it seems that it is going to be a matter of centuries:
The Revolution has established its laws and according to them, it judges and
sentences its enemies, but it neither tortures nor murders them. The men of the
Revolutipn make the laws, and on the basis of those laws they judge and pass sen-
tence. In addition we assume the historical responsibility for our actions.
The Revolution --said Fidel-- has been generous. And he cited the example
of the Playa .r6n mercenaries, common agents of the CIA, who were neither torture.
ed nor ill treated, and whose lives were spared, even though in any country in the
world, traitors such as these in the service of a foreign power would pay with their
lives for their crimes. Only the Betista henchmen, who came with the invasion and
had been convicted of previous crimes, were sentenced to capital punishment.
The murderers of teachers, and of other people as well as those who try to
destroy the riches of the nation, will not escape revolutionary justice , warned
Fidel. The people have to defend themselves.
He then recalled the hurricane that just 9 months ago devastated Oriente
province. He pointed out that today) July 26th, not a sign cen be seen of the
effects of the hurricane. The labor of the people rebuilt everything that was
lost; not one victim wae without help, not one orphan was left alone, not one
single family was ruined economically.
The effort of thousands of Cubans, especially the members of the Armed For-
ces and the Cuban pilots, helped save thousands ef lives. If the revolution had
not been in power, politicians would have pocketed the money from the meager cre-
dits given to the victims:
Now no one has become a, millionaire and on the other hand no family has been
pauperized. Neither votes nor anything else was demanded in return for help, as
was done in the past.
. Fidel explained that there arie still many problems, People ask for many
things, for instance, more houses. We are working on that --he said-7 we are de-
veloping the Construction industry, although we do not have enough workers or cons
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truction materials.
We know the needs of our people and we are simply not satisfied to say we
can't fulfill them. We always look for a solution. He cited the examples of the
new highways being built throughout Oriente province and the works under construct?
ion to provide Santiago de Cuba with sufficient fresh water and electricity.
Fidel said that there isn't a place in the mountains without a teacher and,
that now in Cuba not a single child dies for lack of medical attention or of medi..
eines. These are among many things the Revolution is doing to develope our country.
And the farmers, all our people, know it. Fidellterated that the sugar and ?atm
tie industries are being given priority because the growth of our Agriculture will
depend maknly_on_their development. We have made progress in five years and in the
coming five years we will make even more. We inherited a poor, underdeveloped cohni!..,
try with a very backward economy. The merit of our people is that despite these
handicaps they are going in a short time to turn this country into a rich country,
.mechanized and technically advanced. We 4...qallelny that we_hase?sahilaning, said
Fidel. We ve it because if we didn't, only those with the most money weuld est:
For example in Brazil where there is no ra ? is, the rich have eve ? the
poor....1Lolry. In many countries like Brazil there is noc---Ti.rttdoaaiT-W71r7UMf'Tieh
have everything and the poor go hungry. Brazil, Colombia, and Centr --r
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example, are not victims of imperialist biockadi, ye tliere is
ecauczaiss?age...ruiptedr They ..- kk.c - - wk. : : ?ba finpite of
the ee2n2mic blockade, everyone eats. And we keep moving ahead.
The bourgeoisie speaks of freedom, said Fidel, but... what kind of freedom?
The freedom to be hungry nine months in the year? The freedom to sell your vote?
The freedom to put the whole family indebt in order to have yourchild receive an
/njection at a hospital? The freedom to work like a beast, that is when you have
work? Those are the freedoms the bourgeoisie speaks of, the freedom tc; .have a gee)
of armed hoodlums beating the people.
These are the freedoms of the bourgeoisie: freedom to be illiterate, freedom
to be discriminated against, as was the case of a great part of our population, our /
Negro population. Those are the freedoms the bourgeoisies spedk. of.
The freedoms the people have known in the Revolution; are the freedom to
study, the freedom to live decently and honorably, the freedom to be regarded as a
human being, not an animal, the freedom not to be exploited like a beast. The right
to go to a beach or to a restaurant if you are a Negro. It is no misfortune to be
one because in this land Negroes and Whites are equally Worthy and distinguished,
without any type of discrimination. The right to work, the right to develope the
wealth of the country, the right not to be beaten, or illtpeated the right to take
part in the destiny of the country, the right to have a weapon to defend our country.
The true concept of freedom, of dignity, of rights.., is what the Revolution
has brought our country, That is why we are so hated by our enemies, ourimpotent
enemies, who thought they would wipe us off the map with one puff, and now after
five and a half years of Revolution, far from being obliterated you can hardly see
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the extent of the crowd that has gathered herei
Recently a U.S. Journalist interviewed me and we talked for about lg hours.
Well, he was interested in many questionsi..
He wasn't able to pUnish the answers to all of them) bebause don't for a
minute believe that everything can be published there&
For example) a U.S. Journalist with a good reputation, Mr. Herbert Matthews,
who 1.0 on the staff of the New York Times once visited Cuba and wrote his impres-
sions. But they didn't let him publish them in the Row or Times, one of the
papers with the best reputation in the United States....
We agreed to grant an interview to another N.Y& Times journalist. He asked
a series of questions covering all kinds of subjectai Yor all knew how newsman
are... they ask a lot of questionS) and some of them are very shrold in the way
they ask them.
He spoke of relations between the United States and OubaA I animorad frankly
because frankness is best.., why should we tell liesi&b. Look) tile truth is that
neither the United States nor Cuba did very much to prevent things from' reaching,the'
point they have.
Then he asked more questions, and I explained the position of Cuba. I ex-
plained, among other: things why the People of the United States in my opinion, are
unable to understand many present day problems. The people of the United States
have never had to face the problems Which the peoples of Europe had to face, nor
experienced the difficulties the European peoples have experienced. The people
of the United States have become accustame to analyze problems in a very aimpli-
fied manner.
One of the questions he asked was this: "Can the question of Cuban aid to
other countries, to the revolutionary movement in Latin America, be negotiated?"...
I thought his question referred to the"aid"that they say we give the revo-
lutionary movements in Latin America. I did not say yes or no; in other words, I
did not say whether or not we gave aid. I just answered his question. I told
him: "Look, aid to revolutionary movements can not be negotiated, can not be ne-
,_
gotiated". Then I said: "If you ask me another question, that is, if you ask me
if we are a nation capable of living in accordance with international laws rules '
then I would answer yes".
We are not going to negotiate the question of solidarity... No. That would
not be the worthy of a revolutionary.., and if we ever give any aid or should ever
give any aid, we would never do so in order to negotiate on the basis of that aid.
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No. I said this very clearly, and I am clarifying it again because the nommen was
very truthful. f would 847 more truthful than many newmen in quoting one's words.
Buto.of coUrse, my akswer was much more elaborate than it appeared in the.
printed interview. I want to repeat what I told him, I said: if you ask me if we
are a country capable of living according to international laws my answer is yes,
but this is Already a different question.
Then, the neWsman a very shrewd journalist, asked me: "When you say thAt Cuba
can live in accerdance with interhational laws do you Mean that if other countries
do not interfee in Cuba's internal affairs; then Cuba would respect the internal
policy of those countries? My answer was "Ye"1
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We understand the need for peoples, for itateb to live in accordance with
international laws.
He asked me: "This means, that if Cuba should send weapons to help the res.
volutionary movement in a country does not send weapons to Cuba to help the counter..
revolution, and does not violate international law with respect to Cuba, Cuba would
then be violating international lavi in sending Weapons to that country. 147 answer
was Yes.
In other words, if, Cuba were to send arms to a country that respects our so.
vereignty, that doesn't meddle in cur internal affairs, that doesn't give arms to
the counterrevolution, then we would be violatin the law.
Thep he asked another question: "And what if you give money to a revolution?
ary movement?" I said, "It depends on what the money is for". For exsmae, to turn
it around, if it is the money that'the United States gives to those who have left
Cuba, to enable them to eat... that is of no importance to us, that would not be a
violation of the law".
But he persisted, saying that was not what he meanti He meant economic aid,
the financing of a revolurionary movement. So I replied in the same way. If Cuba
helps finance a revolutionary movement in a country that doesn't meddle in the afi.
Lairs of Cuba, a country that respects the sovereignty of Cuba, that doesn't finance
any counter revolutionary movement, then we would be violating the law. That was
my reply.
Afterwards they published a story which said: "Cuba is ready to negotiate
the aid. it gives to the revolutionary movement": But the question was not nor, could
it have been, put in that way. We sympathise with all revolutionary movements where
ver they may be, but we understand that the very existence of nations and states
imposes a system of laws of relationships between those states regardless of their
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social systems.
If it is desirable to have peace and to have nations live together in a civi.
heed way, it is neceseary-that they live in accordance With the laws of internatio.
nal relationships. .
This is a hecessity.
It doesn't matter how great our sympathy may be towards revolutions. The rea.:
lities of the woKdi the true and objective existence of more than one hundred states
in the world, makes it imperative that states Ave Subject to laws of international
conduct.
For these reasons, laws are an absolute necessity.
These laws exist and they represent the only way in which mutual respect and
peace can exist between nations..
That is our sincere belief, our revolutionary belief.
What we do not accept is that international laws are applicable in same areas
but are not obligatory elsewhere.
Briefly, if we want to help a revolutionary movement, we see ourselves limited
by the international laws that existp.that is to say we don't have the right to med.
die in the internal affairs of another country. We do not have the right to meddle
in their internal affairs.
All right, the laws are an impediment to us as revolutionaries in helping
other revolutionaries. We would like to send them arms, we would like to send them
supplies... But what stops us? The laws that exist between nations. We are held
back by a respect for the policy of national sovereignty and the principle of self
determination. .
To make it quite clear, if a state in its relations with us, doesn't abide"
by the laws, if a state in its relations with us, meddles in our internal,affairet
then there will be no impediment stemming from intern h al`laws, to prevent us
from helping with all the resources at our disposal, revolutionary movement in
that country... t'
This is a clear policy, one base on principle.
Countries which dontt respetit Cuba, which meddle in the internal affairs of
Cuba, and-promote counter revoluticcwi have no right to complain if we help the revo.
lution in those countries. We believe this is clear and elementary.
As you know, the Organization of American States, that rubbish heap, that
U.S.. Ministry of Colonies, has met to judge and sanction Cuba on the pretext that
Ciba sent arms to the Venezuelan Revolutionaries.
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they say they found arms of Belgian...Cuban manufactUrei #rdl the infotation
we have from very tenable sources it is certain that there Were also bazocikid and
mortars manufactured in the United States, made in U1S.Ai
And these were never acquired by Cuba t So how is it possible to explain the
existence of those mortars, and those bazobkas On the coast of Veriezueia?., If they
say that We tent them, they would have to begin by admittine that they firet dent
thet herei
This does not teen that we sent them. We don't have to tender 4counte
any kind to the OAS and we don't have to render accoUnti to the Pi% itperia,lista...
And don't have to render accounts to those who have never tendered account to 140
fot the thoUsands of weapons that they themselves have introduced into our colintryi
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But this is not what we are discussing.-Let history solve those questions: -
When the OAS in the role of judges, sent us a piece of paper demanding explana-
tions, we told them: "Go to the devil, we do not have to give you any explanations".
Well, the Foreign Ministers of the United States, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Costa Rica and
Venezuela, met, that is, the Ministers of countries that have been promoting subversion
and counterrevolution, in our land; the Ministers of States that have shamelessly,
openly, been using their territories to train merceAries, to supply bases, to arm Wen
for invasions, pirate attacks, to drop Inopons inside oui country.
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To sanction us on charges Of having sent arms to Venezuela, they would first ha-
ve to sanction the government of the United States 70 times over; they would also have ?
to sanction the governments of Nicaragua and Guatemala 70 times over, the countries
from which the Playa Gir6n invasion was organized, and innumerable shipments of aims
came. And they would have to condemn the government of Venezuela that has financed
counterrevolution and given arms to the counterrevolution.
What moral right have these gentlemen to judge and sanction Cuba?
There was a great fuss made over their meeting. Much fanfare; many cables flew
back and forth tc judge Cuba and apply sanctions against it. Nothing could be more cr-
'nical, more shameless. After meeting for several days they made certain decision. (A
cry from the audience: "Who is going to bell ihe cat?"). That is the problem, Oho tO
going to bell thka cat?
What happened there? Well, a group of Countries headed by the United States impa
sed its will, its point of view. Everybody knew what the governments of Nicaragua, El
Salvador, Venezuela, Colombia, and Brazil Siould do --that was no surprise to anyone.
What did the United States want? They wanted all Latin American nations to break
relations with us. They adopted an agreement on the breaking of diplomatic and consu-
lar relations with us. Here I have the decision of the Organization Of American States.
What does the agreement say?
ONE: "To declare that the acts verified by the investigating committee constitu-
te an aggression and an intervention on the part of the government of Cuba in the inteE
nal affairs of Venezuela,' which affects all tlie member states.
TWO: "To condemn energetically the present government of Cuba for its acts of
aggression and of intervention against the territorial inVielability, the soverignty
and the political independence of Venezuela (as if Venezuela had any political indepea
dence).
THREE: "The governments of the American States to suspend all trade', whether
direct of indirect with Cuba, except in foodstuffs, medicines and medical equipment
that may be sent to Cuba for humanitarian reasons.(We all know the "humanitarian rea-
sons" of these shameless characters. YoU all know them well. Shortly after the hurri-
cane struck Cuba last year, Cuba wanted to test these "humanitarian feelings" and deci
ded to purchase certain shipments of medicines and baby food in the United States. The
U.S. government, dropping the mask, then prohibited the sale of medicines and baby
food, in spite of the fact that they had always said they would not do so... for "hum
nitarian reasons". These things are always said hypocritically. Not for "humanitarian
reaons" but for rea- -3 of sheer hipocrisy).
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The governments of the American States shall suspend all sea transportation be
ween their countries and Ce a. except for such transportation as may be necessary for
"hum,tnitarian reaenss".
FOUR: "To authorize the Council of the Organization of American States by an af-
firmative vote of two thirds of its members, to discontinue the measures adopted in
the present resolution at such time as the government of Cuba shall have ceased to
constitute a danger to the peace and security of the continent".
FIVE: "To warn the government of Cuba that if it should persist (listen to this,
this is supposed to make you shiver, you will see) to warn the government of Cuba that
if it should persist in carrying out acts that posseses characteristics of aggression
and intervention against one or more of the member states of the Organization, these
states shall Maintain their essential rights as sovereign nations by means of the use
of individual or collective self-defense, which could go so far to resort to armed for
ces (such frightening words!) until such time as the organ of consultation takes mea-
sures to ensure the peace and security of the continent".
SIX: "To urge those states not members of the OAS that are animated by the same
ideals of the Interamerican system, to examine the possibility of effectively demons-
trating their solidarity in achieving the purposes of this resolution".
SEVEN: "To instruct the Secretary General of the OAS to transmit to the United
Nations Security Council the text of the present resolution in accordance with the
provisions of Article #54 of the United Nations Charter".
These are the famous agreements of the OAS. But haw were those agreements adop-
ted? By The unanimous vote of all members? No. Who voted for these agreements? Let us
examine them one by one.
The Dominican Republic, where the militarists staged a coup dletat and overthrew
that representative democrat, Juan tovt and is now right-wing military government.
The government of Honduras, right-wing military government.
The government of El Salvador, another right-wing military government.
The government of Guatemala, another right-wing military government.
The government of Panama. The government of Panama, gentlemen, Where
only a few months ago, dozens of yoUng people were murdered by U.S. marines who crimi
nally fired on the people.
The government of Costa Rica, which is not a right-wing military government, but,
is the next thing to it, because it is as servile as the most servile of all the righ
wing militarists.
The government of Colombia. A government of oligarchs and right-wing military.
The government of Brazil, whete the latest military coup took place.
The government of Paraguay. The government of dictator Stroessner.
The government of Peru, where the right-wing military are ready to throw out
the pseudo-democratic government now in power if it dares to do something it has not
been ordered to do.
And last --who is last? Why, Venezuela. A country where hundreds of young stu-
dents have been assassinated, a country whose wealth in oil and iron is in the
hands of the U.S. imperialists; a country that has been looted and exploited to the
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bare bone. Ani besides, gentlemen, there is a weak government in Veneihela, elected
with only 30 Percent of the votes; Votes obtaidel in the. same wai they wale obtained
here before the revolutioh; aAleak hnd corrupt goliernMent, frightened by the groWihg
strength of the revolutionary movement in Venetuela.
Let the, government of Venezuela summon. the People 6f Caracas, the etudentS; the
workers and the farmers, to give thin rifles. Then ask how long that government will
.last? The truth is that it is a government frightened by the growing streligth of the
revolutionary movement. Although the imperialists never speak of this , the truth is
that the revolutionary movement led by the glorious Venezuelan Armed Forces. of Natio-
nal Liberation (FALN) is ever stronger. It has numerous guerrilla bases which have not
? been crushed by. the pro-imperialist government which succeeded the equally pro-impe-
rialist and corrupt Betancourt goverbment.
What is behind all this, these manouevers of the OAS? Fear! Fear of the ilevolu.=.
tion. Fear of the Venezuelan people. Fear of the heroic fighters of the ArmeiForces
of National Liberation.
In answer to the OAS agreement, let us reply with a mefiage.of greeting and
encouragement to the heroic revolutionaries of Venezuela, Today, on this 26th of Ju-
ly, the eleventh anniversary of the attack on the Moncada Barracks, from the heroic
city of Santiago de Cuba, we send our warm fraternal greeting to the brave Venezuelan
fighters, and we say to them: Don't forget tfte (ample of Cuba!
Our will to fight, our tenacity and our perseverance in the struggle, gave us
victory. In a struggle such as that in which the Venezuelan people are engaged, it is
more correct than ever to apply the saying that "he who perseveres will
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The imperialists will not be able to crush the revolutionary movement of Vene-
zuela, no more than the military clique could crush our revolutionary movement.
So it is fear that is behind these OAS manoueversr In Guatemala is the milita-
ry government has not been able to crush the valiant guerrillas who are fighting in
the mountains of that country against the pro-imperialist and exploiting government
that rules there. Fear of revolutions is what has inspired the OAS agreements.
The spectacle of the United States voting against Cuba, judging Cuba, sanction-
ing Cuba, for "intervening in the internal affairs of other countries", according to
the charges, the United States, that father of intervention! The United States, which
has intervened in the internal affairs of all countries! The United States, which has
been intervening in the internal affairs of Cuba for five years! The United States
whose warships lined up in front of Santo Bomingo.to prevent the triumph of the Revo-
lution of the Dominican people. The United States whose troops only a few months ago ?
massacred the people of Panama! The United States voting sanctions against Cuba!
Which countries voted against sanctions? Mexico, Chile, Uruguay and Bolivia,
voted against the sanctions.,
Which governments took part in the imperialist manouevre? All the right-wing
military dictatorships, the governinents representing the feudal oligarchies, the most
disreputable governments on the cohtinent, governments resulting from military coup ?
d'etat Those were the governdents that voted for saiictions.
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What goveratents voted against sanctiona? The goveraments with the longest dere
caatic and constitutional tradition in Latin America: Mexico, Chile and pruguay.
Three colIntrics known in Amcriea and in the werId for their constitutional tra-
dition over the past thirty years. All of you know the history of . -'e Chile and
Mexico. They are not socieist conntriee, eey are capitalist countries. But for many..
years constithtional governments have prevaljed there, without military coUps mithont
-
eight-wing militarists or putsches. From this point of view; it can be said that thes0-7-
, .
.1
countries -enjoy great prestige and respect in the world.
The fourth country is 3olivial where a worker-farmer revolution took place ten'
years ago.
Those four countries, which Maintain diplomatic relations with Cuba voted
against the measure, and against sanctions.
In reality, has the OAS imPosed any new sanction again t
aey new measure against us? No... because all the Countries which voisidsSi
sanctions are nations whose governauents, under pressure from tht govetment,Oriii.
- .
United States, heve already broken diplomatic and con !al felations
Four naticus have resisted the pressures exerted by the State DeparSIMMt aid
?? ? %.
the government of the United States and have refused to break diplomatic relptions
-1 Puba. Brazil had also refused bu'..; the imperialists took care of that with a coup -
.? .
d'etat.
But in Mexico, Chile, ee Uruguay it was flat so easy to carry out kos4p. They .
,
could roc do it, so they decideel to reach an agreement in the Organization of Merle=
States.; an agreement takina advantage of the'autrmatic majority which for reasons
known to all, the Ueited States has in the OAS. In ether words, through an agreement,
reached by the most disreputable and reactionary governments, by the military diata7,
tors of the continent, the United States attempts to impose on Mexico, Chile, UrugUay.
and Bolivia, a break in relations with Cuba.
Is the position of
Theirs is a policy based
a country which has bean
and shameleSs agreement.
known for its consistent
tional policy.
those countries due to their being communist countries?.1410.
on principle, on self-respect. We have the case of Mexico,
firmest in opposing this unjust and illegal, this cynical
What is happening in the case of Mexico? Mexico is a country
application Cf certain principles and laws in its interna-
But Mexico is also a wountri which has been robbed of more than half.ite terri: e
tory by the United States; Mexico is tee country that has felt the claws of imparts,
lista in tts very flesh and blood. e
Young Mexican cadets sacrificed themselves by leaping to their death from
-
Pultepec Castle wrappld in the, Mexican 17.!..eg rather than surrender to the invading U.'e:
S. forces.
Mexico had its e?volution, f :s reellution of national liberation. Mexico nation
alized the U.S. oil welle, and has maintained a policy in defense of its national
interests.
Mexico's-international policy hat 3 long tad good tradition, and in all justice
' eI
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it must be said that Mexico has followed that policy. Mexico has had the courage to
uphold its position, because neither the government of Mexico nor the Other govern-
ments that voted against the OAS agreements want to take part in or be responsible for
that infamous page veitten at the meeting of the OAS. -
We sincerely believe that the present President of Mexico will go down in histo-
ry, along with the great President, Lharo Cttrdenas, who ranked among the great and
good presidents of Mexico.
We dont know what the cousegeences of these agreements will be; We do not know .
because, in fact, this is an interference in the policy of other countries; in fact,
this agreement is equivalent to trying to force a certain number of nations to break
off diplomatic relations with Cuba, an action they have refused to take in the face of
every kind of pressure.
What is our position? We ask does there exist a real desire for peace?
Is there really a desire for better relations among the countries of this.hemia
there? Then let them reach an agreement not to sanction Cuba, but to condemn all acts
of intervention in the internal affairs of other countries by any nation of this he-
misphere.
What are we prepared t. do? We are prepared to do what we have always done. We
are ready to live in peaceyith all countries and states of this hemisphere, regard-
less of their sceial system. We are ready to live under a system of international laws
that are equally applicable to and equally binding on all countries.
Mexico, the goveenment of M2XiCO, that has maintained the firmest position, ins-
pires us . ?respect. We are willing to talk with the government of Mexico. With the
government of Mexico we are willing to f011ow.a policy based on laws, laws of inviola-
ble respect for the sovereignty of each country, andenot to interfere in the internal
affairs of any country if ether countries are willing to live in the same way. .
New, I doret know what they do with Mexico, if Mexico does not break rela-
tions with Cuba, or whe,t they will allege. But we have faith in. the government of Me-
xico and we make this statement with full responsibility: with the government of Me-
xico We are willing to talk, with the government of Mexico we are willing to negotia-
te, with the government of Mexico we are willing to enter into agreements.
If they want to take part in a real slution, in a truly wise and Sensible forma
la, the governments of Chile, Uruguay and Bolivia can also participate.
Cuba makes this statement with all sincerity.
If the OAS wants to frighten us, to threaten us with invasions, to impose law
on us which are nevcr lived up to in their treatment of us, if they want to apply this
policy against Cuba while the United States and the governments that are its accompli-
ces in these adventures, carry out a policy of interference and intervention in the
internal affairsof Cuba, then, we are on the wrong road and those governments and the
government of the United States are on the wrong road.
What did some U.S. writers and .omentators say at the time of my interview with
the U.S. journalist? They said that Cuba was talking that way because the RevaetiOn
was weak, because the Revolution was in a desperate situation.
This is cueious, Only a few weeks ago when we warned them very seriously about
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the possible consequences of their violations of Cuban air space, whed we spoke very
vigorously to the government of the United States about the possible consequenczesof
their provocations, they said that the Revolutionary government Was talking that way
because it was facing a desperate internal situation. They say the same thing when ,the
Revolution rightly speaks in an energetic tone and calls attention to the dangers that
the U.S. provocations represent to torld peace, and when the Revolutionary Government
speaks in defense Cf a position in favor of world peacet When the Revolutionary Govern
ment reiterates the position it has hele and states that it is ready to discuss diffe-
rences,then they say that we do so because we are weak and because we are desperate.
They always reach the same conclusion, and always the wrong conclusion.
Let them say what they wish? We have here a declaration which we have prepared
to submit to the people as a Declaration of Santiago de Cuba in answer to the OAS.
Those gentlemen were not content with adopting sanctions, said Fidel Castro. No,
they were so utterly shameless that they signed a so-called "Declaration to the Cuban
People".
He, then, read the long OAS preamble full of legalities. Fidel commented on the'
one yhich proclaims "that the orientation of the peoples education must be directed
towards Justice, Liberty and Peace".
But that is just what we have been doing, exclaimed Fidel. Liberty and Peace...
that is just what we have been working for:
In another part of the preamble it says that "by adopting a Marxist-T=atlinist
ideology, Cuba established a political, economic and social regime foreign to the demo
cratic and Christian traditions of the family of American nations". Fidel.Castre-re-'
plied by describing the Cuban regime as follows:.
."An economic and social system foreign to giant land holdings, foreign to unem-
ployment) "hunger, U.S. monopolies, police brutality, cheap politics; foreign to graft,
crime, injustice and privilege. These characteristics, he said, are not "foreign", ?
howeveii to the traditions of most of those Latin American countries.
Fidel then read the conclusions of the OAS document as follows:
That the free peoples of America are convinced that the Inter-American system
offers thp people of Cuba unequalled conditions for the realization of the ideals of .
peace, p.berty, and social and economic progress;
That the nations making up the Inter-American system express their solidarity
with he people 'of Cuba in all their sufferings, in their total loss of liberty, both
spiritual, social and economic, the loss of their fundamental human rights, the perse-
cutions that they are undergoing, the destruction of a juridical order capable of pei
fecting itself, and that could have maintained its stability; and that, within this,
spirit of solidarity, the free nations of America cannot remain indifferent to, or ig-
.nore the fate of the noble Cuban people, oppressed by a. dictatorship that denies the
Christian democratic traditions of the. American peoples, and they, therefore, declare:
-1. "Their profound concern for the fate of the brother people of Cuba;
2. 7:11cir encouraging hope that the Cuban people, strengthened by its confidence
in the solidarity of the other peoples and governments of America, may be able through
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their own efforts, ln the near future,' to free themselves from the tyranny of the Com-
.
munistregiMe that opreSses them, and establish in the country a government freely elea
ted by the will of, the people that will assure respect for fundamental human rights;.
3. "Their firM conviction that the fact of the energetic condemnation of the po-
licy of aggression.and intervention of the Cuban government against Venezuela will be.
receivedby the people ot Cuba as a stimulus to revive their hopes, so that a climate
of freedom may prevail in their country, offering Cubans at atmosphere favourable to
the development of their personality and the realization of their just aspirations."
Can. you conceiVe of anything more bare-faced, more cynical, more shameless? as-
ked Fide, Castro. W7..!.in I read these agivements I recalled some events of the past. ,I
thought ir example, of this higway of Siboney on which are written the names Of :the
eighty fiters of Moncada, murdered by the henchmen of Batista; I thought of our re-
cent walk through a street in Santiago When we ran into a group of farmers.; some Of whom
came to greet us because they were khovh to us from Minas del Frio; and I remembered:
some of the events that occurred in the mountains which the peasants knew about; I was
thinking of the slaughter in Oro de GuiSa where 40 peasants were cowardly assassinated
in one family they killed everyone but one boy; and I.remembered the mother all of
whose children were killed; I thought of the 300 murdered citizens Of Bueycito, the
fariets Of so many places. Al]. these memories are still fresh in out minds.
And I thought of Batista, the agent of U.S. monopolies, whose soldiers used their
machetes on the backs of out' peasants to defend the interests of the United Fruit Com-
pany.
I thought of the stores of humble and unirtunate persons who were mowed clown in
the Sierra Maestra, as they were during the bloodk Christmas of 1956, by bullets fired
by the defenders of exploitation and. privilege. Not a Word Of "enciintagement" was then
Addreased to the people of Cuba.... 4lot a word of encouragement to mothers whe lost
their eons.. Not a word was said tis condemn the criminal, not a word to condemn the
exploiters. But now when .the people have liquidated those evils, when the people and
the revolution are one and the same thing, when people and state power are one and the
same thing, when there are no more armed rural guards threatening and intimidating the
people, but only the people themselves, remain tb defend the fatherland and the revoly
tion with their weapons, these arrogant gentlemen are So brazen as to address this mel
sage of "encouragement" to the people of Cuba, to the armed people of Cuba, to the re-
volutionary people of Cuba!
We could say to them... "give weapons to the workers and peasants in Latin Amer!
ca and then see how long the military dictators in power will last!" We have given
weapons to the workers and peasants, we have given weapons to the students, and these
weapons are the strength of Our revolutionary state. Let the OAS people dare came here
to try to take away the rifles from the peasants, the wOrkers and the students, and gi
ve them to their henchmen and their dangsterst
Our people have had enough. of that. Our peasants endured much abuse; many flog-
gings by the rural guards. Our workeis endured many irl stices, our students many
beatings..
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Let them dare come here to take the rifles away from the people to give them to
the henchmen and.the mercenaries! Let them try to take away the ::.f7les from the people
We will receive them with bulletrl, "le.ts of them", as one comrade said.
What are those gentlemen of the OAS doing? They are issuing a call to counterre-
volution! They are utterly shameless. They accuse Cuba of interfering in their inter-
nal affairs, and they are calling for counterrevolution.
Well, then, from here,.from this Presidential stand, we address the workers and
peasants who suffer oppression mall those countries that voted against Cuba, to the
workers and peasants of Venezuela, Brazil, Paraguay, Per, Colombia, Panam4, Costa Ri-
ca, Nicaragua, Salvador, Honduras, Santo Domingo, and we reaffirm our faith, our con-
viction that they too will some day rid themselves of all those miserable right-wing
militarists, that some day, peacefully or (.4rcibly. they will take power and will also
carry through the workers and peasants revolution, liquidate the U.S. monopolies and
end exploitation of man by man..
We will see how all this ends. We will see with,the passing of the years who was
right, they or we. We will see if the reactionaries take possession of Cuba, or if the
reactionaries are rejected blthe oppressed peoples of Latin America.
In the face of the call by the imperialists to counterrevolution, the call of
the Cuban revolution is to Latin Americaa Revolution. Call against call! We will see
who is right. We will see whose side history is on their side or ours. We will see
whether they can destroy the revolution or whether the peoples will destroy reaction
and imperialism.
They make another appeal calling upon the nations of Europe to stop all trade
with us. Of course, the European nations know that the United States wants tollave
certain privileges in international trade, to maintain its monopoly of trade in Latin
America. The nations of Europe know that when a country like Cuba frees itself from
exploitation by and dependence on the United States, it may trade freely with all
other countries of the world. Before, we had to sell to Europe to get dollars from
them to pay the United States. However, since the victory of the Revolution we are able
to trade freely with Europe, and in the end the Cuban revolution has been a good exam
pie for Europe.
What has the Cuban revolution demonstrated? It has demonstrated that Europe has
nothing to lose from revolutions in Latin America, and that if the rest of the coun-
tries in Latin America achieve their liberation as Cuba has done, those countries will
also be able to trade with Europe to agreated extend than they are doing now.
It is foolish to believe that the European tountries from which the United Sta-
tes want to take markets away and with whom the United States competes in trade in La-
tin America, will consent to the ridiculous request made by the United States that
they should not trade with Cuba. US. influence in the world lessens day by day, and
Europe is not the Eurole of 20 years ago.
Only a few days ago General dharles De Gaulle told the U.S. government very clear.
ly that the post-war days in which the United States directly or indirectly ran the
affairs of Europe are gone forever4
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Europe is freeing itself. We congratulate General De Gaulle for his declaration
of independence from the United States: A do reed to conceal the fact that we are very
glad that General De Gaulle speaks the truth to the U.S. government.
_But it is not only-Europe: most of Africa has also liberated itself. Some Afri-
can countries, like Algeria, today follow the road'of-socialism. In Algeria, as you all.
know,- there is a Mohammedan religious majority, but they have Said they follow the road
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of socialism and are bearlIng socialism. They have not said they are MarsiSts..Leninists
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ebut they are building socialisea.neverthelecs. They are doing the same thing we are
doing.
Thu.: the peoples of the world not only are achieving their freedom, but they
are following roads similar to thae df Cuba,
'Asia is also liberatine itself4 The U.S. igperialists are loosing the war in.
South Vietnam where they are taking qulte a beating.
In Latin America the j=perialists no longer control the governments of this con-
tinent at thcir will, because thure.are countries which knew how to adopt an indepen-
dent policy, an international policy of their own.
So what do we care about those agreements since they had already imposed the
breaking of diplomatic and t':sade relatipns; and since they cannot impose the breaking
of trade relations on other c.cuntries of the worId. We will face this situation.
As you all know there are :ertain problems of domestic policy in the United Sta-.
tes at present. Those problems are reflected in certain actions, as comrade Radl Castro
explained on the occasion of the death of our comrade Ramon LOpez Peffa, the Cuban sol-
dier assassinated by U.S. marines in the Guantanamo Naval Base.
In the United Stater the political forces are polarizing around two positions:
the most reactionary and the less reactionary. It could very well be said that U.S..
politics is a matter of the had - or the worst.
Since April /9th a certain type of extremely serious provocations, began such as
crossing the border line to insult cur flag; firing at a soldier and wounding him; fie,
ring at, another soldier hardly two weeks later and wounding him too; firing and killing
another revolutionary coldier crly a few clays ago. In the face of such incidents, we
have given proof af great self-contrOl.
We know the reasons behind all this, and Raul explained them. We don't believe
that the government of the United. States is ordering these provocations to be carried
out. That would be such an absm:.d, stupid, and illogical coney, that we don't believe
it.
In our opinion, there are certain elements in the Guantanamo Base which can be
held responsible -perhaps the Dase Cdmmandcr himself, who is a right-wing militarist of
the worst kind - (they have rut in command at Guantanamo a man who used to belong to
the clique of General Mac Arthur who was a notorious warmonger). This gentleman seems
to be directly responsible for the serious provocations that have been taking place at
the Base.
It seems to us that this man would like us to return their lire, to kill a couple
of U.S. Marines so that the incident could be used in the election campaign as a poli-
tical woal_,r7 a.nst P-t'irient Johnson IlLmsolf.
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Of course I don't think Johnson is a saint. But, it seems, the ultra-right which
is challenging Johnson's position in the United States, is ready to use any means to
provoke any kind of incident. And of course, we do not want to play into the hands of
the U.S. ultra-right.
Certainly, this is clear, logical, reasonable, intelligent, and correct. But,
does all this mean that we, in order not to play into the hands of Mr. Goldwater, must
allow them to go on assassinating otwr men at the Guantgnamo Base...? Not! I believe
that this problem concerns not only Cuba but the United States as well. It concerns
the very government of the United States.
Even if we do not believe that the Guantgnamo fl.ovocations are the result of
orders from the United States government, we do 'walleye that the United States govern-
ment is responsible for the fact that these provocations are not prevented because, if
the U.S. government does not want to, or cannot, prevent such provocations, then the
hopes for peace in this world are very small. .I believe that the whole world is intern
ted in peace. We analyze problems objectively and realistically. We understand that
Goldwater is the worst candidate, and wotld be a most dangerous president for the Uni-
ted States arl for the world. But this does not mean that we have the slightest fear
of Mr. Goldwater. We are interested in peace. But we are not the only ones interested
in peace. We are ready to make sacrifices for the sake of peace. But for the sake of
peace, we are not in favor of converting ourselves into a sacrificial lamb that would
place its head on the chopping-blocs.
.A very serious moral problem arose for us. Since we bear great responsibilities,
we often find ourselves in situations where Oe have to make very serious decisions. It 4
is really hard to go to the funeral of a comrade who was assassinated in a cowardly
way, *pd have to tell our soldiers to maintain their serenity, to have to advise, them z
not make use of the weapons they carry to defend themselves.
It is hard for us to have to tell our men to stay there and be killed iiithout
firing a shot. The philosophy of the lamb led to slaughter is not and never. 411 be
our philosophy.
If it is a matter of going to our death, if it is a matter of dying, it is much
nobler'and more dignified to say: let us all die, and not send our men there to bekil
led, one by one. Our people live and struggle, and all the citizens of the country are
brothers. I have no doubt that every man here would be willing to sacrifice himself 4
for his people, but it is hard to ask Men to stand up and be murdered, even if it is
for the sake of peace! They kill them one by one for peace. If they want to, let them 3
kill us all together for the sake of peace, 1
The comrades took certain measures; they dug trenches; they withdrew the comra-
des of the battalion and they placed them in positions prbtecied by trenches and I cad 1
assure you that 4t was hard to force the men to retire to the trenches because it of- 1
fended their honor, dignity, and manhood. They did not want tO go into- the trenches. 7
4-ave not 'the ilighteet doubt that anyone of our men has ten times more couiage
than anyone of those drunkards who are shooting at !fa= with impunity from the
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However, in support of peace we were once again cautious. But this does not mean that
there is any guarantee that the incidents will not be repeated. There are zones where
the men are closer. And there are zones where, if they decide to, they may continue
their shooting and killing.
This raises for us a serious, a very serious problem. It is really painful to go
to the burial of one of our men, give our condolences to a mother, to have men endure
those tests; to have to stand for such cowardly and miserable murders.
We are interested in peace. But this interest must also be shown by the govern-
m:nt of the United States and the governments of other countries. No one has the right
to ::ay we should allow our men to be murdered one by one for the sake of peace.
We feel that this behavior, these shootings and murders constitute a flagrant
v.c3v.tion of the October 1962 agreements. What kind of guarantees have the imperialists
to the integrity of Cuba if they begin to murder our men from the base? What
ut,rantet-is this for Cuba? What security does this mean fot Cuba?
People of Oriente, all cur citizens t We bear great responsibilities and try to
onvry them out with wisdom And serenity. It is hard to analyse and reflect on the con-
sequences that could arise for us front a clash with the imperialists. Who can doubt
that we are in love with the work of the Revolution. Who can doubt that when, on a day
like yesterday, we saw the little children at the Camila Cienfuegos School City, who
are no longer little boys but grown boys :athered at our stadium; when we see the
youth that is growing and developing into a healthy, strong and revolutionary youth;
when we see the i.-gnificent perspectives ahead for our people? Who can doubt that we
want to avoid wars, that we want to prevent destruction and death?
As leaders of the people we arc faced with these problems. But along with these
problems comes another responsibility: the responsibility to our soldier's, to these
mon uho are guarding the frontiers of the country; and if we have the right to tell
-chose men to let themselves be killed, to let themselves be murdered, then, we are
presented with a very serious problem. That i3 why we believe that if shots continue
to be fired at our men, if our soldiers continue to be murdered it will not be possi-
ble to avoid a serious incident; it will not be possible to avoid the bitter necessity
to give the order to answer shot with shot
I don't believe, I cannot believe that render a service to peace, by allowing
our men to be killed like sheep, because that is precisely tAe Goldwater thesis: Com-
munism must be hit and hit hard. That is the thesis of Goldwater.... and if they hit
us and hit us hard, let us return each blow, and let us return it hard.
For the' sake of peace, for the sake of peace, we have been patient with the U-2
planes, for the sake of peace we have Wanted to give all the time necessary and exhaust
all possible means to have the g-2 planes stop flying over our territory. But it isn't
the same thing to allow the passage of a U-2 as it is to bury a comrade in the cemete-
ry. It isn't the same thing. We don't want Mr. Goldwater to Win but if to keep Mr. Gold
water from winning, we have to pay ti4 price of a death every time it suits the fancy
of the U.S. marines, then what more cin Goldwater do to us than Johnson is doing?
If the situation is such that they are going to assassinate our men in any case,
then one man up there is the same as 'the other.
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Ne invited a group of U.S. newspapermen to visit lib. Some people have asked wh
In Ole first place it was done in deference to the American people who are so vilely.
deceived, and badly informed, and to whom so many lies have been told about our revo
lution.
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That is the first reason why we invited the U. S. newspapermen to come and
travel around by themselves, tour the island, even look in the caves if they like, j/
taking care that no hairy spider bites them:
Let them see and talk with the people, and talk with the counter-revolution-
aries too: talk with whoever they want to.
We don't have to hide our problems, our difficulties... We are proud of them.
Really, if we had no difficulties, ahat satisfaction could we feel? What will they
say about us in ten years from now? That we know how to face up to them? Or that
we didn't know how to face up to them:? It is natural that coming generations will
in the main enjoy the results of the efforts that we are making, but we will be
proUd to say, "that is what we haVe done through tenacity, sacrifice and faith".
Of course, it will not only be the coming generations, the present generatiion
itself will, to a great degree, enjoy the fruits of our efforts. But we have nothin
to hide, so let the newspapermen see the reality and tell the truth, those who want
to write objectively....
They can see why the people are with the revolution, what it is that cements
the support of the people to the revolution. They can see that we are solving out
problems, and among other things, there can never occur in our country such events as
are taking place in NeW York, South Carolina, Miami, all those places where the Ku
Klux Klan is on the prowl, lyinching fellow citizens of the United States because of
the colour of their sans. They can see that we haVe no racial problems here now
though there were racial problems left us by the imperialists, because here we had
Woolworths, Sears Roebuck and all those stores that refused employment to Negro girls
and in whose offices men were not allowed to work bdcause of the colour of their skin.
The revolution put an end to privileges without force,without pressure, with-
out laws, The problem of discrimination is not a matter of laws, since here there
was a constitution that said: All discrimination based on race or sex is illegal
and punishable by law. In our country, men and women were discriminated against
because of their race, and women were discriminated against because of their sex.
The revolution came, it did away with all privileges and ended discrimination because
of race and sex.
I believe it is very encouraging that in our country there are no white gangs
persecuting Negroes, and that here, on the beaches, on our streets, in our theaters
or restaurants, everywhere, we live together as brothers; we, Negroes and whites,
equal rights, we Negroes and whites, are ready to give our lives for our country.
It is not we who imposed restrictions on travel. The United States,, the coun
try of democracy, of freedom, does not allow students to come to Cuba; does not allow
travel to Cuba; does not even allow a visit to Cuba. It is not we who restrict tra-
vel. We allow people to come and leave. It is they who cut off the flights. ?
We allowed people to come hare in all sincerity....,We invited the newspaper-
men to take part in these festivities, to talk to anyone they want to, talk to, and
to reportas they want to report.
We are not going to get mad if they don't speak in our favor. Not at all.
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But at least, the people of the United ?gtates will have the opportunity to be inform
ed in an objective Manner.
We hope that our people have treated the newspapermen well, because we are a
hospitable people. This is a nation with great dignity and honor, not a nation of
hate. Why are the Cuban people not a people full of hate? Because frustrated peo-
ple hate, and this is a victorious people... Our people do not harbor resentment,
they have no complexes... Our people are courteous; anyone of our citizens could be
working in the protocol department of our Foreign Ministry) Our people are refined,
decent, gentlemanly.
We would like to improve our relations with the United States) In fact, we
would like to improve our relations with the whole world. But, is it vital for us
to improve our relations with the United States? No. We are ready to make some
effort to improve them. That is so. We think that the United States has followed a
stupid, idiotic policy toward Cuba, but we do not have to follow a similar policy,
stupid and idiotic, We do not want to.
If the possibilities exist we shall improve relations. Yes... I think in
that way Cuba would gain, the United States would gain and the world would gain.
But even though this is our way of thinking, we have, to be prepared to live
20 years more if necessary without relations with the United States. Twenty years.
We have no need for them... All the damage they could inflict on us has already been
done.
They left us a colonial economy, an underdeveloped country, a series of fact-
ories that workon the basis of U.S. raw materials. All our transport and all our
factories used U.S. parts. They banned sales to us, they did everything.
When we set up a factory here, it is better for us to do it With Soviet, Bri-
tish, French or Chinese equipment, or equipment from any other country where the go-
vernment is not stupid.
The damage they could do t6 us is done already. If they establish relations
,a
with us and are going to sell us/factory, we may say, we may say, Oh: but, suppose
later on, they cut off the supply of spare parts...? We prefer to trade with the
British, the French and with Other countries that have mbre sense. So; the damage
that the Americans could do to us is done already.
We would like to improve our relations with the United States but, if they
do not want to do so, then, Gentlemen, we can wait twenty years) Twenty years) We
do not depend on them --we depend on our own labor. Do you know who is our best
ally? Our work) Through work, we solve everything. Working hard and with disoi:
pline-- hard, disciplined work.
People more persistent than ours are hard to find. Men more tenacious add
persevering than the men of this country, than the revolutionary leaders of this
country, are,hard to find. We have tenacity and will enough to live twenty yeal's
without relations with the United States. Nevertheless, this does not mean that we
are not ready to struggle for the improvement of those relations but we are not suf-
fering from any obsession about it.
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If a government in the United States now declares its readiness to try for
better relations with Cuba, it is liable to lose votes. Here, we can bring the sub-
ject before the people... See the big difference.... We do not lie to our people, we
tell them the truth, we are frank, sincere, honest. We consult the opinion of the
people.
But we are lucky to have a people who think, who are not educated on Tarzan
movies or novels about the FBI. And I don't say this against the people of the United
States. I remember when I was a boy I used to 0 to see Tarzan movies. What did I
see? --The White man was always stronger; the white man was the inteliigent one; the
white man persecuted the Negro. The Negro was always uncivilized.. what kind of men-
tality does all this create in people?. Eh? It creates tht idea of racial superior-
ity) of the superiority of the white to the Negro. And'so it goes in many other .
ways, through which the American people get their education. I think that the people
of the United States, like any other people, can be a great people. They have many
merits, they like to work, they are intelligent, but they have the misfortune of
their social system. What goes on there is a mad house:
And speaking of freedom? What freedom do they have? Objective information
about what is happening in Cuba is .very seldom published in the United States. They
tell us that here we have a line, that in Cuba there is no freedom of the press, and
it is trues Here there is no freedom for the bourgois press. The bourgeoisie and
the reactionaries do not have freedom of the press here. And there is a line, the
line of the Revolution. Of course, when the imperialist enemy disappears and when
the exploiting classes have disappeared, then we can even afford the luxury of dis-
.
solvingthe State. No one should fbrget that the aspirations of the communist philo-
sophy includes the withering away 'bf the State. But we are realists, we are in the
middle of a struggle, the State is necessary. In the past that State was an instru
ment in the hanis of the exploiters. Tpday it is an instrument in the hands of the
workers.
The army that yesterday was an instrument of the exploiters, is today the
army of the workers and farmers, an army that fights for the workers and farmers.
This is our State. Yesterday it was an instrument for the domination of the
exploiters, today it is an instrument for the domination of the workers andthe far-
mers. We don't go about being hypbcrities. We say openly press has its poli6y,
that is to day, it defends the revolution, fights the counterrevolution. In the
United States the press also has its policy. There it defends the status quo, it
defends the existing social system. There anyone who is a communist is put in jail
or is dismissed from his job without the slightest consideration. That's what they
do, in that super-democratic country. We are giving the U.S. newsmen here the oppor-
tunity to write objectively, to report Objectively to the U.S, people. We treat
them with all courtesy and we sincerely thank them for coming to Cuba.
There were a number of news cables telling the newsmen who were coming here
not to accept even a cup of coffee or they would be considered agents of a foreign
power. How ridiculous and absurd! What prejudice, what obsessions, what hypocrisy,
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what demagogery, what lies: The truth is that we prefer the kind of society we
have, that's without the least doubt. And especially since we are going to improve
revolutionary
it. .1 am not eulogizing our/government, nor am I eulogizing our work. No. I am
defending it, yet at the same time we are aware that we have many thing to overcome
and that we will correct them step by step. But in all earnestness we'can say that
we are doing well, we can repeat today that phrase which became famous during the
first months of the Revolution; we can tell our lost comrade Camilo: "Things are
going well, Camilo".
on
Major Fidel Castro then went/to say:
Today we can Say to our comrades who fell in the attack on the Moncada Bar-
racVs and in the Sierra Maestra Mountains; "things are going well, fallen comrades".
The revolution has grown as the result f the effort of the people, of the unity of
the people, the result of the union of the fighters of Moncada, of the revolutionary.
Directorate, of the comrades from the Peoples Socialist Party, the union of the Com-
rades who fought in the underground and in the mountains. Because the revolution
has brought them all together and has grown at the same time.
Fidel Castro said that tombrrow's generations will be better than the present
one, and that today we feel optimistic and confident of the great future that our
country has before it. The risks do not matter because they are the price we have
to pay for that future. As Jos4 Marts said: "Better to die standing up than to.
live on one's knees". We have learnt how to overcome great difficulties; never ber
fore have we had better perspectiVes, never before have we been stronger than today.
We are all one today, from the easternmost to the westernmost tip of the island, we
are all one.
On this 26th of July, I want the people t6 have these two ideas firmly im-
planted in their minds. We are. stronger, we are marching well, but we still have
years of obstacles, we still have some years of sacrifice ahead of us. We must
keep these ideas in mind, well impressed upon our minds while we are marching
foward more rapidly and better than ever.
Finally I am going to propose this Declaration in reply to the OAS, in the
name of the Cuban people.
It reads as follows: DECLARATION OF SANTIAGO DE CUBA
The people of Cuba meeting in Santiago de Cuba on the occasion of the glo-
rious date Of July 26th declare:
ONE: That the Organization of American States has no moral or legal basis of
.any kind for judging and sanctionihg Cuba.
TWO: That the United State, in complicity with the governments of Guatemala,
Nicaragua, Costa Venezuela, Puerto Rico and others, has introduced into Cuba
thousands of weapoi and tons of eicplosives to promote subversion and to overthrow
the Revolutionary regime.
THREE: That on the territory of the United States and within the Army of
that country aswell as on the territories of Nicaragua, Guatemala, Costa Rica and
other Caribbean countries, thousands of mercenaries have been organized and trained
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111
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who have been used and are still being used in acts of aggression against Cuba.
FOUR: That, as is well known by world public opinion, the Playa Giron expe-
dition which cost the people of Cuba more than one hundred lives and enormous mate-
rial losses was organized from bases located in those countries; and dozens of pira-
te attacks by. sea and by air against ports, towns and industrial installations of
Cuba have been carried out with impunity from bases located in those countries.
FIVE: That the Central Intelligence Agency of the U.S, government has intro-
duced into Cuban national territory hundreds of agents specially trained to carry
o4t, sabotage and acts of vandalist such as the murder of teachers, of young litera-
cy brigaders, of humble workers and farmers in acts of fercrious and brutal revenge
against a revolutionary people.
SIX: That from the Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, territory occupied by force
by the U.S. government, U.S. marines have carried out thousands of provocations
against our people, reaching such grave proportions that in recent weeks two Cuban
soldiers have been wounded and one killed as a result of the criminal and cowardly
shots fired from the Base.
SEVEN: That for almost twb years U.S. military planes have been violating
the air space of Cuba in flagrant violations of the most elementary norms of inter-
national law.
EIGHT: That it is an act 8f unprecedented cynicism, for aggressors to cons-
titute themselves judges to sanction the country that has been the victim of aggres
sion.
NINE: That the people of Cuba reject the sanctions imposed as cynical, shame
less and unjust.
TEN: That the people of Ciba indignantly reject the Declaration issued at
the OAS meeting which is a shameless call to counter-revolution.
ELEVEN: That the people of Cuba warn that unless pirate attacks carried out
from U.S. territory and other Caribbean countries are ended, as well as the train-
ing of mercenaries to carry out sabotage actions against the Cuban revolution, and
the sending of agents, arms and explosives into the territory of Cuba, the people
of Cuba will consider they have an equal right to help, with all means at their dis
posal, the revolutionary movements in countries that carry out such interference
in the internal affairs of our country.
That is to say, the people of Cuba will consider they will have an equal
right to help, with the means at their disposal, the revolut4onary movements in all
those countries which carry out such interference in the internal affairs of our
country.
TWELVE: The people of Cuba repudiate the insolent threats of armed aggres-
sion contained in that infamous document, and warn that to shoot in a-cowardly man-
ner against an unarmed people, as happened in Panama is not the same thing as to in-
vade an armed people ready to shed their last drop of blood in defense of their
homeland.
And they reaffirm what General Antonio Mace?, the great hero of our war of
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independence, once said: Whoever tries to conquer Cuba and does not perish in the.
attempt, will gain nothing but the dust of its blood drenched soil.
The Declaration ends with these words: Our country or Death. We will win.
Signed: The people of Cuba, in answer to the Declaration of. the OAS. Santiago de
Cuba, July the 26th, 1964. Year of Economy.
This is the declaration we 16resent for the consideration of the people to
have it proclaimed, as the Declaration of Santiago de Cuba, a worthy answer to the
farce, the comedy, the show, the maneuver of our enemies.
People of Oriente: Long live the martyrs! Long live all those who have givtn
their lives for our country! Long live the Socialist Revolution! Long live Marin
Leninism!
Our country or Death. We will win:
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
MINISTERIO DE RELACIONES EXTERIORES
Direccidn de Informacidn
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.......? ,
MINISTRY
Cli
FOREIGN
RELATIONS
Fidel Castro Warns:
WE WANT AN HONORABLE PEACE,
NOT A DEGRADING PEACE
" ... let history point to
those who are responsible
for whatever happens ... "
STAT
POLITICAL DOCUMENTS
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REPUBLIC OF CUBA
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN RELATIONS
Fidel Castro Wins:
SPEECH C-IVEI\ ON APRIL 19 1964
WE WANT AN HONORABLE PEACE,
NOT A DEGRADING PEACE
" ... let history point to
those who are responsible
for whatever happens ... "
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Comrades of the Revolutionary Armed Forces:
Comrade Revolutionaries:
Today is the third anniversary of the victory of Playa
GirOn. This date is becoming increasirgly significant; we
see it in its true dimensions more clearly every day. It was
not the first imperialist aggression against a Latin American
nation, it was not the first barbaric action of the US
imperialists, their first act of brutality, their first act of
intervention. They have committed many aggressions, in-
terventions, crimes, and acts of brutality against our sister
nations of Latin America. There are very few countries in
this hemisphere that do not know the meaning of inter-
vention, piracy, and US attacks, beginning with Puerto Rico,
a Latin American country which they converted into a
colony.
Playa Giron meant the first defeat for US imperialism
in Latin America and ? as comrade Guevara said recently
? "the first, but not the last". The imperialists will receive
new defeats; they will receive them on our territory if they
attack us, and they will receive them elsewhere, at the hands
of other nations whom they enslave.
Until Playa Gir6n they had acted with absolute im-
punity. Until then they felt they had the right to despise
the Latin American peoples.
Until then, they depreciated our Latin American
peoples.
The imperialist aggression at Playa GirOn demonstrated
many things. Among them, it demonstrated that the Orga-
nization of American States was an instrument of imperialist
domination and colonialism, a docile instrument in the hands
of the US State Department.
When our country was criminally attacked, bombed by
planes coming from Central American bases, invaded by
mercenary forces, escorted as well as armed by the US
government, our country had to meet that attack with sa-
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crifice and blood. The United States, the government of
that country, did not even receive a reprimand.
A few months later, that same organization, which had
no word of reproach for that criminal attack, expelled Cuba,
the attacked, victimized country, from the Organization of
American States!
This taught us that in facing imperialism those orga-
nizations ? instruments of the same imperialism ? are
absolutely useless, and that they serve only the interests of
the enemies of the peoples.
Three years have passed. That victory cost our people
a high toll in lives: the lives of workers, farmers, soldiers,
civilians. We had to pay a very high price. Did that mean
that after the attack we should have put away our arms?
that after the attack they would leave us in peace? No! The
aggressive plans continued. The US imperialist did not
resign themselves to their defeat and began to prepare new
plans of aggression.
The military strengthening of our country became ne-
cessary. It was necessary to take measures to be in a
position to defend ourselves. Then came the October crisis.
For the past five years, since the victory of the Re-
volution, our country has had no peace. For five years we
have been suffering economic, political and military aggres-
sions. For five years we have suffered invasion, as in the
case of GirOn; sabotage, as in the case of the ship La Coubre;
arson, as in the case of Havana's big department store El
Encanto; the smuggling of arms, explosives, agents of every
kind into our country; and the organization of counterrevo-
lutionary gangs, which have committed an endless series of
crimes against our farmers, teachers and members of the
literacy brigades.
In short, the history of these five years of Revolution
? is the history of a nation defending itself against the enemy,
a history of US imperialist aggressions against out country.
It's the history of a people who have constantly had to
defend their work, who not only had to pay a high toll in
blood to overthrow the tyranny imposed by those same im-
perialist interests, armed by that same imperialism, but
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who are still paying it, and will have to continue paying it,
for who knows how long.
Our people, without giving up their defenses for one
moment, have had to face the economic embargo; have had
to face all the obstacles placed in their path by a rich,
powerful imperialistic country. They have had to rebuild
their economy and carry out their plans in all fields, always
with a sword hanging over their heads: the sword of impe-
rialist aggression.
Still under these conditions, our country has advanced,
Under these conditions, it has carried out its plans in the
field of education, in the field of public health, plans of
economic development ? and it has done this with the
people, with the simplest men and women of the people,
enduring not only all the aggressions we have spoken of, but
even the enticing away of our technicians.
For they hesitated at nothing, they even tried to deprive
our country of doctors, engineers, university technicians;
they tried to create the worst possible. conditions, so that
the Revolution would fail. But it is not easy to make a Re-
volution fail, it is not easy to defeat a Revolution. And they
have not been able to defeat us! If this had been a half-way
Revolution, they would have defeated us; if this had been
a timid and cowardly Revolution, a Revolution of vacillating
people, they would have defeated us. And yet, they have
not defeated us and they will not be able to defeat us! Of
this country it can be said: it would rather be wiped from
the map than be defeated!
I speak this way because we must be alert, firm, and
determined to struggle. I speak this way because we are still
on the march and we are still struggling against imperialism.
I speak this way because many threats and dangers still
menace our country.
Today, as we remember those who died gloriously and
valiantly defending their land, their flag, their cause, their
ideals, we have to speak this way, we must speak clearly.
The truth has to be clearly expressed. We must tell those
who died that day ? comrades from our battalions, from
our work centers ? that we recall them not in words alone,
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that when we pay tribute to them it is not a simple lyrical
tribute; we are telling them that we too are ready to die.
We do not say farewell to our dead, to our revolutionary
soldiers who died for in a Revolution, in the midst of strug-
gle, the most we can say is: "Until we meet again, until we
meet again, comrades, you who gave your lives!" We will
not bargain over our lives in the struggle. We are not living
to enjoy the sacrifice of those who gave everything, but to
defend the fruits of that sacrifice at any price.
Three years after Playa Gir6n, imperialist reaction
again rears its head over the whole Continent. Three years
after Playa Giron, the imperialist policy of the United States
government is becoming more and more aggresive, the US
government policy is more and more openly reactionary and
interventionist. It is therefore necessary to recognize the
importance of this date, and to speak clearly.
For if those who attacked us at Playa Gir6n were
reactionary, those who today govern the United States are
even more reactionary.
Several months have passed since a man from the West
of the United States took over the government of that
country, after the assassination ? the still strange and
mysterious assassination ? of the former President, who
was undoubtedly a victim of the extreme right. And already
the policy of this new President can be clearly seen.
Here are the facts: an internal dispute arises in Bolivia,
and Mr. Johnson rapidly offers troops to solve an internal
problem in Bolivia. A problem arises in Panama, and US
troops ruthlessly fire on the Panamanian people. And Mr.
Johnson, stubbornly, arrogantly, says that he is not ready
to make the least concession, that he is not prepared to
discuss any negotiation or any change in the agreements
by which the United States is in possession of the Panama
Canal, fruit of its piratical actions in earlier times, in the
first years of this century.
A coup d'etat takes place in Brazil, perfectly coordinated
with the press campaigns of the most reactionary news-
papers of the United States, a coup d'etat clearly promoted
and directed by the Pentagon and the State Department,
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and a few hours after the coup d'etat, imperialist encour-
agement manifests itself, Mr. Johnson's message of support
of the military coup in Brazil. The coup d'etat takes place
and immediately afterwards, Mr. Falcon Bricerio, represen-
tative of the puppet government of Venezuela, leaves on a
tour of Latin American countries in a manouevre against
our country, to promote aggression against our country.
The coup d'etat in Brazil takes place, and inmediately
the government of Panama finds itself obliged, because of
US pressure, to renew diplomatic relations with the United
States. And a few days after the renewal of relations, with
no commitment on the part of the United States to revise
the Canal Treaty, the US government in order to put even
more pressure on the government of Panama, announces,
that it is studying plans to build another Canal either in
Colombia or in Costa Rica.
All these characteristic and related facts indicate, des-
cribe and define the policy of the United States government
today.
We are speaking only of Latin America, not ot Vietnam,
of US conduct in other countries and on other continents.
But once they appointed a gentleman called Thomas Mann
to be in charge of Latin American Affairs at the State De-
partment, a man who is anoted reactionary and an arch-
enemy of our Revolution, the intentions of the US govern-
ment toward Latin America became clear.
About two years after the triumph of the Cuban Re-
volution, the government of the United States began to talk
about plans of aid to Latin America, began to talk about the
Alliance for Progress, began to talk about social reforms,
Of course, never before had they spoken in the United States
of Agrarian Reform for the Latin American countries, or
of reforms of any kind! But after the Cuban Revolution
took place, the fear that it inspired in that imperialist
country caused it for the first time in its history, to begin
to talk of social reforms, such as agrarian reform, educa-
tional plans, other reforms. They began to talk about the
existence of enormous masses of landless peasants, and that
this was fuel for revolution; and then, certain so-called
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liberal elements who had some influence in the previous US
administration worker out the whole project of an Alliance
for Progress.
Of couse, this was simply a trick, a deception of the
people of Latin America, an ointment to try to cure the
cancer of poverty on this continent. Basically it had no other
purpose than to consolidate the political and economic con-
trol of the United States over Latin America.
But they changed their language: they talked about
Alliance for Progress, and they talked about Reforms. Of
course, the Alliance did not progress, it did not and could
not advance. BaSically, the so-called liberal elements within
the United States were proposing a policy of Alliance
with the so-called "middle classes" of Latin America, sa-
crificing the interests of the landholding oligarchies, which
have been the ruling social class in the majority of Latin
American countries.
The US government sought to ally itself with this
"middle Class", which in some countries does not even exist.
It spoke of a policy against reactionary military coups, in
favor of a policy which it calls "representative democracy".
That is to say, they suggested that it was in the interest of
the United States to abandon its alliance with the oligarchies,
with the right-wing militarists, and to encourage pseudo-
democratic movements, of a civilian Character and with some
social reforms, sacrificing the interests of the landholding
oligarchies.
It was more or less in these terms that they described
or suggested their policy. But coups kept on taking place.
In pseudo-democratic countries like Peru, Ecuador, Hondu-
ras or Argentina, the right-wing militarists, encouraged by
the Pentagon, took power always under the same pretext
of anticommunism. Even presidents like Frondizi (in Ar-
gentina) , who were servile instruments of imperialism, were
overthrown under the pretext that it was necessary to re-
establish order, that it was necessary to avert the com-
? munist threat. The same thing happened in Ecuador, Hon-
duras and Peru. The US State Department was then in a '
somewhat embarrassing situation ? but that those gentle-
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men are unaccustomed to contradictory and embarrassing
situations ? but these coups d'etat took place, and their
policy then was to say that they would not recognize those
governments inmediately, that they would wait a while.
I almost forgot the case of Santo Domingo, where Juan
Bosch had been elected President and was later overthrown
by the right-wing militarists.
Since all this was in contradiction to the philosophy, or
pseudo-philosophy, of the so-called Alliance for Progess,
those who make US policy found themselves in an embar-
rassing situation. As a rule they waited for a short time,
a few weeks or a few months, and then on one pretext or
another recognized the governments that had resulted from
coups d'etat against their allies; for after all, it was a fight
between allies: their so-called representative-democratic
allies and the right-wing militarists, both allies of US im-
perialism.
But when the death of President Kennedy took place
? although President Johnson said he was going to follow
the same policy, etc., etc. ? it seems that the so-called li-
beral elements who had had some influence in the Kennedy
administration vere set aside. And the true intentions of
the United States were revealed with the appointment of
Thomas Mann to be in charge of Latin American Affairs.
Of course,their policy was not to be changed imme-
diately, suddenly, but everything indicates that the influence
the so-called liberal elements once had in the US govern-
ment has been completely eliminated and has been replaced
by a policy of the worst reactionary character. That is to
say, the United States is returning to the policy of alliance
with the most reactionary sectors; to the policy of support
for military dictatorships and the most reactionary sectors;
to a policy that drops the mask of pseudo-liberalism and
pseudo-democracy and associates itself with the right wing
militarists and most reactionary elements; to a policy of
undisguised 'colonialism, a reactionary policy of the worst
type.
And the events in Brazil show this: to say that Goulart
was a communist is really ridiculous. The ousted President
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of Brazil was trying to carry out a series of social reforms,
the very reforms which the promoters of the Alliance for
Progress hypocritically defend!
Brazil is a huge country, its population is growing ex-
traordinarily fast; and it is a country plundered by US mo-
nopolies. Goulart did not carry out an Agrarian Reform
like ours; he introduced certain measures which were es-
sential to prevent the outflow of foreign exchange .He. did
not even ban the outflow of foreign exchange, he. simply
limited the profits that could be exported by US monopolies.
He didn't proclaim a law against big landholdings in general,
but only against big landholdings along the highways. He
dind't nationalize all US enterprises, he only nationalized
some public utilities and some oil enterprises.
However, President Goulart was overthrown by a reac-
tionary coup, partly plotted by one of the most reactionary
man on this continent, a gentlemen who, as a solution to
the problem of begging in Rio de Janeiro, where be is go-
vernor, proposed the physical elimination of beggars, who
are very numerous as is only logical in any underdeveloped
and exploited country ? a fascist-minded gentleman, Lacer-
da, the Governor of the State of Guanabara, the "swine",
as he is called.
Those elements, allied with the reactionaries within the
Armed Forces carried out the military coup planned by
the Pentagon and by the US State Department. These things
have to be said clearly, cost what it may. If the imperialists
think that we are going to keep our opinions to ourselves
on this coup d'tat, they are absolutely wrong.
What we must do is denounce the nature of the mo-
vement. What we must do is denounce the aims of that
movement. The coup d'etat was not only a blow against
Brazil, it was a blow against the continent ? a blow which,
of course, is part of the longterm strategy of imperialism
against' Cuba.
It was a blow not only against Brazil but also against
Cuba. It was a blow not only against Socialist and Revo-
lutionary Cuba, it was a blow against the democratic mo-
vements, not even against a leftist movement, or a socialist
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movement, or a communist movement. No, it was a blow
against non-socialist, non-communist progressive forces.
It was a blow against the democratic movement in Chi-
a country which is a source of serious concern for US im-
perialists; a country which they view with deep concern.
They do not fear a revolution like the Cuban Revolution.
No! They fear the election results; they fear a democratic
solution in Chile.
It is a blow against the democratic movement in Argen-
tina, a blow against the democratic movement in Mexico,
since it is well known that Brazil and Mexico are two count-
ries which firmly defended the policy of non-intervention
and the right to self-determination.
The coup d'etat, aimed not only at Brazil but at the
democratic movement on the continent, had as its goal the
elimination of one of the pillars of that policy, to suppress
one of the main sources of resistance to plans of intervertion,
not only against Cuba but also against Panama or any other
country in Latin America. That is why it was essential for
the imperialists to overthrow the Brazilian government,
which was not socialist or anything like it, but a government
which pursued an independent international policy and which
firmly resisted US interventionist plans against Cuba and
other nations of Latin America.
Immediately, the cables of the imperialist news agencies
began to report that Brazil would now break with Cuba.
They began to 'publish statements by Mister Lacerda and
other reactionary elements saying that there would be a
break wich Cuba. They began to publish statements by the
leaders of the coup saying that there would be a break
with Cuba.
The US news agencies were jubilant; the reactionary
elements were jubilant, emboldened, thinking perhaps that
these events would intimidate and discourage us.
They thought, now that Brazil, a large and influential
country, was going to favor a policy of intervention and
aggression; now that Brazil had fallen into the hands of the
right-wing militarists and fascists, they could jump on Cuba
and that Cuba would be frightened.
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THE YANKEE PROVOCATIONS
"Regarding: Provocations of U.S. marines at the
land entrance to the US Naval Base.
"For your information, I respectfully submit a
report on the following events:
"a) At six p.m. yesterday, two marines on guard
at the US gate, and their interpreter, threw rocks at
our soldiers when they were lowering our national
flag, hitting one of our comrades on the arm. The
marines passed some three meters beyond the di-
viding line.
"b) At 6:30 p.m. yesterday, a corporal and a
soldier arrived at the US gate drinking alcoholic
beverages, and offered drinks to the US guards who
accepted them.
"c) At 6:50 n.m. a car with two exiles arrived
at the US gate. The exiles brought alcoholic drinks
and gave them to the marines who were on guard
at the US gate.
"d) At '7:40 A.m. a woman exile arrived at the
US gate in a car. She entered the sentry post and
stayed there some five minutes, then left with the
US marine who was acting as interpreter. The two
went into a nearby wood, emerging a few minutes
later.
"e) At 8:40 p.m. yesterday two exiles brought
alcoholic beverages to the US marines at the US gate.
"f) At 9:35 p.m. yesterday eight US marines
crossed the dividing line and came to our sentry post.
One of them urinated against our flag pole, while
the others uprooted several plants and carried off
to occupied territory the rake we use for garbage;
they also untied the cord of our national flag, leaving
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it loose, while the others threw stones at our soldiers,
hitting several of them.
."g) At 11 DM. yesterday, US marines crossed
the dividing line and approached our sentry post
while throwing stones at our soldiers. These US
marines, using a Garand rifle and a pick, broke open
? the door of our sentry post on the right hand side.
Others went behind the sentry post and overturned
a can of paint, while five marines began to hit
another door in an effor to break it open. They failed
to do so, because the door is made of iron, but they
damaged it. Our sergeant in charge of the Border
Battalion had to withdraw the sentries some 20
meters from the building, since the US marines cros-
sed from the sentry post toward the main guard-
house. Our sergeant also removed the telephone to
prevent the marines from taking it or breaking it.
The marines broke two doors of this building.
"h) At 12 midnight today, the US marines
crossed the dividing line and entered our sentry post,
taking away the hose that was in the bathroom, and
throwing stones at our soldiers.
"i) At 12:35 a.m. today, a US marine crossed
the dividing line with a Garand rifle in his hands,
which he cocked and pointed at our soldiers.
"j) Just before he left the gate, the US marine
who acts as interpreter told our soldiers that what
they were going to do today, Sunday, would make
our soldiers tremble.
."In relation to these provocations, it must be
reported that they have been the most serious ever
to take place at the entrance to the Naval Base.
This is all I have to report up to the present".
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THE FIVE POINTS
First: The cessation of the economic blockade
and all the 'measures of economic and commercial
pressure exercised against our country by the United
States in all parts of the world.
Second: The cessation of all subversive activities,
dropping and landing of arms and explosives by air
and sea, organization of mercenary invasions, infilt-
ration of spies and saboteurs, all acts launched from
the territory of the United States and certain accom-
plice countries.
Third: The cessation of piratic attacks launched
from bases in the United States and in Puerto Rico.
Fourth: The cessation of all violations of our
air space and our territorial waters by U. S. military
aircraft and ships.
Fifth: The withdrawal of the naval base at Guan-
tanamo and the return of this Cuban territory
occupied by the United States.
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They may think that we tremble here, when they speak
of severing relations with us; and that this would make
aggression against Cuba easier.
These imperialist gentlemen think that the problem will
be solved in the Organization of American States, in meet-
ings, through votes, and that the people here are not going
to fight.
They forget one thing; they forget that when they have
finished hatching their plots, this is not the end of the
problem, but the beginning. They forget that the problem
of Cuba is not solved through right-wing militarists or plots,
that when the time comes to eliminate the Revolution they
will have to fight against us.
But then, that's another story, for we will not be moved
by threats, OAS agreements, manouevres. By nome of these
things will we be moved.
What we are doing is improving our marksmanship and
preparing. Let not the imperialist think they are going to
intimidate us. Let them not think that we are frightened!
They already made that mistake at Playa Gir6n, and if they
have not learned their lesson, another Playa Giron, a hun-
dred times worse, might happen to them!
It should be well noted that we, Cuban revolutionaries,
the Majors of our armed forces, are not like some generals
over there who first count how many soldiers the enemy
has in order to decide whether or not they will fight. Some
generals over there win their battles by counting: "How
many soldiers do you have?" ? "So many" ? "Well, I have
so many" ? "So, you win".
Our revolutionary army was not formed like that. There
was a time when, if we had been asked how many we were,
the fingers of both hands would have been more than enoug
for the tally. And it was better not even to count how many
the enemy were.
The whole history of the Revolution has been the history
of a people defending themselves against an enemy superior
in numbers. Our war was like that, the whole war. Often
we had to resist a battalion, and we had only a squadron.
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We never counted our enemies when the time came to fight.
We can say to those enemies what the Spartans said when
the Persian leaders told them that their arrows would
darken the sun; the Spartans answered: "Good, then we will
fight in the shade".
Threfore we are not frightened because the imperialists
are numerous, because they are organizing an alliance of
all the reactionary forces against Cuba. The events in
Brazil don't disturb us. Do they speak jubilantly about the
fact that they are going to break relations with us? Well,
we will not shed tears over this break of relations. We are
not going to beg for relations with rightwing militarists of
any kind.
We are a people who act in accordance with our history,
in accordance with our principles. And first and foremost
we recall that after a tenth of March (Batista' coup in
1952) there came a 26th of July!
Our people, a people in arms; our armed forces, the
armed forces of the people, cannot be compared in any way
whatsoever to the armed forces that the imperialists orga-
nize as their instrument. Our armed forces, born in the
revolutionary struggle, originating in the humble classes
of the people, are the armed strength of this people against
imperialism. It should not be forgotten that we have Revolu-
tionary Armed Forces, for previously we defeated the armed
forces which here, as in other parts of this continent, sound
the interests of the imperialists. And this is our army. This is
our navy. This is our Air Force. These are our combat
units, this is our people.
The imperialists, in the case of the Cuban Revolution,
face an armed people. Another good thing about our armed
forces in that they have no generals; the highest rank is
the rank of major. Here the imperialists will not have to
fight against generals, they will have to fight another kind
of man, another kind of soldier, entirely different, without
generals who count numbers. Our people only count the
bullets left in their cartridge belts!
Our Armed Forces are no longer simply an army with
a guerrilla spirit; they are highly disciplined armed forces,
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whose technical capacity is increasing every day, and they
are well armed, very well armed. They know how to use
those arms and they will know how to use them, better
every day.. They know that we don't have our weapons
simply as decorations, but that we have them to be used
without hesitation if the need arises.
It is good to say this, it is necessary to say it, because
the imperialists are mistaken; in general, the imperialists
? with their fascist superman mentality ? think of the
people of Latin America as a contemptible, hybrid people,
who will not fight. They feel profound contempt for our
peoples, a feeling that has been basically and severely
shaken since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, and
above all since Playa GirOn. These imperialists act like
gangsters, like killers, like bullies; they believe that everyone
is afraid of them; they mistake prudence, responsibility and
serenity, for fear.
I'll tell you why I say this. I have here a communication
from our Chief of Security in Oriente Province, in which.
he reports a series of unusual provocations that took place
yesterday at Guantanamo Naval Base. I am going to read
it word for word, just as we received it. (Fidel Castro reads
tex; see page 12).
Provocations of this kind, of this nature, carried out
by groups, cannot be chance or isolated actions. These pro-
vocations, going on for hours, cannot be the work of un-
disciplined or drunken soldiers: they are instigated by their
chiefs with the knowledge of the US government. Why?
Because for a long time they have been committing an in-
finite number of provocations, violating our territory,
harrasing us. And recently, when the Cuban Revolutionary
Government protested against these provocations, the US
State Department, with incredible cynicism, with characte-
ristic brazenness, replied that according to their investi-
gations the charge was false, and that the provocations had
been committed by our soldiers.
Since our soldiers have never thrown a stone, since our
soldiers have very precise instructions not to allow them-
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selves to be provoked, since they are carefully chosen, very
disciplined soldiers, and since the US government cannot
be ignorant of what its own soldiers are doing there, if the
US government replies in such a cynical manner it is clear
that the provocations are deliberate and carried out with
the knowledge of that government.
What are the imperialist trying to do? Are they trying
to feel us out, to find out if we are discouraged, if we are
frightened? Well, we seriously warn the US government
that it is playing with the lives of the provocateurs.
Could it be that US government is planning an act of
provocation in order to carry out an attack from the Base?
Well, we remind them of Playa Gir6n, we remind them of
the October crisis and the dangers which the irresponsibility,
of the United States has created for mankind.
We are going to denounce these incidents in the United
Nations. But here we will explain what we think.
Of course, these events show once again how right we
were when we spoke of these problems during the October
crisis and put forward our Five Points.
Two years have passed, and the imperialists stage pro-
vocations that are ever more serious; two years have passed,
and the imperialists continue to violate our airspace openly,
illegally and arbitrarily; slightly over two years have passed,
and we cannot say that we have peace, we cannot say that
the tensions and threats have ended. No! Not under these
conditions!
We will denounce these incidents at the United Nations;
we are going to warn world public opinion so that the truth
may be known; so that the US Government may know that
it is responsible for whatever may happen. Who is respon-
sible for their aggressive acts, their provocations and the
violations of our airspace? We have not authorized them,
we have not approved them and we will not legalize them.
We will not legalize these violations of our law and our
sovereighty.
They are provoking us, and these incidents are simply
intolerable. We are going to be calm, we will be calm. We
will act both with intelligence and with courage; that is
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how we will act. We will not act with intelligence alone nor
courage alone.
How should our people act? With intelligence and
courage. There will be no courage without intelligence nor
intelligence lacking courage.
Our sOldiers have resisted firmly because they have
orders not to respond to provocations, but our men can very
well put those fair-haired drunkards on the other side of the
line with a kick in their behinds.
Right now, our soldiers have orders to be firm andnot
let themselves be provoked, but we warn the imperialists
that moderation has a limit, serenity has a limit, that there
are limits that cannot be transgressed, and they are coming
dangerously close to those limits.
I am going to say, with all sincerity, what I think, what
I feel, and what I believe this nation thinks and feels: we do
not want war, we want peace, and we want is sincerely. .
Lives are lost in war, men are lost; war brings grief
and destruction. We love what we are building: our Re-
volution. We love what we are creating, the fruits of our
labor, which we want one day to be reaped by our people.
We want to see all the tens of thousands of young people
who are today in technological and pre-university centers
graduate from the University: we want to see our dreams
come true in all fields. We want our people to harvest the
fruits of their labor. We want this very much, we dream of
this, and we say this from the bottom of our hearts. Men
have fought and died for this; revolutions have been made
for this.
But this involves risks. We would not have run these
risks when we were slaves; when we were a colony domi-
nated by imperialism; when a small group of privilegd people
had everything; when our people worked as slaves for US
monopolies; when Negroes were treated like dogs, when our
peasants suffered from hunger and untold misery in that
world of privilege, injustice, abuse and ignorance.
That society did not involve such risks, but we did not
accept that society; we wanted something else for our
country.
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It is not only we who have wanted it; everyone, from
the very first man who shed is blood for this country, has
wanted it. We want it as did all the men who in the course
of a century shed their blood and sacrificed themselves for
this land ? and that implies risks.
Our people won, their Revolution won. We are masters
of our own destiny. Badly or well, with more or less ability,
with what is available of scarce material and technical re-
sources, our people are marching forward and, with great
sacrifice, are doing the job.
An enormous number of men of top quality are out of
production to defend our country, on guard against its
enemies; our people make great sacrifices; they have made
and are making great sacrifices.
And for this reason, we want peace. We do not want
destructions, we do not want death, we do not want mour-
ning. We love this work deeply. Yes, we must say this,
confess it, express it, because of what we are going to say
now: in spite of the fact that we love the Revolution, ?and
in spite of the fact that we want one day to see our dreams
come true, if the price we have to pays is provocation such
as this, if the price we have to pay is to fall on our knees,
and sacrifice our dignity, our integrity, our honor, and our
life of dignity ? if peace is that kind of degrading peace,
then we don't want that peace!
No theory, no doctrine, no revolutionary principle
compels us to endure this. We are revolutionaries, but being
a revolutionary implies the willingness to pay the price
necessary to be a revolutionary. To want a better world
implies the willingness to pay the price necessary for it. As
for a degrading peace, the honorable peace of the tomb is
a hundred times preferable. The honorable peace of those
who fell at GirOn!
I am saying this so that the imperialists may know,
so that the world may know that we are not willing to
tolerate certain things which go beyond admissible and to-
lerable limits. Rather than that we prefer to disappear as
a Revolution, as a nation, and even as an island.
It is good for the imperialists to know this, to know
what to expect. If they want to provoke a war, to create a
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problem, they will have it; but perhaps it will be more
serious than they expect! And if they want to wipe this
island from the map, then let them get ready to do so, for
we will be wiped out befores we bow the proud honorable
and heroic head of this nation!
If the imperialists think they are going to intimidate us
with their shameless blackmail, with the exhibition of their
might, we tell them that all might has a limit, and that, this
limit is where there is no fear, where fear teases. This is
the limit of all might! And we should say here, seriously and
responsibly, that we will not tolerate such humiliations.
We are going to make this known to the world, we will
denounce it in the Organizations where we need to denounce
it, but we warn that we are not willing to tolerate these
provocations and other violations of our rights ? both the
economic blockade and the open aggressions againts our
territory ? cost what it may, and come what may!
Our country' is ready to discuss peace with anyone. Our
country is willing to discuss peace, but it is also ready to
reply, as necessary, to things that cannot be tolerated!
This is why, comrades of the Revolutionary Armed
Forces, we have to prepare ourselves, we have to perfect
ourselves, we have to redouble the interest of our units, of
our troops, in the study and handling of the weapons we
have; we have to strengthen our technical and moral ca-
pacity for combat. For when we speak of combat, we mean
to fight to the last bullet and to the last man; when we say
we have to prepare ourselves, we mean to prepare ourselves
for any contingency, any circumstance. And while we are
learhing to handle these weapons, we should remember that,
unfortunately, we may have to use them to defend our
country so that the efforts and sacrifices of our people will
not be in vain.
If our enemies attack us, let them know what they will
find. If our enemies attack us, their aggression will cost
them very dear. If our enemies attack us, they will have to
fight against men of such spirit and courage that they will
understand once and for all what a proud and revolutionary
people are. Let them know that they would have to pay with
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tens and hundreds of thousands of lives for any attack on
our country! That must be our spirit and our decision.
Yes, we are working for the future and we want peace.
We want to harvest the fruits of our efforts one day, and
these risks should not discourage us in creative work.
RevolutonaHes work for tomorrow, whether or not they
will see that tomorrow. For those who advanced against
the mercenary hordes that invaded us at GirOn, those who
Met their death there, were fighting for an ideal, for a cause;
they did not ask themselves whether they were going to
see that cause triumph. Those who died in the war, before
victory, did not ask themselves whether they were going
to see that victory. And we do not need to ask ourselves
that question, either.
We must work for the future, but always be ready to
sacrifice everything for the future, to sacrifice every thing
to defend the right to have that future.
For we not only must defend the future for which we
are working but also the right to have that future. We
must defend our right to this future with everything we
have, and at any cost. And we will!
We will not be discourage. We will continue working
on our economic plans, but we will continue strengthening
our defenses. We will continue to love our work, but we
will always be resolved to give everything for our right to
that work and for the right of a proud people to carry their
heads high.
The size of a nation is not important; what is important
is the courage of a people, the honor of a people, the dignity
of a people! We have more courage, more honor and more
dignity than all the imperialists put together, than all the
Pentagon generals put together!
That is what we think, and, we believe, what our people
think. We will act in accordance whit this belief, we will
run the risks we have to run. Let our enemies know this!
We will run these risks without hesitation of any kind. There
are things we will not tolerate.
I repeat: courage will be accompanied by intelligence.
We must act with great intelligence, but our intelligence
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will be accompanied by courage. There will be more than
enough courage, when circumstances demand it, to support
our determination and our conduct.
First we must warn the world, we must expose to the
world the irresponsability of the imperialists, the attitude
of the imperialists, so that history may point to those who
are responsible for what may happen, so that the whole
world will know who is responsible for whatever may happen.
Let us be prepared, comrades; let us prepare our
combat units, our land, sea and air forces, our land-to-air
rockets! Let the imperialists be the ones to decide. If they
want peace with our people, there will be peace. But if they
want war, we are not agraid of war! We will not lose our
calm, we will not hesitate to run any risks that may be
necessary. This is how we think: this is how our people think,
and how they feel.
We love life, but we do not hesitate to risk our lives, to
sacrifice our lives for we love our cause, our country, and
our ideals more than life itself.
And besides, we cannot think of life in any other way;
a dishonorable life, an enslaved life is not life. To live in
chains and in shame is not living. That is what our national
anthem says, and that is what the imperialists will never
impose on us, even with all their might; they will never be
able to make us live in shame and humiliation.
By thinking this way we are rendering the most worthy
tribute to our dead, to those who fell at Playa Giron, to
those who fell in combat against the bandits, to those who
fell in the struggle against the dictatorship, to those who fell
in the struggle against Machado, to those who fell in our
wars of independence. In this way we will be worthy of them.
Only those peoples who have the courage, decision and
awareness to fight for their rights, to fight for their
happiness have the right to enjoy happines, to enjoy the
future. We have won this right for ourselves, we have de-
fended it; and we will defend it at any price!
We are the first Socialist Revolution on this continent,
the first, and we say it with pride! We are the vanguard of
this continent, the first country free of illiteracy of this
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continent, the small country that will hold the first place
in the fields of technology, culture and progress on this
continent. Let no one doubt this; the efforts we have made
in these five years, the progress we have achieved, guarantee
our future. And the imperialists know it. There can be no
progress in any country with an illiteracy rate of 60, 70
or 80 percent; abundance is not only a question of having
instruments of labor, but also of having the capacity to
operate those instruments of labor; of having technology.
Amidst difficulties, agressions, and blockades we have made-
extraordinary progress in the technical and cultural deve-
lopment of our people. Without this, there can be no progress.
What our people would be able to achieve in a few
years, under conditions of peace, is umbelievable! The
imperialists know this; hence their hatred of our Revolution,
of our people. For our people are an example, and they
want to destroy that example. But in their effort to destroy
that example, it might be multiplied a thousand or a millio-
nfold, for a people who fight for their freedom, a people
who fight and die for their freedom, for their cause, for
their ideals, are a true example, an inspiring example. It
would not be surprising if the imperialists, in their effort
to destroy th example, should multiply it a hundred or a
thousandfold.
We are, and we will continue to be, an example. We
will never be untrue to the faith placed in us by the exploited
peoples of this continent and other continents, for their faith
is not based on a lie, it is not based on a fraud, it is based
on reality. We will never be untrue to the hope, to the
confidence placed in our people, in the face of any danger,
at any time, or under any circunstance.
It is my duty on a day such as this, to express these
ideas, to express these feelings, to express this decision.
And from the bottom of our hearts we can say with pride,
with legitimate pride, with true loyalty to our dead: long
live our heroes! Long live the heroes who died at Playa
Gir6n! We will be faithful to their example, faithful to their
memory!
Our Country or Death! We Will Win!
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EMP. CONS. DE ARTS GRAFICAS
[MIN. DE INDLIS1RIAS]
UNIDAD 210-05
LINDERO N9 1, LA HABANA
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GUBA
0
utsmass% CO
ADS11,1i7 C@
FOREISN
RELATIC)NS
FIDEL CASTR
this is our line...!
STAT
POLITICAL DOCUMENTS
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STAT
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REPUBLIC OF CUBA
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN RELATIONS
FIDEL CASTRO:
this is our line...!
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In this pamphlet, the Information Department publishes three
important speeches explaining Cuba's position toward the treaty on
partial prohibition of nuclear tests. The first speech is by the
Prime Minister of the Cuban Government, Fidel Castro. The
second is the address delivered at the last 'session of the Unite('
Nations General Assembly in 1965 by the Cuban delegate to that
organization, Carlos Lechuga. The third is the speech delivered
by Major Fidel Castro on January 2, 1964.
This explanation would be reason in itself for publishing
this pamphlet. But there are even more important reasons: for
these speeches, particularly those of Prime Minister Fidel Castro,
set forth the basic factors determining Cuba's foreign policy.
This is clearly seen in the following excerpts from the Prime Mi-
nister's address on September 28, 1965, which follow a denunciation
of recent agresions by United States imperialism:
"Clearly this situation determines our conduct. Clearly
we will not calmly accept a situation in which tension
increases for us while decreasing elsewhere. We do not
want tensions to exist anywhere in the world. No! We are
happy to see tensions lessen. But we cannot consider oursel-
ves at peace with the imperialists, we cannot consider our-
selves at peace with an imperialism that constantly increases
its efforts to strangle us.
"And this situation will determine our- international
conduct. This is not a war policy; it is a peace policy, hut
we are not to be blamed for the war they are waging against
us. We are not to be blamed for the iron blockade they
are establishing against us.
. "As a small country subject to a blockade, to attacks,
victim of a policy of undeclared war, of pirate attacks, of
the infiltration of saboteurs, of the smuggling in of weapons
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and explosives, of the creation of bases to attack and kill
us, no one can ask us to smile beatifically at our imperialist
enemies.
"They are our enemies and we will know how to be
their enemies. This situation will determine our policy on
the international scene, in the United Nations and every-
where else. It will determine our attitude on the nuclear
pact, and on denuclearization".
And later:
"Cuba has its own line, which corresponds to the par-
ticular conditions in which the Cuban Revolution has
stepped into history, and the specific conditions of its geo-
graphic location in the world its closeness to Yankee
imperialism and its brotherhood with a continent exploited
by that imperialism".
In his address to the United Nations General Assembly,
Cuban representative Carlos Lechuga defined Cuba's position
toward the Treaty on Partial Prohibition of Nuclear Tests:
"Cuba values highly whatever successes can be achieved
on the difficult path to disarmament. Cuba supports the
policy of peace of the Soviet Union, which has been the
inspiration, no doubt, of its participation in the conclusion
of the Treaty on Partial Prohibition of Nuclear Tests. Cuba
is willing to exert as much effort as may be useful for the
universal cause of peace. But Cuba cannot be a signatory
to this Treaty while one of the signatory powers is carrying
out, simultaneously with signing of the Treaty, a series of
activities and is executing a policy toward our country
which are bringing about what is in effect a state of unde-
clared war".
Referring to the Latin American proposal to establish a de-
nuclearized zone on our continent, Ambassador Lechuga restated
Cuba's policy of peace:
"The Revolutionary Government of Cuba is in favor
of whatever efforts may b0 made in order to create a system
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of world security, but considers that the value of such a
system is dependent on its being a system of security
without exceptions or privileges for anyone.
"This is the position of the Revolutionary Government
of Cuba. We appreciate the good faith of the suggestions.
We are willing to discuss them, but we establish, as irrevo-
cable conditions for our final adherence to them, the necessi-
ty of a commitment by the Government of the United States
to denuclearize the territories under its juris'diction, such as
the Panama Canal and Puerto Rico, and the dismantling
and withdrawal of the U.S. military bases in Latin America,
especially of the Naval Base at Guantcinamo in our country."
Cuba, as, a socialist country, pursues a foreign policy of
peace. The forms this policy takes rise out of the historical cir-
cumstances in which the Revolution took place and the specific
international situation confronting it at any given moment.
In dealing with these concrete conditions, the three documents
published here will aid the reader in clearly understanding Cuba's
foreign policy. Therein lies their great value.
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Speech delivered by Major Fidel Castro, Prime
Minister of the Revolutionary Government and
First Secretary of the United Party of the
Socialist Revolution, on September 28, 1963, on
the occasion of the third anniversary . of the
Committees for the Defense of the Revolution.
Distinguished members of the Delegations of the Seventh Con-
gress of the International Union of Architects:
Comrades of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution:
This third anniversary of the Committees for the Defense of
the Revolution coincides with an international event ,?The Inter-
national Architects' Congress,? which is an occasion for joy
and a stimulus to the warm and hospitable sentiment of our
people. First of all, therefore, we wish to greet all the delegations
from throughout the world that have come to this Congress being
held in Cuba.
? This event is not political in character; it is technical and
scientific. Regardless of the country of origin of the delegates
participating in the Congress, regardless of the social system under
which they live, of the political ideas they may have, all of
them, absolutely all of them, as technicians and scientists, enjoy
our warmest welcome and hospitality.
It was not easy, however, to prevent the enemies of our
country from carrying through their plans to keep Cuba from
being the site of this international event. And it was precisely
due to the serious and firm outlook of the organization non-
political organization? which had to decide on this question,
that it was possible to hold this Congress in our country.
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It should be repeated tonight that the doors of the Cuban
nation are open, and will always be open to all visitors who
come with peaceful intentions. It should be repeated tonight
that our country forbids absolutely no one to leave or to visit
other countries. It is good that this be said precisely on a day
Like today when a group of North American students have been
indicted for having visited Cuba. This was published in today's
cables, and apparently the shameless leaders and defenders of
that policy, the policy of U.S. imperialism, have not even blushed.
That country calls itself democratic, calls itself powerful,
cynically proclaims itself the standard-bearer of human rights,
and it does not even allow the citizens of that so-called powerful
country to visit a small neighboring country, which, of course, is
not powerful in weapons, but is powerful in honor, dignity and
morale!
For our country, of course, is not a nuclear power, but it is
a moral power. And it is facts like the following that make it
evident: the different attitudes, the different policies of two
systems .a cowardly and decadent system and a young, vigorous
and courageous system.
We have always practiced the policy of allowing full faci-
lities to leave the country, and the imperialists made use of this
in order to try to get hold of as many technicians as possible. to
deprive our country of physicians, engineers, architects, professio-
nals. Perhaps some people thought that the best policy would
have been to forbid technicians to leave the country, but we always
thought that this was not so; we always thought that we should
preserve the right to leave for all those who did not wish to live
in a world being created by the workers and farmers, by the
humble people of Cuba. We believed that we were following
the correct path, that of promoting education to the maximum,
promoting study, eliminating illiteracy, building twenty thousand
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new schools, increasing class attendance, developing the educa-
tion of the people by every means, so that some day we would
have technicians created by the Revolution, coming from the
humble sectors of the country. And that policy is already bearing
fruit, in spite of the fact that the Revolution won victory only
four and a half years ago.
And the day is not far away when, because of the Revolu-
tion, as many technicians will graduate in a single year from the
universities as all those borne off by imperialism in four years.
We endured that draining process. They thought they were
weakening us, and in the end it was they who gave up that
policy, it was they who gave up. For as far as Cuba was
concerned, they opened the doors of the United States to every
one who wanted to leave our country. Before the Revolution
there were enormous lines in front of the United States Embassy,
lines of unemployed men and women who wanted to leave the
country to find work in other lands, in the United States; but
then the number was restricted; no more than 10 thousand were
given permission to enter. When the Revolution triumphed and
they tried to weaken our nation, they opened their doors, without
restriction, to all who wanted to leave, they promised to educate
their children, to give them subsidies; they offered them jobs.
they did unprecedented things in carrying out their campaign
against the Revolution.
But after 1959 the lines before the Embassy were no longer
composed of the unemployed. They were composed of those who
had been affected by the Revolution the first place, the big
landholders, the bourgeoisie, some of the petty bourgeoisie, and
some members of the labor aristocracy, mainly those who enjoyed
privileges under imperialism while hundreds of thousands of
families could eat only one meal a day.
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Of course, those who had enough money to buy everything
without limitation, who could buy luxury goods of every kind,
bought with the foreign exchange reserves of the Republic, could
not resign themselves to a situation in which the country's re-
sources had to be placed at the service of everyone, which therefore
meant restrictions for those few who used to live in abundance.
The type of emigration from our country changed. But the
emigration was not stopped until the imperialists, changing their
policy, though it was more profitable for them to prevent people
from leaving.
Of course, the imperialists are not only characterized by their
great viciousness, but very often by their great stupidity as well.
They talk about social classes; for instance, they talk about deve-
loping certain social classes in Latin America to serve as a brake
on the Revolution. Sometimes they accept the Marxist concept
of social classes. but they deny the role that social classes play
in history, in the development of history, and, of course, they
bore off the bourgeois class to the United States.
They thought that in this manner they would ruin the Revo-
lution, that they would cause great harm, but what they did
was to take away their own social class, their counterrevolutionary
army. And they came to the conclusion that the time and come
to stop the people from leaving the country. They thought this
would promote discontent; and once again the imperialists were
wrong.
When vacillating and cowardly people, afraid of the risks
of a revolution, unable to face the risks involved in a revolution,
knew that they would be freely admitted to the United States,
many of them even tried to black-mail the enterprises where
they worked, and said, "If you do not agree, all right. I will
leave-. They had their passports ready. Many of them already
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resigned from their jobs to leave the country, forgetting Jose
Marti's words about the "turbulent and brutal North".
They wanted to profit from this chance to leave the country.
and they even used it to do harm.
What happened when the United States government stopped
entry to that country, in the hope that this would promote dis-
content? How wrong they were! Many of these potential coun-
terrevolutionaries, these petty "worms," and I regret having to
call them "worms", even once, since they have to co-exist with
us here, began to adapt when they were not allowed to enter
the United States. Far from the discontent that the imperialists
had hoped to promote, a process of adaptation began for many
people who had not adapted before while they had the hope
of leaving for the United States.
And then they went back very meekly to ask for their old
jobs, which they had left with scorn; jobs that very often were
highly paid.
But we never practiced a policy of restrictions, not even now,
in spite of what the imperialists did, when they not only stopped
their own airlines, but also tried to stop other airlines front
coming here.
But every so often the imperialists have their own contradic-
tions and clash with the interests of other companies, for the
United States monopolies want to control everything. But there
are other commercial enterprises in the western and capitalist
world, transportation companies, airline companies. And they wan-
ted to stop these companies from coming to Cuba as they are
doing with merchant ships; they compete with these companies,.
and they want to stop them from coming here.
Some companies and some nations resisted firmly. Their
lines are still functioning and through them some people continue
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leaving the country?Mose who can afford the fare, because we
are not going to pay it for them, are we? Although in some cases
it really would be better to do so, for there are certain parasites
around here who consume and consume, and produce nothing.
But instead of using dollars to pay for such a person's trip to
Spain, which is very expensive, it is really better to invest that
money in buying agricultural machinery or any other kind of
working equipment.
This goes to show how different is the attitude of our Revo-
lution and our attitude as revolutionaries, because even while
forced to defend ourselves from the attacks of a powerful country,
we practice and uphold measures and principles which are a
thousand times higher than the principles and policy practiced
by the imperialists.
? Here, for instance, we do not find the racial problems they
have in the United States. I ask all the visitors gathered here
from all over the world?,and of course I am not trying to indoc-
trinate them in any way, but they happened to be present here
on an occasion when we have to discuss these problems with
our people,? whether they do not find it interesting that here, in
this nation, among the people, in our schools, in our hospitals,
in our theaters, at our beaches, in our recreation centers, in our
work centers, in our cultural centers, there is not the slightest
shadow of that discrimination which was so prevalent in our
country before. For here it was the imperialists who set the
standards and who taught us their vices, their hatreds, their
grudges, their prejudices, which result from their society.
Of course, the Yankee imperialists are trying to fool the
world; and that is what their government tries to do when it
adopts a self-recriminating attitude, saying that they do have
these problems but that they are fighting them. And those who
have lived through the experience of a revolution and know how
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to distinguish between past and present, know that these preju-
dices, these hatreds and evils are the consequence of the prevailing
social system; that they are the hatred of the exploiters for ,the
exploited, the ideas inculcated by a society of wolves in which
man is man's worst enemy, the exploiter and degrade of man.
They know that racial .discrimination will not disappear from
the United States until ? imperialism and capitalism disappear ,
from there, until the exploitation of man by man disappears.
For the 'American Negroes are the descendants of the former
slaves for whose freedom many . white Americans fought and
died. They then became slaves without chains, but? just as
enslaved as they were before the abolition of slavery; they were
serfs of the landholders, day labourers of the landholders, doing -
the worst, most brutal and most dangerous jobs, without political
os social rights.
For that social system forced these men? to continue living
in the same exploited condition under 'capitalism. And as long
as this social. system continues to exist, the condition of the
Negro in the United States will continue to be the same. And
the United States Negroes, as well as many whites, the workers
of the United States, the progressive people of the United States,
will day by day gain a better understanding of the evils inheient
in an inhuman system, evils that will last as long as this inhuman
social system of exploitation lasts. They will begin to realize
that regardless of the wealth. and technology developed in that
country, there are intolerable Iiving- conditions for millions and
millions of human beings.
And, of course,. a demagogue like Kennedy will never be
able to deal with this problem. He is only trying to win votes
with it. For these demagogues always think that their selfish
interests come before their country, and to Kennedy, being Pre-
sident. is more important than the United States. His business
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is to win votes, while the brutal acts of murder and terrorism
continue. Those who murdered four Negro children in a church,
in an act of terrorism, have not yet been punished, nor have we
read that they have even been captured. And that is life in that
so-called civilized country.
It is logical that the imperialists want to prevent visits to
Cuba. It is true that we lack many things here, it is true that
we do not have the luxuries ?mor will we have them for some
time?which they have through the exploitation of other countries.
We lack many things, because among other reasons, we are
resisting; there are no luxuries for exploiters; because today we
are dedicated to creative work and to the building of our future.
We must use our resources and invest our efforts not in bric-
a-brac, but in building a solid future. Nobody has built it for
us, and we 'must build it ourselves. And we have to build it
so that future generations may reap the fruits of the work of
this generation.
Yes, we lack many things. But there are things here that
will never be seen there, in the heart of imperialism:
A united, nation, a united people, brotherhood of Negroes
and whites. This cannot be seen there.
It is logical for the U.S. State Departament to be interested
in preventing North American youths, workers, Negroes from
seeing this and asking themselves how it is possible, when we
too had this evil under capitalism, under the system of exploita-
tion of man by man. And when the exploitation of man by man
ended as an institution, that evil and many other evils, which
we are not going to mention now, ended.
If anyone visits certain cities such as Las Vegas, New York,
and, in general, any U.S. city and then comes to our capital,
the contrast will be. impressive; he will not find roulette wheels,
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he will not find gambling houses, he will not find gambling at
all or drug addiction?the daily bread of the imperialists.
(At this moment a small explosion was heard near the Plaza)
Don't worry about that. We do not know whether it is a
bomb, or something else. But?if it is, it means that the "worms"
are celebrating the Third Anniversary. That is all right, it is
fitting for them to do so.
You see, there has not been an explosion in this capital for
many months. And the Committees for the Defense of the Revo-
lution were born on a day when the counterrevolutionaries set
off three small bombs ,while a rally was being held. And we
said, "Do you want to test the might of an organized people?
All right we will organize the people". And everyone knows
that when the people were organized the counterrevolution was
crushed, and that the Committees for the Defense of the Revolu-
tion did not let the counterrevolution operate any longer.
They have had hundreds of tons of explosives, supplied by
the imperialists, all types of explosives. For in the United States
there is an industry, developed by the C.I.A., manufacturing the
most modern devices to destroy and kII, manufacturing all types
of inflammable and explosive materials. But in spite of that,
they have not been able to do anything. And they have had
plenty of weapons.
What happened? The bourgeoisie left. All their mansions
on the outskirts of Havana have been converted into homes for
scholarship students, into schools, into revolutionary institutions.
After the Committees were created, the counterrevolutionaries
could no longer move an inch. These committees represent the
people, organized, watchful, hawe become a mighty force in the
defense of their own cause! This can only happen in great
moments of history, in the greatest hours of the people.
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And those three small bombs gave rise to this formidable
mass organization. And, naturally, the counterrevolutionaries recall
that occasion, and we understand this as a tribute to our success.
Of course, class struggle has not disappeared in our country.
.We still have an urban and rural bourgeroisie: it exists, it does
not coexist, but it will not exist in the future. It exists today, but
this is temporary, because the Revolution is marching firmly on.
We have. seen, for ? example, the great resources at the dis-
posal of counterrevolutionaries, how they do business, how the
C.I.A., has funds. They make agreements with bourgeois elements
here, W h0 turn over their money to C.I.A. agents, and the C.I.A.
deposits dollars for them in the United States. There are bour-
geois elements who are still exploiting labor, and who still have
considerable resources and privileges. Of course, these are in the
process of disappearing.
We know the plans of our enemies. But they are no secret;
our enemies publicize with extraordinary cynicism their plans to
infiltrate so many thousands of weapons, to inflistrate saboteurs,
terrorists, to carry out pirate attacks and invasions.
The imperialists never learn from experience; they never
profit by their defeats. They make mistakes; again they are
underestimating our people.
They speak of a campaign to undermine and weaken our
Revolution; they speak of creating discontent through their eco-
nomic blockade, but what they strengthen through this is the
patriotism of the Cuban nation. What they strengthen .in the
first place, is hatred and scorn for the imperialist criminals;
what they strengthen is the dignity and grandeur of the Cuban
nation, the ,heroism of the Cuban nation, especially since we know
that this is a battle between the past and the future, a battle
against time.
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The imperialists ?think that they will be able to crush the
Cuban Revolution, and the Cuban Revolution thinks that the
peoples will crush imperialism first! The imperialists think that
the Cuban Revolution will be destroyed, and we, the revolutio-
naries, think that many other revolutions like ours will arise on
the continent.
The imperialists make no progress in their plans. At the
end of almost five years Of revolution, what progress have they
made against us? And yet, how ,much progress the peoples of
Latin America have made against them? What is happening to
the "Alliance for Progress"? What is happening to all their
so-called representative democracies? What is happening to all
those puppet governments?
What happened to Frondizi, to Prado, to Arosemena? What
has happened to them? What happened to Ycligoras? There
are so many that we cannot remember them all. What has
happened to the imperialists', policy? They are in crisis, they
are in total bankruptcy. Do nations progress with the "Alliance
for Progress"? No. Reaction progresses, right-wing military
groups progress, and military coups follow one another with
amazing sped, and the pro-imperialist groups, the imperialists'
puppets, are split by their own contradictions, and so-called demo-
cratic institutions clash with military institutions.
Officials of the State Department claim that they want to
have ,free, democratic 'governments. Free from what? Free like
Frondizi? Free like Ycligoras? Free like Arosemena, who because
he said something unpleasant to a U.S. Ambassador, was deposed
on the following day? Free like Santo Domingo, where the
Trujillo generals overthrew thd government in less than eight
months after it took office?
And thus they go from crisis to crisis. The military coup in
Santo Domingo exposes the failure of imperialist policy, the insur-
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mountable contradictions of imperialism, which becomes more and
more entangled as it stews in its own juice.
And .now, some newspapers write editorials expressing their
amazement, wondering what can be the meaning of this coup.
However, this coup was predetermined. The Dominican Revo-
lution was frustrated by imperialism, which stationed its warships
in front of Santo Domingo to block the development of the
revolution, concocted a compromise and saved Trujillo's army.
Imperialism saved the army that had oppressed the people for 50
years. What kind of democracy can be built on that basis? On
that basis, what security is there for any regime?
It is logical that if a government like the one in Santo Do-
mingo takes power and is unable to get rid of the militarist, it is
completely hamstrung, especially if it even suggests a moderate
policy, as was the case with Bosch.
Bosch deserves a little more respect than the others. Why?
Perhaps he defended us? No, he had great weaknesses, he took
office with the approval of the imperialists, who thought that he
would be like Romulo Betancourt. But he was not Romulo, who
is still in power, of course. He has not been over-thrown, for he
has sold even his soul to the imperialists: he murders workers,
murders students, persecutes the people. Why would the impe-
rialists want to put a right wing militarist in power there when
they have Romulo, who is the most right wing of all?
But that was not Bosch's policy, his policy was not like that
of the Somozas', the RomuIos', and the worst imperialist puppets.
characterized by their hatred toward Cuba, :their anti-Cuban
policy. Bosch devoted himself to the problems of his country,
had a prudent attitude, and that cost him his post.
And what did the Trujillo generals do? They said. "We
are anti-communists, we are anti-communists, we have taken
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power to save our country". How these phrases remind us of ?
the 10th of March, of the same proclamation by Batista. It's
always the same story, the same pretext.
And what are the imperialists going to do? They are stewing
in their .own juice and the right-wing militarists are taking power,
with the support of the United States militarists. For in the
United States too there are both civilian and military reactiona-
ries: the right-wing militarists of the Pentagon support right-wing
governments in military uniform, and the reactionaries in the'
State Department support right-wing governments in civilian
clothes. They have their own internal contradictions, and these
contradictions are reflected in the Latin American countries.
And there are the people of the Dominican Republic, once
again under the military keel, once again under a reign of terror.
But what a lesson, what a. great lesson for the Dominican people
and for all peoples, that there is only one way, only one remedy:
to eliminate the militarists, to fight the militarists, to defeat the
militarists and shoot their leaders.
The path of the revolution, the path followed by Cuba,
although it may be long and hard, is the only path that promises
the peoples a secure future, a great and stable future. For how
can there be a stable government, how can there be progress in
any of those countries constantly shaken by revolts and coups?
How can there be progress in underdeveloped exploited countries,.
impoverished ? by gangs of politicians and militarists, where the
illiteracy rate is sometimes as high as 80%? How can any country,
advance on those paths? And what can be seen in those countries?
A growing population and an economy spiraling downwards in
relation to that population.
And what is amazing, what should make us all feel proud,
is to see how, although we have that huge empire confronting
us, trying to crush us, Cuba marches forward, Cuba progresses.
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Cuba is resisting; Cuba is building its future,,. while its sister
natiims, the majority of the people in those nations, go from crisis
to crisis, amidst ever greater hunger, and follow the downward
path of poverty, without a future.
We are enduring the difficulties of the present in order to
have a secure future. This is not so with the other countries.
How can they even speak of industrial development when 70%
to 80% of the population is illiterate, when the 'development of
industry requires a nation of educated workers with a high techni-
cal level? The first thing in this respect is to learn to read and
write, and this was our path.
In the last few days the imperialists have said that we have
abandoned. our plans for industrialization.
' Of course, after they have told the world so many lies, what
do a few More lies matter to them, lies told by imbeciles and
meant for other imbeciles?
And so we were not surprised to see an article in a falangist
sheet, published in Barcelona, stating that Cuba has abandoned
her plans and is going to concentrate on agricultural products.
And some U.S. commentators said the same thing, based on our
statement that in this decade we must, above all, develop our
agriculture, make a careful study of our resources and invest
them in those branches that yield most rapidly, permitting great
industrial advance at the proper moment. We spoke about the
industries we should build first as well as about the development
of our agriculture, or our program for animal husbandry and sugar
production.
They clapped their hands, they said we were abandoning
our plans for becoming an industrially developed country and
were to remain an agricultural country. And they announced
this. Of course, this is far removed from what our country propo-
sed to do. ?
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What is really happening is that as the years? go by We
have been gaining much more experience, a much clearer view
of our resources, our possibilities. All the people, all the revolu-
tionary cadres, have gained experiences. We see things much
more clearly. It is not now as it was at first when 'subjectivity
and personal tastes were influential, rather then serions objective
analysis, rather than the responsible attitude to be seen today at
all levels, the growing seriousness, the implacable struggle against
irresponsibility, the implacable struggle against carelessness,
against waste and continued error.
Today we have a much clearer view of our possibilities and
a much better idea of how to invest our resources. We know
what sugar means for us as a source of foreign exchange. We
know of the exceptional potentiatilities of our agriculture which,
with our climate, can surpass that of highly developed countries,
greatly surpass it. Every day we see this more clearly.
And here is a source of resources, not only to meet our needs,
but to develop the whole economy, to develop our industry, based
on the principle of the most rational use of our huinan resources,
our economic resources; our natural resources, based on the prin-
ciple of the international division of labor, so as to guarantee
maximum productivity, maximum benefit, from the effort of each
Cuban worker.
And thus, our way to industrialization, the path we must
follow in our industrialization, becomes much clearer to us. Be-
cause under these conditions some industries wili have priority
over other industries. There are basic industries like electric
power, whose development can be seen in the huge thermoelectric
plants now being built, some of which are very advanced. There
is an extensive program for the clev'elopmene of hydraulic works
and an extensive program for factory construction.
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Naturally, the first plans laid at the beginning of the revo-
lution did not employ resources in a. 100% rational way; they
contained .many mistakes. But these mistakes are being corrected
as we progress. And when we study our investments and de-
velopment plans each year, we are more and more successful in
applying the? policy of employing each cent in a more rational
and productive way.
At the same time we discovered the extraordinary .and
unbelievable potentialities of our country, which only require
adequate organization and technology, seriousness and respon-
sibility.
We have to demand this constantly, for our potentialities
are really extraordinary: What we have to do is to know how
to take advantage of them, to struggle tirelessly to do so, and
we will see how we overcome our difficulties. We will see how
in a relatively short period of time we make extraordinary advances
and strengthen our economy, which means strengthening the re-
volution, strengthening our position against imperialism, against
the enemies and detractors of the revolution, strengthening the
influence and prestige of the Cuban Revolution ,on the continent.
Some spokesmen for imperialism are beginning to admit that
our economy is making headway.. They are beginning to see
signs of progress in our economy. They are beginning to see that
we have already passed through the most difficult stages.
But we should not be satisfied with this. Our people should
be satisfied only when we utilize our exceptional potentialities
and resources to the maximum, when we know how to utilize
them and do so. During these years we have received great
help, exceptional help, from the socialist countries. But this does
not mean that we should get used to this idea. This help has
been decisive: It came in the 'most difficult moments, in the
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moments when we had least experiences. But we must keep in
,mind that we are not to solve our problems through trade dis-
balance. No. This would be unworthy of us; it would really be
shameful. A country with potentialities such as ours, with natu-
ral resources such as ours, cannot really be satisfied except when
it is doing its utmost, and doing it well.
I am not referring to the people, who are always willing to
cooperate; I am referring to every citizen at every level of admi-
nistration.
? Cuba, which has. a trade disbaIance of over one hundred
million dollars with the Soviet Union, must consider doing its
utmost to put an end to this situation in the shortest possible
period of time.
- The difference between becoming accustomed to trade dis-
balances and becoming accustomed to production, to producing
what We need and obtaining the resources needed for develop-
ment, is the difference between the mentality of a revolutionary
and truly hardworking people, and the mentality of a parasitic
people.
It was all very well for us to have received such extraordinary
help in our days of greatest difficulty and least experience, but
it is time for us to start thinking about drawing the resources we
need from our own hands, from our efforts, our work, our intel-
ligence, our organization.
It is true that we still face the imperialist blockade; it is
true that the imperialists try to tighten the blockade, and we do
not know how long we will have to resist this situation. But
we will resist! We will never lower our revolutionary flag! Our
nation will never be forced to? its knees! We will face any risks
that may be necessary as Tong as may be necessary. We will
face any sactifices that may be necessary as? long as may be
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necessary. For we ,assume full responsibility for our actions, our
history, our Revolution.
As slaves, we had nothing to lose but our chains, and we
have broken those chains! And though we may have the scars
of those chains on our ankles, we cannot be held back.
I said that it is true there is an iron blockade and that the
imperialists are trying to apply more and more pressure. It is
even true that while tensions ease in other parts of the world,
while tensions lessen in other parts of the world, the Yankee im-
perialists are trying to tighten their blockade of Cuba and to
make it even more ruthless. And it is evident that they have
stepped up this policy in recent months.
And thus we see how a shameless government such as the
Greek Government, in short, a mere satellite of Yankee imperia-
lism though ,so many miles away, has been cowardly enough to
forbid its ships to come to Cuba.
Thus imperialism is trying to close in on Cuba, even when
pressures are lessening in other parts of the world.
Clearly this situation determines our conduct. Clearly we.
will not calmly accept a situation in which tensions increase for
us while decreasing elsewhere. We do not want tensions to
exist anywhere in the world. No! We are happy to see tensions
lessen. But we cannot consider ourselves at peace with the impe-
rialists, we cannot consider. ourselves at peace with an imperialism
that constantly increases its efforts to strangle ug.
And this situation will determine our international conduct.
This is not a war policy, it is a peace policy, -but we are not to
be blamed for the war they are waging against us. We are not
to be blamed for the iron blockade they are establishing against us.
As a small country subject to a blockade, to attacks, victim
of a policy of undeclared war, of pirate attacks, of -the infiltration
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of s'aboteurs, of the smuggling in of weapons and explosives, of
the creation of bases to attack and kill us, no one can ask us
to smile beatifically at our imperialist enemies.
They are bur enemies and we will know how to be their
enemies. This situation will determine our policy on the inter-
national scene, in the United Nations and everywhere else. It
will determine our attitude on the nuclear pact, and on denu-
cIearization.
And we will know how to resist, for we have sufficient
pride, sufficient dignity, sufficient courage,. sufficient heroism and
sufficient spirit of sacrifice.
The imperialists try to intrigue around the Cuban position;
and the Cuban position is first of all, anti-imperialist.
What is our line? A line of consistent anti-imperialism
,?basically, a line against Yankee imperialism.
In other words, we are in a particular situation: the enemy
is there, 90 miles away, harassing us, blockading us, menacing
us, trying to destroy us. Our line is the line. of struggle against
that enemy. It is' our line. Cuba has its own line, which corres-
ponds to the particular conditions in which the Cuban Revolu-
tion has stepped into history, and the specific conditions of its
geographic location in the world its closeness to Yankee impe-
rialism and its brotherhood with a continent exploited, by that
imperialism.
These are the circumstances that determine our conduct and
our line, the line of our Party and our people, which are and
will be closely united. For we can worthily represent this nation,
the sentiments of this nation, the history of this nation, of this'
people, the grandeur and dignity of this people. With a people
such as ours, we can well face any situation, no matter how
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1
difficult. With a people such as ours, we will well be able to
face any problem vietoriously.
We are by now veterans of a long, hard struggle, of which
we are proud, of which we will never have to be ashamed. No
people ever. repent or are ashamed of being worthy and, brave.
of being heroic, of being resolute, of being ,hold and patriotic.
And we will win, for this is the hour of the peoples, the hour of
the rebellion ot the peoples, when the peoples of all continents
are shaking off the vole of the empires and 'digging the grave
of the exploiters.
This is a problem of the struggle cif the peoples. And the
peoples are ready, marching and struggling!
And the news we receive from everywhere, the news brought
by the cables on the growing struggle of our sister peoples of
Latin America is more and more encouraging.
We 'must know how to react to our concrete situation, our
particular situation. We must know what are our duties, our
duties towards the economy, our duties towards the defense of
? the revolution. We must know this now, as imperialism is trying
to strangle us. We must know this now as the imperialists
launch their counterrevolutionary offensive. We are not intimi-
dated by this; we are by now veterans in that struggle. We know
how to treat them, we know how to counter their attacks and
? plans. We know their plans all too well, and these plans will
fail as all have failed.
But we must know our duties in the struggle against the
counterrevolutionary offensive of imperialism. We must know
our duties in the struggle for the economy: with ,rifle and tools,
tools and rifle. We need both of these to bring about victory.
We need both to build our future; we need both to build our
history. We must fulfill our duties, we must exert ourselves to
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work better, we must use the resources we have and those we
are creating. And you know the importance the revolution places
on the training of the younger generation. You will remember
that even in the difficult days of invasion, when the enemy was
attacking our coasts with their expedition of mercenaries, the first
tens of thousands of students were beginning to teach in the
campaign against illiteracy, everything went in to the struggle
then, everything went on to a war footing, everything ?except
for one thing? the campaign against illiteracy.
Education, the training of cadres, industrialization, is not
thing of two or three years. Our engineers, tens and tens of
thousands of technicians of all kinds, are still in the first years
of the university, in junior or senior high school. And we are
forced to wait, we need time to reap the fruit of this effort, and
we must be able to think in terms of time.
Each of us must fulfill his duty, keeping in mind what this
means: our duties and the duties of the youth being trained by the
revolution; the duty of each of us, the continuing work of a
nation, the continuing work of a revolution: the. duties correspon-
ding to each stage of the the Revolution.
And we are satisfied and proud that the stages of work
and struggle, of hard work and struggle, fell to us. This will
always be our greatest satisfaction, and it will be the pride of
coming generations, for whom in essence, we are preparing the
future. We must be able to fulfill our duties towards our country,
our duties towards the world, in the assurance that we are
capable of fulfilling those duties, that we have a great people with
us. The hope that many humble and exploited people have
placed in us, will never be disappointed. Cuba's role today, its
gigantic struggle in the face of the powerful Yankee empire, Rs
example and stimulus to the whole continent, is a role it plays
because is is capable of doing so. It was not by accident, but
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aue to their exceptional qualities, that the Cuban people are
playing this role.
And these are the Cuban people? Millions of people, Who,
like the men and women present here, work and struggle in all
corners of our country, who, with their enthusiasm and faith
maintain the vigor and strength of the revolution, and withstand
the onslaughts of Yankee imperialism. 'These are our people! They
are never? to be Confuded with the cowards who flee, with these
who sell out to the enemy! They are never to be confused with
them? These are our people, examples of dignity and patriotism.
examples of courage, heroism, and spirit of sacrifice. These are
our people. They ?are building the history of Cuba, the Cubd
that today is known throughout the world, not the Cuba of
yesterday, but the respected, admired, firm and heroic Cuba of
today, the victorious Cuba, the Cuba of always, the unconquered
and invincible Cuba of the Revolution, the Cuba that has taken to
its heart the slogan of: OUR COUNTRY OR DEATH! WE
WILL WIN!
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Address by Carlos Lechuga Hevia, permanent
representative of Cuba to the United Nations,
delivered on october 8, 1963, at the Eighteenth
Session of the General Assembly.
Mr. President:
I wish to begin these words with a message of thanks to the
representatives of those countries who have preceded me on the
rostrum and who have directly mentioned the complex of circums-
tances that surround the so-called Cuban case and warned about
the threats to peace caused by the constant and uninterrupted
military and economic pressure on our country. In the same way,
I wish to thank those who, without directly mentioning Cuba
,?surrounded and besieged, yet more alive than even? have pro-
claimed her right to .live in pjace.
Our delegation would like to join unreservedly in the current
of opinion prevailing in the Assembly, which views today's inter-
national situation with high hopes. Nothing would be more
welcome to the people of my country, who have to live in a
constant state of vigilance, ready to defend with their lives their
right to work in a society organized for their full welfare and
happiness. Nevertheless, the realities we confront do not permit
us to have such great optimism. The atmosphere of intrigue and
conspiracy that now, as last year, envelops the Caribbean region,
leads us to see a different picture, the product of actual deeds
and unfortunate circumstances, involving nothing less than the
protection of our independence and sovereignty. This, therefore,
is not a case of speculative analyses or fantastic visions. Cuba,
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a member state of the United Nations, is the victim --ana con-
tinues to be the victim? of a disturbing policy of intervention in
its internal affairs and of large-scale aggression on .the part of
another member state, the United States of America, in violation
of the fundamental Precepts of the San Francisco Charter. There-
fore, we have come here once again to expose the lies and
hypocrisy and to bring out the gross contradictions between
verbal adherence to the constitutional documents of the Organi-
zation, and the events which make a mockery of those principles.
Nor will we neglect our duty to offer our opinion on the other
problems that call us together, for they all affect? us in one way
or another.
From an overall point of viev we can state that the matters
included in the full agenda of the present session contain, almost
without exception, the problems that concern the world. In stu-
dying and discussing them, the task of our delegation will be
linked to the efforts to achieve a stable and true peace for man-
kind, without concession to exploitation, aggression, misery and
subjugation. We will cheer every action dedicated to the right
of all peoples to administer and benefit from their resources.
We will work for an end to the domination of foreign monopolies
in underdeveloped countries; for an acceleration of the historic
process of the liquidation of colonialism and the unmasking and
halting of neo-colonialism; for an end to foreign military bases,
centers of provOcation, subversion and dangerous tensions; for
full freedom of trade; for an end to racial discrimination.
On the agenda under 'our consideration, the problem of peace
is, of course, the one that attracts the most profound attention
and excites the most interest, for not in vain does it encompass
all the others. It is a subject that is ever present on the agendae
of the Assemblies, and although some steps have now been taken
towards its partial solution, it is no less true that we are still
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far from having attained a situation that satisfies our aspirations.
Military aggressin and economic exploitation, coercion, blackmail
and threats are becoming increasingly serious in many parts of
the world; this, obviously, is not a picture into which tranquility
and harmony can fit.
Clearly there is no path more fraught with obstacles than
that which leads to peace. To overcome these obstacles is a
difficult, complicated task, which requires sacrifice, deep convic-
tions, and time.
In the case of Cuba We know quite well that the subject
of discussion is not abstract peace, the peace invoked by the
imperialist powers, the peace exalted in speeches and the peace
that is spoken of in the Charter and is yet unknown, but a peace
which permits us productive work without daily concern about
attack from abroad. .For, we ask ourselves, how can peace exist
for ,the Cuban people while we are beseiged'by a great Power
anachronistically bent ,on destroying our liberating revolution?
Is it a state of peace when our workers must work with their
rifles at their sides, our farmers must till the earth with their
rifles at their sides, and our students must have their rifles by
their books in order to defend their land?
We cannot lose sight of the fact that ?the peace for which
we must work without respite, the true peace, for which so many
millions of human beings have died, which is yearned for by the
masses of all continents, which is desired by all Latin Americans,
is that peace whose existence signifies the complete emancipation
of the peoples, the elimination of the roots of economic injustices,
of territorial ambitions, of distorted cultures.
The ending of colonialism and the initation of economic
development, which are the other two great points on the agenda,
are closely related to the subject of peace; they are tightly knit;
they are inter-dependent. No demonstration is needed of the fact
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that the stubborness of the colonial powers in blocking the path
of independence of the peoples generates conflicts, and that hun-
ger, haunting innumerable homes the length and breadth of the
planet, makes fertile ground for the seeds of war. This is illustra-
ted in the drama of the Viet-Namese people, victims of United
States military intervention, and in the maneuvers of the insatiable
financial consortiums to assure themselves advantageous positions
in the exploitation of the peoples; with their intrigues, they creat
areas of tension, sensitive spots precariously balanced between
a false and superficial peace and an open conflagration of incalcu-
lable consequences.
It is our belief that the United Nations continues to be a
forum of exceptional importance for the airing of the basic pro-
blems of our age, and that the new vitality that has come into
it with the incorporation of several dozen nations which have
achieved their independence since the Second World War is
an exceptionally dynamic factor, which promises to open more
and more possibilities of the Organilation to fully perform its
tasks. The imperialist powers, and especially the government of
the United States, have sufficient control over the mechanism
of this institution to hinder, block, halt or adulterate ?according
to the case and circumstances?, the just aspiiations for economic
development and independence. of the peoples who continue under
the colonial yoke; but it is evident that the positive forces within
the United Nations are steadily overcoming this control. The
road has been long and continues to be full of difficulties, for
the imperialist countries resist facing a world that is not suited
to- their image and arranged for their benefit. However, some
obstacles have already been removed, and the tendency that
works against the imperialists and on behalf of the peoples is
irresistible.
A palpable example of those means still at?the disposition of
the United States government to hinder the free functioning of
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the Organization is the question of the legitimate representation
of the Chinese people. Seven hundred million human beings
lack a voice in our deliberations, despite the fact that everyone is
aware that, as long as the government of the People's Republic
of China does not occupy its rightful seat, it will be impossible
to speak 'of the universality of the United Nations, or to state
categorically that this is a center for the promotion of internatio-
nal cooperation.- The fact still exists, without solution, pro-
claiming from year to year the frustration .of the principles of
the Charter.
There is further demonstration Of this frustration in the case
of our sister nation of Puerto Rico. It is well known that the
United States has maneuv' ered to conceal the tragedy of that
'Latin American people from the United Nations. These ma-
neuvers culminated in their failure to provide information on
that territory .which they are obliged to do by Articie 73 of
the Charter,? even though Puerto Rico has not attained self-
government. Let us consider the facts, and let us not deceive
ourselves, for outside this hall we fool no one.
In Puerto Rico there is a colonial regime that exhibits all
the characteristics of colonial domination. Or is the term perhaps
not applicable to a people Who have been absorbed economically,
against whom every attempt has been made to distort their true
nationality, who have no foreign service, who lack the m' eans for
self-defense, who have neither a postal system nor customs nor
emigration and immigration services, who have no curency, whose
court decisions are appealed to the United States Supreme Court,
an island over which the Washington Congress reserves the
unrestricted right to legislate? Is that nation not a colony when
its youth are subject to compulsory military service for a fOreign
power? Obviously, no further comment is needed.
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In the case of Cuba, the mockery of the fundamental princi-
ples which gave rise to the United Nations reaches the most
incredible extremes. A people who are at war only with illiteracy,
which they overcame in a memorable effort; with unemployment,
which has almost disappeared; with disease, which has steadily
lost ground; with economic underdevelopment, against which
they' wage a relentless battle; with racial discrimination, which
is buried forever; with? the latifundia system, which has been
eliminated in Cuba; with foreign monopolies, a battle which by
now has given us many victories. Our people, who are waging
this just war with unmatched heroism, and who are at peace
with other peoples, suffer without respite attacks charged with
violence and resentment from the government of a powerful nation,
which, in carrying out this ominous policy utilizes both military
and economic means, as well as a giant machine of slander that
covers the entire world, 'intrigue and coercion on a universal
scale, and perfidious alliances with the most rotten and discredited
elements in Latin America.
And it is perhaps in Latin America where one can observe
in most detail the hypocrisy of North American policy, its
deceitfulness And Jack of respect for the principles it constantly
claims to uphold. It is there where U.S. aggression has traditio-
nally made itself felt with its armed interventions, its boundless
exploitation of natural resources, its seizure of foreign trade and
a great portion .of public services, and its coercion of governments.
Those governments which do not yield to pressures from Wash-
ington by force or corruption face both slander and guns, the
latter handled directly by the marines or put in the hands ,of
hired traitors.
Today we see that as an answer to the strident failure of
the Alliance for Progress '7-Washington's prescription for counter-
acting the attractive example of the Cuban Revolution for the
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peoples of the Continent? there ,is a regression to the somber
era of military dictatorships, of military coups with Thompson
machineguns and Sherman tanks, which have caused our peoples
so much blood, grief, misery and backwardness for so many
years. By now, the so-called democracy of most of the Latin
American regimes does not fit into their plan to suppress the
clamor for justice among the impoverished Masses of our conti-
nent; and those regimes are appealing, as on many previous
occasions, to the bayonet curtain of the military castes, to ambi-
tious and power-hungry swordsmen ?many of whom, by a strange
coincidence, have studied in the military academies and camps
of the United States.
The greed of the monopolies, and their fear that our peoples
will emancipate themselves from political domination and from
economic exploitation, lead to an attempt to restore the old picture
in a new frame in the history of Latin America. This scandalous
situation exposes the internal contradictions of United States
imperialism. Thus we witness a cross-fire of accusations within
the government itself. We see how they cannot explain to public
opinion why they destroy the very moral and political values
they claim to defend. We see that in the Washington Senate,
where Cuba has so often been defamed, data is appearing which
gives the lie to pompous declarations and demagogic oratory.
Last week it was revealed that in the current fiscal year the U.S.
Government had given much more military aid to the Dominican
Republic, proportionately, than to any other country in Latin
America. That military aid amounted to no less than 1.26 dollars
per citizen .5.981,000 dollars? a deliberate 'aid to the coup
against the constitutional government elected only seven months
ago. It was also revealed that the United States monopolies and
United States military figures participated in the plotting of the
coup. Although these events are all too well known by our
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countries, because it has been the same for us in all eras, they
are of interest because of the time in which they have taken
place. This coup, followed by a similar one in Honduras a few
days later, possibly heralds future achievements of the Alliance
for Progress: the alliance of Sherman tanks and Thompson
machineguns with the heads of powerful companies and agents
of the Central Intelligence Agency!
The bloody realities of these aggressions against Cuba, both
in impact and in volume, go far beyond the file which contains
the various denunciations made in the United Nations against
the aggressive government. From this hall we cannot see ?.as
can the inhabitants ,of Havana every day the silhouettes of
U.S. warships stationed off our coast for purposes of provocation,
subversion and espionage. From these seats you cannot hear the
sound of the motors of pirate airplanes that fly over our territory
.directed, armed and paid for by the United States Government.
From this building it is ,impossible to clearly appreciate the infil-
tration of our coasts by traitors trained by the Central Intelligence
Agency, armed' with the latest equipment for murder and sabotage.
Ninety days from today we shall celebrate the fifth anniver-
sary of our Revolution; during these five years the Cuban people
have ceaselessly felt the 'poisoned sword of this illegal, clumsy
and cruel policy. These' have been five' years of unequal battle,
during which our people have shown exceptional courage, over-
coming incredible obstacles, taking vast strides forward and
winning the fraternal solidarity of all peace-loving peoples.
This dangerous and explosive situation remains unchanged
?
today. To be more explicit, the situation has worsened in the
last few months. At the end of April, 1965 .without going
further back than this six-month period. an airplane flying from
the north attacked an oil refinery in Havana, hut was not
successful, as the detonators did not function. Early ? in the
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morning of August 15 a pirate plane fired several shots at the
town where the Bolivia sugar mill is located, 'in the province
of Camaguey, and dropped two 50-pound bombs, one of which
-exploted. On August 19 a bomber flew over the town of Casilda,
in the southern part of the province of Las Villas, firing several
rockets, one of which hit and ignited an oil tank car.
Only hours after this attack, two landing craft coming from
a mother ship stationed near the mouth of the Santa Lucia
estuary, on the northern, coast of the province of Pinar del Rio,
approached the sulphur processing plant located there and opened
fire. with 50. caliber machineguns and bazzohas, hitting several
oil tanks and a sulphuric acid tank.
Fabric Aguilar Noriega, a teacher, was killed, and his three
children wounded, as a result of-a raid by two unidentified planes
over the city of Santa Clara on September 4. Two jet planes
were detected in that same area and put to flight by Cuban
airplanes.
? At daybreak a week ago, a pirate ship attacked and destroyed
a saw mill on the north-east coast of the province of Oriente.
It would be impossible, here and now, to list all the
aggressions. It is no secret that mercenary elements recruited and
paid by the Central Intelligence Agency are concentrated- in
Central American countries;, many of them have, gone through
training camps of the regular U.S. Army. Nor can the movement
of war equipment in that area, and counterrevolutionary activities
in United States territory, be hidden.
It is evident that the _government of the United States dis-
regards paragraph 4 of Article 2 of the Charter, which states
that, ?in their international relations, member countries should
refrain from using threats of force against the territorial integrity
or political independence of any, state, or employ means incom-
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patible with the purposes of the United Nations. It also disregards
paragraph 5, which says that the member countries should settle
their international differences through peaceful means. Nor does
it fulfill one of the principal- aims of the Charter, which is to
practice tolerance and live together in peace as good neighbors.
The government of the Uniteds States does not observe any of
these precepts, nor many others. It prefers to act from "positions
of strength" above all when dealing with a small country such
as Cuba. Nor, as we see, does it learn from experience, since it
has forgotten the 72-hour victory of the Cuban people at the
.time of the invasion at Playa Giron ,?an invasion which, as
everyone will remember, was totally and admittedly sponsored
by Washington.
One of the most repulsive aspects of the policy followed by
the government of the United States against Cuba. is its attempt
to starve our people into submission, confronting our nation with
an economic blockade which, as everyone knows, goes far beyond
the frontiers of the United States and this hemisphere, and which
they wish-to extend to almost all import-export markets and even
to the seas, travelled by ships bearing peaceful cargos of food
or medicines for our people, raw materials and spare parts for
onr? industry, fertilizers and seeds for our agriculture. The govern-
ment of the United States believes that our people will yield,
will prefer the ignominy of surrendering their independence and
sovereignty to enduring the material difficulties caused by eco.
nomic aggression, despite the fact that there are daily and evident
proofs of the Cuban people's unalterable decision to defend their
revolution. of their pride in completing the work begun by our
? liberators.
We will not relate the long list of attacks against our eco-
nomy since that day in 1960 when the U. S. oil firms refused
to refine oil. They are very well known: supression of the sugar
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quota; a general embargo on trade; official efforts to gain Euro-
pean support for the embargo; a United States customs ban on
any product manufactured totally or in part with Cuban mate-
rials, regardless of the country of manufacture; requests to other
countries to prevent their ships from bringing goods to Cuba;
pressures aimed at bringing about the termination of trade agree-
ments with Cuba; threats to cut off financial aid to those
nations that trade with us; reprisals against ships bringing cargo
to us; a financial embargo; the freezing of .Cuban funds in the
United States; the prohibition of dollar transfer to third countries.
Even the funds of the Cuban delegation to the United Nations,
and the personal bank accounts of ,its members, suffered the
results of this blind, unprecedented policy, which is contrary to
the Charter and obviously condemned to faiIureI .
It is really a shameful, brutal and grotesque policy. And
the unprecedented thing is that when they block trade by other
countries with Cuba, or carry out reprisals against shipping lines,
or prohibit their citizens from traveling to our country, they are
at the .Same time acting against the fundamental interests of
third countries, and even of their own country.
The speech delivered last September 30, at Los Angeles by
the Assistant Secretary of State for Latin American Affairs, Mr.
Martin, shows all the immorality, as well as the stupidity, of
that policy of economic strangulation, which ?ado not forget,? is
in violation of the U.N. Charter. He said that the policy of
isolation of Cuba pursued the aim of denying our country all
means necessary for success and consolidation, and that, because
of U.S. pressure, our trade with capitalist countries had droPped,
many airlines had suspended their flights to Cuba, shipping had
lessened considerably, and our access to the international financial
system had been blocked to a great degree. He added without a
blush --on the contrary, he was quite pleased? that this policy
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against us had resulted in' fOod rationing, and that today the Cuban,
people's diet contained from 15 to 25% less calories than before
the Revolution.
We do not know where Mr. Martin gets his figures, or
which Madison Avenue firm invents them for him, but we are
not interested in this. The important thing is their confession of
the inherent evil of the policy applied against Cuba, and also
their confession of the failure of this policy, since today the
Revolution is stronger than ever, and is now more than ever an
, example for other peoples.
At the same time the United States says from this rostrum
that the clouds have lifted somewhat and that new rays of hope
can be seen, the Caribbean area is shadowed precisely as'a result
of the subversive and interventionist activities of the United States
government against Cuba. These are facts which cannot be hid-
den by eloquent phrases. They are realities which can easily be
confirmed. What is proclaimed in this hall is later retracted in
press_ conferences or in political speeches. It is a hypocritical
conduct.
President Dorticos said here one year ago that a number'
of circumstances surround the so-called Cuban qu,estion, a com-
plex situation which, ,against our will and firm' desires, trans-
forms the question, or attempts to transform it, into. a case invol-
ving the danger of war. Those words are still entirely valid under
the present circumstances, because the stress in U.S. government
propaganda is now the same as it was then, trying to present
Cuba as a danger for hemispheric peace ?though Cuba, on the
contrary, is the victim of all types of conspiracies and aggressions?
and because that campaign, just as it was before, is accompanied
by military preparations in the area. The bleak picture in the
Caribbean is not our fault, and this is obvious. It is the fault of
those who tighten the vise around Cuba. We know that tension
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has diminished elsewhere in the world, and our people and
government rejoice at that relief in international tension because
we want peace, but, as our Prime Minister Fidel Castro said last
week, "we Will not calmly accept a situation-where tension dimi-
nishes elsewhere while increasing for us.
The pressures of all kinds applied on Cuba represent an
international crime, and have created a dangerous atmosphere
charged with explosive potentials. The Assembly cannot lose
Sight of these facts when considering the world scene. The situa-
tion in the Caribbean area, with Cuba as the center of the
subversion and destruction carried out by the United States,
belongs indeed under the topic of peace, or rather, of war. The
Cuban government and people are aware of the dangers, and
are therefore alert. There will be no surprises for us, or for you,
who are' here given notice. Peace is indivisible, and the respon-
sibility for preserving it is "collective.
In short, if we consider the tasks we have ahead in their
correct historical perspective, the question of colonialism is, per-
haps, the key topic. There is a phrase in the speech delivered in
1960 before the General Assembly by Prime Minister Fidel
Castro, which should be recalled, because it expresses, basically,
the true concerns of the people, the bridge between war and
peace: "Let the philosophy of plunder disappear, and the philo-
sophy of war will disappear?" As long as there are exploited
peoples, peoples whose honor is stained by others, peoples who
are discrirninated" against, or in other words, as long as there
,are imperialist powers and imperialist regimes, we shall always
be at the brink of a cataclysm, and there will always be pretexts
for aggression.
The Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colo-
nial Countries, approved in the 15th session, at the initiative of
the Soviet Union, by an overwhelming majority, is the framework
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within which we may include effective resolutions during these
months of discussion. The majority of the countries here represen-
ted should hold it as their purpose to promote the total fulfill-
, nient of the Declaration, since that would be a step towards peace,
and since it is a ditty towards the nations that still suffer oppres-
sion. It is necessary to set a date?in the near future,?for the gain-
ing of independence by all, absolutely all colonial peoples. These
peoples have suffered centuries of agony, and the least they may
expect is this support for their aspriations, this tribute to their
bruised and battered dignity.
The imperialist powers do not wish to let go of their prey.
?
they present excuses and evade fulfillment of the Declaration.
What they have conquered with fire and sword, at the cost of
the blood and tears of their victims, they will not abandon easily.
For a long time they have been deriving fabulous wealth from
those nations through means which have almost always been in-
human. They resist being cast aside by history, which marches
forward inexorably toward their destruction. Our commitment
must be to encourage the struggle for emancipation, the incor-
poration of 'those millions of people into the concert of indepen-
dent nations.
, .
We Cubans have a great deal of experience as to what it
means to affect the economic interests of the imperialists, and
we know that the struggle is bitter and that the imperialists, am-?
idst their contradictions, amidst their intrigues to displace one
another, pool their efforts, their money, their propaganda, their
votes in international organizations, and their guns, in the effort
to break the resistance. of the peoples, to block their independence;'
to prevent their economic development and' political awakening.
The dramatic struggle of the peoples of Angola, Mozambique
and Portuguese Guinea, who daily display, their decision to win
Liberation, would not be so bloody and would not cause so much
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sacrifice' and misery, if Portugal did not enjoy the support of
her NATO partners in weapons, money and diplomatic man-
euvers. The regime of terror, murder, torture and contempt for
human dignity in the Portuguese colonies in Africa is based on
NATO war equipment and dollars.
The case of Southern Rhodesia is typical of the ruses em-
ployed by the colonial powers to mask their resistance to 'the
,.new period in history, and to maintain unaltered their oppressive
structure. In recent sessions of the Security Council, world public
opinion was informed of the plot to strengthen the military might
of the white minority in Southern Rhodesia and to perpetuate
their political rule and their economic plunder of the African
population.
The same methods (with different variations in each case)
are employed bY other colonial powers in Africa and, elsewhere
in the world. The snares of the colonialists know no frontiers.
The aim is the same: pillage, keeping for themselves the sources
?
of wealth of the colonial country. In vain they hope to preserve
injustice, either through traditional structures or through embel-
lishments in the system. But they will not succeed. Now the
peoples have begun their march, and they know which is the
proper path.
We now wish to refer to the apartheid policy of the govern-
ment of South Africa. As a representative of a country where all
men are equal, not only before the law, but most important of
all, in their opportunities to work and study, where all men have
aqual access to places ot recreation and entertainment, where racial
barriers do not exist, and where we are held together by fraternal
bonds in the construction of our futuro?for the Revolution has
uprooted privileges and created new and permanent human rela-
tions, which uphold the dignity of man above all other cons-
iderations?we must reject with, deep contempt and indignation
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the merciless and intolerable conduct of the fascist regime in
South Africa.
It does not seem necessary to state that the Cuban delegation
will always be ready?as it has always been-4o collaborate on,
encourage and vote for whatever measures are necessary to put
an end to that shame in today's world: apartheid: It is not a
coincidence that racists throughout the world are among the
worst enemies of the Cuban Revolution.
We also express our passionate solidarity whith the Negroes
of the United States, victims of brutal discrimination, sacrificed
by an unjust system, subject to storms of demagogy, brothers in
pain and indignation to all men on all continents who suffer
discrimination.
As we said before, our task in this Assembly will be one
of untiring and enthusiastic cooperation on behalf of true peace,
and, therefore, the denunciation of all that opposes it, openly or
secretly.
And now, to close our address for this morning, we wish to
refer to Cuba's position regarding the central topic of the day,
the Moscow Treaty, as well as the proposal for the denucleat-
ization of Latin American. which figures prominently on the agenda
of this session of the General Assembly.
World opinion received with approval the news of the sign-
ing of the Treaty of Moscow on the partial prohibition of nuclear
tests in so far as this implied a relaxation of the anxiety over
the dangerous consequences which the diffusion of radioactivity,
caused by the tests, brings upon humanity, and in so far as it
represented a possibility of lessening _international tension. Cuba
shared in this feeling of world opinion.
However, it is precisely from the time of signing this
Treaty that the Government of the United States, an imperialist
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1 I.
nuclear power, signatory to the Treaty, has begun a new wave
of aggression against Cuba. It has renewed its activity with the
intention of destroying the Cuban Revolution, furthering all kinds
of acts which, in contradiction to the pacific aims of the Treaty,
increase the tension existing in the Caribbean, thus reproducing
the conditions which gave' rise to the so-called "October Crisis"
of last 'year, with real danger to the peace of the world.
From the very moment of the signing of the Moscow Treaty.
the imperialist government of the United States, in addition to
the adoption of measures directed towards the economic and fi--
nancial blockade, has been extending the acts of infiltration by
agents of the Central Intelligence Agency and of saboteurs into
our national territory, who have been conveyed to our coasts in
armed vessels of the United States Government itself; pirate
attacks by air and sea have redoubled, the U.S. Government
using armed boats and bomber and fighter planes, including jet
aircraft of their Air Force. These acts have caused loss of human
lives and material damage to our 'country.
At the same time, with cynical publicity, Cuban counter-
revolutionaries are being concentrated in Central American ter-
ritory, with the undisguised, complicity of certain puppet govern-
ments, and the training. of these counterrevolutionary' forces is
being hastened, financed and guided by the Pentagon, the Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency and the State Department of the United
States Government.
All the bad faith and deceit which characterize the United
States Government are evidenced by these two-face, opportunist
and Machiavellian policies. The United States is mistaken, more-
over, if it thinks, that there can be a climate of peace in the world
and a policy of war against Cuba.
, It is for this reason that the Revolutionary Government of
Cuba considers itself obliged to define its position in respet to
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the Treaty, taking into account the special circumstances caused
by the activities carried out by the United States Government.
precisely from the moment of signing this Treaty.
Cuba values highly whatever successes can be achieved on
the difficult path to disarmament. Cuba supports the policy of
peace of the Soviet Union, whiCh has been the inspiration, no
doubt, of its Participation in the conclusion of the Treaty on
Partial Prohibition of Nuclear Tests. Cuba is willing to exert as
much effort as may be useful for the universal cause of peace.
But Cuba canot be a signatory to this Treaty wile one of the ?
signatory powers is carrying out, simultaneously with the signing
of the Treaty, a series of activities and is executing a policy
towards our country which are bringing about what is in effect
a state of undeclared war..
At the time of the "October Crisis," the Revolutionary
Government of Cuba pointed out that for our people there could
be no genuinely peaceful solution as long as the Government
of the United States persisted in its gross violation of the most
elementary rights of the Cuban people.
The Government of the United States is systematically
maintaining against our country the economic blockade and all the
means of oppression, commercial and economic, which it employs
in all parts of the ,world.
The Government of the United States is pursuing its sub-
versive activities: launching and landing of arms and explosives
by air and sea; infiltration of spies and saboteurs?these actions
being carried out from the territory of the United ? States and
from the territories Of certain of her accomplices.
The United States is continuing to systematically violate our
air space and territorial waters with its aisplanes and warships.
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? The United States still maintains on Cuban territory the
military base of Guantanamo, which does not recognize our
sovereignty and exists against the will of our people: this base
is-used precisely for the above-mentioned violations of our air-space,
the introduction of spies and saboteurs and the promotion of
counterrevolutionary activities in our country.
Cuba Will not, therefore, sign the Treaty on Partial Pro-
hibition of Nuclear Tests as long as ,the Government of the United
States continues its criminal and illegal activities against our
country.
? The non-signing by Cuba of the Treaty on Partial Prohibition
of Nuclear Tests will not change, of course, the practical results
of the treaty. Cuba is not a nuclear power and lacks resources
to be such a power. But it is Cuba's duty to adopt in the heart
of the United Nations a moral position inspired by the inviolate
principles of our international policy.
Man's universal longing for peace, which has been stirred
into action to demand measures to preserye mankind from war.
must also be aroused to demand respect for the integrity and life
of all countries alike. Peace must be 'universal, enjoyed by all
nations, large and small.
The case of South Vietnam is a- palpable example. What
right has the United States to wage against the people of that
country, living thousands of miles away from its frontiers, a
shocking and brutal war? What right have Yankee airplanes to
bomb the citizens of that country? Wha t right have their soldiers
and officers to kill the Vietnamese with impunity? This shameful,
unjustifiable, colonial war offends the universal conscience. It is
time that this? International Organization do something.
This is Why the Cuban Delegation to the United Nations
calls upon all States, especially the African States and other
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States here represented whose peoples are fighting to assert their
political and economic independence, to urge the just condem-
nation of South Africa for its policy of apartheid and the cruel
expressions of colonialist oppression as in Angola, and to urge
an equally strong condemnation of the criminal intervention in
South Vietnam and the other neo-colonial undertakings which in
fact invalidate whatever efforts are made in favor of world peace.
With reference to the suggestions directed towards the con-
version of Latin America into a denuclearized zone, the Delegation
of the Revolutionary Government of Cuba to the United Nations
?wishes to define its exact position:
The Revolutionary Government of Cuba, on principle, is not
opposed to the creation of clenuclearized zones, nor to any other
method or initiative aimed at reducing the possibilities of a nuclear
conflagration?a risk with unforeseeable consequences, to which
our people, and the whole world, were very nearly exposed during
the past "October Crisis," which was generated by the attempts
at invasion of our country by the forces of the United States
Government,
The Revolutionary Government of Cuba highly esteems the
intentions which inspired Alrese suggestions on the part of certain
Heads of State of Latin American countries, and has been willing
to analyze, carefully, the substance of these proposals. However,
the Revolutionary Government of Cuba considers that the efficacy
of these initiatives is essentially conditioned to their scope in
regard to the use of nuclear arms by the only nuclear power which
exists on this continent, that is, by the United States of America.
- The United States controls Latin American territories on the
Panama Canal. It is in possession of Puerco Rico, a land and
people which the nations of Latin America will not cense to
consider as Latin American. The United States possesses various
military bases on Latin American territory and usurps, against
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the will of the Cuban people, a stretch of Cuban territory on the
Bay of Guantanamo. That is to say, the United States, a nuclear
power, boasts a military base in Cuba's own territory.
The Cuban people will not accept a denuclearization agre-
ement unless it. entails, at least, the denucIearization of the Pa-
nama Canal, Puerto Rico, the various United States bases on
this continent that are not on their own territory and the return
to Cuba of that portion of Cuban territory which the United
States illegally usurps.
The Revolutionary Government of Cuba is in favor of what-
ever efforts may be made in order to create a system of world
security, but considers that the value Of such a system is dependent
on its being a system of security without exceptions or privileges
for anyone.
? This is the position of the Revolutionary GoVernment of
Cuba. We appreciate the good faith of the suggestions. We are
willing to discuss them, but we establish, as irrevocable conditions
for our final adherence to them, the necessity of a commitment by
the Government of the United States to denuclearize the ter-
riotories under its jurisdiction, such as the Panama Canal and
Puerto Rico, and the dismantling and withdrawal of the U.S.
military bases in Latin America, especially of the Naval Base
at Guantanamo in our country.
No. one yearns more for peace on our continent than we do.
The Cuban Revolution is en&tged in a great creative undertaking
of historic proportions, and an effort of this magnitude can only
reach its ambitious objetives in a climate of peace. But as we
want a true peace, we desire that whatever suggestions are put
forward in order to guarantee that peace be really useful; we
feel ? that the usefulness of such suggestions is determined by
the power they have to bind the aggressive hands of the only
nuclear power existing in .America, i.e. the United States Govern- ?
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ment, which, with its policy of aggression against small countries
and of obstinate interference, is blocking the paths to peace, is
preparing for local colonial wars and is at this moment increas-
ing its acts oi aggression against our country, thus reproducing
the circumstances which in October of last year brought this
Continent and the whole world close to the brink of nuclear
disaster. .
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Full text of the speech delivered on january 2,
1964, by major Fidel Castro, Prime Minister of the
Revolutionary Government of Cuba, on the
occasion of the fifth anniversary of the Cuban
Revolution.
Dear guest, who honor us with your presence on this Fifth
Anniversary of our Revolution:
People of Cuba:
Five: years have passed since the victory of the Revolution.
Do we have the right to feel proud of these five years? We
certainly have'eve0 right to feel proud of these five years of Rev-
olution. We have the right to celebrate it with dignity, and to
continue celebrating it forever. Our country will always celebrate
this anniversary. We are surer of this every day.
When the Revolution assumed power five years ago, we
knew that We had an immense and difficult task before us. And
what was our situation then? What was the position of the
people? What was the position of the 'leaders of the Revolution
? towards this task? It was a position of optimism, of confidence
in ourselves. Of course, we had self-confidence that no matter
how immense and difficult the task ahead might be, we would
march forward. ?
But it was also true that we, the leaders of the Revolution
and the people, had no experience' in regard to this new task,
this difficult and great task we had before us. And that is why
?
on the day we arrived at the capital of the Republic we said
with complete honesty that we felt just as we did the day we
landed from the Granma. When the revolutionary war had ended.
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we understood the wast difference between the experience of
our fighters when we landed and our experience when the war
had ended.
, But the task ahead was not a military task; it was a different
task,. a much more complex task. It involved demolishing a whole
unjust social order, a whole antiquated anachronistic social order,
and building a new social order for our people. The mode of
production of our society had to be completely changed for .a
new mode of production. A mode oi production that had been
entrenched for centuries, with all its traditions, its customs, its
institutions, its laws, its ideas, its habits, its procedures of edu-
cation, its organization, had to be changed for an entirely new
mode of production for which we did not have the organization,
nor the tradition, nor the habit, nor the customs, nor the ap-
propriate ideas, nor the mental attitude appropriate to this new
may of life.
Nevertheless, it had to be done. We tould not continue
living as we had in the past. The past had to be wiped out;
something entirely new had to be created. That had been the
aspiration of our people for a long time. Our peopIe had never
had the opportunity to create something entirely new. Powerful
forces of an international' nature and powerful forces of a social
nature had prevented our people, all through their history, from
being able to work out their own destiny in a serious manner.
The Revolution granted that opportunity for the first dime in
our history.
This did not mean that when we had this opportunity in our
hands the road ahead would be easy; nor did it mean that
when our people had this opportunity, they would begin from
the very first day to do things marvellously. It did not mean
that we had an accuiate, clear, detailed knowledge from the
first day, of what we should do with this new opportunity.
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But we did know one thing, and we all know it: the victory
of the Revolution meant the end of injustice. .We knew that the
victo? ry of the Revolution would mean the end of abuses, the end
of privileges, and, in the -course' of time, the end of poverty, of
unemployment; in short, the end of the exploitation of our people.
We knew that an entirely new era had dawned, and though in
the past we , were accustomed to seeing injustice and abuse
everywhere, now there is not a single Cuban who would calmly
accept seeing injustice or abuse.
This does not mean that an end can be -put overnight to a
series of vices and faults, a series of injustices, and minor privileges
in the life of a country. But what did end, what ended very
quickly, Was the old spirit of conformism, the old lack of hope
and optimism.
And the mentality of our people has changed radically in
the last five years. In these -past five years, from the point of
view of building a new life, a new society, which will take ma-
ny years, we have barely beguri., But in these years, from the
point of view of consciousness, from the point of view of the
mentality of the people, there has been a transcendental and
irreversible change.
One thing is very clear, and that is, that every Cuban who
is present here and millions of Cubans thorughout the island,
know that an irrevocable decision has been taken: the past is
being left further behind, and will never again return to our
country.
What is the present like? Our present involves work, effort
and difficulties. That we know, but nevertheless, there is nothing
that can change the limitless hope we place in today's effort,
the limitless hope we place in the future. Nothing can make us
change it for that past without hope, that shameful past, that
sad past for the people. The only ones who long f Jr the past
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are those who in the past had everything and never worried about
the people.
They never thought of the suffering and the tears of the
people. The people always wept, alWays suffered, always sweated,
alwai7s bled, and no one thought of them. No one remembered
them.
Let the exploiters weep today, let the exploiters shed their
tears, let the exploiters perspire washing dishes in Miami, let
the bourgeois ladies perspire working as servants of the imperialists,
or endure the shame of stretching out their hands to receive alms
from their imperialist masters. And let, them beg in the heart
of imperialism, let the exploiters of yesterday beg for charity; for
today, in this country, there are no beggars. ? Let them brood
over the loss of their privileges, let them brood over their hatred
of the people, and no one will take pity on them. Let them and
their masters do whatever they wish to hinder the advance of
the people; let them do everything they can. They will achieve
nothing, for nothing will stop the victorious advance of our
people.
And this,is.why the basic sensation, the prevailing sentiment
in every one of us today, is the certainty that we are winning.
It is a feeling of victory; it is a feeling of five years of victory.
The very fact of saying five Years here, before the people,
before this huge crowd in the Plaza Civica, is in itself a victory
that our enemies could never have imagined.
It is not just, an ordinary victory. It is not just victory over
Batista and his clique, it is not .just victory over the counter-
revolutionary gang's, over the reactionary exploiters. The people
easily swept these enemies out of their way.
It is victory over the U.S. imperialists. It, is five years of
- , resistance to U.S. imperialism. It is the Revolutionary Govern-
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merit that has maintained itself against the efforts, the hostility
. and the systematic aggression of U.S. imperialism. And if this
victory means a great deal to us, it also means a great deal to
the imperialists, for their domineering minds, used to trampling
over the rights of, the peoples of our America, could not have
imagined that this nation ,?,out small nation, our small island?
could have resisted, and even emerged victorious from these five
years of hard, head-on 'battle with imperialism.
This shows h0w. much things have changed in the world.
They have a great deal to learn from the example of the Cuban
Revolution. This Revolution is teaching both reactionaries, and
revolutionaries. The revolutionaries receive an encouraging lesson
from our Reyolution, and the reactionaries receive a discouraging
lesson from it. The imperialists have to understand this.
If they do not understand, it is beCause they are stupid.
If they do not understand, it is because they are wearing .the
same kind of blinders that mules wear; if they do not understand,
it is because it is hard work for them to do so. But they must
understand, and they will understand, although they do not want
to --what other choice have they?,? that there is an entirely
new and different situation in the world, that great changes
have taken place in the world.
In the midst of our well-earned revolutio? nary pride and our
well-earned satisfaction at what the Cuban people have accom-
plished, we must keep in mind that the Cuban Revolution was
possible only because of,the new conditions existing in the world.
The Cuban Revolution is part of the very powerful movement
of liberation of the oppressed peoples, of the exploited and colo-
nized peoples. Our Revolution is part of that very powerful
world revolutionary movement that started with the historic revo-
lution of the workers and peasants of the Soviet Union ?, the
Revolution of Lenin, the Revolution of Marx and Engels. And
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this powerful revolutionary movement grew more and more
powerful, and today is has the strength of all the countries of
the socialist camp, of all the countries on all continents that
struggle against colonialism and imperialism.
It is true that we alone could not have resisted imperialism,
that without this powerful force, this powerful movement, we
could not have resisted the blockades, the attacks, the economic
strangulation that imperialism used ,against our country. It is
true that we have felt the effects of this campaign, of this blockade,
and of the economic effort to strangle our country, but they have
not been able to crush the Revolution. And what is more, the
economy of the country is developing amidst these conditions.
? What I have just said, the fact that our Revolution is part
of, and can count on, this universal revolution, was made very
clear when our Armed ,Forces were on parade. We saw with
pride the fighting units of our people; we saw, with pride their
discipline and their 'organization. All the people saw their
weapons on parade.
This was not an old-fashioned military parade; ? the old
ones were a display of old, out-dated equipment that imperialism
gave its servants to oppress the workers. The weapons that were
displayed here today are not outmoded, are not junk; they are
up-to-date military equipment which our Revolution has received
to resist the imperialists.
The servants of imperialism, with their police forces and
their mercenary armies, do not need such modern weapons to
attack student. demonstrations, to attack worker's demonstrations,
to murder farmers, to persecute revolutionaries. They do not
need modern equipment for that; but to resist the imperialists
and their attacks, we do need powerful weapons, up-to-date
weapons.
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See how things have been changing in the course of the
past five years. The imperialists would no longer think of
disturbing the peaceful work of our country with an invasion
such as that of Playa Giron; they would no longer think of
occupying a portion of our territory to start a long, drawn-out
war. They no longer think of that. Why? Because they know
what we have, because they know the military might of our
Revolution.
Now it is more difficult for them to hurl their puppets into
a small war against us. Now it is more difficult for them to
hurl their puppets into an invasion of Cuba, for they know that
they would last only ten minutes on our beaches.
We prefer to have our forces continue to parade before the
people every year as a guarantee of their security and their future.
Let us hope that our weapons will never have to be used. Let
us hope that not one of these guns ever has to be fired. Let
us hope that not one of these tanks, missile units or planes ever
has to fight. Let us hope that not one of our, fighters has to die.
This is our deepest wish.
We do not have these weapons for decoration, or because
of a whim. Our people- want to live in peace. If our people
were not forced to live under constant danger, there would not
be tens and tens of thousands of Magnificent men handling
complex weapons. These men would be in production. They
would be working in the factories and fields, increasing pro-
duction, raising the standard of living of our people, and the
resources and the fuel spent on these weapons would be invested
instead in the means of production.
That is why it is our wish that those weapons never have
to be used. And the stronger our Revolution becomes, the greater
the respect of our enemies will be. For with these weapons we
cannot only defend ourselves from mercenary attacks, from the
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attacks of the puppets of imperialism, but we can also fight
against the best and best-equipped 'units of the imperialist army
of the United States.
The imperialists ?knoW, that it would be no easy thing. They
know that the people of Cuba will fight. They know that the
Cuban people will fight to the last man and woman. They know
that, the Cuban people will never surrender. But not only this;
they also know that the people of Cuba do not stand alone,
they know that the people of Cuba would not fight alone in
this struggle. Therefore, it has become more and more difficult
for the imperialists. And it would be a good thing if on this
Fifth Anniversary of the Victory of the Revolution, the impe-
rialists would sit down for a few minutes and think things over.
Some U.S. newspapers, among those that from time to time
write objectively, are beginning to realize these things. I've brought
a copy of a news cable on a New York Times editorial. See
whatl this prominent U.S. newspaper says on the occasion of
the fifth anniversary of oUr Revolution: "The Cuban Revolu-
tion will be five years old tonight, and the Castro regime is
certainly strong, and possibly stronger than ever".
"A list of its sins", the New York Times adds.., you already
know what our sins are, "a list of its sins and mistakes have
been reported in 'detail year after year, but the existence and
strength of the Cuban Revolution after five years, and the fact
that there is no apparent weakening in the attraction of Prime
Minister Castro within Cuba, or in his stature as a world figure,
require an explanation".
You Will forgive me for reading this paragraph about myself.
This is not what interests me. I am interested in pointing out
what the imperialists are thinking. The imperialists try to become
personal. They do not say that this is the revolution of the people
of Cuba, they say that it is Castro's Revolution, as if Castro
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and the people were two different things, as if it were possible
for individuals to make reirolutions. What can anyone do
without the people?
And then the Times goes on see how the facts are teaching
them. It says: "A revolution is. and always has been. a very
complex social, political and economic historical phenomenon,
with good and bad aspects. These uprisings begin by destroying
the social, political and economic structure of the country". This
i's true. And the Times adds: "It is a tragic experience for any
nation, and it has been so for Cuba". This 'is untrue. It has
been tragic for the exploiters, for 'the burgeoisie, but never for
the people. It has been tragic for the imperialists, ht never
for our people.
Then the newspaper says that "things were made worse by
the clumsiness of the young revolutionary leaders". That is true,
to some extent; we are .not going to say now that we are wise
men. But what they meant by clumsiness, was not exactly
clumsiness, it was the laws that nationalized imperialist enter-
prises! Then it says: "But that is not all that is happening in
Cuba" --listen to what they say?, -all children are receiving an
education, the majority are being well fed and well cat ed for,
regardless of how pox their parents my be". And it adds: -thq
Negro and mulatto population, from a quarter to a third of the
total, is obtaining genuine equality. The heads of government
are free from financial scandal. These aspects are new in the
history of Cuba. It would be foolish to make predictions, but
to have survived five years. is a remarkable fact, the explanation
of which cannot be attributed to simple causes".
These objective words in which realities are acknowledged
are really significant, for it is not we who are saying it. And
for example, the fact that they speak of genuine equality in our
country has much to say to many countries of the world, to the
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countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America, wherever that
equality does ?not exist. The fact that they recOgnize that all
children are receiving an education is to recognize something in
Cuba that does not exist to the same extent in any other Latin
American country, not even in the United States itself. The
fact that they say that all children are generally well fed regardless
of how poor their parents may be... of how many countries in
the world can this be said? That the men in the Revolution
have not stolen a cent.., of hoyv many countries, of the politi-
cians of how many countries, can this be said? And of course,
they say that this is completely new. And. how could it help
but be new, when this was a country of corruption and vice,
of pillage, of illiteracy, of unemployment, of hundreds of thousands
of children without schools, without food, of unemployed families?
Something else has to be added to this: How have we
managed to do this, and how have we had to do it? Under
what conditions? The imperialists speak of their Alliance for
Progress, and they continually complain that it does not progress.
They speak of their Alliance for Progres, which has accomplished
nothing of the sort, and yet there is no other country of America
upon which there weighs an 'economic blockade like the one
maintained against us; there is no other country in America,
whose trade, whose transportation of exports and imports, has
been blocked by the United States: there is no other country
in America whose economy is sabotaged the way the United
States sabotages ours. There is -no other country in America
where the imperialists have spent hundreds of millions of dollars
to carry out acts of sabotage, burn sugar cane, destroy factories,
commit crimes, carry out pirate raids, invasions, subversive acti-
vities, espionage. There has not been one .country where they
have done that, and yet, nowhere has there been the change,
the quick, extraordinary advance that has taken place in Cuba.
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Of course not all Latin American countries are in the same
situation, and we do not have the same opinion of all Latin
American governments. But the fact is that the imperialists
complain that the Alliance for Progress does not progress. And
why doesn't the Alliance progress while the Cuban Revolution
does? Why? Before the Revolution the imperialists did not
use that language, they used another language, they did not use
the words progress, Alliance for Progress. No, they were com-
pletely unconcerned with the situation. And if they are worried
today, it is not because they are "revolutionaries": Now they
speak of "peaceful revolution", and they want to carry out .a
peaceful revolution through the Alliance. But they do not want
to do so because they are revolutionaries, or because they love
revolution; they do so because they fear a revolution like ours,
they fear true revolutions like ours. No one in the world believes
that the imperialists are philanthropists when they talk about
allocating funds for building a few small schools, some hospitals,
some roads, and when they send out their peace corps, which
is an espionage corp. But in the past they did not even do that.
They began to do all these things after the victory of the revo-
lution.' That is why those hypocritical and opportunist measures
are surely going to fail. That is a fact, an obvious fact.
Furthermore, the Alliance .for Progress presupposes the
/maintenance of conditions of imperialist exploitation. The
Alliance entails some fiscal reforms, some mild agrarian reforms,
and some other measures. It stipulates that politicians should
not steal the people's money and that the bourgeoisie should not
deposit their money in foreign banks. But at the same time, it
presupposes the maintenance of conditions of imperialist exploita-
tion.
As I will explain to you later, our economic situation today
could not be better. Our situation today can be compared with
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others, and it can be said that it is one of the best on this
continent in spite of the imperialists, in spite of their blockade.
Because the merit of our successes is that they have been won
in the struggle against imperialism, amidst the imperialist
blockade.
, That is why the imperialists are trying to prevent visits to
Cuba. They are not only trying to prevent Latin Americans from
visiting Cuba, they are also trying to prevent the people of the
United States from visiting us. They can.), on a campaign ,?we
read many of the things they publish, and the truth is that day
by day they grow more ridiculous, and have less effect. I will
give you an example: Recently, we enacted the final agrarian
law. Then it was announced that there would be no more agrarian
laws?, really, the agrarian revolution had already been carried
out, it was not an agrarian reform, but an agrarian revolution.
'What did the imperialist cables say? "Castro abandons
the agrarian reform".
Abandon the agrarian reform, when what we were doing
was concluding the agrarian reform? We gave definite guarantees
to the small farm owner because he is an ally of the Revolution.
because he can produce along with the people's farms; but 70%
of Cuban, land is producing through socialist enterprises, through
state-owned enterprises. Seventy per cent of the land formerly
belonging to the imperialists and large local land owners today
belongs to the people, to the nation, and thanks ?to this we can
give an extraordinary impetus to agriculture.
But, together with these people's farms, we have the small
farm owners, who own the other 30% of the land; they were
freed from payment of rent by the Revolution, and constitute the
great peasant mass allied to the Revolution.
? When we are carrying out our agrarian reform, the impe-
rialists tell the world: "Cuba is abandoning the agrarian reform".
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When the Revolution talks about developing agriculture, sugar
cane, cattle, taking advantage of the fact that we have 160 sugar
milts that have been working one hundred days yearly, and that
could function 170 or 180 days, by grinding cane that ripens
early and cane that ripens tate, knowing that with our installed
industrial capacity we could double our sugar production, when
we speak of the development of our agriculture, they say: "Cuba
has abandoned her industrialization program".
Are we abandoning industrialization when we have thousands
and thousands of yOung people in our technological schools? Are
we abandoning industrialization when hundreds of thousands
of workers are studying, raising 'their educational level and
acquiring a minimum technical knowledge? When what we are
doing is creating the economic basis and human basis for our
industrialization? But, and this is not the same, the development
of industry in this first stage, under present conditions, is slower.
Agriculture can be developed faster. But are we abandoning
industry? No. We are going to continue to carry out the indus-
trialization of our country, and this will be through the means
derived from sugar, with the foreign exchange we get from sugar,
and with the means derived from cattle. We are going to develope
the industries best suited to our conditions, and we are going to
specialize in certain branches of industry. The imperialists publish
this nonsense to make people believe that we are abandoning OUT
industrialization plans. No. What we are going to do is to take
maximum advantage of our agricultural conditions. And besides,
we are a food-producing country, a producer of foods that are
in great demand.
Certain consumer industries have developed so much in the
world that there are twenty carloads pursuing each customer.
But, there aren't 2,000 pounds of meat pursuing each consumer,
there aren't 2,000 pounds of sugar pursuing each consumer. And
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our products, our agricultural products, command a very good
price.
If, when sugar prices rise above 10 cents, we do not cultivate
sugar cane, this is 'what the imperialists would like. For the
imperialists are going crazy with these problems that they
themselves have created.
We have received exceptional aid, of course, from our
brothers of the socialist camp. And it has been, above all, sincere
aid, honest aid, internationalist aid.
But we have also received unexpected aid, aid we did not
hope for: the aid of the imperialists. It has not been conscious
aid ?don't even imagine that? it has been 'the involuntary aid
of the imperialists. The imperialists have helped us with their
aggresive measures in certain things, such as depriving us of our
sugar quota in order to ruin us. They helped us. This measure
boomeranged against then. What happened when they deprived
us of the quota? Cuba needed new markets. The Soviet Union
and the whole socialist camp decided to buy our sugar. In other
words, a new market opened. Of course, even before the impe-
rialists deprived us of the quota, Cuba had already sold one
million tons to the Soviet Union by agreement. But when our
queta was taken away, then the Soviet Union offered to buy
all the sugar the United States did not buy. The result: this
sugar went, to a new market, and the imperialists 'turned to the
world market to buy sugar. At that time the world market price
was low and they tried to 'benefit by it. But, what happened?
Something they had not foreseen: after a few years sugar prices
began to rise and rise and rise, and at this moment sugar is
above ten cents. Last year the imperialists - had to spend 400
million dollars more than if they had bought our sugar. And it
will be between 400 and 500 million this year.
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But there is more; they are playing tricks, they are cheating.
Recently, they had to announce the amount of sugar they must
buy, but since the price was high, they told a lie: they published
figures that were 600,000 tons less than they really need. What
for? To try to lower prices.
And something else: They announced domestic sugar pro-
duction figures that are higher than they actually are, to try to
lower prices. We kept quiet, because we really don't deal in a
speculative policy. We would have been, and we are, ready to
trade with any country on a long-term basis and at a price way
below ten cents. We are, ready. We do not want to base our
economy on the speculative principles of the capitalists. If sugar
is in the clouds ?the, price, and sugar also, of course?, it is not
our fault. The imperialists are to blame. If many countries have
had? to pay much more for sugar, it is not our fault; the impe-
rialists are to blame, because they are the ones who have created
this situation. But, anyway, the sugar-producing countries, many
of which have underdeveloped economies, have received better
prices, and we are glad. We are glad that they have received
better prices. To be glad of that is one thing, and to say that
we are going to give up our market for the benefit of those who
wanted to take over our market under the conditions of the impe-
rialist blockade, ah, that is another story! We have already
announced the amount of sugar that we are going to produce
by 1970, and we have already said that we are ready to sell it
at whatever price may be necessary by that time and recover
our market. And we have already clearly said: nature gave our
country exceptional conditions for producing sugar cheaper than
any other country in the world. And those conditions are a gift
of nature ,?that is, our land. We lack other things, but we have
that advantage, and with that advantage we are ready to fight.
With that advantage, we are ready to compete. Yes, to compete
with our bourgeois competitors. We will see which is stronger in
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producing sugar, the bourgeois economy or the socialist economy.
We have already announced that by 1970 we will produce ten
million tons of sugar. Naturally, prices in 1970 will not be the
same as today, but there will be more income, because there will
.be more volume.
The imperialists have harmed many nations through their
policy against Cuba. They have not only harmed us, but many
other countries as well. What is more absurd, they have harmed
many countries that are their allies.
The imperialist trade-blockade policy involves a hate-inspiring
position, a position repudiated by the whole world, a position
against free-trade, a principle defended by all states, whether
socialist or capitalist.
It can be said that freedom of trade, because of its universal
convenience, is a principle that is universally supported by all
nations, except the U.S. imperialists.
But behind this position lie other matters: the imperialists'
wish to defend their interests, to defend their shipping companies,
to put ships of Norway, Britain, France, Spain, Japan, Sweden,
Greece and other countries out of business. For more than half
a dozen countries receive large incomes from merchant shipping,
and the imperialists have been scheming against the interests of
these countries while protecting the interests of their own merchant
fleet.
And I have another cable here that reads:
-Eleven countries have jointly protested against attempts of
the U.S. government to control maritime freight tariffs for their
own benefit and under threat of reprisal. In the name of the
governments . of Great Britain, France, the German Federal
Republic, Italy, Japan, Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece, Norway,
Denmark, and Sweden, the Netherlands Ambassador in Washing_
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ton delivered a note of protest to the U.S. State Department.,
The U.S. press points out that the eleven-nation protest is due
to attempts by the U.S. Federal Merchant Marine Commission
to demand that 'shipping companies of those countries submit
data on their operations. A spokesman of the U.S. State
Department confirmed that the Government had received the
note of protest, but refused to disclose its text to the press".
In other words, this is part of a policy. Using Cuba as a
pretext, they are trying to replace the shipping lines of these
other countries by their own ships in trade between other countries
and the United States:.
Now, in addition, the main difficulty regarding the sale of
U.S. wheat to the Soviet Union has been that the U.S.
government has tried to protect its shipping companies. Naturally. ,
other maritime countries are protesting against this privilege that
the United States is trying to arrogate to itself, since freights
charged by U.S. ships are higher, and these companies receive
subsidies from the U.S. government.
'What is the only country in the world that follows this,
policy? The United States. What country follows a really stupid'
international policy? The United States.
There are some things that are very clear. For example, the
United States' is trying to isolate the socialist camp economically,
it is trying to isolate the People's Republic of China, to isolate
Cuba. That is, it is trying to isolate over one thousand million
people. This is a most stupid policy, one that goes against the
interests of the United States itself. What has happened? What
has happened is that other capitalist countries are buying and
selling to the socialist camp; they buy and sell to People's
China, they buy and sell to Cuba. The result: while the gold
reserves of different capitalist countries are increasing and their
industry is developing, U. S. gold reserves are decreasing. And
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the most serious headache the imperialists suffer today is the
continuous decline in their gold-reserves. They say they have
taken these measures to defend U.S. security. This is ,what they
tell the people of the United States'. And what they are 'really
doing is to weaken their own security, not only their economy,
for to the extent that their gold reserves decline, their ,world
position weakens:
But not only this; as their gold reserves decline (a result of
their stupid policy, of their war-mongering policy, of their military
encirclement policy) they have to strangle' the economy of many
countries and take away their gold.
Thus we have the example of Japan. Japan spe'nds two
thousand million dollars in the United States, and the United
States buys only one thousand million dollars worth of goods
from Japan. That is to say, many countries in Latin America,
in Asia have to raise dollars to send to the United States, and
this hurts these countries. And when countries like Japan and
others have to send dollars to the United States, they harm their
trade with other countries of the world. For naturally, if a
country collects on one side to give it away on the other, trade
becomes more difficult for it than if it buys where it sells. That
is, it sells, and receives foreign exchange; it buys, and hands
over foreign exchange. From our own experience we have seen
how trade becomes ea?ier when it is kept in balance. For example,
Japan needs sugar, it buys it from us. But ,we do not use the
dollars paid by Japan to buy from another country. No. We
try to spend in Japan what Japan pays us. We try to spend in
Britain what Britain pays us. We try to spend in Spain that
Spain pays us. And thus, from the moment Cuba started prac-
ticing free trade and freed itself from the International Monetary
Fund, it has been able to trade with all countries of the world:
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The imperialists do not want. these countries to trade with
us, and try to put pressure on , them. But these countries,, these
nations, have their own interests, which are not the interests of
the U.S. monopolies. These countries need our products, and at
the same time we need a market for our products. They are not
willing to let themselves be influenced by imperialist pressure
and therefore the policy followed by the United States in respect
to Cuba is a greater failure every day. Their pressures have less
and less impact and our trade is developing more and more.
What do the imperialists do when a country trades with
us? I have another' cable here that reads: "The United States
has told Spain that its growing trade and shipping with Cuba
endangers the aid it receives from the United States". It is a
very carefu' Ily edited statement (you know how these people edit
things), but basically they all say the same thing. It is blackmail,
a threat, pressure, and no matter how carefully they edit it,
they cannot conceal this. "In a carefully worded statement.
the State Depa,rtment reported tonight that the matter is being
discussed in Madrid with the Spanish government. The State
Department says that two clauses in the Law are involved in
the problem. One is included in the foreign-aid law passed
last year, and the other in the foreign-aid law that Congress
passed this week".
In short, when a country trades with Cuba they threaten
it, they try to blackmail it, they threaten to cancel aid.
What kind of aid is this? What kind of friends are the
imperialists? What ?kind of blackmailers? No country tolerates
this kind of prohibition, and no country that respects the
i
sovereignty of others makes such prohibitions. It would be
absurd if we told any country:, "we will not buy from you or sell
to you f you trade with such and such a country". They would
say: "you are crazy". But why haven't they said yet that the
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imperialists are crazy? Because the imperialists have had many
/resources, because they have been strong, but since that strength
and those resources are declining, many people will begin to
-realize how crazy and how stupid the U.S. imperialists are when
they do such things. They are trying to enforce a policy of
isolation.
They try to impose an insolation policy. Of course, they
'could do this when only one country was involved. But when
it involves many countries, this policy becomes more difficult
!to enforce. The final result is that they are the ones who are
isolated, and they will remain insolated, for our country is
establishing trade with other capitalist countries, which later will
have no need for trade .with the U.S. We are less and less
interested in trade with the U.S. Why? Because we seek other
markets. Because we look for other buyers, and, besides, we
ipuy products from other countries. In the long run what the
imperialists are doing is losing big ,markets. They are putting a
moose around their neck with their own policy.
And what is the result? Here we are. Are we starving?
No! Is our Revolution weaker? No! And how is our economy
-getting along? Our economy is improving. We must leave them
to their illusions. U.S. news cables speak of nothing but horrors.
They report that everyone here is starving to death. Let them
'hang on to their illusions. If they think they will defeat us in
Ihis way ?wonder?F-11 But I don't know what has gotten into
fthese people. They have turned into idiots.
I am going to tell-you what our situation is: Our economic
position is improving greatly. I will give you a few facts: When
the Revolution came to power there was less than 70 million
dollars in the nation's reserve of foreign exchange. Our reserves
-at present are more than 100 million dollars in foreign exchange.
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There is something else. 1965 was a better year than 1962.
was it not? However, in 1964, the value of our exports will be
at least 200 million dollars higher tlian in 1963. The value
of our exports in 1964 will be over 750 million dollars,?at least
200 million dollars more than in 1963., To give you an idea
of what this means, it is enough to say that some big countries
of Latin America, like Brazil, will export only a little over that
amount. Of course, they have a more developed economy and
they have more industries. But anyway, the exports of our
country, with a population of a little over seven million, will
amount to more than 750 million dollars.
Now you see what a failure the imperialist blockade is.
How ridiculous it is! How useless! It has create 1 many enemies
for the United States, but in the long run we have managed
to overcome the clificulties. We have gained in organization,.
in earnestness, in firmness; the spirit of this country has been
strengthened as a result of this blockade. And you can see
how the distribution of food was much better in 1963 than it
was in 1962, and you can see, in spite of the hurricane, in spite-
of the damage caused by the hurricane, the perspectives that our
country has for next year!
What will the future be like, as the organization and the
, experience that we are acquiring are put into action, as we
improve the quality of our work, as we learn how to apply
technology to production!
The comrades of our youth. organizations, the Union of
Young Communists and the Students. Union, did very well
bringing this torch of the Technical Revolution here, for we
have to conduct the Technical Revolution, we have to put an
end to old methods in the cane fields: We have already ended'
old methods in politics, and now we are going to end old methods.
in agriculture. A man with a hoe is a pre-historic man as far
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as production is concerned; a man with a machete cutting grass,
is a pre-historic man. If is logical that this happened, under
capitalism: for the capitalists did not have markets, the impe-
rialists did not allow them to have markets, neither for sugar
nor for meat. That is why, had they' mechanized, the population
would have died of 'hunger; they had to go on using a, spade
and a machete. Their production was very low, a man with
?a scythe can produce for himself and his family and perhaps
for a few more. A man with a modern combine can produce meat
for four or five kindred persons, he can produce milk for hund-
reds of persons, he can produce much more sugar. We' have
to eradicate our pre-historic and primitive methods of produc-
tion to make room for modern scientific and technical methods
of production. We are going in that direction, we have to
mechanize all of our agriculture. We have to apply technology
to all of our agriculture, and we have to apply technolo& to
our industry as much as possible, because that is what will
increase production per man and per hour, and that is what
will raise the standard of living of our people.
Fortunately, today the Revolution does not only speak
words and make promises, the Revolution can demonstrate deeds.
We said right after the hurricane which caused so much damage
to the nation, that by the 15th of December the levels of supply
would be re-established, and this has been done. And at the
close of this year, there have been incomparably more consumer
products than in previous years.
And I am going to tell you something else. Up to now there
has been an inflationary process, but this year it will be the
reverse. The money in circulation will not increase. Money is
already being withdrawn from circulation, and there will be no
new issues in 1964; on the contrary, the National Bank plans
to take some 70 million dollars out of circulation. That is, our
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economy is improving greatly. This is the way by which queues
will be ended, and this is the way by which our standard of
living will continue to improve.
What country in Latin America can present an economic
situation like this? Most of the Latin American countries are in
a tremendous period of inflation, ,which has no apparent solution,
and Cuba is beginning to move in the opposite direction. Its ?
reserves are increasing, inflation is being fought, there is an anti-
inflationary process. What does it mean for us to have more
reserves? If this were a bourgeois and capitalist country, it would
mean that this wealth would turn into Cadillacs, ;nto automobiles,
into trips to Miami, Paris, and everywhere. But what does the
increase of reserves mean under socialism? They are not going
to be invested in luxuries, they are going to be invested in fac-
tories, in raw materials, and in consumer goods for the people,
because we never forget the needs of the people.
Of these reserves, one part will be used to improve our
economy, for investments, to develop our economy. Another part
will be used to improve the consumer power of the people, for
the people who work, the people who struggle, the people who
are building a better life for the coming. generations, also have
the right?and Cuba's conditions allow it??to receive the fruit of
their effort and to improve their living condition.
There are a number of things that we need, and it would
not be logical for us to 'start buying automobiles. We prefer the
"old jalopies': circulating now. We have to buy new buses to
improve transportation. We have to buy new trains, and we
are going to buy new trains to improve inter-provincial trans-
portation. Our airlines have improved. We are going to improve
our maritime lines, instead of buying Cadillacs, instead of taking
trips. abroad. We must invest these resources which we have
as a result of the high price of sugar, and the improvement in
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our economy, to solve basic problems, fundamental problems. It
does not matter if there are no beautiful cars; there will be.
locomotives for the railway lines, there will be passenger trains,
there will be buses for the transportation of our people, for the
people here, the vast majority of the people, never had cars.
There will be transportation for our goods, and in this way
we can break the imperialist blockade. There will be fishing boats
to increase the -people's consumption of proteins and their general
nourishment, to market tens of thousands of tons of tuna, which
the people like so well, and many other species of fish. I don't
want to speak of haddock, because so much of it appeared, and
they sold it so often that the people got tired of it, although had-
dock is a fine dish and highly .estin-rated in all parts of the world.
And what should these reserves be invested in? Not in
automobiles.. We will have to buy some cars for taxis, with
meters and everything. We will have to be thinking about this,
so that thousands of ?taxi drivers who are working and who
see that their car s are getting old, will be able to work in the
taxi business in the future with fewer worries than today. For
in our country there are definitely oportunities for all, including
those very taxi drivers whom we have often criticized, but who,
I believe, have improved lately. Isn't that so? And they will be
able to continue working in the future. And when a working-man
in a hurry takes a taxi he will know how much it will cost,
because there will be a meter marking it, and there will be no
tricks. And we will make state enterprises where the drivers
whose cars are already too old -will work with a good salary.
We are ,not going to invest our money in buy'ing cars to hand
them over to anyone without control over the rates charged the
people, but there are opportunities for the workers in that field.
They are independent workers, but we have to think about-them.
We are thinking of all of them, and we are really beginning
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a stage of progress, of improvement, and the results are already
beginning to be seen everywhere.
Year by year, these results will be seen, and we will see
the results of the organized force of the people at production and
work. And we will see what this reinforcement of technicians
means?,the cadres that are being trained in our universities and
in our technical schools. To our visitors we say: This is the
picture of 'Cuba. This is not the Cuba presented by the imperialist
news agencies, this is the real Cuba, the optimistic Cuba, the
Cuba that supports the Revolution, the Cuba whose enthusiasm
never decreases, the Cuba that is confident in her future, the
Cuba that desires a future of peace and the Cuba that has the
right to be respected and be left in peace.
We can therefore say that perspectives are really good, and
that the Year of Economy promises great successes.
What are the perspectives of peace for our people? Well,
there is a universal trend for peace in the world at this time, a
universal wish for peace, a universal current- of optimism, because
mankind knows that peace means welfare, that peace means
development, improvement of the economy, and progress for the
peoples. This is truer of the socialist ,countries than anywhere
else, for in the socialist countries we have no internal contradic-
tions, we have no contradictions in our economies, we have no
crises of overproduction because the economy develops according
to plan. But also, for the capitalist countries, peace means more
markets, more trade opportunities, fewer possibilities of crisis.
Trade, peace, peaceful coexistence, benefit both the countries of
the socialist camp and the countries of the capitalist camp. What
has the new President of the United States said in these last
few days? I have another cable. It says: "President Lyndon B.
, Johnson today urged the world to speak less and do more on
behalf of peace. He announced that in 1964 he will conduct an
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unrelenting peace offensive to improve relations with the Soviet
Union. Sources close to the Chief of State said that Johnson
believes that United States cannot wait a whole year until the
coming elections to exert the maximum pressure on behalf of
peace.
Johnson and Soviet Prime Minister Nikita Khruschov today
exchanged promises that they will strive to improve relations
in 1964. A message was received at ,the White House in Wash-
ington yesterday from the Soviet leader expressing the hope that
1964 will be characterized by additional and significant progress,
the solution of important international problems, and the improv-
ement of relations between our countries in the interest of the
Soviet and American peoples and on behalf of .the strengthening
of world peace.
"In his reply the President of the United States said that
the time of speaking about peace was past. 1964 must be a year
to take measures aimed at achieving that objective. The efforts
? by chemists in the laboratories, the scientists in space and the
agricultural experts in the fields will be in vain unless we learn
to live together in peace," he said. "No achievement in physical
science can be compared to what may be attained in the field
of 'political science by giving the world a just peace.
And he continued: "The American people and their govern-
ment have set the strengthening of peace as their highest objec-
tive in the new year. I myself am totally committed to attaining
better understanding among peoples everywhere: peace on earth,
good will to men must not be a mere illusion. We can convert
it into reality." Johnson's message, which is also addressed to
Soviet President Brezlinev, ends by saying, "the destiny of peace
and the hopes of millions have been placed in our hands. I
fervently hope that we will be good custodians of this trust."
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This is certainly a declaration of peace. It could be called
an encouraging declaration of peace, but we have our reserves.
Unfortunately we have to insert a "but." We would prefer not
to have any reason to insert a "but." Johnson says in his message
that he is committed to attaining greater understanding among
peoples everywhere. Good! We and the American people are
also part of those peoples. He says that we must learn to live
together in peace and that it is time to speak less and do more
on behalf of peace. Good? But only a few days ago, on the eve
of December 24th, C.I.A. agents criminally shed Cuban blood,
C.I.A. agents coming from and operating from Florida.
And something else: we know that the people who took
part in the operations of the Rex pirate ship were the same as
those who placed an underwater mine on the hull of one of
our warships. And not only that: they arranged a trap. They
tried to cause a massacre like the one of La Coubre. In other
words, first they caused a small explosion?the bomb which they
had placed under cover of darkness?operating underwater, plac-
ing it so that it would first make a small explosion. And a few
minutes later, when the crew gathered to see what had happened,
there would be a big explosion. It cost the lives of three comrades
in the Revolutionary Navy, and it cost the blood of 17 other
comrades who were injured. That was a criminal attack, a
cowardly attack, an injustificable attack. That was the Christmas
gift from the C.I.A., that was the Christmas gift from the United
States to the Cuban people: the blood of young Cubans, crimin-
ally, traitorously and cowardly shed. And 'since the C.I.A. does
not act on its own account, since the C.I.A. acts on behalf of
the United States, we have the right to say that President
Johnson is responsible for the blood our young comrades shed
'there.
We therefore have the right to tell him that it is time to
talk less and do more for peace. For such actions are no way
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to advocate peace. Such violations of international law are no
way to advocate peace. Such bloody actions are no way to ad-
vocate peace. They are shameless and cowardly actions. The
blood that has been lost hurts us, but it discredits the United
States, it gives them no prestige, no glory.
We want peace. We desire peace?peace here in Cuba and
peace also in South Vietnam, where there are 15,000 American
soldiers,?here thousands and thousands of US mercenaries are
bombing the Vietnamese people, murdering Vietnamese peasants,
workers and patriots. What are the soldiers of US imperialism
doing there, waging such a cowardly, stupid, criminal war? Let
not a single nation be excluded from the right to peace! Let this
right to peace, now yearned for by all nations, so rightly pro-
claimed and tenaciously fought for, not be denied to any nation
or to any people of the world.
If the U.S. imperialists believe that there can be peace when
attacking small countries, when shedding Cuban blood, the blood
of other peoples, when interfering in the internal affairs of other
countries, this is not a peaceful concept. Each .country must decide
its own destiny freely, by itself it must choose its own path
freely, by itself.
This is an indispensable condition for world peace. Let us
hope that the leaders of the United States understand the errors
and stupidity of their policy. May they join the struggle for peace,
whose standard-bearers have been the countries of the socialist
camp. Peace is today a sentiment that has universal support,
even within the United States itself. The policy of force, of the
cold war, of belligerency, of warmongering, is more and more
discredited, has less and Tess prestige.
Our country wants to live in peace and our country can live
in peace with all other countries. Why? Because we do not have
to take anything from anybody, we do not have to interfere in
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anybody's affairs; we have but one task, one wish, one right:
to work, to progress, to make our country advance. We do not
have to interfere in any country's trade. We do not have to
create difficulties for any country. All countries may benefit from
dealing with us. All countries can sell to us. We can buy from
and sell to any country. We do not practice discrimination against
anyone. We exclude no one. Our trade is open to all countries
alike. We trade with all sister countries of the socialist camp,
and we are willing to trade under conditions of mutual benefit
with all capitalist countries, even the United States. They believe
that they are doing us great harm by not trading with us. And
they are wrong. Facts are proving us right. Their economic aggres-
sions are boomeranging against them. We are not begging them
to trade with us. They could not tempt our Revolution with
sucha coin. Should they some day want to normalize their relations
with us, it will have to be on the basis of the strictest and fullest
respect for our sovereignty and our economic, social and political
system.
We will never make ideological concessions, and we will
maintain an unyielding Marxist-Leninist position. Nevertheless,
this is no obstacle to our living in peace. It would be absurd
for us to tell the people of the United States that if they want
to trade and have good relations with us they must give up their
bourgeois philosophy. It would be absurd for us to place conditions
on what they do over there. That would be so ridiculous no one
would think of it. Well, then, neither should they tell us these
things, because it is just as ridiculous.
They talk about Marxism, that it is not tolerable, that it
is not admissible. And who are they to decide how every country
should be governed? Who are they to issue laws within the
border of another country? Our right, just as that of any country
of Latin America, is and always must be to choose the type of
government that we deem suitable.
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If a country does not want to conduct a Revolution, let it
not conduct it; that is its own business.
If it wants to conduct it, let it conduct it; that is that coun-
try's right; it is every country's right.
On the basis of strict respect for the sovereignty of every
country, we can live at perfect peace .with all countries on this
continent. On the basis of a principled policy, we can live at
perfect peace with all countries on this continent.
What we will not accept is the policy they want to im-
plement against us; what we will not accept is what they proclaim
so much. They accuse us of interfering in the internal affairs
of other countries, when they are precisely the ones that have
been shamelessly interfering in the internal affairs of Cuba for
the past five years, committing all sorts of villainies and aggres-
sions. What do they think? Are they going to blame us for all
the crimes the United States has committed against us? The
governments of Latin America cannot do that. The governments
of Latin America cannot play deaf. They cannot turn a deaf
ear to the realities of the misdeeds and crimes which the im-
perialists commit against our nation, and then condemn Cuba
because that suits U.S. imperialism, because that is what U.S.
imperialism wants. Each country in Latin America is free to do
what it considers appropriates; each country in America should
know what its interests are. But it is good to warn the nations
and governments of Latin America that they have a It to thank
the Cuban Revolution for, because if today many governments are
not treated as dogs by U.S. imperialism?although every once in a
while imperialism boots out some government in Latin America.?
it is due to the Cuban Revolution. If today the nations of Latin
America hope to get better prices from the imperialists for their
products, if they have the hope that the imperialists will lend
them some money, it is due to the Cuban Revolution. If the
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Cuban Revolution should be crushed by the imperialists today,
on the following day the imperialists would destroy the economy
and interests of all the nations of Latin America.
The governments of Latin America must understand that
to conspire against the Cuban Revolution is to conspire against
their own interests and against their own people .The governments
of Latin America must understand that to the same extent they
help the imperialists against Cuba they dig their own grave,
and that the day that the Cuban Revolution should cease to.
exist, the imperialists' fear would end, and then it would be goodby
to the few pennies they are now sending down for the construction.
of a road, a school, or a hospital. For in that case no one would
receive even a few pennies, nor would they have any hope of getting
better prices for their products.
The existence of the Cuban Revolution frightening the im-
perialists has been one of the most beneficial factors for the-
nations of Latin America, even if no revolution has taken
place there.
That is why it is foolish to play the game of the imperialists.
Several governments in Latin America that are intelligent, that
follow a policy more in line with the sentiments of their people,
have maintained a position of resistance and firmness against-
imperialist pressures. They have not adopted the position of
those puppet and servile governments which do nothing but
obey orders from Washington, those governments that the impe-
1
rialists overthrow every once in a while. They throw out and
put in another three minutes later. What has happened to them,
all? Ydigoras, VilIeda Morales, Frondizi... you even lose count
of them... (someone in the crowd shouts Betancourt)... He is a,
political corpse, the person you mentioned there, but that is a
problem for the Venezuelan people, not for us. But we know
that the people of Venezuela are heroic, fighting and persevering._
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Why are the Venezuelan people rebelling against the imperialists?
Because they are being plundered, because Venezuela could be
the richest country in the world with the highest standard of
living for the people, because of its oil deposits. Who is depri-
ving them of all that? The imperialists, the military caste, grafting
politicians, the reactionary bourgeoisie, the land owners, the
merchants, the large merchants in the country. That is the reason
for the rebellion of the Venezuelan people.
But the Venezuelan people have the right to conduct their
Revolution. We have no right to intervene in their internal
affairs, but neither have the imperialists the right to intervene
in the internal affairs of Venezuela and send weapons to Vene-
zuela to murder Venezuelan patriots.
We have no right to send arms to Guatemala or to any
other country, but the imperialists have no right to be sending
arms and to do what they are doing in countries like Vietnam.
The U.S. imperialists have no right of any kind to carry out
acts violating the sovereignty of other countries. We can live
in perfect and absolute peace with any country or government
in Latin America, and even with the United States, regardless
of the social system existing in those countries, on the basis of
a policy of principles, of unlimited respect for the sovereignty
of all countries, if every country does the same. The imperialists
say that we nationalized their enterprises, and what worries them
is not that they were nationalized ?,more than one U.S. enterprise
is being nationalized here and there. What they are worried
about is the payment for them. Well, if that is worrying them,
we are ready to pay them, but if they want us to pay them, let
them trade with us. But they must not get the idea that we are
begging them to trade with us. We have stated that we are
ready to pay indemnity on a certain basis commercial rela-
tions are normalized with us,? but they are mistaken if they
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think that we can't live unless they are normalized. If they do
not want to establish normal relations, that is up to them, but in
that case we will never pay them even half a cent for all those
enterprises.
And we will continue to live happily here. If need be, our
grandsons will discuss it with the grandsons of the present
leaders, the present U.S. generation. We are in no hurry. I
am going to tell you what I said to a French newspaperman:
We are revolutionaries, we are not worried over risk and danger;
we revolutionaries, by temperament, prefer a life of risk to a
tranquil life without problems; we defend the policy of peace
because it is a question of principle, because peace is the aspira-
tion of all humanity. We defend it on principle, and because
it concerns all humanity. Our revolutionary temperament feels
quite at ease in the turbulent waters of agitated situations, iI the
imperialists want to maintain this situation indefinitely. We swim
beautifully in those waters, because they are the waters in which
a revolutionary feels at home. And we have come to power
because we have a revolutionary temperament, and we are con-
ducting the revolution because we have a revolutionary vocation
and temperament. We haven't lost our temperament on coming
to power, we haven't lost it after five years in power. Nor are
we meek. The imperialists needn't think that we are going to
fold our arms while they are committing all kinds of brutalities
against us. We are going to try to answer blow for blc.w, and
the imperialists should know that whatever harm they try to do
us, we will try to do them.
However, we are not to blame for this situation. We are
not to blame for this policy. It is they who have followed this
policy against our country. It is they who have maintained a
proud, arrogant and high-handed policy with respect to Cuba;
an inglorious policy, a defeated policy, a pyrrhic policy, a ridicu-
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bus policy that has led them to one defeat after the other. And
the more harm they have tried to do us, the more has been the
merit of this Revolution, and the more glory and prestige this
Revolution will have in the eyes of the present and future gene-
rations. Beg them to trade with us? Beg them to re-establish
diplomatic relations? No!
I told that newspaperman that for reasons of principle, we
are interested only in peace. Let them forget about us and we
will forget about them. We do not need their trade now in
order to live, because they compelled us to look for other markets,
because today we have the stable and inexhaustible market of
the socialist camp. Our country has no problems in the future,
it has unlimited markets for its staple products, it has received
unlimited aid from the Soviet Union and from all other socialist
countries in these difficult years. We shall be grateful forever.
for this aid. On the basis of this proof, the innumerable proofs
we have received, we have built indestructible bonds of friendship
between our revolutionary nations.
I said to the French newsman: "We prefer that the U.S.
government be represented by a Swiss Ambassador, because he
represents them well; he is not spying a round, and he hasn't
two hundred spies in the Embassy: the U.S. Embassy would
give a terrible headache to anybody-. And I said to him: -This
is an austere country where vice is being eradicated. There isn't
a gambling den here any more, prostitution in disappearing,
the vice centers, where many U.S. tourists went, no longer exist.
The tourist business could be a source of income representing
50 million or 100 million dollars, but do you know what it
would mean to us to see them again, with loud shirts, drunk
on the streets, looking for brothels, looking for gambling joints?
That trade does not interest us; with our works we can create a
hundred million dollars and much more than that, without the
necessity of enduring those humiliations".
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And I say this sincerelly: the best thing would be for them
to forget us and us forget them and not see each other in twenty
years. The only thing that we are really interested, in because
it is a question of principle, is peace. Let them leave us in peace.
We do not need them, fortunately, and this is our good luck:
it is our good luck to be able to say that we do not need them
at all, that we do not need? their trade or their relations. If they
want to trade, we will trade, we won't refuse. If they want to
establish relations, they would really give us a lot of headaches.
but we too would be willing to establish relations. But, truly,
our fundamental interests do not lie here. So, they have no
need to place conditions on aid to us. We have never asked
them for aid at any time, and we will never ask them for aid
?never!
If we know how to help ourselves, if we can help ourselves
by working, studying, applying technology, improving organiza-
tion, what need do we have for such spurious aid? What need
do we have for such blackmailing aid? One day we may be
trading with Guiana and then they might say. "If you trade
with Guiana we will take away the five dollars we are giving
you. We would then face an embarrassing situation, and we
Would have to tell them, "Aren't we free? What is the matter
with us?". It is intolerable for a country to be told this.
And wherever the United States takes its aid they follow
it up with blackmail and press their conditions even further. We
are really happy not to have it. Are we not? (The people answer
"Yes1"). I do not think it is just my personal feeling; that is
how all our people feel. We are very happy, very satisfied with
what we can do. Our soil is rich. Our people are intelligent
and enthusiastic. Our citizens are becoming more and more
skilled. We have friends. Our future is good. What do we
care about the imperialists? We don't need the imperialists,
and we feel very fortunate not to need them.
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We are ready for any peaceful solution. We are ready to
live in peace with all peoples of the world. We will never spare
our efforts in the struggle for peace. But let the imperialists know
?,since they sometimes believe we are drowning and want to be
pulled out of the well? that it is not we, but they, who are in
the well. And just let them see that we are better off than they
are, that while this year we have more foreign exchange than
last year, they have less.
And they have a million problems that we have already
solved. We can advance with a planned economy that develops
vigorously. We can build the future we want.
That is what should encourage us and make us happier on
this fifth anniversary. We have ahead of us a future that is
ours, because we have earned the right to the future and we
defend that right with the weapons that were on parade here and
with the people that followed behind the weapons.
The Revolution is solid, firm. It is consolidated; it is no
longer the product of enthusiasm only. It is the product of
conscious will, of understanding, of the experience that a whole
nation has been acquiring.
The Cuban Revolution cannot possibly turn back; the
Cuban Revolution is indestructible. To destroy it, it would be
necessary to destroy a whole people, and a whole people cannot
be destroyed with impunity today.
The Cuban Revolution marches forward: It has arisen at
a moment in the history of mankind when the peoples are freeing
themselves. It has arisen in one of the most glorious and promising
moments for the people, for mankind, when the peoples that
were subjugated for centuries in Africa, in Asia, in Latin America,
have realized that they have the right and, above all, that they
have the opportunity, to be independent, to be free, to cease
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being vassals of the exploiters. At this moment the Cuban Revo-
lution arose ?,the Revolution that gave our country a name, that
made it known in every corner of the world, where many thought
we were an appendix of Florida, one more little key in the chain
of keys located south of the United States. It is the Revolution
that has stirred the hopes and encouraged hundreds of millions
of oppressed people, that has won friends in all parts of the
world, stirred emotions and sympathy. It is the Revolution that
has kept the imperialists awake, that has served as an example
for the exploited as well as for the exploiters. This is our Revo-
lution, the Revolution that today celebrated its fifth anniversary
as it will celebrate its fiftieth and its one hundredth anniversaries.
It will be a beacon, a torch in the history of our country,
it will be an inspiration for coming generations, a beginning for
our country, for other generations will receive this inspiration,
this strength and this tradition, and our country will continue
to advance.
Every generation will do its part, and the role played by
every generation will be brilliant. We have seen how the present
Soviet generation has been able to conquer outer space, has
carried out great feats in science and technology, while to the
previous generation fell the glory of the Revolution, of laying
the basis for the present possibilities.
What will future generations do? What will the descendants
of the Cubans of today do?
Perhaps our imagination cannot reach so far. But we are
quite aware that we are preparing the road to that future, we
are working for that future, and that, along that road, that path
which we are building with our sweat, our blood, our enthusiasm,
will march the future generations of our country.
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That is why, today, on the celebration of this fifth anniver-
sary, we congratulate the people. We congratulate ,the people
on this occasion, on this anniversary.'
For, by chance, the New. Year, the new life and the New
Revolution arrived together in the world and are together on
the calendar.
Our gratitude to all those who have visited us, to all those
who have joined in thefl enthusiasm of our people during these
days.
Our best wishes to the people, our greetings, our wish that
we may all march along that road; and our conviction that it
will be so.
OUR COUNTRY OR DEATH! WE WILL WIN!
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EINAR. CONS. DE AIMEE GRARIEAS
[MIN. DE lisarcienuAs]
UNIDAD 210-05
LINDERO NS 1, LA HAVANA
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MINISNTRY
FOREIGN
RELATIONS
STAT
FOUR YEARS
OF
AGRARIAN REFORM
by
Carlos Rafael Rodriguez
POUTIC.At. DOCUMENTS
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FOUR YEARS
OF
AGRARIAN REFORM
by
CARLOS RAFAEL RODRIGUEZ
President of the National Institute of the Agrarian Reform
REPUBLIC OF CUBA
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN RELATIONS
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The Cuban Agrarian Reform is entering its fifth year. It is
too soon, of course, to undertake the evaluation of all its results.
But enough time has elapsed and it is now possible to discern
its general lines of development.
This analysis cannot be made, however, unless one takes as
a point of departure the situation that existed in our country
at the time when the Revolution, led by Fidel Castro, took
power after the heroic and prolonged struggle which overthrew
the Batista dictatorship.
According to the last. available census, before the Agrarian
Reform there were 139,000 farms in the country, with a total of
676.390 caballerias 1 that is, 9,077,086 hectares of land.
These farms were distributed as indicated in the following
chart. (See page 4).
'From this it can be seen that 147,189 farms of less than 7.45
caballerias of land, that is, less than 100 hectares (which
constituted 92.02 per cent of the total number of farms), had a
total of only. 195,970 caballerias of land (2.629,835 hectares),
that-is, only 28.98 per cent of the total farm area.
It should also be noticed that the middle,?sized farms were
included in the sector of farms having an area of from 7.45 to
57.25 caballerlas, that is, from 100 to 500 hectares. This sector
had a total of 163,460 caballerias, that is, 2.195,599 hectares of
land, constituting 24.27 per cent of the total area. This wag
the type of farm that extended over the largest area of land,
Analyzing the composition of the 159,000 farms, we find
that they are divided in the following manner; 47,792 farms
managed by their owners, 9,542 managed by administrators,
46,018 farmed by tenants, 6,987 farmed by subtenants, 33,064
farmed by sharecroppers, 15,718 farmed by squatters, and 2,007
farmed by others.
A caballeria equals aproximately 33-1/3 acres, U.S. ?measti`re.
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SIZE OF FARM
Cabalferias , Hectares
From 0.07 1
No. of
Farms
TOTAL AREA
of total Caballcrias
Hectares
of total
ACCUMULATED
TOTAL AREA ( 1)
Caballerias Hectares
To 0.36
4.9
32,195
20.13
6,410
86,033.2
0.95
From 0.37
5
To 0.73
9.9
30,305
18.94
15,700
210,705.7
2.32
22,110
- 296,738
From .74
10?
To 1.85
24.9
48,778
30.49
54,030
725,070.9
7.99
76.140
1,021,809
? From 1.86
25
To 3.71
49.9
23,901
14.95
58,850
789,726
8.70
134,990
1,811,524
From 3.72
50
To 7.44
99.9
12,010
7.51
60,980
818,319
9.02
1951 70
2,629,853
From 7.45
100
To 37.25
499.9
10,433
6.52
163,460
2,193,599
24.17
359,430
4,823.453.4
From 37.26
500
To 74.71
999.9
1,442
0.90
73,960
992,530.7
10.93
433,490
5.815.984.1
From 74.72
1,000
?
To 372.58
4,999.9
780
. 0.49
107,560
1,443,500
15.90
540,950
,259.484
From 372.59
5,000
and higher
and higher
114
0.07
135,440
1,817,602
20.02
676.390
9.077.085
159,958
.
1 This encompasses the land area included in the total number of farms. Thus the first 62,500
farms in the first two categories --less than 4.9 and less thz.n 5 to 9.9 hectares,- include a total
area of 22,110 caballerias, and so on.
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The farms managed by -Weir owners had a total area of
220,470 caballerias (2.958,700 hectares), with 52.4 per cent of
the. total area, and a mean. area per farm of 4.52 caballerias
(60.6 hectares).
The farms managed by administrators had a total area of
172,910 caballerias (2.320,400 hectares), encompassing 25.6 per
cent- of the total farmland area, with a mean size of 18.51
caballerias (248.4 hectares).
Th farms farms in the hands of tenants extended over 202,230
caballerias (2.713,900 hectares); they constituted 50 per cent
of the total area and had a mean area per.farm of 4.39 caballerias
(58.9 hectares)..
The subtenants held 16,040 caballerias (215,200 hectares),
that is, 2.4 per cent of the total area, with a mean area of 2.20
caballerias (30.8 hectares).
The sharecroppers held 41440 caballerias (552,100 hectares).
Which represents 6.1 per cent of, the total area, with a mean
area per farm of 1.24 caballerias (16.7 hectares).
And the squatters occupied a total area 01 18,230 caballerias.
(244,600 hectares), Which represents 2.7 per cent of the total
.area, with a mean area of 1.33 caballerias (17.8 hectares) per
farm.
The classification of farmers with less than 2 caballerias (that
is, less than 26.8 hectares) is interesting. This category consisted
of 34,364 tenants, 5,671 subtenants:- 50,577 sharecroppers, 12,760
squatters, .and 1,744 non-classifield, as well as owners of less
than 2 caballerias, who numbered aproximately 20.000 to 25,000.
This means that of a total of .101,824 non-landowning farm
workers, 84,976 (that is, 85.45 per cent) worked areas of less
than 2 caballerias. All of them have now received the areas
they held as their own property, as provided in the Agrarian
Reform Law,
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The Imperialist Latifundium 2
One very significant factor has to be added to this picture
of Cuban land ownership before 1959: the U. S. sugar latifundia.
The President of the National Bank of Cuba during the Batista
period confessed that "Twenty-five per cent of the best lands
of the island are in U. S. hands.- Indeed, almost all the land
owned by imperialist sugar companies was included in the 114
farms of over 373 caballerias (5,000 hectares) listed in the
first chart.' Nine of these companies possessed over 100,000
caballerias of land. We see this in the following chart:
Hectares
Cuban Atlantic Sugar Co. ...
284,401
Cuban American Sugar Co. ...
143,862
American Sugar Ref. Co. ...
136,750
United. Fruit Co. ...
109,480
West Indies Sugar Co. ... ......
109,146
Vertientes-Camaguey Sugar Co. ? ? ? ? ? ?
106,595
Manati Sugar Co. ...
78,252
Francisco Sugar Co. ..
71,703
The "Cuba Company ...
68,388
Punta Alegre Sugar Co. ..
46,594
Cuban Trading Co .
29,14S
Guantanamo Sugar Co........12,695
Soledad Sugar Mill
11,998
Total for the 13 principal U.S. sugar latifundia
1,209,015
2 A latifundium is a vast land 'estate, much of which is not utilized and
allowed to go to waste.
3 The Cuban Trading Co. also controlled the Francisco Sugar Co. and
the Manati Sugar Co:
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This situation was typical of an underdeveloped country.
None of the agrarian reforms effected in Europe faced situations
such as this, nor did the agrarian revolution in China, where
foreign powers did - not possess such a huge amount of land
as they did in our country.
The presence of the sugar latifundium made it absolutely
I
necessary for there to be an anti-imperialist element in the
Cuban agrarian revolution. It was not possible to have a true
agrarian reform in Cuba without affecting the interests of
the imperialist companies. Nor was it possible to wage a
throughgoing battle against the imperialist domination of Cuba
without affecting the vast areas of land included in the Yankee
latifundia. Therefore, in the first stage of the Cuban Revolution,
its agrarian content and its anti-imperialist content were
insepararably linked.
Fidel Castro led the Cuban agrarian revolution with a
masterly sense of tactics. The first Agrarian Reform Law was
decreed in the Sierra Maestra mountains on October 10, 1958.
But still ?due to very precise 1 tro,?
thaf1717) rovision that all who worked an
area of less t an 5 ca .a erias wit out owning it tenants,
sharecroprs's would become 'wners of the
land.[ In this marin?er?ilielre7orulrorin'tr0"0,000
thousand farm workers who, as we have seen, were to benefit
by this law. At the same time the law did not go too far in
its statements against the latifundium, but still served to foretell
revolutionary measures of the future. In effect, the law set the
elimination of the latifundium as a later objective of the Revolution.
This is not to say that imperialist magnates and ,?,following in
their footsteps,? the great native latifundist were particularly
frightened by that announcement. They thought that Fidel Cas-
tro would turn out to be one of the many caudillos known before
who betrayed their promises. The history of Latin America and
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Cuba was full Of men NVIto had promised "reforms" of that type
without ever effecting them. In May, 1959, they were to discover
?too late. their error in judgment.
The law of march 17, 1959, undertook a throughgoing,
transformation of Cuban agriculture. Its point of departure was
the elimination of latifundia, both those owned by native Cubans
and by the U. S. imperialists. The law had ,noble social
objectives: on the one hand, to assure that all land not directly
cultivated by the owners would be used for the state economy
and on the other hand ?fulfilling the initial law passed in the
mountains,? to assure that all small and middle farmers working
the land without owning it wOuld receive title to it. The
Reform also had an economic objective: to create the "internal
market" needed by industry, through the elevation of the standard
of living in the country. This objective derived from the previous
ones, since the farmers who no longer paid rent and who received
other benefits from the law (fair priees, cheap credit, technioal
aid, etc.) were going to raise their standard of living inmediately
while the development of the latifundia by the state would
permit the agricultural proletariat a .substantial increase in
income with the disappearance of unemployment, both open
and "disguised." The latter takes place, for example, where five
or six members of one family work an area of land that only
needs two men..
All these objectives had 'heen posed in the agrarian reform
law passed in the mountains, and any careful observor will see
that the "Whereas" clauses of that law are stated intact in the
introduction to the law approved in May, 1959.
Putting those principles into practice,- the Cuban Revolution
had, nevertheless, to choose between the various possible forms.
The customary thing in agrarian reform laws prior to the Cuban
law had been to distribute the land of the latifundia among the
landless peasants or those with little land and the ?agricultural
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workers who requested it. We find this true of the Soviet
Revolution of- 1917 as well as of the agrarian laws of the
European people's democracies, or the revolutionary legislation
of China. Since 1905 Lenin had discussed hether the land
should be nationalized ?,which would turn it into state Property?.
or distributed among the peasants along with individual titles
of ownership. As we know, the great revolutionarY leader pointed
out that nationalization was the closest measure to socialism-, since
it turned agricultural production into state production inmedia-
tely. But . in deciding this problem, Lenin bore in mind two
very important features of the situation in the countryside in
Czarist Russia: first, the "land hunger" of the peasants, the fact
that hundreds of thousands of peasants had been landless in
the Jays of the Czar; and second, and no less important, the
fact- that with the giving of the land to the peasants, in some
cases with total ownership rights, in some cases with permanent
leases, the peasantry would become the firm bulwark of the
revolutionary process, and the alliance between the proletariat
and the poor and middle farmers would thus be assured. There-
fore, despite the fact that fragmenting the land into small parcels
represented a delay in the socialization of agriculture ,?to
overcome which, Lenin, basing himself .on writings of Engels,
would later utilize cooperative procedures which gave rise to the
kolkhozes (cooperatives),? the October Revolution accepted the
distribution of land, which the poor peasants themselves had
already initiated-on their oWn, occupying the land Of the great
landowners.
The Cuban Revolution faced the same theoretical problem.
Before 1959, the genuinely revolutionary forces, those who advo-
cated a true agrarian reform, had studied the problem and had
also decided on the classic solution of distribution of the land
utilized in the people's democracies of Europe and in China.
One of Fidel Castro's most important contributions to the
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contemporary revolutionary process was that of understanding
early enough that this solution was not inevitable in Cuba, and
that there were specific circunstances in our country that
permitted us to take a bold leap towards forms of state agrarian
ownership, which would be much closer to socialism.
In effect, Iatifundist exploitation in Cuba, centered principally
around sugar, had established a form of agricultural development
here that was based on the utilization of agricultural techniques
calling for the massive use of agricultural workers with low
wages. This was the continuation of the system of cultivation
established by the U. S. slaveowners in the southern part of
the United States. It has therefore been termed "plantation
economy". This type of agriculture led to the complete separation
of the workers from the land they worked. It is typical of this
that on the northern coast of the provinces of Oriente and
Camaguey, where the most important sugar mills were located.
one could not find a single farm house for hundreds of kilometers.
Manpower for the sugar harvest --and the same thing later
occurred with rice?, came from urban and semi-urbancenters. A
great number of workers who cut cane in the province of Cama-
guey, for example,. came from the province of Las Villas and
went to Camaguey only for the few months of the harvest. 4
It is obvious that agricultural workers like these were losing
their ties with the land and their love for it. Most of them spent
more than half the year working on sporadic jobs in towns and
cities, acquiring ideas more like those of the urban proletariat.
Nor can it be forgotten that the organizational and union
struggles of the agricultural proletariat ,?principally the sugar
cane workers,-, acquired a level and force in Cuba that was
4 This 'explain Camaguey's freat lack of manpower now that the creation
of sources of local employment in Las Villas make that seasonal
exodus unnecessary.
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unmatched in the majority of the semi-colonial countries. This
all led to the fact that the great majority of agricultural workers
were not characterized by "land hunger." They aspired not to
holding a small plot of land (where they had seen the poor
peasantry of Cuba endure terrible hunger), but over and above
all to higher wages.
From all of this, which Fidel Castro analyzed with remarkable
political understanding, he proposed a specific solution for the
Cuban case that would consist of:
1) Giving all who worked the land, without owning it, title
to the land.
? 2) Utilizing the unproductive latifundia for state farms.
This would encompass principally cattle land through the better
use of pasture grounds and the establishment of intensive and
semi-intensive pasturing and the stabling of dairy cattle.
3) Establishing an advanced, although intermediate, form
of agricultural ownership. This was the -sugar cane cooperative".
This cooperative was not exactly a cooperative of farmers, like
the kolkhoz; it was composed of agricultural workers. It was a
group ownership" lacking either private land holdings or
remnants of the individualist farmer mentality that holds back
the kolkhoz. Fidel Castro conceived of the cooperative as a
step towards the state farm. To facilitate this transition, each
cooperative would have an administrator appointed by -the
Agrarian Reform Institute. The administrator would be a link
between cooperative property and the state,
Our country's recent history has shown that Fidel Castro's
conception was completely valid for the Cuban situation, and
that problems derived from the non-distribution of land to agricul-
tural workers in individual parcels have not appeared in our
country. This has permitted the Socialist Revolution to find itself
ready for 40 per cent of the land to pass to socialist forms of
production. 5
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Land Limits of the Agrarian Reform
At the same time that the Revolution focused on the solution
of the problem .of nationalization or distribution of the land, it
had to solve another important aspect of the Reform: the limits
at which land ownership would be set. The. Law established
30 caballerias (400 hectares) as the maximum.
Some foreign students of our Revolution have asked why such
a high figure. They compared those limits with the much smaller
figures set in the most recent reforms, those in Czechoslovakia.
Bulgaria, the other people's democracies, China,. etc. There are
two reasons for this figure. On the one hand Cuban agriculture
was, as a whole, an extensive form of agriculture, that is, only
in a certain number of crops p?,principally tobacco? was the
land totally and intensively cultivated. And on the other hand,
there is the fact that in May, 1959, the Revolution -did not have
a socialist content. On that date the national bourgeosie
although it was already wavering, had not yet taken the road
of treason and resistance that it began precisely at the time that
the U. S. imperialists began theft' offensive against Cuba as a
reprisal for the Agrarian Reform, which hit the interests of'
Yankee latifundism.
5 It is well known that Fidel Castro's concepts of the Cane Cooperative
were not applied in practice. Those units of production did not become
true cooperatives and were, in practice, transformed into , state farms,
causing discontent on the part of their members. This prevented this
experiment, begun in Cuba, from being properly .evaluated and able
to serve as an example for similar situations in other countries in the
transition period. Nevertheless, as we know, the force of the Cuban
Revolution and its influence on the working masses, prevented the
? miscarrying Of the Cane Cooperatives from turning into a problem
for the revolutionary process.. The sugar cane workers faith made
it possible for what could have given rise to a crisis to be resolved
?.through a democratic decision in which all members of cooperatives
participated.? with the transformation of the Cooperatives into Sugar
Cane Farms, thus precipitating, with good results, a process that was
to last over a number of years.
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The Structural Results of the Cuban Agrarian Reform
The Agrarian Reform Law meant a cornplete. change in land
holding in Cuba. It virtually eliminated the foreign and Cuban
latifundium. It made almost one hundred thousand farm workers
owners of the land. And it turned about 40 per cent of rural
property into state property.
But to examine Cuban agriculture in the period after the
Revolution, it is necessary to keep in mind that private 'property
still i4 decisive in both land area as- well as in productive
capacity.
According to data that is still approximate, of a total area of
554,877 caballerias recorded in the Livegtock Census of 1961
(7.446,560 hectares) ,?which as We, see, does not correspond' to
the-previous total farmland figure?, the private sector has 551,665
cabaIlerias (4.451,010 hectares), that is, 59.8 per cent of- the
land. This data coresponds to August, 1961, and has undoubtedly
been modified since that date, with an increase in the area
corresponding to the state sector during 'that period: principally
through the abandoning of farms by landowners who left the
country.
Studying the distribution of farmland corresponding to the'
private sector, according to that data, we find that the number
of occupants of the 551,665 Caballerias (4.451,010 hectares) Was
1.65,918.
The total area was distributed in the following form:
Number of farms
Cabalierias
Area
Hectares
Up to 5 cab. (67 H.) .. ..
154,703
174,971.35
2,348,150.51
From 5 to 10 cab. (67-134 H.)
6,062
45,270.00
607,532.45
Prom 10 to 20 -cab. (134-268 H.)
3,105
45,477.76
610,320.63
From 20 to 30 cab. (268-402 H.)
1,456
37,819.95
507,551.29
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In addition, there were 592 farms of over 30 caballerias on
that date. They still existed for the previously explained reasons
and had a total area of 28,125.97 caballerias (377,456.14 hectares).
The preceding pictures helps us to understand the class
content prevailing in the Cuban countryside since May, 1959.
An enormous majority of farmers have less than 5 caballerias of
land, and of them, no less than 120,000 have less than 2 caba-
llerias (26.4 hectares). VVe could add, if we take the exemple
of the sugar cane growers, that there is an enormous \ number of
farmers ?some 60,000,-, with areas of less than 1 cabalieria, and
that among them there are over 25,000 farmers who do not 'own
more than half a caballeria.
With the agricultural techniques employed by Cuban farmers.
this category of owners of less than 2 caballerias can be included
?except in the case of tobacco growers.? within the category of
small farmers, with not many middle farmers. Those who have
more than 2 and less than 5 caballerias (between 264 and 67 hee-
1 ares fall into the categories of poor and rich farmers, in accordance
with the type of crop, since those members of this group who grow
tobacco, coffee or rice are invariably rich farmers.
The experiences of the Cuban Revolution coincide almost
totally with experiences in other countries.1 The poor farmers are
overwhelmingly, and militantly with the Revolution. Thas is, they
belong to "mountain battalions" and "rural militia", aiding in
the pursuit of CIA agentes and fighting, at Playa Giron along
with the workers. The richer farmers have not been conciliated
to the existence of a revolutionary socialist process. Many of
them have headed for Miami. Others have collaborated with
CIA sponsored gangs.
But it could be said that clue to the mass force of the Revo-
lution in the countryside as a whole, their counterrevolutionary
character and resistance are expressed more in economic terms than
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in conspiratorial terms. What marks their attitude most is
abandoning of the crops, lack of interest in maintaining their
farms at full productive capacity.
Among those owning more than 5 caballerias, there is also an
important groups that is constituted not by true farmers, but
rather by the agrarian bourgeoisie that does -not participate in
the production process, that lives in the cities and exploits its
workers through administrators. Among these groups we find
the most consciously and obstinately counterrevolutionary de-
ments. They are the ones who have voluntarily ex'iled themselves
?more so than the rich farmers themselves. ?
As far as the middle farmers, their attitude is also typical.
In normal conditions and when the Revolution has worked well
in the countryside, the enomous majority of the middle farmers
have come to the side of the Revolution. But when the Revo-
lution has committed mistakes in its dealings with the peasantry,
those middle farmers have wavered from minute to minute, their
support has become coder, and some of them have gone on to
active collaboration with counterrevolutionary gangs.
? THE REVOLUTIONARY POLICY.
TOWARDS THE FARMERS
The Revolution has-a well established. policy towards farmer's.
It holds that the small farmers are the natural allies of the working
class, and with it form the worker-peasant alliance. It endeavors
to win over the mass of middle farmers, to an ever greater degree.
because Cuban Marxist-Leninists know that this section can
be ,?and will be,? incorporated into the revolutionary process.
Our country's revolutionaries aim to win their firm support.
In regard to the rich farmers, we know very well that they
cannot ?,except for personal exceptions, which are always possible,?
sympathize with the ?Revolution. Nor can the Revolution aid
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them, to strengthen their position, because in the long run there
is an insurmountable contradiction between the two. That is
why we limit ourselves to upholding the revolutionary legality
established in the 1959 Law, respecting the rights of this group
as long as they are within the provisions of our laws.
The revolutionary policy of aiding small and middle farmers
is carried out through the granting of low-interst credits, the
setting of adequate prices for their produce, assistance in plowing
and other mechanical tasks through the Enterprise of Machiae
Services for Small Farmers, the furnishing of insecticides and
fertilizers, etc.! ANAP, the National Association of Small
Farmers, has been the means for applying this policy. G
But that policy has not always been applied correctly. It may
be said that in the second half of 1961 and the first two months
of 1962 serious mistakes were made in our relations with the
small and middle farmers, mistakes that influenced those
farmers' attitude towards the Revolution, even if only momentarily.
and which resulted in a perceptible drop in the planting and
marketing of farm produce which was felt throughout 1962,
although mainly from March to November. This aggravated the
situation created by two years of drought, the above mentioned
mistakes in the administration of cane cooperatives and the lack
of organization in the People's Farms.
Those mistakes were of two. types.
First, there were economic mistakes. Because of the increase
in the buying power of the Cuban people during 1960-1961 (ovet
6 In the process of carrying out this activity, ANAP began assuming
administrative functions (in regards to credits and supplies) that have
affected its main purpose, that of functioning as a mass organization.
The reorganization of INRA will assign these functions to our central
agricultural organization, INRA itself. The ANAP Congress to be
held in May will fully analyze those mistakes of 'adrninistrativism":
this, along with changes in the leadership, will produce a marked
improvement in its work among small and middle farmers.
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$500,000,000 yearly): there was a great growth in the demand for
agricultural products. 7 At the same time, the organizational
weakness of state agriculture prevented ?a rise in production to
march that rise in demand. Because of this the position of the
private farmers in the market became very strong with the creation
of what in known as a "sellers market". It is understandable that
in response to this situation the great mass of farmers ,?,even the
small farmers?, should display its class tendency towards profit.
An open resistance to marketing produce through the INRA
machinery began to take place; rather it was deviated towards
speculative .marketing (at times a pound of malanga hit a "nor-
mal" price of almost 50 cents, while a pound of chicken could be
sold for over two pesos). That situation exasperated not only
those comrades in charge of marketing, but also some local
political leaders and even comrades in charge of marketing, but
also some local political leaders and even comrades in .the
Revolutionary Armed Forces in some areas. All this resulted
in an incorrect attitude towards the farmers. Instead of hitting
at the middlemen, there was an attempt to force the farmers to
sell to INRA, even to the point of confiscating their produce
through methods completely at variance with revolutionary law.
The farmers resisted these measures in the Ways we have mentioned
above.
But there Were other factors that made the situation still more
complex. After Playa Gitlin, the CIA and its agents tried to
strengthen the counterrevolutionary gangs that had already been
7 The rice in demand for malanga and coffee are two good examples of
this point. Until the end of 1961, consumption of malanga in Havana
was never above 100,000 pounds daily ?.that is, 700,000 weekly.
At present we arc delivering 250-270,000 pounds of malanga daily
to Greater Havana. The consumption of coffee had never been above
80.000,000 pounds yearly in our country. Now we have had to set
some limitations in order to maintain consumption under 100.000,000
pounds yearly.
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dealt a fatal blow during clean-up operations in the Escambray
mountains. That counterrevolutionary activity found a response
in more than a few rich farmers in the southern area ofMatanzas
and the southwest of Las Villas (Rodas, Aguada, etc.). The
Revolution decided to deal another blow, this time an economic,
one, to those collaborating with the bandit CIA agents. It
therefore decreed the expropriation of the land of all farmers
giving aid to the counterrevolution and of those holding land
areas of 15 to 30 caballerias who gave them indirect aid or in any
manner promoted counterrevolutionary attitudes. But when Fidel
explained this policy of adopted by the National Leadership, he
made it very clear that all those measures had to be taken with
the participation and consideration of the small and middle
farmers, in ANAP meetings, and without harming that section.
the great majority of the farmers.
Nevertheless, it is notorious that serious errors were committed,
particulary in the province of Matanzas. Revolutionary law was
not respected. Poor and rich were hit insclicriminately, without
taking into consideration all the circumstances in each case.
Instead of discussing with the farmers themselves about the
measures to be taken, in many cases meetings were held mainly
with the agricultural workers, who, carried only by their class
feelings, tended at all times towards expropriation:
Those mistakes would have the revolutionary process very
dear had not the prestige of the Revolution and the faith of the
masses in comrade Fidel Castro prevented a crisis. Fidel analyzed
those errors in March, 1962, in a national meeting of the Inte-
grated Revolutionary Organizations attended by leaders from all
provinces. The measures discussed in that meeting were put into
effect by the new INRA leadership, with the efficient aid of the
provincial ORI committees.
Thanks to this correction of the policy towards the farmers, it
has been possible to consolidate the revolutionary influence
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among the farmers, assure the cultivation of the land by the
individual farmers and prevent the CIA from continuing to
recruit agents in the countryside. At the same time, INRA has
returned a number of illegally expropriated farms, which gave
confidence to middle farmers ?and to certain rich farmers? in
regard to our upholding of revolutionary law. This has facilited
the participation of rich farmers in those areas in rice production.
and to some degree also in cane production.
AlthoUgh the political situation of the Cuban farmers is as
a whole favorable for the development of the revolutionary
process, there is no question that the existence of such a strong
private sector within ,the economy brings about disadvantages in
? agrarian development.
Those disadvantages have been less noticeable in the last two
years, due to inefficiencies in the state sector. Due to the
weaknesses of the People's Farms and Cane Farms, the contrast
between individual agriculture and what could and will be a
progressive state agriculture is still not evident in Cuba. 8
However, it is obvious that the great dispersion of farmers
(174,705 individual producers) entails numerous problems. It
is virtually impossible to tackle a methodical planning of private
crops. The objetives of the . agricultural-livestock plan in this
.sector can only be fulfilled through the price incentives (stimulat-
ing some types of production and discouraging others) as well as
? through granting of credits, supplying' fertilizers, seeds, etc.
8 This article would ? be excessively long if we stopped to make an
analysis of the advances and the defficiencies of state agriculture
before and after the proclamation of socialism in our country. In a
future article, dealing with the present state -of Cuban agriculture, it
will be possible to analyze those aspects of the problem, complementing
that analysis with an explanation 'of the organizational plan of INRA
and the agricultural-livestock production units.
19
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? A production plan for the private sector does not exist in
practice; the most important aspect is the delivery ?Plan formed
through contracts the farmers sign with ANAP bodies that serve
as intermediaries in marketing. Even then, since, except in the
case of sugar cane, tobacco and rice, the farmers has full freedom
to dispose of his products, unless he receives credits or supplies
of a technical or material nature from the State (in which case
he _must sell 75 per cent of his produce to the State), it may
happen that amounts of products other than that foreseen in ,the
plan should reach, the market.
Another considerable difficulty is that of planning the
technical and material supplies to individual producers. This
is the case, for instance, with sickles for. the rice crop, wagons,
grinding stones, rope; gloves, yoke pads, files, etc., for the sugar ;
crop. An idea of the complexity of this problem is given in the
. following table, which shows the distribution of the coionos or
?. cane growers in our country.
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PRIVATE SECTOR: TOTAL AREA AND AREA
PLANTED WITH SUGAR CANE
Number
of
Cane Farms
Total area
in
caballerias
Area Planted
with Cane
(in caballerias)
Arl obas * of
Cane to deliver
in 1962
Cane farms up to 2 caballerias
49,515
42,728,244
20,469,349
819,245,795
From 2.001 cab. to 5.000 cab.
10,972
34,841,228
13,185,527
522725,772
From 5.001 cab. to 10.000 cab.
3,433
24,461,506
8,368,215
337,642,177
From 10.001 cab. to 20.000 cab.
1,658
23,507,046
7,740,258
325,148,479
From 20.001 cab. to 30.000 cab.
652
. 16,838,970
5,583,405
235,263,851
Over 30.000 caballerias
llb
4,761,823
1,093,399
59,350,187
--66-,3-46
- 147,138,817
56,4407152
2,299,376,261
An arroba equals 25 pounds.
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As we see in the above table, ethere are 66,346 private
growers, who supplied 1,910.491,000 arrobas of cane in the 1962
harvest, 59.84 per cent of all the cane harvested that year.
But this table does not show the situation in its entirety. Among
those 66 546 colonos there are 58,104 who supply less than 20,000
arrobas of cane; the real supply average is 9,000 arrobas per grower
which represents IA of a caballeria per capita.
In order to acquire 353.000,000 arrobas of cane, the State
has to deal with 58,104 individual growers. The State
could harvest those 555.000,000 arrobas in less than 6,000 caba-
lIcrias of land ---,that is, in 60 or 70 medium-sized Cane Farms.
The amount saved in effort, planning, organization and material
would be extraordinary. -
The future of agricultural cooperation
The solution to this problem ?es regards small and middle
farmers?, will come through their voluntary incorporation into
collective, cooperative forms of production. Two different forms of
this have already begun developing.
The less advanced forrn is the so-called Credits and Services
Cooperative, where the farmers join only to receive credit and
supplies in a more centralized fashion. These cooperatives have
developed mainly in ,the field of tobacco production. There are at
present 527 cooperatives of this type, composed of 46,153 members,
which a total area of 52,274. caballerias.
The results of these credit and services cooperatives have been
outstanding, and they could have served as a starting point for
higher forms of cooperation if ANAP had given greater encourage-
ment to this form of association.
The second and more advanced way in which individual
farmers cooperate is the Agricultural-Livestock Society, promoted
by comrade Fidel Castro. In these societies, the farmers use the
land and work tools collectively.
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So far these experimental Agricultural Livestock Societies have
had a small number of partners and land areas of under 10 caba-
Ilerias (154 hectares). However, there are some larger scale tests.
among which the first and most important is the "Itabo" Coope-
rative, in the Yaguajay area, which is an excellent example of
prodUctivity and high profits.
Nevertheless, in our personal opinion, the necessary conditions
do not yet exist in Cuba for an accelerated development of coope-
rative farming among small and middle farmers.
The reasons can be well understood. In the first place, there
are deficiencies in state agriculture, which have begun to be
corrected in the last few months, but which still do not encourage
private farmers to engage in socialist forms of production. In the
second place, there is the difference between the structure of small
landholding in Cuba and in the majority of the countries where
an agrarian reform has been carried out amid a Socialist Revo-
lution.
For instance, in Hungary, after the agrarian reform, the
landholdings of 561,209 farmers were less than 5 arpends per
capita, that ?is, less than 1/5 of a caballeria; there were also
386,000 farmers with landholdings between 5 and 10 arpends.
and 203,000 fanners with landholding; from 10 to 20 arpends.
The Hungarian agrarian reform distributed land to 642,000
farmers, and each received an average of 5.1 arpencls (1/5 of a
caballeria).
In Bulgaria, the small size of the landholdings had given rise
to a cooperative movement since 1959. In Czechoslovakia, the
Agrarian Reform carried out by the Socialist Revolution limited
land distribution to 8 hectares of arable land or 12 hectares of
other land, except in the case of very large families, where the
limits were 10 hectares of arable land and 13 hectares of other
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land. Even before the Revolution there were several hundred
thousand farmers with little more than 1 hectare as an average,.
and we see that here too small landholdings were the rule.
It is true that the small landholders in those countries
employed a much more developed type of agriculture than do
most of our farmers at present, but the difference between the
landholdings of the so-called small Cuban farmer after our
Reform and that in European countries and China is considerable.
In those European countries and in China, small landholdings
practically push the farmer into cooperative forms of production,
because without thein the application of modern techniques
,?mainly machinery, harvesters, fumigators, etc.,? would be very,
difficult. In Cuba, instead, the advantages gained by individual
farmers after the Reform, that is, low cost credits, adequate prices,
aid from State-supplied machinery, seeds, fertilizers, etc., along
with larger landholdings, has made it possible for there to? be
a -sellers' market", such as we have described above, where the
small and middle farmers have not felt any compelling need to
join, because their income is comparatively high. In practice, the
present situation rather favors the age-old individualistic tendency
of the farmers.
In order to create the conditions leading to a spontaneoui
movement towards cooperative production, several factors will be
necessary:
1,?Development of state agriculture to such a degree that
individual farmers may see for themselves the advantages ot
socialized agriculture. As long- as the yield per area of the state
sector is lower than that of the private sector, this will not? come
about. That is why the results obtained in crops such as
rice, tomatoes and potatoes are so important; in these fields,
socialist state agriculture is beginning to equal and surpass the
hest private agriculture in our country.
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?2.?As a result of this, the availability of products destined
for .the population. will increase, which will put an end to the
absolute and relative shortages created in 1962. Thus the "sellers'.
market" will disappear and the farmers' attitude will change:.
since their relative strength in the Cuban economy will also
change.
3...4t will be necessary --and this is the most important
condition, on which the. other two rest. for A NA P to
carry out political work raising the socialist consciousness ol
small farmers, promoting the ideas of cooperation among them,.
and turning those fanners into a model for middle farmers.
? This process will not have to wait long to be carried out. The
new Organization of our work, the improvement in the techniques
of the state sector, and the political and organizational strengthe-
ning of ANAP, once freed from its purely administrative activi-
ties,: will allow us to create in a brief period the conditions for
rapid ?development of the cooperative movement initiated in the
agricultural-livestock societies and the credits and services coope-
ratives.
Some results of the Reform !.
During 1962; taking advantage of the shortages .sometimes
absolute and sometimes .relative., the imperialist press and its
counterrevolutionary cohorts spoke of a supposed crisis in Cuban
agriculture as a result Of the Agrarian Reform.
We have already explained the circumstances causing the
shortage in 1962. In the case of root vegetables (malainga, sweet
potatoes, yucca, yams, etc.) the lack of vision- of the state sector
of the 'economy was combined with the displeasure of the indi-
vidual farmers; we have referred to this already. In the case,
of rice, the bad .of use of techniques, particularly in the
fumigation period, and the lack of a rational utilization of labor
power, caused a drop in comparison to previous years of the
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revolutionary period. In the case of beef, the shortage was not
absolute, but relative, in comparison to prerevolutionary years.
since the slaughter of cattle, even in 1962, was higher than that
of any year prior to the Revolution. Yet that amount of beef is
still not sufficient to satisfy the demand of a population in
which, as in the case of farmers and agricultural workers, 96 per
cent did not usually eat meat, according to statistics published
in 1956 by the Catholic University Students Association. Only
per cent of these rural families ate fish, while only 2.12 per
cent ate eggs, and only 11.22 per cent drank milk.
But, analyzing Cuban production figures, we see that, as
Fidel Castro has said, this is the only agrarian reform in which
production did not drop with the reform. This is true until the
end of 1961, and it is true for agricultural-livestock production
as a whole, except for sugar cane, until 1962.
Examining the gross and net figures for Cuban agriculture
between 1959 and 1962, we notice an increase in non-cane
agriculture, in cattle raising, in forestry and in Tishing, although.
as we have already seen, the increase is not even. For instance,
there are variations in the rice harvest; the highest harvest in
those years was in 1959-60, with 670,720,800 pounds; there was
a good harvest in 1961, and yet there was a' drop in the harvest
in relation with the consumption of 1962.
Also, as we have already said, there was a drop in the
production of root vegetables in 1962. Yet, in that same year,
we had a bean harvest that was perhaps the largest ever in
Cuba, and very high tomato and potato harvests.
To evaluate the results of the Reform, we have to examine
the Cuban economy as a whole, the forms of exploitation of
theIancl, the new crops, the increase in yield in the traditional
crops, in short, everything characterizing all that is new in
agricultural and livestock production in Cuba since the Revo-
lution.
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Those who think that the stagnation of the sugar industry
in 1962 and 1963 will, continue, should take into consideration
the fact that the errors in outlook committed in 1961 were correc-
ted beginning in early 1962. The effects of that thorough correc-
tion of our sugar cane policy will be felt in the 1964 harvest.
The planting of cane in 1962 represents a land increase of 5,548
caballerias aside from re-planting which amounts to 7,457 Ca-
ballerias. The 1965 plantings will represent an additional
5,869 caballerias over and above the required re-planting, and
the projected plantings for 1964 will represent a further increase
of 6,000 caballerias.
Al! together, these three years of work will reclaim an area
of 17,417 caballerias for the .cane economy, which will be sufficient.
along with the proper use of fertilizers, irrigation and a correct
choice of species for a harvest .in 1965? of over 7 million tons
of sugar, with normal weather conditions, and of no less than
6,5 Million tons if we continue suffering the effects of the drought
in some areas of the country, such as the north coast of Camaguey
and Oriente provinces, where there have been two years of absolute
drought.
Diversification of crops
FT0111 the first, the Revolution set itself the task of eliminating
our dependance on only .one crop and diversifying our agricul-
tural production. This would result, on the one hand, in cutting
our food imports down to the minimum; this situation has been
truly shameful for a land as fertiles as ours. On the other hand.
it would supply raw materials for our national industry. In both
aspects this would result in an increase in surplus for agricultu-
ral and industrial exports.
The figures show the results of this policy. Before the Re-
volution, farmland was used in Cuba as follows:
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03
AGRICULTURAL CENSUS ? 1946 ESTIMATE ? 1957
USE
Thousands ofThousands
Hectares Caballerias
% Of Total
of
Hectares Caballerias
% of total
Pasture land
3,897
290
42.90
4,006
298
44.08
Crops
1,970
147
?
21.75
2.044
152
22.49
Forests
1,266
94
13.90
1,107
83
12.28
Others
1,944
145
21'.45
1,920
143
21.15
Totals:
9,077
676
100.00
9,077
676
100.00
1 Marabit and others (roads, buildings, improductive land
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The figures show an enormous. amount of land dedicated to
cattle breeding. According to the most reliable, estimates, in
1957 the proportion of cattle' to land was one head of cattle per
hectare.
In comparison, the amount of land dedicate to crops was
extremeti low, above all when we, consider that of the 152,600
cahallerias (2,039.870.4 hectares) estimated to have been cultivated
in 1957, no less than 100,000 caballerias (1,342,020 hectares)
Were planted with cane, which left only 52,000 caballerias
(697,850.4 hectares) for general crops.
This index of the distribution of land among the different
crops is ,self-explanatory. It shows the harmful effects 'on the
development of Cuban agriculture by imperialist domination and
the structural deformation it aggravated (a deformation which
already, existed as a result of Spanish rule and the semi-feudal
conditions we inherited from it).
In order to understand, the influence of the landowning
structure on the use of the land, -let us examine the f011owing
table:
-
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TOTAL AREA
Thousands of
Type of Ownership Cabailerias Hectares
Crops
PERCENTAGE
Pasture
Other uses
?
Proprietors
220.47
2,958.7
16.2
50.1
11.3
Administrators
172.91
2,320.4
14.9
43.7
41.4
. Tenants
202.23
2,713.9
28.3
39.1
32.6
Subtenants
' 16.04
215.2
36.8
42.9
20.3
Share Croppers
. 41.14
552.1
40.7
31.2
28.1
Squatters
18.23
244.6
21.1
24.4
54.5
. Others .
5.37
72.1
29.0
21.9
49.1
Totals:
676.39
9,077.0
21.7
42.9
35.4
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? From this table we can deduce that the great landowners
(who held the largest proportion in total area of land exploited
by owners or administrators) devoted the majority of their land to
pasture; on the other hand, the area devoted to crops increased
proportionately among the tenants and subtenants.
In order to extend crops, the Rcvolution has considered
utilizing a considerable area of land now overgrown with marabii,
estimated in 1957 to be over 45,000 caballerias (605,909 hectares).
Since the victory of the Revolution, over 30,500 caballerias
(409,328 hectares) have been cleared and made ready for farming.
During this, however, occured one of the several disproportions
which have rendered part of our work in agriculture ineffective,
and wh ich also reflect the lack of organization we have been
suffering. It happened that the capacity for clearing the land
was not accompanied by an equal capacity to plow it, due
primarily to the lack of heavy harrows to do the plowing in the
newly cleared land. Therefore, as not all of the new land was
plowed, part of it is still idle, and in some places the marabit has
begun growing again.
This problem is being solved at present through the ma-
nufacturing of substitutes for heavy harrows. Likewise, the
clearing of marabir land is being organized after considering the
plowing capacity, in order to avoid useless work and to take
full advantage of all machinery.
The Revolution has also freed flooded land for agriculture.
Comrade Fidel Castro's personal interest has resulted in the
draining now taking place in the Zapata swamps and in the
southern part of the province of Havana. The total area drained
in those zones is 470 caballerfas (6,307.5 hectares). A total land
area of 300 caballerias (4,026.1 hectares) is also b,eing drained
elsewhere..
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Besides the new land freed through clearing and draining,
the Revolution also decided that Lnds which were formerly
dedicated to cattle latifundia or planted unnecessarily with sugar
cane should properly be used for diversified crops.
As is known, the People's Farms were established mainly
on the land of the former cattle latifundia. That land was not
exactly the best for agriculture, since sugar cane plantations,
imperialist and Cuban-owned latifundia, had monopolized a
good portion of the best land of the nation. Also, the agrarian
bourgeoisie (growers, of rice, corn, etc.) had settled on the
rest of the best agricultural land. There remained, however, na-
tural grazing areas and semi-idle land which could and should
be used with profit for diversified crops.
The increase in the arable land area since the victory of the
Revolution can be best 'understood from the table on the
following page.
As can be seen, state agriculture has 1,447,000 hectares,
that is, 107,822.5 caballerias, under cultivation.
When we consider that 548,000 hectares of that, land are
devoted to cane, and 440,000 hectares to cultivated pastures, we
see that almost 500,000 hectares are devoted to crops in the
state sector, which means that crops in this- sector encompass as
much land area today as the total area dedicated to crops in the
whole agricultural sector of the economy prior to the Revolution,
despite the fact that state land encompasses only 40 per cent of
the total land, area.
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1
PEOPLE'S FARMS
Thousands of
Cabs. Hect.
Percentage
Temporary crops
19.1
256.7
9,6
Permanent crops
37.5
. 502.9
17.4
Divided into:
-Cane
3.9
52.0
Cultivated Pasture
28.8
386.2
Fruits
3.2
42.5
Co f 1 ee
0.5
6.7
Henequen
0.9 ?
12.7
Others
0.2
2.8
Natural Pasture
64.7
868.4
30.7-
Arable area
33.6
451.1
15.9
Forest area
32.0
429.3
15.2
Homes and buildings
1.7
22.9
0.8
Non-arable land
23.3
312.8
11.0
Total area
211.9 -
2,844.1
CANE FARMS
Thousands of
Cabs. Hect.
Percentage
Temporary crops
8.6
115.8
13.1
Permanent crops
37.0
497.2
56.0
Divided into:
Cane
33.8'
453.8
Cultivated Pasture
2.4
32.5
Fruits
0.6
8.2
Coffee
0
0 _
Henequen
0
0
Others
0.2
2.7
Natural' Pasture
9.6
128.1
14.4
Arable area
5:3
71.5
8.1
Forest area'
h2
15.9
1,8
Homes and buildings
1.9
25.6
2.9
Non-arable land
2.5
33.23.7
Total area
66.1
887.3 -
12.8
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STATE FARMS 9 Totals for the
three groups
Thousands of Thousands of
Cabs. Hects. % Cabs. Hects.
Temporary crops
0.6
7.4
4.3
, 28.3
379.9
Permanent crops
5.0
67.1
39.1
79.5
1,067.2
Divided into:
Cane
? 3.2
43.4
Cultivated Pasture
1.6
22.0
Fruits
0.1
0.9
Coffee ?
0.1
0.8
Heneguen
0
0.
Others
0
0.1
Natural Pasture
5.4
72.6
42.2
Arable area
1.3
17.0
9.9
Forest area
0.1
1.7
1.0
Homes and buildings
0.1
2.0
1.2
Nondarable land
0.3
4.0
2.3
Total area
12.8
171.9
There are a number of figures Which will show us the
development of diversification since the Agrarian Reform.
For instance, the potato production in the year 1958-59 was
158,100,000 pounds, jumping to 211,800,000 pounds' in the year
_ 1959-60.-It reached 192,100,000 pounds in 1960-61, and 200,805,000
in 1961-62. This year we expect the biggest crop in the history
of Cuba, which will be no less than 220,000,000 pounds, This
? figure is given after. harvesting 70 per cent of the crop.
Tomato producction had never. totalled 100 million pounds
before the Revolution. In 1959, it was 82,027,600 pounds:' in
1960, 192,565,000 pounds; in 1961, 241,600,000 pounds, and in
1962. as a result of the drought and some organizational errors,
it dropped to 211 million pounds. The planned crop for 1965 is
over 200 million pounds.
9 State .farms are agricultural enterprises which enter the state sector
when abandoned by their owners or because of counterrevolutionary
activities on their part. Some are later assigned to other people's farms,
and others remain in this category permanently due to being too distant
from other people's farms or cane farms.
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New Crops
The Revolution has developed new crops, particularly indus-
trial crops. This is true of cotton; there hiid only been minor
experiments in this field before the Revolution.
The Revolution has increased production of cotton as
follows: 1960-61, 30,409,800 pounds of raw cotton; 1961-62
28,244,967 pounds; 1962-63, 51,600,000 pounds. The plans for
development of the cotton industry call for a national production
sufficient to supply the textile industry, not only the plants already
established, but all those to be-established in the future, according
to the plans for expansion of the textile industry in coming.
years, which demand no less than 30,000 tons yearly.
The cultivation of kenaf (a fibrous plant) has likewise begun
to be developed; 25 caballerias were planted in 1961; 54.5
caballerias in 1962, and 206 caballerias are being planted in 1965.
Cultivation of oleaginous seeds has also been developed
since the Revolution.
Livestock production
The national cattle breeding industry suffered a great drop
at the beginning of the Revolution due to the indiscriminate
slaughter carried out in 1960 and 1961. With the increase in
the buying power of the population and the lack of control over
the slaughter, it reached an estimated figure of almost 2 million
head of cattle in those two years. It is evident that our cattle
industry was not prepared to supply an increase of 300,000 head
of cattle more each year to the slaughter houses. In order to
meet this consumption, it was necessary to slaughter young
steers, cows that could still .bear young, etc.
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In order to preserve the cattle supply and facilitate the
development of beef cattle in such a manner as to be able to
increase the per capita consumption of meat in the future, the
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Revolution had to take two successive steps. The first was to
,prohibit the slaughtering of cows -able to bear young, and the
second was to set limits- for the slaughter according to the
industry's real capacity.
According to the 1945 and 1946 census, the number of head
of cattle in the country was 3,891,089 and 4,115,733 respectively.
In 1952 it was 4,421,250. In the 1961 cattle census made by
JUCEPLAN, the figure was 5,776,558. In 1962 the figure was
6,158,176, and at the end of 1963 we should- have 6,381,250 head
of cattle.
The development of the cattle industry ,on this basis, assures
an index of growth that will Make possible a minimum per capita
beef .consumption by 1965 of no Tess than 56.0 pounds yearly.
Through the initiative of comrade Fidel Castro, the Revo-
lution has paid; special attention to hog production..
Before, the national hog production dependend salmost entirely
on the criollo hogs, which were bred in a rather haphazard way,
without hygienic care or any sort of system. In 1960 and 1961
Cuba imported -50,000 female hogs of different breeds (Landrace.
Yorkshire, PoIland Chine, etc.) in order to guarantee fast growth
of hog production. ?
We must admit that the state of 'disorganization which
then prevailed in our agriculture, and our lack of experience,
caused the loss (during and after birth) of a great number of
piglets. ? We also lacked sufficient installations to house the
newborn. -
For this reason, during 1962, and even in the first months of
1965, the development of purebred hogs did not increase at the
rate foreseen in the plans. With the relative improvement of
organization-. the establishment of adequate sanitary, measures
(vaccination against brucelosis and other diseases) and with the
introduction of planning in this field of economic development
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(which has brought about the building of installations for the
different phases), it can be stated that the period of real deve-
lopment of the hog supply has begun, to such a degree as to
guarantee production by the state sector of almost 200,000 heads.
This production Nvil I jump to 1 million in 1964, and 1.5 minion
in 1965. To this we must add the slaughter of hogs by individual
armers, both for their own consumption as well as for sales
Dutsicle the Consolidated Meat Enterprise.
There have also been ups and downs in poultry production
clue to our inexperience, and to negligence and disorganization.
Had the measures promoted by comrade Fidel Castro during 1960
and 1961 been accompanied by proper methods and the corres-
ponding planning of all installations by those in charge of
building them, we would have been able to market over 4 million
chickens a month in 1962, with an average weight of 2.6 pounds.
However, due to the negative factors just listed, chicken
production did not reach all its potential development, and it
will only be after June of this year that we will be able to market
4 million chickens monthly. During the first three months of
1963, delivery to the population has increased considerably, to-
talling 2,322,000 chickens in February and 2,577,000 in March.
These figures do not include chickens consumed by scholarship
students or by workers in the People's Restaurants; nor does it
include those consumed on the chicken farms by the workers
families.
The same factors also influenced egg production. It can
now be stated that the supply of eggs to the population by the
state sector will increase constantly. In Juanary we marketed
13,539,000 eggs; in February, 13,801,000: and in March,
17,418,000. It is planned to market 27 million eggs in December,
1963.
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The development of cattle production in all aspects requires
a great quantity of fodder. The lack of a haymaking tradition in
our country, the rare use of root vegetables for hog feed on
People's Farms, the insufficient use of other sources of feed, that
is, the bad utilization of resources that are used to the maximum
in other countries, has demanded that we increase mixed feed
production to 891,009 metric tons in 1963, with an import value
of 23,395,000 trade dollars and 5,989,000 hard dollars.
It is evident that Cuba cannot and should not keep up those
high importation figures. Therefore, it is not only necessary to
immediately begin using all those foods we have previously
mentioned, but also to make a decisive effort to increase our
production of corn, millet, oil cakes, beef and fish flour, etc..
which constitute the largest portion of the importations that now
weigh so heavily on the national economy in the fodder field.
Likewise, it is necessary to inaease the pasture and forrage
areas, to bring about an increase in intensive and semi-intensive
grazing, as well as an increase in haymaking and silage. In this
sense, great importance must be given to reasearch to find the
type of grass which fits our climate and soil best, and to find
the breed of beef and dairy cattle that fare best under our
conditions.
The Experimental Pasture and Grazing Station already
functioning near the Espana Republicana sugar mill, and the
tests carried out at the Santiago de las Vegas Experimental
Station and on several Sugar Cane Farms are the beginning of
a. large-scale project to select the best forrage crops for our cattle. -
Outlook
These are, in brief, the characteristics and main results of
the Cuban Agrarian Reform; its outlook is even more promising.
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The Revolution has tackled the road of correcting errors, of
making organizational and structural changes which, as we have
already said, would require another article.
The applization of all these measures will strengthen the
work of the Cuban Agrarian Reform and there will be even
greater possibilities of increasing our national agricultural and
livestock production. Thus we will satisfy established in the
introduction to the Agrarian Reform Law,? the growing demands
of our population, the increase of our exports surplus demanded
by our country's economic development, and our means of supply-
ing our agriculturally-based industries, which must also grow
constantly, just as the consumption capacity of a society based
on the fundamental law of Socialism will grow constantly.
When the enemies of the Cuban Revolution blockaded it
economically, when they deprived it of fuel, spare parts, agri-
cultural machinery and transportation, they believed they were
strangling the Revolution. But, as comrade Fidel Castro has said
on so many occasions, the help given us by the socialist countries,
vAth the Soviet Union in the forefront, the indomitable energy
and boldness of our people, make it possible for us to resist.
In the future, that resistance will become victory, for the
progress of the Cuban economy is assured through the improve-
ment of our leadership, our greater experience in planning, our
better methods of organization. Thus, Latin America will regard
the Cuban Agrarian Reform, as Well as all other achievements of
the Socialist Revolution, as an example ,?,not just because of its
particular characteristics, but rather because it demonstrates that
a people can eliminate all vestiges of semi-feudalism, semi-colo-
nialism and backwardness, and be victorious over enemies that
are seemingly all-powerful.
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EMP. CONS. DE ARTES GRAPICAS
(MIN. DE INDUSTRIAS)
TALLER 210-05
FOMENT() 114, LUYANO. HABANA
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-;?????'?:????7:????`???-???,!
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THE REVOLUTION
AND
CULTURAL PROBLEMS
IN CUBA
REPUBLIC OF CUBA
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN RELATIONS
1962
Year of Planning
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INDEX
FOREWORD
5
WORDS TO THE INTELLECTUALS,
BY FIDEL CASTRO
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WORDS BY NICOLAS GUILLEN
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SPEECH BY PRESIDENT DORTICOS
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Foreword
The general adherence of all classes in our country to the ? feu-
olutionary movement which triumphed on the first of January, 1959.
was followed, along with its radicalization and its measures on be-
half of the common people, by first vacillation, then retreat, and
lastly frank repudiation of the Revolution by those who up to? then
had enjoyed special privileges. The attitude of the intellectuals who
represented the official culture of previous periods, the culture of the
classes affected by the Revolution, was in keeping with the attitude
of their patrons. These pseudo-intellectuals had a defined position:
they were against the Revolution.
?
? On another side, regarding the Revolution from another point
of view, were the intellectuals who were loyal to it. However, even
many of these honest revolutionaries, enthusiastic workers, men of
working and middle class backgrounds, found that the march of the
Revolution, that unfamiliar and rapid march animated by an unsur-
passed, constructive rhythm, that tide that swiftly wrote in or erased
names, institutions, events, moved only by social justice, that growing
wave amazed them., and, in a certain sense, awoke certain, fears in
them.
When Dr. Fidel Castro, meeting with the writers and artists
on the eve Of their First Congress, referred to the Yenan. Forum, he
revealed the nature of the cultural problems, in our country.
In the famous. Yenan Forum in 1942. Mao Tse-tung could, in
the midst of a bloody war of yet unforeseeable results, orient the
honest intellectuals to participate along with men of Other classes;
the workers and peasants, in the construction of a new society trt
China. In Cuba, when the Revolution began its work, that clear,
firm. orientation was lacking. But the Rerrehrtion itself proved to be
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an exceptional school. Therefore, conscious of the need for all sym-
pathizers with the Revolution to participate in its work, on Novem-
ber 19, 1960, the most advanced of the Cuban writers and artists
issued a manifesto' 'Towards A National Culture Serving the Re-
volution"?, that only a few months later would be regarded as
toric. Its publication marked the beginning of the enthusiastic work.
of artists and writers to unite, to take a position, to play a specific
role in the revolutionary process.
The publication of the manifesto was very timely. Events that
filled us with great hopes but that marked directions fraught with
difficulties and obstacles for our Revolution, obliged us all to for-
mulate clear, unmistakable definitions. The promulgation of the First
Declaration of Havana shortly before by the people of Cuba, gathered
in a National General Assembly, and the adoption of measures such
as the nationalization of large foreign and domestically owned com-
panies in Cuba, marked steps of unprecedented importance for the
Revolution. It was the exact moment to either state adherence to the
cause of the workers and farmers or to rise against them. The Cuban
writers and artists formulated an unmistakable declaration. In the No-
vember document they proclaimed their irrevocable commitment to
the Revolution and to the people.
In the introduction to the statement of their points of view and
the formulation of their immediate program, the writers and artists
considered it their first duty to state their public creative responsibi-
lity to the Revolution and the Cuban people, "in a period," they
proclaimed, "of united struggle to achieve the complete independence
of our country as a nation." They declared that "the victory of the
Revolution has created among us the essential conditions for the
development of national culture, a liberating culture, capable of en-
couraging revolutionary progress." In accordance with the above pre-
mises and the fact that "the unity of purpose of contemporary Cuban
intellectuals is obvious in their works as well as in their efforts to
spread culture among the people throughout the revolutionary period
and during the years of struggle that preceded it," the intellectuals
clearly defined their revolutionary position,
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The immediate program set forth by the writers and artists was
in keeping with these declarations. They stated, as the first point,
that they aspired to the "recovery and development of our cultural
tradition, which is rich in human content and was wrested away
from our people by the colonialists and the imperialists." The second
point of the program was to "preserve, encourage, purify and utilize
our folklore, spiritual wealth of the Cuban people, which the
Revolution is liberating and reevaluating." They added that they
consider sincere and honest criticism indispensable to the work of
artists and intellectuals," and that they "should try to achieve full
identification between the character of our works and the needs of our
advancing revolution. The purpose is to bring the people close to the
intellectual and the intellectual close to the people, which does not
necessarily imply that the artistic ,quality of our work must thereby
suffer." The declaration pointed out, concerning Latin America, that
"exchange, contact, and cooperation among Latin American writers.
intellectuals and artists are vital for the destiny of our America." Ad
from a still more far-reaching point of view, "Mankind is one. Our
national heritage is part of world culture, and world culture corn',
butes to our national aspirations."
On the basis of these ideas, the preparatory work of the First
National Congres of Writers and Artists began. But the mobili-
zation in January, 1961, when aggression by imperialism seemed im-
minent, took many intellectuals to the trenches; the mobilization,
and later the aggression itself, with its historic defeat at Playa Giron,
forced the postponement of this great assembly. But the Revolution
advanced constantly. On April 16, the Prime Minister, Dr. Fidel
Castro, proclaimed the socialist character of our Revolution.
The new orientations called for new meetings to be held pre-
vious to the Congress. Dr. Fidel Castro, accompanied by high fi-
gures of the Revolutionary Government, met with the intellectuals
and dealt with their problems. Many questions dealing with cultural
activity were discussed on June 16, 25, and 30, in the auditorium
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of the National Library; there the Prime Minister, dispelled fears
and clarified the Revolution's policy in regard to culture and intel-
lectuals.
Thus, with the assurance that artistic freedom was guaranteed
absolutely and totally, the Congress opened on August 18, anni-
versary of the death of Federico Garcia Lorca. The motto adopted
for the Congress proclaimed: "To Defend the Revolution is to
Defend Culture." The agenda was based on the program set forth in
the November Declaration.
On the opening night, the President of the Republic, Dr. Osval-
do Dorticos Torrado, spoke about the road that the delegates to the
Congress must take. "Artists and writers must go to the people
.--,not descending, but ascending to them... in the people is to be
found the source of future works, the daily inspiration and the supre-
me inspiration. And to the people the literary or artistic products must
finally return: a return of the treasures which the people give to
the artists every day."
On the morning of August 19th, poet Nicolas Guinan took a
journey through Cuban history, from which he returned asking the
artists and writers to create a "socialist, humanist culture that will
give the ordinary man in the street everything that was denied him by
the Colony in the 19th century and monopolized by an exclusive sec-
tor of the ruling class of that society... a culture that will liberate and
exalt us and distribute both bread and roses without shame or fear".
The publication in this book of Fidel's words to the intellec-
tuals and the speeches by Dorticos and Guillen will en able English-
speaking friends of Cuba throughout the world to form a clear idea
of the spirit with which the Revolution is tackling the problem of
culture. Without exception, the only condition that of being un-
equivocally on the side of the people, the Cuban Revolution protects
the rights of creators, of scientists, of intellectuals. Even more, it sti-
mulates their work and opens new horizons to them. With a better
world in view, writers and artists, side by side with the people of
Whom they are a part. are helping to build the society of the future.
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words to
the intellectuals
(hid &itto
FIDEL CASTRO
Prime Minister of the Rev-
olutionary Government. General
Secretary of the National Com-
mittee of ORI (Integrated
Revolutionary Organizations).
Leader of the Cuban Revolution
On June 16, 23, and 30, meetings were held in the auditorium of the National
Library in Havana, in which participated the most representative figures of
the Cuban intelligentsia. Artists and writers had full opportunity to discuss
and ?expound their points of view on different aspects of cultural activity and
problems related to creative work. Present at the meetings were the President
of the Republic, Dr. Osvaldo Dorticos Torrado; the Prime Minister, Dy. Fi-
del Castro; the Minister of Education, Dr. Armando Hart; members of the
National Council of Culture, and other representatives of the government.
Comrades:
? After?three sessions in-which various. problems ? related to cultun
and creative ? Work were discussed; in which many interesting? ques-
tions were raised and different points of view expressed, it is now our
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turn. We shall not speak .as the person best qualified to deal with
this matter, but because we feel it necessary to express centain points
of view.
We were very interested in these discussions, and I believe we
have demonstrated what might be called "great patience." But ac-
tually, no heroic effort was necesary on our part, because for us it
has been an enlightening discussion and, said in all sincerity, a plea-
sant experience. Of course, in this type of discussion we, the men
of the government, are not the most qualified to express an opinion
on questions in which you are specialists. At least.., that is my case.
The fact that we are men of the government and revolutionary
leaders does not mean that we are obliged (although perhaps we are)
to be experts in everything. It is possible that if we took many of
the comrades who have spoken here to a meeting of the Council of
Ministers to discuss the problems with which we are most familiar,
they would feel the way we feel now.
We have been an active force in this Revolution, in the socio-
economic Revolution taking place in Cuba. That socio-economic Re-
volution will inevitably produce a cultural Revolution.
On our part, we have tried to do something in this field (al-
though the beginning of the Revolution presented more pressing pro-
blems). We might criticize ourselves by saying that we had somewhat
neglected the discussion of a question as important as this. That is
not to say that we had forgotten it completely;a' discussion like this
was already being thought of by the government. Months.-ago we
intended to call a meeting to analyze the cultural problem, but impor-
tant events kept taking place in rapid succession, preventing an earlier
meeting. However, the Revolutionary Government has been taking
measures that express our concern with this problem. Something has
been done, and several members of the. government, on more than
one occasion, have brought the question up. For the time being it
can be said that the Revolution itself has already brought about
changes in the cultural field, that the artists' condition: of work
have changed.
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I believe that some pessimistic aspects have been somewhat over-
emphasized: I believe that worries have been expressed here that are
without foundation. The actual changes that have occurred in this
field and the present conditions of artists and writers have been
almost passed over in the discussion. Comparing with the past, it is
unquestionable that Cuban artists and writers now work under better
conditions than in the past, which was truly discouraging for artistic
endeavor. If the Revolution started off by bringing about a profound
change in the atmosphere and conditions of work, why fear that this
same Revolution would destroy them?
It is certain that this is not a simple problem. It is certain that
it is the duty of all of us to analyze it carefully. It is your obligation
as well as ours. It is a problem that has arisen many times and in
all revolutions. It is a most complicated problem, not easily solved.
The f clif
?erent comrades who have spoken here expressed a great
many points of view, and they gave their reasons for them. The first
day there was a little timidity in broaching the subject; it became
necessary for us to ask the comrades to tackle the subject squarely,
to say that everyone here should say openly what worried him.
If we are not mistaken, the fundamental problem that hung in
the atmosphere here was the problem of freedom of artistic croation.
When writers from abroad have visited our country, political writers
above all, these questions have been brought up more than once. It
has undoubtedly been a subject of discussion in all countries where
profound revolutions like ours have taken place.
By chance, shortly before we returned to this hall, a comrade
brought us a pamphlet including a brief conversation between us
and Sartre on this subject. It was taken from Lisandro Otero's book
"Conversations at the Lake" ("Revolucion," Tuesday, March 8.
1960).
A similar question was asked us on another occasion by VVright
Mills. the North American writer.
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I Must confess that in a certain way these questions found us
.a little unprepared. We did not have our Yenan Conference with
Cuban artists and writers during the Revolution. In reality, this is a
revolution whose period of gestation and arrival to power took placr.
in what we might call record time. Unlike other revolutions, it did
not have all the principal problems resolved.
One of the characteristics therefore has been the necessity of
facing problems under the pressure of time. And we are like the Re-
volution, that is, we have improvised quite a Tot. Therefore it cannot
be said that this Revolution has had either the period of gestation
that other revolutions have had, nor leaders with the intellectual
maturity that the leaders of other revolutions have had. We believe
that we have contributed as much as we could to the present hap-
penings in our country. We believe that with the effort of all we are
carrying out a true Revolution, and that this Revolution is develo-
ping and seems destined to become one of the important events 3f
the century. However, despite that fact, we who have had an impor-
tant part in these events do not consider ourselves revolutionary theo-
reticians or intellectuals. If men are judged by their deeds, perhaps
we would have the right to consider our merit to be the Revolution
itself. And yet we do not think so, and believe that we should all
have similar attitudes, regardless of what our work has been. As meri-
torious as our work may seem, we should begin by placing ourselves
in the honest position of not presuming that we know more than
others, of not presuming that our points of view are infallible, and
that all who do not think exactly as we do are mistaken. That is, we
should place ourselves in an honest position, not of false modesty.
but of true evaluation of what we know. If we place ourselves in
that position, I believe that it will be easier to advance with confi-
dence. If we all adopt that attitude, you as well as we, subjective
attitudes will disappear, that certain subjective element in the analy-
sis of the problems will disappear too. Actually, .what do we know'?
We are all learning. We all have much to learn, and we have not
come here to teach; we have come to learn too. ?
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There have been certain fears, and some comrades have ex-
pressed those fears.
Listening to them, we thought at times that we were dreaming.
We had the impression that our feet were not firmly on the ground.
Because if we have any fears or worries today, they are connected
with the Revolution itself. The great concern of all should be the
Revolution itself. Or do we believe that the Revolution has already
won all its battles? Do we believe that the Revolution is not in dan-
ger? What should be the first concern of every citizen today? Should
it be the concern that the Revolution is going to go beyond what is ne-
cessary, that the Revolution is going to stifle art, that the Revoluion
is going to stifle the creative genius of our citizens? Should it be the
,clangers, real or imaginary, that might threaten the creative spirit, or
the dangers that might threaten the Revolution itself?... It is not a
question of our invoking this danger as a simple point of argument;
we wish to say that the concern of all revolutionary writers and artists.
?Of all writers and artists who understand the Revolution and find
it just, should be: What dangers threaten the Revolution and what
can we do to help the Revolution? We believe that the Revolution
still has many battles to fight, and we believe that our first thought
and first concern should be: What.can we do to assure the victory of
the Revolution? That comes first, the Revolution itself, and then.
afterwards, we can concern ourselves with other questions. This is
not to say that we should not think of other problems, but that the
fundamental concern in our mind should be the Revolution.
The problem that has been under discussion here and which we
are going to tackle is the problem of freedom of writers and artists
to express themselves.
You have been worrying about whether the Revolution will
choke this freedom, whether the Revolution will stifle the creative
spirit of writers and artists.
Freedom of form has been spoken of here. Everyone agrees that
'freedom of form must be respected. I believe there is no doubt as
regards this point.
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The question is more delicate, and actually becomes the essen-
tial point of discussion, when one deals with freedom of content.
This is a subtle matter, as it is open to the most diverse interpreta-
tions. The most controversial point of this question is: should we or
should we not have absolute freedom of content in artistic expres-
sion? It seems to us that some comrades defend the affirmative. Per-
haps because of fear that what they consider prohibitions, regulations,
limitations, rules, authorities, will decide on the question.
Permit me to tell you in the first place that the Revolution de-
fends freedom; that the Revolution has brought the country a very
high degree of freedom; that the Revolution cannot by its very nature
be an enemy of freedom; that if some are worried about whether the
Revolution is going to stifle their creative spirit, that worry- is un-
necessary, that worry has no reason to exist.
What can be the reason for such worry? Only those who are
not sure of their revolutionary convictions can be truly worried
about that problem. He who does not have confidence in his own
art, who does not have confidence in his ability to create, can be
worried about this matter. And it should be asked whether a true
revolutionary, whether an artist or intellectual who feels the Revo-
lution and who is sure that he is capable of serving the Revolution,
has to face this problem, that is, if doubts may arise for the truly re-
volutionary writers and artists. I feel that the answer is negative,
that doubt is left only to the writers and artists who, without being
counterrevolutionaries, are not revolutionaries either. And it is correct
that a writer or artist who is not truly revolutionary should pose that
question; that an honest writer or artist, who is capable of compre-
hending the cause and the justice of the Revolution without being
part of it, should face that problem squarely. Because a revolutio-
nary puts something above all other questions; a revolutionary puts
something above even his own creative spirit; he puts the Revolu-
tion above everything else. And the most revolutionary artist is the
one who is ready to sacrifice even his own artistic calling for the
Revolution.
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No one ever thought that every man, every writer, or every *artist
has to be a revolutionary, as no one believes that every man or every
revolutionary has to be an artist, or that every honest man, for the
very reason that he is honest, has to be a revolutionary. To be a revo-
lutionary is also to have an attitude towards life, to be a revolutio-
nary is also to have an attitude towards existing reality; there are
men who are resigned and adapt themselves to reality, and there
are men who are not able to resign or to adapt themselves to that
reality but try to change it; that is why they are revolutionaries. But
there can be men who adapt themselves to reality and are honest
men, except that their spirit is not a revolutionary spirit, except thal
their attitude towards reality is not a revolutionary attitude. And there
can be, Of course, artists, and good artists, who do not have a revolu-
tionary attitude towards life, and it is for precisely that group of ar-
tists and intellectuals that the Revolution constitutes a problem.
For a mercenary artist or intellectual, for a dishonest artist or
intellectual, it would never be a problem; he knows what he has to
do, he knows what is in his interest, he knows where he is going.
The real problem exists for the artist or intellectual who does
not have a revolutionary attitude towards life but who is. however.
an honest person. It is clear that he who has that attitude towards
life, whether he is revolutionary or not, whether he is an artist or not.
has his goals, has his objectives, and we should all ask ourselves
about those goals and objectives. For the revolutionary, those goals
and objectives are directed towards the change of reality; those goals
and objectives are directed towards the redemption of man. It is man
himself, his fellow man, the redemption of his fellow man that cons-
titutes the objective of the revolutionary. If they ask us revolutiona-
ries what matters most to us, we will say the people, and we will
always say the people. The people in their true sense, that is, the
majority of the people, those who have had to live in exploitation and
in the cruelest neglect. Our basic concern will always be the 'grea
majority of the people, that is, the oppressed and exploited classes.
The point of view through which we view everything is this: what-
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ever is 'good for them will be good for us;.whatever is noble, usefuL
and beautiful for them, with be noble, useful and beautiful for us.
If one does not think of the people and for the people, that is, if one
does not think and does not act for the great exploited masses of the
people, for ihe great masses which we want to redeem, then one-
s/a:ply does not have a revolutionary attitude.
It is from this point of view that we analyze the good, the useful..
and the beautiful of every action.
We understand that it must be a tragedy when someone under-
stands this and nom?:heless has to confess that he is incapable of
fighting for it.
We are, or believe ourselves to be, revolutionaries. Whoever is
more of an artist than a revolutionary cannot think exactly the same
as we do. We struggle for the people without inner conflict, we know
that we can achieve what we have set out to do. The principal goal
is the people. We have to think about the people before we think
about ourselves, and that is the only attitude that can be defined as
a truly revolutionary attitude. And it is for those who cannot or do
not have that attitude, but who are honest people, that this problem
exists; and just as the Revolution constitutes a problem for them,.
they constitute a problem with which the Revolution should be con-
cerned.
The case was well made that there were many writers and artists
who were not revolutionaries, but were, however, honest writers and
artists; that they wanted to help the Revolution, and that the Revo-
lution is interested in their help; that they wanted to work for the
Revolution and that, at the same time, the Revolution was interested
in their contributing their knowledge and efforts on its behalf.
It is easier to appreciate this when specific cases are analyzed;
and among those specific cases are.many that are not easy to analyze.
A Catholic writer spoke here. He raised the problems that worried
him and he spoke with great. clarity. He asked if he could make an
interpretation of a determined problem from his idealistic point of
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view or if he could write a work defending that point of view. He
asked ?quite frankly if, within a revolutionary regime, he could ex-
press himself in accordance with those sentiments. He posed the pro-
blem in a form that might be considered symbolic.
He was concerned about knowing if he could write in accor-
dance with those sentiments or in accordance with that ideology.
which was not exactly the ideology of the Revolution. He was in
agreement with the Revolution on economic and social questions,
but his philosophic position was distinct from that of the Revolution.
And Oils case is worthy of being kept well in mind, because 4 is
a case representative of the group of writers and artists who demons-
trate a favorable attitude towards the Revolution and wish to know
what degree of freedom they have within the revolutionary conditions
to express themselves in accordance with their feelings. That is the
g,--Jup that constitutes a problem for the Revolution, just as the Rev-
olution constitutes a problem for them, and it is the duty of the
Revolution to be concerned with these cases; it is the duty of the Rev-
olution to be concerned with the situation of those artists and wri-
ters, because the Revolution ought to bend its efforts towards having
more than the revolutionaries, more than the revolutionary artists
and intellectuals, move along with it. It is possible that the men ?and
women who have a truly revolutionary attitude towards reality do
n.oi constitute the greatest sector of the population: the revolutonaries
are the vanguard of the people. bui: the revolutionaries should bend
their efforts towards having all the people move along with them,
the Revolution cannot renounce the goal of having all honest men
and women. whether writers and artists or not, moving along with
it; the Revolution should bend its efforts towards converting every--
one who has doubts into a revolutionary. The Revolution should
try to win over the greatest part of the people to its ideas; the Rev-
olution should never give up counting on the majority of the .people.
counting not only on the revolutionaries, but on all honest citizens
who, although they may not be revolutionaries, that is, although
they may not have a revolutionary attitude towards life, are with
i he Revolution.
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The Revolution should give up only those who are incorrigible
reactionaries, who are incorrigible counterrevolutionaries, Towards
all others the Revolution must have a policy; the Revolution has to
have an attitude towards those intellectuals and writers. The Rev-
olution has to understand the real situation and should therefore act
in such a manner that the whole group of artists and intellectuals
who are not genuinely revolutionaries can find within the Revolution
a place to work and create, a place where their creative spirit, even
though they are not revolutionary writers and artists, has the oppor-
tunity and freedom to be expressed. This means: within the Revolu-
tion, everything; against the Revolution, nothing. Against the Rev-
olution, nothing, because the Revolution has the right to exist, and no
one shall oppose the right of the Revolution to exist. Inasmuch as
the Revolution understands the interests of the people, inasmuch as
the Revolution signifies the ,interests of the whole nation, no one
can justly claim a right in opposition to the Revolution.
I believe that this is quite dear. What are the rights of the
writers and artists, revolutionary or non-revolutionary? Within the
Revolution, everything; against the Revolution, nothing.
And there is no exception for artists and writers. This is a gen-
eral principle for all citizens. It is a fundamental principle of the
Revolution. The counterrevolutionaries, that is, the enemies of the
Revolution, have no claims against the Revolution, because the Rev-
olution has the right to exist, the right to develop, and the right to
succeed. And who could cast doubt on that right, the right of a
people who have said, Our Country or Death, that is, The Revolu-
tion or Death?
The life of the Revolution or nothing ?,the life of a Revolution
that has said, "WE WILL WIN,- that is, that has made a serious
statement of its purposes. And respectable as the personal reasons of
an enemy of the Revolution may be, the rights and reasons of a Rev-
olution have more weight, the more so as a Revolution is an
toric process, as a Revolution is not and cannot be a result of caprice.
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of the will of one man, as a Revolution can only be the need
and the, will of a people. And before the rights of an entire people,
the rights of the enemies of the people do not count.
We were speaking of extreme cases only in order to express our
ideas more clearly. I have already said that among those extreme cases
there is a great variety of mental attitudes and there is also a great
variety of worries. To be concerned about some aspect of the Rev-
olution does not necessarily mean that one is not a revolutionary. We
have tried to define basic attitudes.
The Revolution cannot be trying to stifle art or culture when
one of the goals and one of the fundamental purposes of the Rev-
olution is to develop art and culture, so that our artistic and cultural
treasures can truly belong to the people. And just as we want a bet-
ter life for the people in the material sense, so do we want a better
life for the people in a spiritual and cultural sense. And just as the
Revolution is concerned with the development of the conditions and
forces that will permit the people to satisfy all their material needs,
so do we also want to create the conditions that will permit the
people to satisfy all their material needs, so do we also want to create
the conditions that will permit the people to satisfy all their cultural
needs.
Is the cultural level of our people low? Until this year a high
percentage of the people did not know how to read and write. A high
percentage of the people have known hunger, or at least live or used
to live under wretched conditions, under conditions of misery. Part
of the people lack a great many of the material goods they need, and
we are trying to bring about conditions that will permit all thesc
material goods to reach the people.
In the same way we should bring about the necessary condi-
tions for all cultural manifestations to reach the people. This is not
to say that the artist has to sacrifice the artistic worth of his cre-
ations. It is to say that we have to struggle in all ways so that the
artist creates for the people and so that the people in turn raise
their cultural level and draw nearer to the artist. We cannot set up
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a general rule: all artistic manifestation are not of exactly the same
nature, and at times we have spoken here as if that were the case.
There are expressions of the creative spirit that by their very nature
are much more accessible to the people than other manifestations of
the creative spirit. Therefore it is not possible to set up a general
rule, because we have to ask the questions: What principles of ex-
pression should the artist follow in Ms effort to reach the people?
What should the. people demand from the artist? Can we make a
general statement about this? No. It would be oversimplified. It is
necessary to strive to reach the people in all creative manifestations,
but in turn it is necessary to do all we can to enable the people to
understand more, to understand better. I believe that this principle
is not in contradiction to the aspiration of any artist ?,and much less
so if it is kept in mind that men should create for their contemporaries.
We say that there are no artists who create only for posterity,
because, without considering our judgement infallible. I believe that
whoever is proceeding on this assumption is a victim of self-hypnosis.
And that is not to say that the artist who works for his contem-
poraries has to renounce the possibility of Ms work becoming known
to posterity, because it is precisely by being created for the artist's
contemporaries, regardless of whether his contemporaries have under-
stood him or not, that many works have acquired historical and
universal value. 'We are not making a Revolution for the generations
to come, we are making a Revolution with this generation and for
this generation, independently of its benefits for future generations
and its becoming a historic event. We are not making a Revolution
for posterity; this Revolution will be important to posterity because
it is a Revolution for today and for the men and women of today.
Who would follow u, if we were making a Revolution for fu-
ture generations?
We are working and creating for our contemporaries, withoui
.
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These are truths that we should all analyze with :honesty. And
I believe that it is necessary to start from certain basic truths in order;
not to draw false conclusions. We do not see that any honest artizA
or writer has reason for concern. We are not enemies .of freedom.
No one here is an enemy of freedom. Whom do we fear? What
authority is going to stifle our creative spirit? Do we fear our com-
rades in the National Council of Culture? In talks we have held
with members' of the National Council of Culture we have observed
feelings and points of view that were far removed from the concerns
expressed here about limitations on style, expression, etc., imposed
on tit e creative spirit.
Our conclusion is that our comrades in the National Council
of Culture are as concerned as all of you about the bringing about
of the best conditions for the creative endeavors of artists and intel-
lectuals. It is the duty of the Revolution and the Revolutionary
Govermment to see that there is a highly qualified organization
which can be relied upon to stimulate, encourage, develop, and guide,
yes, guide, that creative spirit; we consider it a duty. And can this
perhaps constitute an infringement on the rights of writers and art-
ists? Can this constitute a threat to the rights of writers and artists.
implying that there will be arbitrary measures or excessive auhority?
It would be the same as being afraid that the police will attack us
when we pass a traffic light. It would be the same as being afraid
that a judge will condemn us. The same ,as being afraid that the force
existing in the Revolutionary Power may commit an act of violence
against Us.
We would then have to worry about many things. And never-
theless, the attitude of the citizen is not that of believing that the
militiaman is going to fire at him, that the judge is going to punish
him, that the State Power is going to use violence against :his
person.
,The existence of an authority in the cultural order does not
mean that there is reason to be, worried about that authority being
abused. Who thinks that such a cultural authority should not exist?
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By the same token, he could think that the Police should not exist,
that the State Power should not exist, and also that the State should
not exist, and if anyone is so anxious for the disappearance of the
slightest traces of State authority, then let him stop worrying, let him
have patience, for the day will come when the State will not exist
either!
There has to be a Council that guides, that stimulates, that de-
velops, that works to create the best conditions for the work of the
artists and the intellectuals. And what organization could be the
best defender of the interests of the artists and the intellectuals if
not that very Council? What organization has proposed laws and
given rise to various kinds of measures to raise those conditions, but
the National Council of Culture? What organization proposed a
law for the creation of the National Publishing House to remedy
those defects that have been pointed out here? What organization
proposed the creation of the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore, but
the National Council? What organization has advocated the making
available of the allocations and foreign currency necessary for impor-
ting books that had not entered the country in many months; the
buying of material so that painters and plastic artists can work?
What organization has been concerned with the economic problems.
that is, with the material conditions of the artists? What organiza-
tion has been concerned with a whole series of presenklay needs of
writers and artists? What organization has defended, within the gov-
ernment, the budgets, the buildings, and the projects directed at
improving your working conditions? That organization is none othet
than the National Council of Culture.
Why view that Council with reservation? Why fear that it
will do exactly the opposite: limit our conditions, stifle our creative
spirit?
It is possible to conceive of someone with no problems at all
being concerned about that authority: but in reality those who ap-
preciate the necessity of all the steps the Council has had to take,
and all the work it has to do, cannot ever look at it with reserva-
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tions, because the Council also has an obligation to the people and
it has an obligation to the Revolution and to the Revolutionary Gov-
ernment. And that obligation is to fulfill the objectives for which
it was created, and it has as much interest in the success of its work
as each artist has in the success of his.
I don't know if I've failed to touch upon some of the fundamen-
tal problems that came up here. The problems involved with a cer-
tain film were discussed a great deal. I have not seen the picture,
although I want to see it, I am curious to see it. Was the picture dealt
with unfairly? A a matter of fact, I believe that no picture has
received such honors and that no picture has been so discussed.
Although we have not seen that picture, we have referred to,
the judgment of comrades who have seen it, including the Presi-
dent and different members of the National Council of Culture, And
their opinion deserves respect from all of us; but there is something
I believe cannot be disputed, and that is the right established by law
to exercise the function that was exercised in this case by the Board
of Censors. Perhaps that right of the government is being disputed?
Does or doesn't the government have the right to exercise that func-
tion? For us, what is fundamental in this case is, above all, to de-
termine if the government did or did not have that right; the question
of procedure could be discussed, as it was, to determine if it was fair
or not, if another procedure would have been better, if the decision
was just or not. But there is something that I believe no one is enti-
tled to dispute, and that is the government's right to exercise that
function. For if we challenge that right then it would mean that
the government does not have the right to review the pictures that
are going to be shown to the people.
And I believe that this is a right that cannot be disputed. There
is, in addition, something that we all understand perfectly, and that
is that among manifestations of an intellectual or artistic nature
there are some that are more important than others as far as the
education or the ideological development of the people is concerned.
And I do not believe that anyone can dispute the fact that one of
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these fundamental and highly important media is the movies, as well
as television. Now, can anyone dispute, in the midst of the Revolu-
tion, the government's right to control and censor the pictures that
are shown to the people? Is it perhaps this that is being disputed?
And can the Revolutionary Government's right to supervise those
mass media, that so influence the people, be considered a limita-
tion or a prohibition?
If we challenge that right of the Revolutionary Government, we
would be faced with a problem of principles, because to deny that
right to the Revolutionary Government would be to deny the Gov-
ernment its function and its responsibility (and above all in the
midst of a revolutionary situation) in leading the people and the
Revolution; at times it has seemed that this right was being chal-
lenged, and to avoid any misunderstanding we are now stating that
our opinion is that the government has that right. And if it has that
right, it can make use of that right. It can make mistakes, we are
not pretending that the government is infallible. The government,
acting in exercise of a right or function that belongs to it, does not
necessarily have to be infallible. But who has so many reserves with
respect to the government, who has so many doubts, so many suspi-
cions, who distrusts the Revolutionary Government so much that
when he believes one of its decisions to be wrong, he is terror-
stricken and thinks that the government will always be wrong? I am
not saying that the government was mistaken in that decision; what
I am saying is that the government acted in exercise of a right. I am
trying to put myself in the place of those who worked on that pic-
ture. I am trying to place myself in their state of mind, and I am
trying to understand their displeasure and pain when the picture
was not shown. Anyone can understand that perfectly; but they too
have to understand that the government acted within its rights, and
that this judgment had the support of competent men, responsible
men in the government, and that there is no reason for distrusting
the spirit of justice and fair play of the men of the Revolutionary
Government, for the Revolutionary Government has given no one
reason to doubt its spirit of justice and fair play.
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We shouldn't think that we are perfect, we shouldn't even think
that we are free from emotion. Some could point out that certain
comrades in the government are emotional, or not far from being emo-
tional; and those who believe this, can they assure us that they are
free from emotion?
And can they attribute attitudes of a personal nature to some
comrades without accepting the fact that their own opinions could
also be inspired by attitudes of a personal nature? Let's say here
that whoever feels perfect or free from emotion can be the one to
throw the first stone.
I believe that there has been a personal and emotional element
in the discussion. Did everyone come here absolutely stripped of per-
sonal prejudices and emotions? Cerainly not. If a six-year-old child
had been seated here, he too would have noticed the different cur-
rents and points of view, the different emotions that were confron-
ting one another. Our friends have said many things. They have
said interesting things. Some have said brilliant things. All have been
very "erudite." But above all there has been reality, the reality of
discussion and the freedom with which all have been able to express
themselves and defend their points of view. The freedom with which
all have been able to speak and explain their criteria in the midst of a
large meeting, which has grown larger by the day, a meeting thai
we consider a positive meeting, a meeting where we could dispell a
whole series of doubts and worries. Have there been quarrels? Un-
doubtedly. Have there been wars and skirmishes here among the
writers and artists? Undoubtedly. Has there been criticism, and su-
percriticism? Undoubtedly. Have some comrades tried out their
weapons at the cost of other comrades? Undoubtedly.
The wounded have spoken expressing their resentment at what
they consider unfair attacks. Fortunately, we've had no corpses, only
the injured, including comrades who are still convalescing from their
wounds. And some of them presented as an evident injustice the
fact that they had been attacked with large-caliber cannons without
having the power to even make a riposte. Have strong criticisms been
made? Undoubtedly! And in a certain sense a problem has been
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raised here that we are not going to pretend to be able to elucidat.:.
in two words, But I believe that of the things that have been said
here, one of the most correct is that the spirit of criticism ought to be
constructive, ought to be positive and not destructive. But in general,
it is not kept in mind. For some the word criticism has come to be a
synonym of attack, when it really means no such thing. When they
tell someone, "So-and-so criticized you," that person gets angry be-
fore asking what was really said about him. That is, he thinks that
he was torn apart. If, in reality, those of us who have been a little
removed from these problems or struggles --these skirmishes and
tests of weapons?, were told about the case of some comrades who
have almost been at the edge of deep depression because of demo-
lishing criticism leveled against them, it is possible that we would
sympathize with the victims, because we have the tendency to sym-
pathize with victims. We who sincerely want only to contribute to
the understanding and unity of all, have tried to avoid words that
could wound or discourage anyone; but is is an unquestionable fact
that there have been struggles or controversies where conditions were
unequal. That, from the point of view of the Revolution, cannot be
just. The Revolution cannot arm some against others, and we be-
lieve that the Writers and artists should have every opportunity to
express themselves. We believe that the writers and artists, through
their association, should have a broad cultural magazine open to all.
Doesn't it seem to you this would be a fair solution? But the Rev-
olution cannot put those resources in the hands of one group. The
Revolution can and should mobilize those resources in such a manner
that they can be widely utilized by all writers and artists. You are
going to constitute an association of writers and artists soon, you
are going to attend a Congress. That Congress should be held in a
truly constructive spirit, and we are confident that you are capable
of holding it in that spirit. From it will rise a strong writers' and
artists' association where all who have a truly constructive spirit can
take part, because if anyone thinks we wish to eliminate him, if any-
one thinks we want to stifle him, we can assure him that he is ab-
solutely mistaken.
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And now is the time for you to contribute in an organized way
and with all your enthusiasm to the tasks that are yours in the Rev-
olution, and to constitute a broad organization of all writers and
artists. I do not know if the questions that have been raised here
will be discussed at the Congress, but we know that the Congress
is going to meet, and that its work, as well as the work that is to be
done by the association of writers and artists, will be good topics
for discussion at our next meeting. We believe that we should meet
again; at least, we don't want to deprive ourselves of the pleasure
and usefulness of these meetings which have served to focus our
attention on all these problems. We have to meet again. What does
that mean? That we have to continue discussing these problems.
That is, everyone can rest assured, the government is greatly inte-
rested in these problems, and the future will hold ample opportuni-
ty for discussing them. It seems to us that this should bring
satisfaction to the writers and artists, and we too look forward to
acquiring more information and knowledge.
The National Council of Culture should also have an informa-
tion agency. I think that this is putting things in their right place.
And this cannot be called cultural imposition or stifling of the crea-
tive spirit. The Revolution wants the artists to put forth their maxi-
mum effort on behalf of the people. It wants them to put the maximum
interest and effort into revolutionary work. We believe that the Rev-
olution has the right to want this.
Is that to say that we are going to tell the people here what
they have to write? No. Let each one write what he wants, and if
what he writes is not good, that is his problem. We do not prohibit
anyone from writing on the theme he prefers. On the contrary, let
each person express himself in the form he considers best, and let him
express freely the idea he wants to express. We will always evaluate
his creation from the revolutionary point of view. That too is a right
of the Revolutionary i Government, as worthy of respect as the right
of each to express what he wants to express.
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A series of measures are being taken, some of which we have
mentioned. We wish to inform those who were concerned with the
problem of the National Publishing House that a law is under consi-
deration to regulate its functioning, create different editorial divisions,
see to the needed diversity, and mend the deficiences existing at pre-
sent. The National Publishing House is a recently created organiza-
tion that made its appearance under difficult conditions, because it
had to begin working in the plant of a newspaper that closed sud-
denly (we were present the day that newspaper plant became the
leading printing shop of the country, with all its workers and editors),
and it had to attend to the publication of urgently-needed works, in-
cluding many of a military nature. The National Publishing House
does have deficiencies, but they will be remedied. There will
be no reasons for complaints such as the ones expressed here,
in this meeting, about the National Publishing House. Mea-
sures are also being taken to acquire books, to acquire work
materials, that is, to resolve all the problems that have concerned the
writers and artists and with which the National Council of Culture
too has been concerned. For as you know, the State has different
departments and different institutions and, within the State, each is
anxious to have the resources necessary for doing its job well. We
want to point out some areas where we have already advanced, areas
that should be sources of pride for all of us. Look at the success
attained by the Symphony Orchestra, for instance, which has been
completely reorganized, and not only has reached a high level in the
artistic sense, but also in the revolutionary sense, for there are now
50 members of the Symphony Orchestra who are militiamen.
The Ballet de Cuba has been rebuilt and has just made a tour
abroad where it won admiration and recognition in all the countries
it visited.
The Modern Dance Group has also been quite successful, and
has been highly praised in Europe.
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The National Library too is working hard on behalf of culture.
It is engaged in awakening the interest of the people in music and
painting. It has set up an art department with the object of making
fine paintings known to the people. It has a music department, a
?young people's department, and a children's section.
Shortly before coming to this hall, we were visiting the Chil-
dren's Department of the National Library; we saw the number of
children who were there, the work that is being done there. The pro-
gress made by the National Library is reason enough for the govern-
ment to give it the means needed for continuing that work. The Na-
tional Publishing House is now a reality, and with the new forms
of organization it is being given, it is also a victory for the Revolu-
tion that will contribute mightily to the education of the people.
The National Institute of the Motion Pictures Industry is also
a reality. The first stage has consisted chiefly in supplying it with
needed equipment and material. The Revolution has established at
least the basis of a movie industry. It has established it at the cost
of great effort, if it is kept in mind that ours is not an industrialized
country and that the acquisition of all that equipment has meant
sacrifices. If we haven't any more facilities as regards the movies,
this is due not to a restrictive governmental policy, but simply to the
scarcity of economic resources at present for creating amateur move-
ments that would permit the development of all cinematic talent.
This will be done when we have those resources available. Policy
in the Motion Picture Institute and the introduction of emulation
? among the different work crews of the Institute will also be discussed.
It is not possible to discuss the work itself of the Institute. There has
not yet been time to do enough work to be judged, but it has worked,
and we know that a number of its documentaries have contribu-
ted greatly to making the Revolution known abroad. But what we
? should emphasize is that the foundation for the movie industry has
already been laid.
There has also been much cultural work done through publicity,
talks, etc., sponsored by different agencies; but it is, after all, nothing
compared to what can be clone and what the Revolution intends to do.
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There are still a number of questions to resolve that are of inte-
rest to writers and artists. There are problems of a material order,
that is, of an economic order. Yesterday's conditions do not exist
now.. Today there is no longer that small privileged class that used
to buy the works of artists .although at miserable prices, we know
that, since more than one artist ended in indigence and oblivion.
These problems remain to be faced and solved, and the Revolutio-
nary Government should solve them, and the National Council of
Culture should be concerned with them, as well as with the pro-
blem of artists who can no longer produce and are completely for-
saken. They should guarantee the artists not only proper material
conditions for the present, but security for the future. In a certain
sense, now, with the reorganization of the Copyrights Institute, the
living conditions of a great number of authors and composers, who
were miserably exploited and whose rights were scoffed at, have
been improved considerably. Today writers who used to live in
extreme poverty have incomes that permit them to live decently.
These are steps that the Revolution has taken; but they are
only preliminary steps, they wiII be followed by other steps that
will create better conditions yet.
There is also the idea of organizing some place where artists
and writers can rest and work. Once, when we were travelling
throughout the whole national territory, the idea occurred to us in a
very beautiful place, the Isle of Pines, to build a place of rest in
the middle of a pine forest, where we could honor writers and
artists (at that time we were thinking about establishing some sort
of prize for the best progressive writers and artists of the world).
That project did not materialize, but it can be revived and a place
can be created in some peaceful haven that invites rest, that invites
writing. I believe that it is well worth-while for artists, and archi-
tects as well, to begin thinking of and planning the ideal place of
rest for a writer or artist, and to see if they agree. The Revolutionary
Government is ready to contribute its share to the budget.
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And will planning be a limitation imposed on the creative spi-
rit by us, the revolutionaries? Because, in a certain sense, don't for-
get that we, the revolutionaries, who have been working somewhat
on our own, are now faced with the reality of planning; and that
presents a problem to us too, because until now we have had a
creative spirit towards revolutionary initiative and revolutionary in-
vestments, which now have to be planned out. So don't believe that
we are removed from the problem, for, from our point of view, we
could protest too. That is, now that it is known what is going to be
done next year, the year after that, and the year after that. Who ;s
going to dispute the fact that it is necessary to plan the economy?
But the construction of a place of rest for writers and artists fits in
with that planning. Tr-illy, it would be a source of satisfaction for
the Revolution to be able to count that project among works ac-
-complishecl.
We have been concerned here with the present situation of
-writers and artists. We seem to have forgotten future perspectives
somewhat. And we, who have no reason to grumble about you,
have also dedicated a moment to thinking about the artists and
-writers of the future. We wondered what it would be like if thc
men of the government ,?,not us necessarily?, and the artists and
the writers were to meet again, as they should, in the future, in five
.or ten years, when culture has acquired the extraordinary develop-
ment that we plan for it, when the first fruits of the present educa-
tional program begin appearing.
Long before the4se questions were raised, the Revolutionary
'Government was already concerned about the extension of culture
to the people. We have always been very optimistic. I believe that
it is not posible to be a revolutionary without being an optimist.
For the difficulties that a Revolution has to surmount are very
serious, and one has to be an optimist. A pessimist could never
he a revolutionary.
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The Revolution has had stages. There was a stage when dif-
ferent agencies took the initiative in the field of culture. Even INRA
(the National Institute of the Agrarian Reform) was conducting
activities of a cultural nature. 'We even clashed with the National
Theater, for certain work was being clone there and suddenly we
were off doing other work on our own. Now all that is within one
organization.
In connection with our plans for the countryside, there arose
the idea of spreading culture to the people of the farms and co-
operatives. How? Well, by training music, dance, and drama ins-
tructors. Only optimists can propose things like this. Well, how
were we to awaken love for the theater, for example, in the farmer?
Where were the instructors? Where would we get instructors to
send out to 3,000 People's Farms and 600 Cooperatives, for exam-
ple? All this presents difficulties, but I am certain that all of you
agree that if it is achieved it will be a positive accomplishment.
especially the discovery of talents in the people and the conversion
of the people from spectators into creators, for ultimately it is the
people who are the great creators. We should not forget this, and
neither should we forget the thousands and thousands of minds
lost in our countryside and cities due to lack of opportunity to deve-
lop. Many talents have been lost in our countryside, of that we
are sure, unless we presume ourselves to be the most intelligent people
of this country, and I want to say that I presume no such thing.
I have often given as an example the fact that of several thou-
sand children in the place where I was born, I was the only one
who was able to study at the university. And I had to first attend a
number of schools run by priests, etc. etc..: I don't want to anathe-
matize anyone, although I do want to say that I have the same.
right as anyone else here to say what I want, to complain. I have
the right to complain. Someone spoke of the fact that he was mo!
ded by bourgeois society; I can say that I was molded by something
worse yet, that I was molded by the worst of reaction, and that a
good many years of my life were lost in darkness, in superstition.
and in lies.
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That was the time when they did not teach one to think, but
forced one to believe. I am of the opinion that when man's ability
to think and reason is impaired he is turned from a human being
into a domesticated animal. I am not rebelling against the religious
sentiments of man; we respect those sentiments, we respect man's
right to freedom of belief and religion. But they did not respect my
right to this freedom. I had no freedom of belief or religion; they
imposed a belief and a religion on me and domesticated me for
twelve years.
Naturally I have to speak in complaining tones about those
years, the years when youngsters have the greatest amount of interest
and curiosity in things, years I could have employed in systematic
study that would have let me acquire the culture that the children
of Cuba today are going to have every opportunity to acquire.
Before our Revolution, the one of a thousand who could get a
university degree had to pass through that millstone where only
by a miracle he was not crushed mentally forever. Thus that ont;
of a thousand had to go through all that.
Why? Ah, because he was the only one of a thousand who
could afford to study at a private school. Now, am I going to believe
therefore that I was the most capable and the most intelligent of
the thousand? I believe that we are a product of selection, 'but not
natural selection so much as social. I was selected to go to the uni-
versity socially, by a process of social selection, not natural selection.
-Who knows how many tens of thousands of young people, superior
to all of us, have been left in ignorance by social selection.
This is the truth. And he who believes himself an artist should
remember that there are many, much better than he, who have not
had the opportunity to become artists. if we do not admit this, we
are evading reality. We are privileged, among other things, because
we were not born the sons of wagon-drivers, I think what we have
said shows the enormous number of talented minds that have been
lost simply through lack of opportunity.
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We are going to bring opportunity to everyone; we are going
to create the conditions that permit all talent, artistic, literary, scien-
tific, or othewise, to develop. And think about the significance of
a Revolution that permits such a thing, and that has already begun
teaching all the people to read and write, that will have acconi-
plished this by the next school term, and that ,--,through schools every-
where in Cuba, through campaigns and with newly trained teachers,?
will be able to bring to light all talent, and this only the begin
fling. All the teachers in the country will learn how to recognize
which child has special talent, and will recommend which child
should be given a scholarship for the National Academy of Art,
and at- the same time they will awaken artistic taste and love for
culture in the adults. Some tests that have already been made de-
monstrate the capacity of the simple farmer and man of the peoplc
for assimilating artistic questions, for assimilating culture and im-
mediately beginning to produce it. There are comrades who have
been on some cooperatives that now have their own drama groups.
Recent performances given in various places of the Republic, and
the artistic creations of men and women of the people, demonstrate
the interest of the country people in all these things. Imagine, then,
what it will mean when we have drama, music, and dance instruc-
tors on each Cooperative and each People's Farm.
In the course of only two years, we will be able to send a
thousand instructors, for each one of these fields of art, more than
a thousand.
The schools have been organized. They are already functioning..
Imagine when there will be a thousand dance, music, and drama
groups throughout the island, in the country ?,we are not speaking
of the city, it is somewhat easier in the city? what that will mean
in cultural advance, because some have spoken here about the need.
to rise the level of the people ,?but how? The Revolutionary Gov-
ernment is creating conditions so that within a few years our cul-
ture, the level of the cultural background of our people, will have-
been raised extraordinarily.
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We have selected those three branches, but we can continue
selecting other branches and we can continue working to develop
all aspects of culture.
The school of Art Instructors is already functioning, and the
comrades that work there are satisfied with the progress of that
group of future instructors, but in addition we have already begun
to construct the National Academy of Art, separate from the Na-
tional Academy of Manual Arts. Certainly, Cuba is going to have
the most beautiful Academy of Art in the world. Why? Because
that Academy is going to be located in one of the most beautiful
residential districts of the world, where the most luxury-loving bour-
geoisie of Cuba used to live, in the best district of the most osten-
tatious and most luxury-loving and most uncultured bourgeoisie who
now belong to the past. None of those houses lacked a bar; their
inhabitants, except for certain exceptions, did not concern themselves
with cultural problems. They lived in an incredibly luxurious man-
ner, and it ?is worthwhile to take a trip there to see how they used
to live; but they didn't know that one day an extraordinary Academy
of Art would be built there, and that students were going to live
in their homes, the homes of millionaires. They will not live clois-
tered lives, they will live in a homelike atmosphere, and they will
attend classes in the Academy; the Academy is going to be located
in the middle of the Country Club district, and will be designed
by a group of architects and artists. They have aready begun, and
they are committed to finishing by the month of December. We
already have 500,000 feet of mahogany. The schools of music, dance,
ballet, theater, and plastic arts will be in the middle of a golf course,
in a dreamlike setting. This is where the Academy of Art will be
located, with 60 houses surrounding it, with a Social Center at one
side, with dining-rooms, lounges, swimming pools, and also a buil-
ding for visitors where the foreign teachers who are coming to aid
us can live. This Academy will have a capacity of up to three
thousand youngsters, that is, three thousand scholarship sudents.
We expect it to start functioning next year.
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And the National Academy of Manual Arts, located on another
golf couse, with similar buildings, with students living in similar
houses, will soon begin to function also. These will be Academies
of a specifically national type. That is not to say that they are the
only schools, not that at all, but they will be attended by scholar-
ship students, the young people who show the greatest capacity,
costing their families absolutely nothing ?,adolescents and children
who are going to have ideal conditions for developing. Anybody
would want to be a child now, to enter one of those Academies.
Don't you think so? We spoke here of painters who used to live
on coffee only. Just imagine how different conditions will be now,
and we will see if the creative spirit does not find the ideal conditions
for developing. Instruction, housing, food, general culture... There
will be children who will begin to study in those schools from the
age of eight up, and they will receive, together with their artistic
training, a general education... Won't they be able to develop their
talents and their personalities fully there...?
These are more than ideas or dreams; they are realities of the
Revolution. The Instructors that are being trained, the National
Schools that arc being prepared, the schools for lovers of the arts
that are also being founded, they are realities. This is what the
Revolution means.., this is why the Revolution is important for
culture. How could we do this without a Revolution? Let's suppose
that we are afraid that "our creative spirit is going to wither, crushed
by the despotic hands of the Stalinist Revolution" .. ? Gentle-
men, wouldn't it be better to think about the future? Are we going
to think about our flowers withering when we are sowing flowers all
over? When we are forging those creative spirits of the future?
And who would not exchange the present, NVII0 would not exchange
even his own present existence for that future? Who would not
exchange what he has now, who would not sacrifice what he has
now for that future? And what person who has artistic sensibility
does not also have the spirit of the fighter who dies in battle, know-
ing that he is dying, that he is ceasing to exist physically, in order
to enrich with his blood the triumph of his fellow beings, of his
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people? Think about the soldier who dies fighting: he sacrifices
everything he has; he sacrifices his life, his family. Why? So that
we can do all these things. And what person with human sensibility,
artistic sensiblity, does not think that to do that it must be worth-
while to make the sacrifice? But the Revolution is not demanding
sacrifices from creative geniuses; on the contrary, it says: put that
creative spirit at the service of the Revolution, without fear that your
work will be impaired. But if some day you think that your personal
work may be impaired, say: it is well worthwhile if I am contri-
buting to the great work before all of us.
We ask the artist to develop his creative force to the fullest,
we want to make conditions ideal for the creative genius of the ar-
tist and intellectual, because if we are creating for the future, how
can we not want the best for the present artists and intellectuals?
We are asking for maximum development on behalf of culture, and,
to be very precise, on behalf of the Revolution, because the Revo-
lution means just that, more culture and more art.
We ask the intellectuals and artists to do their share in the
work that, after all, is the work of this generation. The coming gene-
ration will be better than ours, but we will be the ones who have
made that better generation possible. We will have shaped that fu-
ture generation. We, the men of this generation, whether young or
old, beardless or bearded, with an abundant head of hair, or no
hair, or with white hair. This is the work of all of us. We are going
to wage a battle against ignorance. We are going to unleash a mer-
ciless war against ignorance and we are going to test our arms.
Is there anyone who doesn't want to collaborate? What greater
punishment is there than to deprive oneself of satisfaction in what
others are doing? We spoke of the fact that we were privileged.
We learned to read and write in a school, went to high school, to a
university, to acquire at least the rudiments of education, enough
to enable us to do something. And can we not call ourselves pri-
vileged to be living in the midst Of a Revolution? Didn't we read
about revolutions with great interest? Who. didn't avidly read the
stories of the French Revolution, of the Russian Revolution? Who
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never dreamed of having been a witness of those revolutions per-
sonally? Something happened to me, for example, when I read
about the Cuban War of Independence. I was sorry that I hadn't
been born in that period and that I hadn't been a fighter for inde-
pendence and that I hadn't lived at that epic time. All of us have
read the chronicles of our War of Independence with deep-felt
emotion, and we envied the intellectuals and artists and fighters
and leaders of that time. However, to us has fallen the privilege of
living now and being witnesses to a Revolution, to a Revolution
whose force is now developing beyond the bounds of our country,
whose political and moral influence is making imperialism on this
continent tremble and totter. And this has. made the Cuban Revo-
lution the most important event of this century for Latin America,
the most important event since the wars of independence of the
nineteenth century; in truth, the redemption of man is new, for
what were those wars of independence but the replacement of
colonial domination by the domination of exploiting classes in all
those countries?
And it has fallen to us to live in the time of a great histo-
rical event. It can be said that it is the, second great historical, event
that has ocurred in the last three centuries in Latin America. And
we Cubans are its creators, knowing that the more we work the
more the Revolution will be an unquenchable flame, the more it
will be called upon to play a transcendent role in history. And you
writers and artists have had the privilege of witnessing this Revo-
lution in person; and a Revolution is such an important event in
human history that it is well worthwhile to live in the time of
one if only to be its witness.
That too is a privilege. Therefore those who are not capable
of understanding these things, those who let themselves be tricked,
let themselves be confused, those who let themselves become per-
plexed by lies, are the ones who renounce the Revolution. What can
we say of those who have renounced it? How can we think of them
but with sorrow? They abandon this country, which is in full
revolutionary effervescense, to crawl into the den of the imperia-
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list monster, where no expression of the spirit can have life. They
have abandoned the Revolution to go there. They have preferred
to be fugitives and desertors from their native land rather than
remain here even if only as spectators.
And you have the oportunity to be more than spectators, to
be creators in the Revolution, to write about it, to express your-
selves on it. And the generations to come, what will they ask of you?
You may produce magnificent artistic works from the technical
point of view, but if you told the generation to come, a man of a
hundred years hence, that a writer, an intellectual, lived in the
era of the Revolution and did not express the Revolution, and was
not a part of the Revolution, it would be dificult for him to under-
stand it when in the years to come there will be so many who
want to paint the Revolution, to write about the Revolution, ta
express themselves on the Revolution, compiling data and infor-
mation in order to know what it was like, what happened, how
we used to live... We recently had the experience of meeting an
old woman, 108 years old, who had just learned to read and write,
and we proposed to her that she write a book. She had been a slave,
and we wanted to know what the world looked like to her as a
slave, what her first impressions were, of her masters, of her fellow
slaves. I believe that this old woman can write something more
interesting than any of us could about that era. In one year some-
one can learn to read and write, and write a book as well, at 108
years of agel Things like these are fruits of the Revolution! Who
can write about what the slave endured better than she, and who
can write about the present better than you? And how many people
who have not lived through this will begin to write in the future,
at a distance, selecting material from other writings? On the other
hand, let us not hasten to judge our work, since we will have more
than enough judges. What we have to fear is not an imaginary
authoritarian and stem judge of culture. Fear other judges far more
severe, fear the judges of posterity, fear the generations to come,
who will be, when all is said and done, the ones to say the last
word!
?
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ARMY BARRACKS CONVERTED INTO SCHOOLS
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words by
Comrades:
NICOLAS GUILLEN
National poet. Internationally
known. Since youth, his poems
have fought on behalf of the
exploited. President of the
Writers and Artists Union.
Like the blow of an ax, the dramatic night of Saint Sylvester,
1958, divided the history of Cuba into two parts, one with all the
elements of Spanish colonialism and Yankee imperialist penetration,
and the other with the elements that would initiate a new era, the era
of true freedom.
The first era had lasted ever since Spain took over the island at
the end of the fifteenth century, seizing it by force from its native
inhabitants; the second began in the middle of the twentieth century,
when Fidel Castro's barbudos caute down from the Sierra Maestra
and defeated Batista's tyranny, thus inaugurating the greatest rev-
olution of America and one of the most significant ones of the
contemporary world.
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? Once again, an old Cuban problem arose, one for which no
solution had been found by the best inclined patriots: national in-
dependence. The Cubans had struggled for independence for more
than half a century with greatly different protagonists in the two
main periods involved. This, of course, should not be taken in a
military sense, but in terms of classes.
When Carlos Manuel de Cespedes defied the Spanish crown
(represented in Cuba by General Larsundi) from his ranch "La De-
majagua" in 1868, he did so in the name of a wealthy class: big
Landholders, slave owners, sugar cane planters, cattle raisers, coffee
planters, who had seen two attempts at peaceful solution fail in their
struggle against Spain,?,the movement for reform and the movement
for annexation.
Had Madrid granted the reforms demanded by that progressive
aristocracy administratiire, and political reforms. the Yara
outburst would have been delayed. Had the government of the United
States consented to the annexation of Cuba to that nation, so
ardently desired by El Lugareno and fought by Saco, we would all
now be speaking English or, at any rate, as has happened in other
places, a sort of jargon in which elements of both languages, the
native and the acquired, would be mixed, without the spirit of either.
In the middle of it all ,?the reform and the annexationist move-
ments? there was the African slave trade. The slave trade put
a stop to the liberating endeavors of the reformers, through a rebel-
lion similar to that of Bouckman and his comrades in Haiti, and sent
the annexationists in search of a strong state to protect the infamous
trade in the face of England's abolitionist policy. Marx had said:
"People who keep others in slavery cannot fight for their own
freedom.
The Cuban slave owners therefore first had to adopt a revolu-
tionary measure, the abolition of slavery, in order to follow the only
course left open by Spanish intransigence? that of armed rebellion.
But that struggle came to an end, the victim of Cubans and Spa-
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niards alike .of the latter, because they, finally imposed their mili-
tary power, which had been contained by the patriots for the last
ten years, and of the former, because their egotism, intransigence,
lack of discipline, the pride of some, undermined the resistance of
all. The patricians prevailed over the patriots. The family traditions,
caste rivalries, base ambitions, that darken the soul of many so-called
leading people, clashed within the Army of Liberation during this
initial era.
Fifteen years later, Marti would say:
"The Spaniard did not defeat us because of his courage, but'be-
cause of our pettiness, only because of our pettiness..."
The second war against Spain, seventeen years after the first
had ended, had as its main protagonists, not the wealthy liberals
of '68, headed by Cespedes, but the people and the petty bourgeoisie.
stirred by the brilliant words and actions of Jos?arti. During the
period of uneasy peace that followed the first encounter, secessio-
nist ideas spread throughout the country, under the protection of
the freedom of the press won from the Spanish government: many
of the most important problems of those days came to the level of
public awareness or, at least, curiosity; favorable conditions for cul-
hire developed, although with regard to the economically less de-
veloped classes, this was of no avail. And the new class to which
we have referred, the middle class, aided greatly by popular ele-
ments, took the place of the gret landholders who had planned
the rebellion of 1868 and who, after the Zanjon Pact, abandoned
the leadership they had assumed during the first hall of the nine-
teenth century or took their place in the compromise autonomy
movement.
There is no secret about what happened in the second war of
Cuban independence. If in 1868 the insurgents were defeated by
their own sins rather than by the Spanish military forces, in 1895
the people's uprising, already victorious against colonialist troops.
had to yield ground before a new force, feared and foretold by
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Marti,--,Yankee imperialism. The Government of the United States
had no desire to help us When it intervened in the war between
Cuba and Spain. On the contrary, that intervention gave a vigo-
rous shake to the tree from which the fruit that Adams had desired
since 1820 hung, so that it would fall into the basket prepared by
McKinley in 1898: that fruit was no other than the island of Cuba.
The Treaty of Paris (at whose signing the insurgent govern-
ment was not represented) in effect turned the former Spanish co-
lony into a Yankee protectorate.
Wood, the proconsul sent by the Washington government.
emphatically declared at the opening session of our First Consti-
tutional Assembly in 1901 that approval of the Charter of the new
Republic would not suffice, but that it was necessary to establish
the nature of future relations between old Uncle Sam and his new-
born nephew. '
Did those barefoot, hungry, broken Cubans, exhausted by lack
of food and the diseases of the brush, did those racially mixed
people by any chance think that they would be left free, without
bail or guarantees? Did those ragged Cubans think that the blow-
ing up of the Maine and the landing of Rooselvelt's 'mercenaries,
and the millions of dollars that the campaign had cost, would not
have to be paid for? Cuba was a prey too eagerly sought to be al-
lowed to govern itself without the guardianship of those who, having
been unable to steal it outright, were ready to exploit it for their
own benefit and who knows!, take it over at the first favorable
opportunity.
That is how the Platt Amendment came into being.
That is how the gradual and dramatic deformation of our na-
tional culture began, under the impact of Yankee interventionist
policies, starting in 1902: that is how we began to be slaves again
the very instant when many naive individuals thought we had be-
gun to be free.
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The Cuban, bourgeoisie, which began its growth in the Repu-
blic, submitted& imperialism even more than its predecessors, the
landholders, had to Spain after the Zanjon Pact. It became the ally.
nay, the accomplice of the new exploiting force.
That bourgeoisie began by selling the land. "Immediately after
the Island had been occupied by the United States, in 1899,- says
Emilio Roig de Leuchsenring in a recent book, "United States ca-
pitalists and businessmen began purchasing the land and establish-
ing industries and businesses. Cuban owners, impoverished by
war and with no faith in the future of a truly free, independent,
and sovereign Cuba, began selling their farms, ranches, sugar mills,
forests, etc. And since many Americans thought then that their gov-
ernment would not fully adhere to its pledges in the Joint Reso-
lution and grant independence to the Cubans, they flooded the
Island with businessmen in a wave of immigration that Leland H.
Jenks, in 'Our Cuban Colony,' compared with the great mass move-
ments to the West in his own country.
The draft of a law sponsored by Don Manuel Sanguily, who
was then a Senator, preventing Cuban land from passing to the
hands of the Yankees by sale, failed completely, for it never got out
of the Senate Code Commission; it was buried there.
With a voice reminiscent of Marti, this patriot warne 1 his
class that "at the speed at which this true economic revolution is
developing" ,?these are his own words? "to be followed by a so-
cial and political revolution, that is, by the transformation of our
national wealth through the transfer of its ownership, and, therefore,
the inevitable influence of foreign powers in our daily life, in the
attrition, discrediting, and adulteration of our language and, fina-
lly, of our legislation and the ultimate destiny of the Cuban nation,
very soon problems or very formidable complications will arise, ren-
dering all complaints useless, and our impotence to solve them as
demanded by the preservation of our nationhood, will be no less
true and painful
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On a political level, that bourgeoisie depended on Washing-
ton. Great heroes of the war against Spain, havirig lost the incen-
tive that drove them into the brush, grew lazy in the sinecures given
them by the Republic, and even surrendered our country to the
foreigners, as was the case with Estrada Palma. Notes from succes-
sive Ambassadors, aimed at stifling all attempts at independence
on the part of the Executive Power (what little executive powei
the Platt Amendment permitted, and what little independence the
executive power permitted itself), were feared and avoided at the
price of infamous concessions. "The Americans will come herel"
whispered the servile fear of politicians when the people raised
their voice, still muffled, or their clenched fists, still impotent.
However, the people did not remain inactive, although at first
glance it might seem so. The first anti-Yankee outbreaks took place
at the very birth of the Republic, over the Platt Amendment. The
People's Party was founded by Diego Vicente Tejera in 1900. As
Joaquin Orcloqui says, "Without being a socialist party, it grouped
the progressive elements of the labor movement of the time, among
them, those who upheld Marxist ideas." Strikes broke out, such
as the Apprentices Strike in 1901 and the so-called "Currency"
Strike in 1906, during the second American intervention. Negroes
and Mulattoes gathered in great numbers under the liberating ban-
ner raised by Estenoz in 1912 and demanded equality with the
whites and fulfillment of the Constitution of the Republic. Presi-
dent Gomez crushed them ruthlessly. The Veterans and Patriots
Movement was aimed against the immoral sinecurism of President
Zayas, who did not shed the blood of his countrymen, as Machado
and Batista would do later on, and as Menocal had done, but
drowned them in a wave of mud. In 1925 occurred the most
important of all political events that had so far taken place in the
Republic: the founding of the Communist Party.
As was the case in other countries, not only of America but of
the world, Cuban communists studied the national problem under
a new light, the light of class struggle. Tearing down the curtain
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that covered our political and economic reality, they showed the
people the true nature of our relations with the United States, from
its intervention in the Spanish-Cuban War up to its treacherous
economic penetration, with the approval of the Cuban bourgeoisie.
From then on, the milestone by which to measure the revolutionary
ideals of a political leader would be his position towards United
States imperialism.
On the cultural level, the bourgeoisie did not defend its own
artistic, scientific, and literary achievements. The works of the most
important writers of the nineteenth century have remained for many
years on the dusty shelves of old libraries. They have been reprint-
ed only sporadically, incompletely, at the initiative of more or less
public institutions or more or less private enterprises. It was never
done in accordance with a methodical plan to make the best works
known to the great masses. History texts were falsified, carefully
obscuring the profound causes of the national tragedy, which arose
from the stifling penetration of United States imperialism in the
political and economic life of Cuba. Discriminatory practices were
introduced in education, with the establishment of segregated schools
for whites and Negroes; insurmountable obstacles were raised for
preventing Negroes from having access to university professorships
or even to less important teaching positions, where the presence of
a man or woman of dark skin presupposed a truly heroic effort and
a professional capacity slightly less than Aristotelian.
That bourgeoisie, in short, made Miami its tourist Mecca and
New York its social obsession. English expressions and slang were
substituted for Spanish words in current usage: -OK- for "correc-
to,- -thank you- for -gracias," etc. Children were educated in Yan-
kee schools, in the United States or Cuba, for there was hardly
an important city in the island without an American school. Many
officers of the National Army were educated at West Point, and
even our children's stories and games originated in texts in which
the heroes were born in the United States and had a mentality
based on brute force and racial superiority: Buffalo Bill, Nick Car-
ter, Superman...
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Meanwhile, sugar mixed with blood flowed through the cam
fields, and the people learned their lesson of rebellion in the daily
struggle of the trade union, the sugar mill, the factory, in the strug-
gle against two of the most brutal tyrannies of our history, those of
Machado and Batista. The inevitable outcome of these conditions
was the revolution which, headed by Fidel Castro, established a
new order in Cuba, eradicated long-established privileges, drove out
imperialism, placed political and economic power in the hands of the
people, and opened the doors of socialism in a country where true
physical slavery had existed only eighty years before, where men
had owned other men.
Now then, in the course of this process, what has the attitude
of the Cuban intellectual been? What must his attitude be in the
new circumstances created by the Revolution? To answer this ques-
tion we must go back in history to the very origin of our nation, to
the beginning of the past century.
During the lengthy period of colonial domination, the Cuban
people lived in precarious cultural conditions. In 1800 the Baron
of Humboldt arrived in Havana, in his first trip to our Island. The
impression that the Cuban capital made upon the illustrious trave-
ler was not, indeed, the best. "During my stay in Spanish America,"
he would write later, -few cities presented a filthier appearance than
Havana, due to lack of proper cleanliness. People had to walk in
mud up to their knees and the enormous number of carriages and
voIantas,' which are the characteristic vehicles of Havana, the cart
loaded with sugar cane, and the drivers who shoved past the pas-
sers-by, made the condition of those who had to walk annoying and
humiliating..."
As for education for the people, there were less than forty
schools in the capital, which already had 150,000 inhabitants and
could very well be considered one of the most populous cities in
America. In these schools, almost all of which were directed by
Negro or Mulatto women with a scanty educational background
themselves, the student were taught to read ?,badly and to write
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.badly. as well as the four arithmetical operations. Only One news-
paper, the journal, was published, and the printing shops of the
City were always idle...
In regard to public instruction, it must be said that the back-
wardness exhibited by the majority of the Cuban people right after
the end of the 18th century was not to change substantially for a
long time. Saco, in his "Memoirs of Vagrancy," said that education
had been abandoned to such a degree in all the towns and hamlets
of Cuba that a great part of the inhabitants did not even know
the alphabet.
Saco wrote this at the end of the third decade of the nine-
teenth century.
At the end of the century, another great Cuban writer, Mer-
chan, stated his opinion of primary education in our country: "There
is only one place for primary education in the island: Havana.
Schools for boys, six; schools for little children, none, with the ex-
ception of the one founded by Mr. Cornelio Coppinger in the Ro-
yal Welfare and Maternity Home of Havana. And there are :It
least twenty-four cities with a population of over ten thousand or
which are provincial capitals, which should have high schools and
kindergartens, and have them neither for boys or for girls. Munici-
pal evening schools are simply non-existent."
Speaking about the anarchy which prevailed in the designationi
of books for primary education, Merchan recalls an event as laugh-
able as it was dramatic. Among the authorized texts, according ta
this author, there was a small geography book (I quote his words)
written by one of our civilizing authors from abroad, who pleased
to write the following: "Guanabajoa, Seaport located south of Ha-
vana.- And, of course, there were many who called the author's
attention, with great hilarity, to the fact that first, Guanabacoa is
not called Guanabajoa, second, that it is not a seaport, and third,
that it is not located south of Havana. "Outside of these insigni-
ficant trifles, the definition is wonderful,- Merchan concludes.
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As we have seen, however, it was only the common people who
were kept in cultural backwardness.
For the Cuban wealthy class found better means to educate
itself, now in centers of the greatest academic importance, such as
the University and Seminary of Saint Charles (in which Varela
taught), now in private schools "for whites only," such as "El
Salvador," directed by Luz y Caballero, "San Aanacleto" of Men-
dive, where Marti studied, and others.
This explains how, at the time when Humboldt arrived in
Havana, in the midst of circumstances already explained, there
were individuals like Dr. Romay, who brought vaccination to Cuba,
like Father Caballero, a wise lecturer in philosophy, like the poets
Zequeira and Rubalcava, like the economist Arango y Parreno,
who had the means to develop themselves, intellectually, within
their country or abroad.
These were also the times (as Sergio Aguirre has noted) when
the Cuban nationality began defining itself, due to the meeting in
the Cuban colonial population of the elements that Stalin believed
vital for the integration of a nation.
This is true to the extent that, together with these figures and
perhaps even above them, there was an outstanding man who would
herald the struggles for Cuban independence, the first man who
spoke seriously of separating the colony from the mother country.
and, above all, of the need to do it through a revolution. I am re-
ferring to Father Varela.
As a writer, as an intellectual, Varela devoted himself to the
independence of Cuba. During the first moments of his immersion
in the public If of the Colony, he felt attracted by Autonomy,
but only for a short time. He soon understood that the only way
out was a revolution, and the only goal absolute independence.'
Varela did not preach reform, much less annexation. He openly
demanded the total separation of the island from the distant penin-
sula to which it was bound, and as he himself said, he wanted it
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an island in politics as it is in nature." Who but this man of
sickly appearance and fragile build spoke so strongly in those days
to the current Spanish monarch, the hateful Fernando VII? Theie
? are his words: "Whether Fernando wants it or not, no matter what
his vassals in the Island of Cuba may think, revolution in that
country is inevitable. The difference will be only in the time and
the manner; I would like the matter to be considered from this point
of view."
Speaking about Spain as he would about the United States
were he alive now, Varela foretold the final collapse of its empire
due to the supidity of its colonial policy. "In wishing the revolution
to come before anticipated," he writes, "I am only trying to prevent
its evils. If left to time, it will be brought about by the Spanish
government itself, which, ignoring its own interests and feeding on
fictions bordering on the ridiculous, will not take any steps to pre-
serve what little it has left..."
Varela did not limit himself to pure intellectualism, although
it would have been easy for him to withdraw from the turmoil of
the political life of the country, under the protection of his position
in the Seminary of St. Charles, where he taught philosophy for ten
years. Rather, he mixed in politics; he was elected Deputy to the
Cortes (Spanish Legislature) and there raised his forceful voice on
behalf of his country. Adverse political events forced him to leavt
Madrid. At last he settled in the United States, never to return to
his native land.
But if he did not return in person, his ideas did. The newspa-
per "El Habanero" came. Six issues of the seven that he probably
published from 1824 to 1825 have reached our days. His was a ra-
ther erudite newspaper, very much of the times, and his pen pro-
duced the material that enriched the publication, articles on scien-
tific, political, and literary subjects ?above all, political, devoted to
the independence of Cuba.
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Emilio Roig de Leuchsenring, to whom our revolutionary Cuba
owes so much affection and tribute for his firm anti-imperialist stand,
has said of Varela that "he taught the intellectuals of his age and
of the ages to come that they should not isolate themselves irrespon-
sibly in an ivory tower, but that Precisely because they were intel-
lectuals they had to con4cem themselves to a higher degree with
national problems in order to enlighten and guide their peoples..."
In this sense, Varela anticipates and foreshadows Marti. And
Marti and Varela (the latter at the beginning of the century and
the former at the end) express the birth and continuity of Cuban
intellectual revolutionary unrest in response to foreign oppression.
This unrest is a thread that begins in the wise priest, passes through
Cespedes, continues through our Apostle, and reaches Fidel Castro,
who is waging a victorious war against imperialism, and in whose
thought and action revolutionary impetus ,?of a truly popular char-
racter. reaches the most far-reaching consequences, not the liberal
ones derived from the French Revolution, of a hundred years ago,
but those arising from the great October Revolution at the threshold
cif the twentieth century.
A, for Marti, it would not be correct to look in his works for
a Marxist concept of class struggle: he did not have it, nor could
he have it due to his ideological formation. But it is quite certain
that in his time and environment, without a conscious and developed
mass of workers, Marti was a progressive revolutionary, who tried
to solve problems whose mere definition gave proof of an extraordi-
nary political vision: distribution of the land in a feu-dal country;
racial equality a few years after the abolition of slavery; denounce-
ment of the reactionary clergy; predominance of the people in the
face of aristocratic influence; unmasking of United States imperia-
lism when it was but a shadow on the political horizon of the
Island; armed' revolution and national liberation,
Today imperialism is in? crisis Latin America is awakening and
Cuba is showing the way, not with a magisterial spirit, but as a
consequence of the historical role conferred- on her by virtue of na-
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tional circumstances. But it was Marti ?revived in Fidel Castro?
who pointed out the direction that Cuba should take. His are these
livords, written in 1886:
"From independence to the present, America has never been
faced by an issue that required more prudence, that compelled great-
er alertness, that demanded a clearer and more minute examination,
than this invitation by the United States. The United States, pow-
erful and determined to extend its sway over America, is asking
the less powerful American nations, tied to European countries by
free and profitable trade, to form a league against Europe and to
stop trading with the rest of the world. Spanish America freed itself
from the tyranny of Spain; and now, after weighing the background
of the invitation, it is urgent to say, because it is the truth, that the
time has come for Spanish America to declare its second indepen-
dence. And why go as allies in the flower of youth," he continues
later, "into the war the United States is preparing to wage with
the rest of the world? Why does it have to fight its battles with
Europe on the republics of America and test its colonizing system
on free nations?"
Nearly eighty years have gone by since an intellectual, a wri-
ter-poet-politician, uttered these words. Today Cuba is not a Spa-
nish colony ruled from Madrid, nor a United States protectorate
ruled from Washington. But it is waging its second war of inde-
pendence, foretold by our Apostle, against imperialism, also fore-
told by him. We are in this struggle, as intellectuals like Varela,
Cespedes, and Marti, were ?in the struggle against Spain in the
days of our first war of independence.
It seems evident, however, that the complex of economic-social
relations on which Cuban society prior to the Revolution was based
has undergone a profound change. The agrarian and urban reforms,
as well as the nationalization of our economy, are incontrovertible
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and accomplished facts. They will be followed by the industrializa-
tion of our country, which has already started, so that we may be
able to help ourselves to be not only free, but also independent.
Now then, all this, which favors the Cuban people as no other
people in America have ever been favored, is causing harm to some-
one, for there is no action with out a reaction. Whom? It is use-
less to delay the answer: it is damaging Yankee imperialism, which.
when the last stronghold of the Spanish colonial empire collapsed
in our continent, replaced that decadent power with its ever-grow-
ing military, economic, and political might; that is, as long as the
Socialist power had not yet arisen.
In another sense, that change to which we have referred also
affects the Cuban intellectual process, it affects the intellectuals in
their If and in their works. In a good or in a bad sense? It would
indeed be strange for the revolution to promote the betterment of
the people of Cuba and single out the intellectuals as the only
ones to be mistreated.
I believe that the change is extremely positive for the intellec-
tual worker. Before him is opening a world that is different from
the one in which he has lived until now, and not only different,
but vastly superior, for 65 work will cease to?be a source of profit
for the capitalist who in other systems lives, in the most subtle and
diverse fashions, off the intelligence of others.
I should add immediately that intellectals do not constitute
a social class; they have no independent, individual interests in a
system of production. Their activity is controlled by the interests
of the class they serve. Under capitalism these interests are those
of the exploiting class, which obtains intellectual work at a price
lower than its use value. But this is not all. It should be stated that
at times, without the intellectual being aware of it, or (as in the
more conscious cases) forced to thwart his innermost desires, he be-
comes the propagator of the ideology of capitalism, the very system
which enslaves him.
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Under Socialism the intellectual serves the people, and the
people serve him, respecting and exalting his human nature, secur-
ing him a livelihood and means of creation, surrounding him, in
short, with the affection of the masses, without impairing his perso-
nal freedom and creative genius.
Now, does this mean that capitalist culture should be swept
away and mechanically replaced by a full-blown socialist culture,
without considering the past? I am extremely sorry to differ from
those who have an affirmative answer to this question.
It is a grave error to deny the important part played by the
bourgeoisie in the birth and development of socialist culture. Am-
bitious as our forces may be, despite everything the Revolution may
be able to do ,?and it can do much.? it would be impossible to
endow Cuba with a proletarian culture, as if by prescription, with-
out taking into consideration the former culture in its most devel-
oped and progressive forms.
During the days subsequent to the October Revolution, Lenin
,topped those who, in a great hurry and with no knowledge of dialec-
tics, endeavored to build a socialist culture upon nothing. What
could be done with Pushkin's poetry, they would ask themselves,
or with Rafael's p8rtraits? The answer they gave themselves was
the following: they had to create an art and literature for the work-
ers, with no ties whatsoever with the old bourgeois forms. Mya-
kowsky ?whose literary career began under the influence of Italian
futurism,-1 headed the iconoclasts.
No culture is born spontaneously, said Lenin. Without bourge-
ois techniques, without the art and the science of the defeated class,
it is impos,-ible to create a culture that will serve the victorious
class. The Leninist theory is quite simple: to gather the culture ot
capitalism and build socialism with it. That is to say, a given class
cannot create its own culture if it does not take and assimilate what
mankind has produced until the birth of that class. "Proletarian
culture." Lenin also said, "does not arise from unknown sources,
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it does not issue from the ImUins of .those who call themselves spe-
cialists in proletarian .cillture1. It would be absurd to believe so.
Proletarian culture must evolve from the natural development el
knowledge won by mankind under the feudal and bourgeois vacs:.
This is the theory of cultural heritage.
For us Cubans, that heritage is composed of everything clone in
Cuba with regard to culture from "El Son de la Ma Teodora" and
"The Mirror of Patience" to the music of Roldan and Catuda, includ-
ing Marti and "El Cucalambe."
However, our richest, cultural period was undoubtedly in the
past century when, under the protection of productive leisure made
possible by slavery, the enlightened bourgeoisie was able to devokA
itself to its cutural inclinations. To parody a famous phrase of En -
gels, perhaps it could be stated that without African slavery, there
could not have been bourgeois culture during the lgtb century.
Now, we have the .right to ask ourselves if that bourgeoisie.
which appeared and reached its peak in the course of a century.
created its own culture, distinct to such a degree that we could speak
of it as we speak of the French or English culture, for instance.
At the end of the 18th .and beginning of the 19th centuries, we
can in fact point out some literary and scientific figures of a certain
importance. However,: just as at the mouth of rivers flowing, into the
sea, at that moment in Ciiban Culture there was an area of two cu-
rrents the incipient nationhood and the colony it opposed.
Let us take the case that can best illustrate Our ideas, that of
the poets Rubalcava and .ZeqUeira. Both Of them tried to express
their 'own accent, not from within, but from without. Some not
many,? of their less presumptuous and lengthy poems are expressive
of Cuban feelings in an 'objective and external Manner, pleasant reac-
tions to the gifts of Cuban nature such as the poems Zequeira dedi-
cated to the pineapple and these RubaIcava dedicated to tobacco and
Cuban fruits.
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However, although in both cases the subject is Cuban, the "ap-
proach" is not. Both poets belonged to Spanish neo-classicism and
were therefore permeated by the spirit of the 18th century and the
Spain of Phillip V. That was a century which, as has been stated,
was not the century of fantasy, but of thought, not of the poets, but
of the philosophers. The poetry of both (above all Zequeira) is inflex-
ible, pompous, grandiloquent, rhetorical; they inherited it from Quin-
tana and Gallego, both Moratines, without coming near the vigor
that these at times achieved.
Should we care ?to look for causes, it seems to us that this lack
of "Cubanisrn- in our culture was due, in the first place, to its ex-
treme youth, which made it open to the 'great dominating influen-
ces of the century, above all the French. But it is only natural that
th is should happen in Cuba, especially if, we happen to know that
a country with one of the greatest cultural traditions, Spain herself,
owes Italy more than one formal instrument that is today regarded
as her own, and was influenced by France in ways that she never
denied in that very neo-classic era.
The most important figures of Cuban culture drew on Spanish
sources and absorbed those influences from. them, not to say that
they were men of travel and studies and made fruitful trips through
many European countries.
We should also take into acount at this point the atmospher:_.'
of slavery blanketing the Island during most of the 19th century. It
was ,not until the beginning of the 20th century that a man like
Don Fernando Ortiz, breaking through the walls of prejudice and
suspicion, studied the Negro contribution to the formation of our
national culture, as another brilliant ethnologist, Profesor Nina Ro-
driguez, had done in Bahia. That would have been impossible under
slavery, for only a few. could then understand the role of the African
slave as a living element of Cuban society, an element as alive and
important as the''Spanish white:'
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? Among those who, even in the remote year. of 1836, understood
this quite well, was the Colombian, (although raised in Cuba) wri-
ter, Don Felix Tanco. In a letter sent that year to his friend Do-
mingo del Monte, he says the following: "And what is your opinion
of Bug-jargal? I wish that one of us had written that novel. Think
it over well. The Negroes of the Island of Cuba are our poetry, and
we must not think otherwise; and not only the Negroes, but the
Negroes and the whites all mixed together to create the portraits.
the scenes.., thus may our Victor Hugo be born, and let us know,
once and for all what we are, painted with the truth of poetry.
inasmuch as we know through figures and philosophical analysis
the sad wretchedness in which we live..."
A5 you know, when Columbus arrived in Cuba and trod on
Cuban soil, he founds an aboriginal population. The aborigines
rapidly disappeared upon contact with the Spaniard: their small
numbers, their cultural backwardness (Cuban Indians lived in the
Stone Age), their work in the gold mines and sluices, in addition
to collective suicide and mass murder, wiped them out. Negroes
were sent in their place. When? At the beginning of the conquest
of Cuba, according to Saco, between 1512 and 1514, from the near-
by Island of Haiti, where they were taken in great numbers, as to
no other place in the continent up to that time. In 1517, at the re-
quest of Father de las Casas, the Crown sent considerable shiploads
of Negroes to the West Indies. From that date until 1880, when
slavery in Cuba was abolished (at least formally), one million
darkskinned men and women were brought across the Atlantic to
our coasts.
The contact of Negroes and whites (masters and slaves) was
not unproductive. By living together for more than three centuries.
they influenced each other reciprocally in a vast process of cultural
exchange. We therefore wound up with a profound racial crossing,
not always noticeable in the skin but nevertheless coloring our spirit.
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Following that course, that of fruitful contact between what
came from Spain and what was forced to come from Africa, we
could have found then and can find now a national expression of
culture wherever the mixture is shaped with careful and artistic
hands.
Culture in Cuba during the 19th century (and I would also
include the century before, although it is even more Spanish) should
be collated? studied, weighed, and criticized by us, the writers and
artists Nvho are now building a culture that corresponds to our re-
volutionary reality and our historic development. There should be
no problem of continuity between the latter and the former. The
former is our cultural heritage, created by a cultured class, economi-
cally wealthy, generally of liberal ideas, which produced great fig-
ures, outstanding for their knowledge and character. A socialist re-
volution such as ours cannot afford to neglect to study and examine
them.
As to the rest, this revolution is a hotbed of subjects, of creative
possibilities for Cuban writers and artists. But if we wish those pos-
sibilities to become action and that hotbed a forest of luxuriant
trees laden with fruit, it is vital that we keep in permanent contact
with the people. To our mind, such contact should not be limited
to a purely intellectual proximity, which at times consists only of
passing curiosity. It should also exhibit the characteristics of a true,
physical, side-by-side existence. It is not enough, for example, to
think about the countryside or to acquire a considerable amount of
information' about the countryside: the living countryside is at our
disposal, a fertile soil in which to seek and find true inspiration.
To paint from first-hand, to describe. what a People's Farm or a
cooperative is while living there, to go to villages lost in the heart
of the mountains, or to the depths of the forests, to live on the
farms, to touch with our hands the sweating skin of miners, to
travel about the Island we own, kissing her like a newly-won wo-
man ?,everything, in short, which constitutes life in these dramatic
days, and which belongs to our struggle for liberty, must be expe-
rienced by us and expressed in print, stone, music, color.
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Sometimes 1 ask myself whether we ?all of us. he Cuban
writers ana a. are tholoughly aware el the enormous impor-
tance of he dynes in which it has been our lot to live, of the great-
ness of these times. These are new times for Cuba and they are
new times for the entire continent. This is the story of a small na-
tion, apparently helpless, certified as dead, or at least dying, by
Many illustrious doctors, the story of a people enslaved by a brutal
and insatiable enemy, who pounce upon that enemy and defeat him.
and then turn against the accomplices of that enemy, who have be-
trayed their country, their family, their blood and their bones, and
defeat them too, a people \vim not only accomplish this, which, in-
deed, is quite a lot, but then begin to build their own house in ill,:
land of their ancestors, to live there in peace and freedom.
'Doesn't this story deserve to be told? What nation in our Ame-
rica has been offered so much greatness by destiny? Doesn't that
task?,the task of relating historical events that seem more like mar-
velous tales?, doesn't that tash deserve to figure in the center of
our life? We believe it does. But at the same time, how cap we
relate this 'story? It seems to Its that the time has come to speak of
our pro!'ession and the clu:ies that it imposes upon us when we wish
to practice it (and lye should alv..;:ys desire this) with unv'averim.,
dignity.
In our opinion, the revolutionary content of a literary work does
not insure its beauty or even its efficiency as a message for the
people. At the same time, directing a work to the people does not
insure its beauty, if the author has placed into that characteristic a
confidence that should have been derived in part from adequate
technique. that is, from the necesary knowledge to express beauty.
Lope de Vega's lines seem criminal:
'The people are foolish, but they pay,
--so. measure for measure,
We'll rave Wein fooli,,,Imess to give them
pleasure.-
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In the first place, the people are not foolish. If they were, Lope
himself would not have looked for his inspiration in popular sour-
ces; in the second place, how can the author of "Fuenteovejuna
treat himself so disrespectfully, without his condition as an artist,
and even his condition as a human being, becoming unworthy in
our eyes? Fortunately, the great work of this genius saves him from
such a downfall, work that will inspire 'Spanish letters forever, and
which owes its present importance to the popular spirit that per-
meates it.
Lenin, in Is days, criticized those ideas by saying that the
workers' taste is similar to that of the intellectuals, but that some
of the latter, the bad ones, thought that the workers should be given
only what is old and trite. Engels said,? expressing his opinion on
a literary NVOriii (in 11;5 well known letter to Miss Hatknes, 1888) :
-I am far from censuring you for not having written a socialist novel,
a tendentious novel, as we Germans say, in which the political ani
social ideas of the author are glorified. This is not what I think.
The more the political opinions of the author are kept hidden, the
better it will he for the work of art..."
Engels also said:
"I am not in any way opposed to tendentious poetry as such.
The father of tragedy, Aeschylus, and the father of comedy, Aris-
tophanes; were obviously tendentious poets, as were Dante and Cer-
vantes, and the best thing about The Intrigue. of Love' by Schiller
is that it is the first tendentious German political novel. The mo-
dern Russians and Norwegians, who have given us excellent novels,
are all tendentious writers. But I believe that tendentiousness should
originate in action and circumstances, without its being explicitly
formulated, and the writer is by no means forced to give the reader
the future historical solution of the social conflicts that he des-
cribes..."
Chu-yang, speaking on the same subject, has said the follow-
ing: "We should not, however, interpret the subordination of li-
terature to politics in the narow sense that writers must deal with
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each political directive, possibly having only a temporary meaning
or only limited aspects, or write simply about each directive. To
proceed in this way would be a mistake and would harm creative
activities, for such creations cannot be welcomed by the people, who
someday may say: "We prefer to read newspaper editorials."
Let us say, in addition, that this sort of extremism is present
not only in literature, but in the plastic arts. It is seen in those
aggressive paintings and sculptures in which men with unpleasant
faces appear with their fists raised, their lips tightly drawn, their
eyes fiery, presumably due to their anger, even when the eyes are
made of stone.
No, it is not true that the people must be given "foolishness to
give them pleasure.- We must give the people the best of our spirit,
our technique, our intelligence, of our work, in short, for they under-
stand and know what we are giving them, and they are grateful
for it.
It is not my desire for my words to be taken as spoken ex cathe-
dra. There is nothing further from my thoughts or my possibilitities.
On the contrary, they have been born of timidity, or to express my-
self more accurately, of fear, for I believe that we are all running
that risk, we have all committed those errors, and the important
thing is to be forewarned, not to yield to the temptation of the easy
way out, where many true creators have been hopelessly lost.
Once we have reached this point, someone will surely ask
whether the only possibility for writers and artists in this Revolution
is to commit themselves to it. Isn't there room for pure art? Isn't there
any room for free creativity? Of course there is. Fidel Castro, in his
?Words to the Intellectuals," said' "...the Revolution defends free-
dom: the Revolution has brought a great deal of freedom, a'nd if
someone is concerned with the possibility that the Revolution will
stifle the creative spirit, that concern is ill-founded and has no justi-
fication whatsoever..." But Fidel also said that "...the state of mind
of all revolutionary artists and writers, or of the artists and writers
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who understand and find the revolution justifiable, must be: what
dangers threaten- the Revilution, and what can we do to help the
Revolution?"
I believe the answer is simple: to give, not only the spirit, but
the flesh ,?body ncl soul, like lovers. Yes, we want and desire free-
dom. It is an essential possession. Man has always struggled for it
and always will. But it is not an absolute possession, for nothing
absolute exists. Why is it that freedom is demanded? To attack
the Revolution? We say: No! Freedom to justify poverty, glorify
human (or inhuman) exploitation and praise imperialism? We
again say: No! Freedom for reactionaries and fascists to conspire
against our people and accumulate millions of pesos with which to
pay mercenary invaders and devaluate national currency? Freedom
for that? Well, we Cuban artists and writers again shout: No! We
do not want freedom to he used by our own executioners, to turn
us once more into slaves.
At a meeting of Cuban intellectuals a short time ago, I heard
a fellow writer demand very seriously the freedom to write love
poems, here, in Cuba. I was surprised, because I was not aware that
any such prohibition existed. In the Soviet Union, in China, in the
people's democracies, the poets write love poems and madrigals to
the moon, flowers, and pretty women, or those who seem pretty to
them, to the poets. The newspapers and magazines of those countries
welcome such poems, if their literary quality deserves it. Can any-
body oppose this?
However, the story goes that during the last war a Soviet poet
sent Stalin a boolc of Love poems, which he had written during those
dramatic days, a book of intimate, egotistic, recondite passion, and
unbridled delivery. Artillery thundered on all fronts: the Nazis
tightened their ring of blood and fire on Stalingrad; thousands upon
thousands of men and women fell to rise no more. They asked
Stalin what he thought of the work, and he answered: "Very inter-
esting, and even very good. But only two books should have been
printed: one for her and another one for him."
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Comrades:
We have met in glorious and difficult days. The Cuban Rev-
olution is consolidating its achievements and marching forward in
pursuit of new victories. The world has fixed its eyes upon this dot
in the Caribbean, hardly noticeable on the map, but dramatically
inserted into American history, into world history.
Our Revolution is a shining example of the fact that our ene-
mies are. not invincible .as they were considered by the submissive.
shameless politicians of the past. but also that, stricken in the
heart, they are still strong enough to attack us in their wrath.
As Fidel has said, the Cuban Revolution still has many battLs
to fight. But now we are aided in those battles against a dying
world by the new world, the world of true democracy, the socialist
world, the world of peace.
In three years of headlong revolutionary development, Cuba can
admire what the people have done, and can confidently undertake
the tasks that lie ahead. One of the hardest battles, but also one of
the finest, will be the one that we, the Cuban writers and. artist,.,
are going to win, starting from today, by creating a socialist, human-
ist culture that will give the ordinary, man of the street everything
that was denied him by the Colony in the 19th century and mo-
nopolized by an exclusive sector of the ruling class of that society.
We will create a culture that will give us a. distinctive character
and spirit, that will teach us to find in the roots deeply buried in
our land the vigor and tenderness of the branches that rise high int.)
the clouds, that will remake our national image, broken by the im-
pact of a blind force, the imperialist force, based on hatred among
men. We will create a culture, in short, that will liberate and exalt
us and distribute both bread and roses without shame or fear.
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"WE WILL CREATE
'A CULTURE THAT
WILL LIBERATE
AND EXALT US"
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? `,
?
THESE ARE THE YOUNGSTERS WHO :TAUGHT
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF CUBANS TO READ
AND WRITE
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Scholarship students who
will soon be teaching the
. dramatic aits on People's
? 'Farms and Coofieratives.
A school for future art
instructors.
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speech by
president
atticoi
DR. OSVALDO DORTICoS
TORRADO
President of the Republic.
Member of the National Com-
mittee of ORI (Integrated Rev-
olutionary Organizations). "
Chairmen of the Congress of Writers and Artists;
Fellow Ministers; ? ?
Honored Members of the Diplomatic Corps:
Honored Guests from Abroad;
Cuban Writers and Mists':
I bring the enthusiastia: and cordial ireetingS of the Revolutip-
nary Government of Cuba to thiS opening session, to this Congress.
and to wthe, Cuban artiSts and writeiS, who are participating with a
high s'prisb.tif,ditty in this meeting with all the significance it entails
kr fidu're .development l of Cuban culture and for the en gagemen t
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of the men of arts and letters meeting here 'today in the revolutionary
process of our country. And they are meeting under the best of aus-
pices, the deeply-felt memory of Federico Garcia Lorca.
This memory colors in advance all the work of this illustrious
meeting, defines the direction of this assembly, and determines its
fruitful course. ?
Only a few minutes ago. Nicolfts GUillen reminded us of the
significance of the death of Garcia Lorca. "He was seen," says
Machado's poem, "walking among rifles." But it is good for us to
remember that those were the rifles of international reaction and
fascism, the rifles that murder peoples and the culture of mankind
itself, the .rifles against which rise up not only combative, militant
men, fighters, militiamen, but also the genuine intellectuals in all
parts of the world.
The death of Garcia Lorca, and the undying memory of his
death, inspires this Congress, and is in itself a mandate for this
Congress.
Garcia Lorca has died, but he lives in our memory, he lives
in the memory of the people, for the cause of the peoples, and cul-
ture, did not die with Garcia Lorca.
Garcia Lorca has died, but his lyric, human message lives on!
And the call of that message, reiterated and permanent, has on more
than one occasion alerted the conscience of writers and artists in
Spain, in America, and in all the nations of the globe. It is under
these auspices that you are beginning the tasks of this Congress.
And the first thing that occurs to me to ask is whether this
has been a timely meeting. A' Revolution that succeeds in produc-
ing fundamental changes in 'the economic structure of a country,
inmechately, and in a very direct manner, also produces fundamental
changes in the political and legal superstructure of the nation.
It would be fitting, therefore, to ask ourselves immediately, in
order to answer the first question, whether the Cuban Revolution
has yet generated a. literature and an art of 4s own, or whether, on
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the contrary, we are still in the first moments of awareness, of de-
fining future attitudes. We can answer immediately that the Cuban
Revolution has not yet been able to generate a literature and an
art that can be called the products of this Revolution.
However, that does not prevent us from answering the first
question affirmatively. I believe that this meeting has been timely
and not premature. This meeting of writers and artists is clearly not
the opportunity to examine the experiences of the emerging cultural
life of the triumphant Revolution; it is not, because literature and
art, as we stated a few moments ago, have not yet received the
impact of the revolutionary process of Cuba in all its profUndity.
This is a meeting that has other objectives, objectives which are no
Tess important, no less honorable, and no less demanding.
This meeting is a magnificent opportunity for the writers and
artists of Cuba, in response to the Revolution and to all it demands
from men of arts and letters, to adopt positions, define future atti-
tudes, and outline the individual tasks of each and the collective tasks
of all; it is the opportunity for the writers and artists, before their
people, with their people as the supreme judge, to define their duties
towards the historic time in which they happen to live.
The Revolution demands effort from all the men of the people.
but it demands effort from each according to 65 occupation. There
are duties common to all, but there are also specific responsibilities.
And neither the former nor the latter can be evaded with honesty!
The artists and writers of today have duties as men of the
people, but they also have duties as men of their profession. And it
is on these duties and responsibilities that we intend to speak tonight.
Sooner or later, a revolution completely transforms the cultural
life of a country. It does so with the thoroughness typical of all
changes in a revolutionary society. Does this mean, perhaps, that a
revolution creates an entirely new culture? Certainly not. A revolu-
tion, committed to transforming the cultural life of a: country, must
begin by purifying and evaluating in a historical sense every bit
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of the nation's cultural heritage. A revolution that fights the worst
cultural traditions of a country should, above all, keep and safeguard
those cultural traditions which are sound, although this may seem
a paradox to some.
We are, therefore, extremely pleased to find that one of the topics
on the agenda of this Congress, one which is apt to move us, is
precisely this one, because in approaching the fundamental subjects
to be discussed we should at least try not to classify as a controver-
sial matter what we have just mentioned. How are we to do it?
What is the best method? All of this should be discussed.
But we believe it should be our common conviction that in
order to foster a genuine revolutionary culture and a rich literary
and artistic life in our country, it is necessary first of all to safegurard
our best traditions. By seeing to it, with fine revolutionary zeal, that
everyone is judged with due regard to his time in history, we should
strive to save for this and for future generations the splendid achieve-
ments of men of genius who, unfortunately, could not share with
us this brilliant period of our history, but who in their time did the
right thing as men, as Cubans and as intellectuals. After all, thc
Revolution itself is a direct historical consequence of our past.
For this reason we should ask ourselves whether it is a betrayal
of those who yesterday paved the path we are now following, not
even to remember those who, for example, shaped the beginnings
of our nationality?
Our culture will certainly find its own way contact with
every expression of world culture, and availing yourselves of its tra-
ditions, its works and achievements, you will reconquer our cultural
past and give it a new strength.
That is your task, and it must be done with extreme care, be-
cause it is unavoidable for a revolutionary process at times to gene-
rate apparently radical attitudes which do not actually correspond
to the genuine revolutionary mind.
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?
It is also important to discuss ways and means of furthering
what has already been started in our country with exemplary en-
thusiasm: the rediscovery, purification and fostering of our folk
wealth. This is extremely important, as it is one of the ways to enrich
our literary and artistic life, and to give it a popular flavor. Thus,
drawing from the sources of our cultural past, from the inexhautible
well of our people's creativeness and genius, Cuban writers and
artists May undertake a highly significant and fruitful work
But all that is to be done will fail in its usefulness to the Revo;
lution and to the people's interests, if writers and artists do not
clearly adopt an attitude of unrestricted, direct and deeply affectionate
union with the people.
Our job is not to discuss the best technical and formal ways
to achieve that deep, enduring communication with the people: that
is something for each of, you to deal with, and we sincerely believe
that; in this connection, all shades are fair, the important thing
being that. the essential remains. But there is something we believe
it our duty to stress: in going about your work with this duty in
mind, the literary and artistic quality of every work must be care-
fully and scrupulously assessed.
Artists and writers must go the people ?pot descending, but
ascending to them. The people are to be honored, and to do so as
professionals you must go to them with the highest literary and ar-
tistic excellence. In the people is to be found the source of future
works, the daily inspiration and the supreme inspiration. And to the
, -
people. the literary or artistic products must finally return?a 'return
of the treasures which the people give to their artists every day.
But it is also important to remember that communication with
the people, while demanding the highest degree of literary and art-
istic dignity, also requires the will to put an end to intellectual aloof-
ness. We know perfectly well how our past cultural life?,a frus-
trated republic's intellectual miSery, an intelligentsia harassed by
everyday imperialist influence?pushed many of our best writers and
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artists towards forms of evasion and aloofness. Some of them are now
on the side of Revolution, but notwithstanding what has been said
here, the Revolution should not ignore the others.
What we have stated does not mean, then, that we must
thunder against abstract art, but that we should try to prevent ab-
stract trends from dominating future literature and art. This does
not mean, however, that abstract artists should not share in the great
task now underway.
The effort is for the future, and everyone must do his or her
share. There is more than one way of bringing about this commun-
ication of writers and artists with the people, But, whatever the
forms, whatever the schools to be followed, whatever the techniques
and traditions, the important question to be asked is: for whom does
the artist create? Nevertheless, those who until now have been unable
to create for the people should not fail us at this time.
We should all remember the anguished words uttered by An-
tonio Machado,--If I could only write for the peopler?and remem-
ber, too, that to write for the people is not to step down the ladder
of the artistic hierarchy. Machado also said that to write for the
people was to do like Cervantes in Spain, or Shakespeare in
ng-
land, or Tolstoy in Russia. These immortals of art and literature
were men who, unconsciously at times, and at other times with full
knowledge, wrote for the people.
In a country in Revolution, writers have the privilege of writing
consciously for the people. In our case writers have also the excep-
tional privilege of writing in a country where there will be no
literates in the near future. That will be a great opportunity fot
every Cuban artist and writer!
'Works of art and books will be available for the penetrating
curiosity, intuitive at times, later cultivated, of a whole people!
What greater glory and reward for you Cuban writers than
to know that if your work shows literary quality and national subs-
tance, you will be read not only by an intellectual minority, but by
the large majority!
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If, soon, your public will be the entire Cuban people, how can
any writer or artist ignore the people? As we said before, the Rev-
olution demands exertion from all, and we know that our writers
and artists will give their all, at all times, under any circumstances.
It is the only honorable way to be an artist or a writer!
Intellectual honesty, in our time, includes the merely literary or
artistic. One is intellectually honest?and there is no place here for
fanciful differentiation&?to the extent that one is honest as a human
being.
Your work is not to be done without the concern and help of
the Cuban Revolutionary Government. First of all, we must state
that, while you have your duties towards the Revolution and the
people, the Revolutionary Government knows what its duties are
towards all of you.
It must, first of all, formulate a cultural policy. We cannot
escape this duty, it is something we must do.
And when we announce the Revolutionary Government's deci-
sion to formulate and implement a cultural policy, let no one be sur-
prised or frightened. Let me make it clear that the Revolutionary
Government, in formulating its cultural policy, will not in the least
restrain or impair the practice of freedom of form in literature or
the arts; that, when speaking about formulating a cultural policy
we do so realizing that it is a governmental function which must
be developed, not away from you, but with you yourselves as pro-
tagonists, collaborators and executors of that policy.
Speaking in the name of the Revolutionary Government, I mighi
now review what has been done for cultural development. But I wish
to state in all humility that what has been done.?the work of the
Department of Culture, the national Cultural Council, the Film
Institute, the exhibitions, contests, dance schools, schools of music
and theatre,?aIl this is hut an illustration of what is to come.
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Something of extraordinary importance is being carried out,
not by the Revolutionary Government, but by the. entire people, some-
thing which is not only a contribution to the purely educational
effort, but the highest, the most admirable contribution to culture,
namely the gigantic drive against illiteracy. But I must stress thai.
there is a lot for us to do in the future. In the first years of a Socia-
list Revolution, most of the attention is absorbed by emergencies and
the fundamental priorities of the work of a Revolutionary Govern-
ment.
Evidently, it wold be a luxury to discuss literature and art, had
we not first discussed production in our country; indeed, the mate-
rial and human resources of the people's revolutionary strength had
first of all to be .applied 'to the needs connected with the economic
changes and the, construction of socialism. But if there is something
the Cuban RevoAution may boast about, thanks to historical cir-
cumstances, it is that this Revolution has enjoyed the possibility and
the exceptional privilege of being able to turn its attention, from, the
very beginnings, not only to a Land Reform giving land to the
peasants, the -nationalization of industries, the creation of the material
foundation of our future society, but also to other tasks, just as vita!
and important, but which, in other revolutions, had to be postponed.
That is why we can hold this Congress today. It is a timely
event and it. shows that our Revolution is unusually privileged in
the sense that. other peoples had to pay a higher toll to carry out
their revolutions.
This privilege entails a high responsibility on your part. After
all, gentlemen, it is, a duty in which you may find personal happiness
and -joy, for in 'doing .it you are affirming your vocation, you are
shaping your personal destinies, you are finding an answer to your
highest aspirations as Writers and artists.
Once this assembly is over, what is ahead of you? To say it
briefly: the people.
. ? To .the people, then, you must go ?with your .best literary and
artistic. weapons. :But before. the tremendous task that hes ahead of
you, we feel that artistic and literary quality and the desire to corn-
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inuniCate with the people are not enough. .13eep understanding is
required. It is not enough to speak the same language. To- actually
understand his people, a man has to be aware of the whole social and
economic process under way in his country. May I ask, then, with
due respect, that all Cuban writers and artists d0. their best to im-
prove as much as possible their cultural and artistic standards.
It is not enough to possess literary erudition and high artistic
quality to achieve complete communication with the people. In Order
to better serve the people and the Revolution, many who are not
intellectuals or writers, many who did not even- go to high school.
now earnestly strive to acquire broad and deep comprehension of
the revolutionary process, and to attain the highest political learning.
That is why wedisapprove of certain tendencies that often appear in
artistic and
literary circles where political culture is scorned.
Our writers and artists, if .they wish to be considered men and
women of culture, ? should not confine themselves to, the creation of
novels or Poems, paintings or sculptures. They must attain political
culture too, which is to say, they-mnst achieve understanding of our
socio-economic process.
Neither art nor literature can thrive or be fruitful if divorced
from their time and society. They are products of society and I won-.
der how anyone can conceive of high literary or artistic quality, not
only in form but in essence, if writers and artists do not understand
the society in Which .they live.
8o far we have only dealt with your duties, but I- do not wish
to finish without stating that we, who in the name of the people
today demand that you comply with those duties, are also jubilantly
certain that you will succeed.
Let us work together. comrade writers and artists, let us work
together, you and we of the Revolutionary Government, in the midst
of
our people, for the Revolution, for our country and for _culture!
Thank you.
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EMP. CONS. DE ARTES GRAFICAS
(MIN. DE INDLISTRIAB3
e4
UI DAD 1217
FOMENT? 114, LUYAND. 1-IABANA
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..;,,
w7,
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STAT
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,
4
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TOE FAR AIRPORT
IS BOMBED
AND IlAYANA
WOKE UP
UNDER THE
IMPERIALIST
Alit ATTACK
EDITORIAL EN MARCHA
APARTADO POSTAL 63B6.
LA HABANA, CUBA.
1 9 6 2
AFD DE LA PLAN IFICACION
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SPEECH DELIVERED BY DOCTOR FIDEL CASTRO AT
THE FUNERAL OF THE VICTIMS OF THE IMPERIALIST
AIR RAID OF APRIL 15, 1961.
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Comrades of the Rebel Army and of the National Militia;
Cubans all:
For the second time we assemble in this place. The first
time we did so on the occasion of the act of sabotage that
took away the lives of nearly one hundred workers and soldiers.
? On that occasion, the crime that had been committed against
our people, had to be explained through a series of inferences;
on that occasion, it wa's necessary to prove that such a sabotage
could not have been prepared in our territory, that is, it could
not have been prepared in our territory because of the careful
watchfulness over the unloading of that vessel. It was impossible
to presume that the cause had been accidental, since the kind
of military supplies that were being unloaded could not explode
by mere dropping.
It was necessary to review the historical antecedents that
pointed to those who were guilty of that criminal action; it was
necessary to recall all the interest that the United States Gov-
ernment had shown, and all the steps it had taken to prevent
those arms which you were raising a while ago from reaching
our hands.
Since the start of the Revolutionary Government, the first
effort made by the foes of the Revolution was to prevent our
people from arming itself. The first steps taken by our enemies
tended to keep our people unarmed, but when the political pres-
sures that had been exerted to prevent us from acquiring those
arms failed, and when the first steps of diplomatic nature also
failed, they resorted to sabotage, they resorted to the use of
violent procedures in order to prevent those arms from reaching
our hands, in order to make it difficult for us to acquire those
arms and, finally, they asked the bovernment that was sup-
plying those arms, to stop selling them to our country.
That clawing blow took a heavy toll of lives among our
workers and soldiers and when, at the time, we asserted that
we were entitled to believe that those who where interested in
preventing us from getting those arms, were the ones who
,-- 7 ?
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were guilty of that sabotage, you must remember how the Gov-
ernment of the United States protested, how the Government
?
of the United States affirmed that it was an unfair imputation,
and how they asserted, int he face of the whole world, that they
had no connection-whatsoever with the blowing up of the steamer
"La Coubre".
However, all of us, the whole of our people, were deeply
convinced that those who stood behind the preparation of that
barbarous and criminal action, were the secret agents of the
United States Government.
However, things . were only starting; nonetheless, many
people in this country and even abroad; could hardly believe
that the United States Government would go so far; it was
hard to believe that the leaders of a country could be capable
of resorting to such means. Possibly some people were apt to
think that the Revolutionary Government showed. an excessive
distrust, that the Cubans were far too suspicious and distrust-
ful.,
It was then still possible for some people to be skeptical
with regard to those assertions; for we had not yet acquired the
harsh experience we have gathered during those two and a half
years; we still did not know our enemies well enough; we still
did not know their ways; we still knew nothing about the Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency of the United States Government; there
had not yet arisen an opportunity for us to get acquainted, day
after day, with their criminal actions against our people and
against our Revolution.
There was more to it than just an isolated fact; our country
had already endured a series of aggressions, it had already en-
dured a series of incursions by pirate planes, which one day
would drop printed sheets, another day would burn our cane
fields, and still another day would try to drop a bomb on one
of our sugar mills.
It was on that occasion, when precisely because of the
explosion of the bomb meant to be dropped, the pirate plane
blew up and fell in shattered pieces on our soil; it was only then
that the United States Government could not deny, as it had been
doing throughout, that those planes had been taking off from
its coast. The United States Government, faced with the dead
bodies of those pilots, with the intact documents that were
seized, and with the identification numbers of the airplane that
had fallen on our soil, could not deny the -facts, and then decided
to apologize and to give us an explanation.
? 8 --
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? Of course, it was difficult for everybody to understand
how a single airplane or several airplanes could enter and leave
the territory Of the United States, without being observed by
the authorities of that country, without being recorded on the
modern equipment that is available, over there, for the detec-
tion of airplanes. But on that occasion, they apologized and
gave us explanations.
Nonetheless, the flights did not stop. During a very long
time, the air incursions continued and, on one occasion, caused
very heavy casbalties in our country: However, none of those
actions could be characterized as a military attack; those incur-
sions were but mere acts of harassment by pirate planes which
one day burned our cane fields, another day tried to drop grenades
or printed sheets and, in short, victimized our country by cons-
tant harassment, thus intending to cause economic damage. but
in a way that could never be taken for a military attack.
The blowing up of -La Coubre- had been an act of sabot-
age prepared by the Yankee Central Intelligence Agency. The
attacks by pirate planes were sporadic. Never had an opera-
tion been carried out with all the characteristics of a well defin-
ed military operation.
Recently, a few weeks ago, a pirate seacraft entered the
harbor of Santiago de Cuba, fired on the there located oil
refinery and, at the same time, caused casualties among the
soldiers and sailors who were stationed at the bay's entrance.
Everybody knew that an operation of this sort, with craft
of that nature, could not have been carried out but with vessels
made available by the Americans and supplied by them at some
place in the Caribbean area.
That event placed our country in a special situation; it
compelled us to live ,in the middle of the twentieth century, in
a way similar to that in with the towns and villages of this
continent had to live during the sixteenth and seventeenth cen-
turies, as the cities and towns were forced to live during the
era of pirates and buccaneers; it placed our country in a special
situation under which our factories, our citizens, our towns,
had to live exposed to planes intent on burning our cane fields,
to planes trying to bomb our sugar factories, to planes making
victims among our population or to vessels entering our harbors
to shell targets impudently; something that had never happened,
something that never happened on this continent in the coarse
of this century.
?9?
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This continent did happen to be acquainted with
naval guns; this continent did have experience about shelled ci-
ties, and this continent did happen to be familiar with the land-
ing of foreign troops. It knew about it in Mexico, and it knew
about it in Santo Domingo, and it knew about it in Cuba, for
all these peoples were acquainted with the U. S. Navy and with
its guns and all these peoples were afforded the opportunity to
know what the interventions of the U. S. Marines meant. ?
But what no people of this continent ever had opportunity
to get acquainted with, was this sort of harassment by air and
by sea, this sort of buccaneer operation by air and by sea; what no
people on this continent ever had an opportunity to get ac-
quainted with, ?a continent that had witnessed interventions, a
continent that had seen mercenary armies, organized by the Unit-
ed States? was this systematic action of the secret services of
the United States Goverment, this systematic action of sabotage
and destruction, originating in a powerful organization that
has at its disposal all the economic resources and the most
modern means for sabotage and destruction; what no people of
this continent ever had to face, was the struggle against the
Central Intelligence Agency of the United States Government,
- which persists, at any price, in compliance with instructions from
its Government, in the obstruction of the pacific and brave pro-
gress of a nation, in systematically destroying the fruit that
people reap from their labor, in systematically destroying the
economic resources, the commercial establishments, the industry,
and what is worse: the precious lives of the workers, of the
peasants and all the honest and hard working citizens of this
country.
No people of America had ever been familiar with that sort of
struggle, nor with incursions by pirate planes, or incursions by
pirate seacraft, or international sabotage organized by a power-
ful organization that has at its disposal, as I said, overwhelming
economic resources and the required technicians.
Our country was perhaps the only country in the world
whose towns and cities were subject to harassment by pirate
airplanes, and whose harbors were being attacked by pirate
vessels. As far as we know, there has never been, nor is there
at present, on sigle instance of a country, not at war with any
other country, not involved in a civil war, which has to put to
with this sort of attack by pirate planes and seacraft, and, besi-
des, the systematic campaign of destruction against Cuban
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wealth and Cuban lives being carried out by that secret body
of the United States Government.
But, notwithstanding all this, none of the previous actions
had resembled the aggression of typically military charcter that
took place yesterday. This time it was not the flight of a pirate
plane, it was not the incursion of a pirate vessel; it was nothing
less than a simultaneous attack against three different cities of
our country at the same hour, in the early morning; it was an
operation carried out according to all the rules that govern mil-
itary operations. Three simultaneous attacks at dawn, at the
same hour, on the city of Havana, on San Antonio de los Banos
and on Santiago de Cuba, on three widely separated spots, one
of which is especially distant from the other two, carried out by
B-26 bombers, by dropping bombs of high destructive power,
dropping rockets and machine-gunning three different spots of
the Cuban territory. It certainly was an operation that had all.
the characteristics of a military operation performed according
to the rules.
It was, furthermore, an attack by surprise; it was an attack
similar to the sort of attacks with which the vandalic nazi and
fascist governments used to assault other nations. The fascist
governments used to assault other nations. The fascist govern-
ments of Europe simply ignored such a thing as a formal de-
claration of war. The armed assaults perpetrated by Hitler's
hordes against the peoples of Europe were always of this type:
attacks without warning, attacks without declaration of war,
sly attacks, treacherous attacks, attacks by surprise. And thus
were invaded by surprise: Poland, Belgium, Norway, France,
Holland, Denmark, Yugoslavia and other European countries.
And when in the midst of that war, the imperialist
government of Japan was ready to join the aggressors, there
was no declaration of war and there was no warning. On a
Sunday, if I remember well, on the 7th of December of 1941,
at dawn, the Japanese naval and air forces attacked the naval
base of Pearl Harbor by surprise and almost entirely destroyed
the ships and airplanes of the U. S. Navy in the Pacific.
Everybody remembers that date, everybody remembers the wave
of indignation aroused among the people of the United States,
everybody remembers the irritation generated in that country
and the indignation created in the rest of the world by that attack
perpetrated in a sly and unexpected way. The people of the
United States mobilized to repel the aggression and the people
of the United States di not want to forget the treacherous and
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cowardly way in which their ships and airplanes were attacked
at dawn, in the month of December 1941.
That event became a symbol of treason, that event has been
recorded in the history of the United States as an event that
stood for felony, meanness and cowardice. Pearl Harbor
reminds the United States of treason; Pearl Harbor reminds
the people of the United States of meanness, cowardice and
felony; Pearl Harbor was an event that has been anathematized
by the history and the public opinion of the United States as
a despicable act, as a treacherous act and as a cowardly act.
Yesterday... and hereby we don't want to establish any
comparison, because when the Japanese were fighting the
Americans, there was a conflict between two capitalist countries,
there was a conflict between two exploiting governments, there
was a conflict between two governments that were competing,
a conflict between two colonialist governments, there was a
'conflict between two governments that were competing for the
control of the markets, raw material and economies of a consider-
able part of the world.
Thus the conflict was between two governments, though
American imperialism was not, at the time, as aggressive as
Japanese imperialism, because it was not an imperialism with
the warlike characteristics of the Japanese imperialism; though,
at the time, there were imperialist powers fighting each other,
American imperialism was the least warlike and aggressive,
by world standards, among those imperialisms. But as far as
Latin America is concerned, it had always been an aggressive
and warlike imperialism, the kind of warmongering imperialism
of big powers against weak countries, the sort of cowardly
warfaring of a big and powerful nation against small and
unarmed nations. But by world standards, American imperialism
was less aggressive and less warlike than German imperialism,
than Italian imperialism, than Japanese imperialism. In our case,
it is not a question of a struggle between two exploiting forces
and it is not a matter of conflict between two imperialisms.
The attack on Pearl Harbor is condemnable because of the
manner in which it was conducted: by surprise and in violation
of the most elementary rules and traditions of relations between
nations. However, in this case in which we are involved, there
is a conflict ,between an imperialistic government and a
revolutionary government, there is a conflict between a
warmongering and aggressive imperialism and a social revolution
that precisely destroys all forms of exploitation, not only the
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exploitation of one people by another but also the exploitation
of part of the people by another part of the people.
We differ from the United States in that the United States
Is a country that exploits other peoples, in that the Unita
States is a country that has grabbed a great part of the natural
resources of the world and, for the benefit of a caste of million-
aires, makes thousands and thousands of workers toil all over
the world. Our country does not exploit other peoples; we are
not a country that has grabbed or strives to grab the natural
resources of other nations; we are not a country that is trying
to make the workers of other countries toil for our benefit.
We are the very opposite; a country that is struggling, in
order that its workers should not have to toil for the caste of
American millionaires (CHEERS); we are a country that is
struggling to rescue its natural resources and that has succeeded
in rescuing its natural resources from the hands of a caste of
American millionaires.
We are not a country, by virtue of whose system a major-
ity of the people, a majority Of the workers, of the masses of the
country composed by workers and peasants, is toiling for the
benefit of a minority of exploiters; we are not a country, by
virtue of whose system large masses of the population are dis-
criminated against or simply ignored as is the case with the
Negro masses of the United States; we are not a country, by
virtue of whose system the lesser part of the population lives
parasitically on the blood and sweat of the greater part of the
population.
With our Revolution we are not only eradicating the ex-
ploitation of one nation by another nation, but also the exploi-
tation of man by man! (CHEERS). Indeed!, we have declared
at a historic General Assembly that the exploitation of man by
man should be condemned (CHEERS); we have condemned
the exploitation of man by man and we will eradicate the ex-
ploitation of man by man from our Fatherland! (CHEERS).
We differ from the United States in that, over there, the
government of a privileged and powerful caste has established
a system, by virtue of which that caste exploits people within
the United States themselves, and also exploits people outside
the United States.
The United States nowadays politically constitute a sys-
tem for the exploitation of other nations by one nation and a
system for the exploitation of man by. man.
?13 ?
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Therefore, the conflict between japan and the United
States, was a conflict between similar systems Whereas the con-
flict between the United States and Cuba is a conflict of diver-
gent principles, that is to say, 'a conflict between those that ate
void of any human principles and those who, like us, have taken
upon themselves the defense of human principles! (CHEERS
AND SHOUTS OF "WE WILL WIN").
What we mean is that if the attack on Pearl Harbor Was
indeed a crime, it was however a crime between imperialists, it
was a crime between exploiters, whereby a government of ex-
ploiters attempted to annihilate another system of exploitation,
whereby one imperialism attempted to annihilate ,another one.
Yesterday's crime is, however, the crime committed by im-
perialistic exploiters against a nation that wants to free itself of
exploitation, against a nation that wants to establish justice.
Here was a crime committed by the exploiters of man against
those who want to abolish the exploitation of man (CHEERS
AND SHOUTS OF "WE WILL WIN").
If the attack on? Pearl Harbor was branded as a crime by
the people of the United States, and as a treacherous and co-
wardly act, then our people have the right to brand yesterday's
imperialistic attack as a twofold criminal act, a twofold sly, a
twofold treacherous and a thousand f old cowardly act
(CHEERS AND SHOUTS:. "CUBA YES, YANKEES NO!").
And if the people of the United States considered that they had
the right to judge the government that prepared and perpe-
trated the Pearl Harbor attack, branding it as a government of
villains, our people has the right to brand the government
that prepared the attack against our country as a thousandfold
vile and treacherous! (CHEERS AND SHOUTS: "PIN
PON, FUERA (OUT WITH IT) DOWN WITH CAIMA-
NERA" (GUANTANAMO BASE). If the people of the Unit-
ed States had the right to brand that unexpected attack as a
cowardly one, that is to say, the attack by a powerful country
against another powerful country, of a country with a big navy
and air force against another country with a big navy and air
force, then we have the right to consider as a thousand times
more cowardly the attack by a country with a big navy and a
big air force, against a country that has only a few vessels and
airplanes! (CHEERS AND SHOUTS: "WE WILL WIN!)
Notwithstanding all this, when the Japanese attacked Pearl
Harbor, they faced the historical responsability for their be-
havior. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, they did not
try to hide the fact that they were the ones who organized and
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l?
t carried out that attack, and they faced the historical and moral
consequences of their acts. However, when, as is how the case,
the powerful and wealthy country prepares a cowardly aggres-
sion by surprise against a small country, a country that has no
military resources to respond to the aggression, although it is
ready to resist till the last drop of blood!... (CHEERS AND
' t SHOUTS: "FATHERLAND OR DEATH").
There is not the slightest 'doubt that the imperialistic gov-
ernment of the United States behaves in this manner against us
because we are not a powerful country; no doubt at all that they
behave in this manner because they know that we cannot ripost,
as they deserve, to the criminal and cowardly actions that they
carry out against us (CHEERS); there is not any doubt that
if we were a military powerful country, the imperialistic gov-
ernment of the United States would never dare to perpetrate
such acts against us! (CHEERS AND SHOUTS: MURDER-
ERS!").
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor- they assumed
the responsibility, but these "gentlemen" did not; these "gentle-
men" prepare the attack, organize the attack, deliver the, air-
planes, deliver the bombs, train the mercenaries, pay the mer-
cenaries and launch the attack without the nerve to face the
historical and moral responsibility for their actions! (CHEERS
AND SHOUTS: "THEY ARE COWARDS!, THEY ARE
COWARDS!").
The imperialistic government of Japan took action but it did
not try to hide its responsibility; in return, the President of the
United States (SHOUTS "OUT WITH HIM") is like "the
kitten of Mary Show", that "grabs the meat and hides the paw"
(SHOUTS: "OUT WITH HIM"! "OUT WITH HIM"!).
President Kennedy as did "the kitten of Mary Show",
"grabs the meat and hides the paw"! The policy of the United
States government can be summed up in these words.
Nevertheless, how these events help us to understand!;
how they serve the purpose of teaching us the realities of our
world!; how these 'events help our people to educate itself! The
lessons are expensive, the lessons are painful, the lessons are
bloody,, but how the peoples learn by these events!, how
our own people is learning! How it is educating itself and grow-
ing up! .
No wonder we are now familiar with so many things that
other peoples don't know; no wonder we are one of the few
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peoples in world history that has learned so much in so short
a time.
And thus, yesterday's events will teach us a lesson, those
pafitful events of yesterday will enlighten us, and they will show
ua, perhaps much more clearly than any other event that has
occurred up to this day, what imperialism really means.
Maybe you have an idea of the meaning of imperialism;
maybe you often asked yourselves, in the past, what imperialism
was and what that word stood for.
Can it be that the imperialists really stand for so much
evil? Can it not possibly be that there is much passion in all the
accusations made against them? Can it be that all the things
have heard about American imperialism ?are based on
rtjudiee? Can it be that all that is asserted about American
imperialism is true? (SHOUTS OF: "YES"). Are the Ameri-
caa imperialists as mean and wicked as Some people believe?
(SHOUTS OF: "YES-) Or is all this an exaggeration?
(SHOUTS OF: "NO") Or is it prejudice? (SHOUTS OF:
'WO") Or is it the result of excessive passion? (SHOUTS OF:
h it possible that the imperialists really did all the
things they are blamed for? Could it be that alL that has been
said about their vandalie behavior in the international field and
about their provocations, is true? Were they the ones who pro-
voked the war in Korea? (SHOUTS OF: "YES").
How difficult it was to know what happened in the world
wilen the only news that reached our country was the Ameri-
can news! How they must have cheated us and how many lies
thezy must have told us! If anybody still has some doubt, if any-
in this country in good faith?and let me add that I don't
refer to the wretched breed of worms, I refer to the men and
women who are capable of honest thinking even if they dissent
from us?; if anyone remains in some doubt, if anybody bel4es
that the U.S. policy has still a trifle of honor left, if there is
staaeone who believes that there remains an atom of decency,
fionesty or justice in the U. S. policy, if anyone in this fortunate
country, that has had an opportunity to open its eyes, in this
fad:mate country that has had an opportunity to learn, even if
the learning was bloody, this, lesson of liberty and of dignity
(CHEERS)...
If anyone in this country who has had the privilege of see-
fag a whole people transformed into a people of heroes and a
put& of honest and upstanding brave men (APPLAUSE); if
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anyone in this country whose heroism and sacrifice grow by the
day, should harbor any doubt; if those who do not agree with
our ideas believe that they are flying or defending an honest
flag; if they btlieve that they are flying and defending a fair
banner a banner of justice, and, because they believe so, still
have pro-yankee feelings and defend the Govtrnment of the
United States; if there is any one left in our country who actual-
ly believes that in good faith, let him ponder the occurrences
to which we are about to refer and very soon his last doubts
will be definitely dispelled.
Yesterday, as everybody knows, some bombing planes,
coming from foreign bases and divided in three separate groups,
entered the national territory at exactly 6:00 o clQck in the
morning and attacked different locations in our country; in each
of these places our men fought heroically to defend their sta-
tions; at each of those points the precious blood of the defenders
was abundantly shed. (APPLAUSE); at each of those points
there were thousands, or at least hundreds and hundreds, of
witnesses, material witnesses, who actually saw what happen-
ed there. Besides, that was something everybody expected,
something we were all waiting for; it was the logical culmina-
tion of the burning of cane fields, of the hundreds of violations
of our territory and of our air space, of pirate aircraft raids, of
treacherous bombardments of our refineries by vessels that at-
tacked in the middle of the night; it was the consequence of what
everybody knows, the consequence of the aggression plans dev-
eloped in the United? States in connivance with certain subser-
vient governments of Central America; it. was the consequence
of the air bases known to everybody because it has been public-
ized far and wide by even the newspapers and wire services of
the United States, which are tired of discussing the armies of
mercenaries being organized there, the airfields they have made
ready, the aircraft delivered to them by the United States
Government, the yankee instructors, the air bases built in Gua-
temala.
That was common knowledge to everybody in Cuba, it
was really known to everybody. The attack took place yester-
day before the very eyes of thousands and thousands of men.
And what do you think the yankees have said when confronted
with this appalling occurrence? Because now we are not refer-
ring to the explosion of the steamer -La Coubre-, which was
caused by an isolated case of treacherous sabotage perpetrated
underhandedly; now we are dealing with a real all-out attack
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simultaneously directed against three different points, a fierce
attack with shrapnel, bombs, war planes and what everybody
saw.
It was a public occurrence, something that was expected by
everybody, something of which the whole World was aware
long before it actually happened.
And so that there will be a historical record left, so that
our people will learn once and for all, and so that this lesson
will also benefit that part of the peoples of Latin America whom
the news of what is going on here may be allowed to reach,
even if it is only a ray of light, of truth, I am going to explain
to the people, I am going to show the people how the imperia-
lists work (APPLAUSE).
Do you believe the World was going to be informed of
what had happened? Do you think, or rather, can you conceive
the possibility of attempting to smother all over the World the
echo of the murderous bombs and rockets which they shot yes-
terday against our Country? Could it have occurred to anybody
in the whole World? Can you conceive anybody trying to
deceive the whole World, to conceal the truth from the whole
World! To attempt to double-cross the whole World, all at
the same time? Well, the truth is that they not only attacked
our country in a treacherous, dastardly attack carefully prepar-
ed and about which the whole World had already been inform-
ed, using Yankee aircraft, which dropped Yankee bombs and
shot Yankee machine guns handled by mercenaries paid with
money of the Yankee Central Intelligence Agency; they not
only did that and not only destroyed and wrecked Cuban pro-
perty, and Cuban lives too, lives of men who were still in their
teens (SHOUTS), not only that, but yesterday the Govern-
ment of the United States attempted to trick public opinion
throughout the World, in the most shamefaced, impudent way
'anybody could possibly conceive (APPLAUSE).
And here are the proofs of how the imperialists act, how
their machinery works, of how the imperialists not only com-
mit crimes against the World at large but also swindle the
World at large. And the worst part of it is that they not only
swindle the World robbing it of its oil and its minerals, of the
fruits of the toil of millions of people, but they also swindle
it morally and intellectually, insulting people's intelligences by
expecting them to swallow the most incredible lies and the most
truculent falsehoods, stories which nobody would think of
believing!
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Yes, here are the proofs!
We are going to read to our people what the imperialists
have told the World; we are going to show you what the
World was told yesterday, what perhaps has even been believ-
ed by the tens of millions of people, of human beings who read
what was published yesterday by thousands and thousands of
newspapers, what was broadcast yesterday through thousands
of radio and television stations, about what had happened in
Cuba; what the World, or a large part, a considerable part of the
World learned yesterday through the Yankee news services.
Here are some United Press cables (SHOUTS AND
HISSES).
Miami, April 15. Cuban pilots who escaped from the air
force of Fidel Castro landed in Florida with their second World
War bombers after having bombed Cuban military installa-
tions to avenge the betrayal of a cowardly fellow conspirator".
I repeat, that came from Miami on April 15, over the UPI
wires, and was published by thousands of newspapers, radio
and television news broadcasts. Just listen to this: Cuban pilots!
That is what they have told the World. That is what they
have told the World after organizing the landing fields in Gua-
temala, and equipping them with planes, and with bombs, and
shrapnel, -and after having trained mercenaries, and command-
ed mercenaries, as everybody knew perfectly well! That is what
they have told the World after having violated our air space
hundreds of times, crowing it with the most outrageous, the most
appalling, the most incredible infamy ever perpetrated, a deed
that was going to be a veritable international scandal! And
what have the "gringos" done? What has the "gringo" Gov-
ernment done? Here it is:
"Miami, April 15. UPI. Cuban pilots who had escaped from
Fidel Castro's air force landed in Florida today with their
Second World War bombers after having bombed Cuban mili-
tary installations to avenge the treachery of a coward. One of
the B-26 Bombers of the Cuban Air Force landed at the Miami
International Airport with the fuselage full of holes made by
anti-aircraft and machine gun fire and with only one of its two
motors running. Another one landed at the Navy Base in Key
West, and a third landed in a foreign country ?no name gi-
ven? to which the three planes had planned ?listen to this?
had originally planned to go after the raid, according to com-
petent local Cuban sources. There are unconfirmed rumors cir-
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culating to the effect that another plane crashed into the sea,
near 'Tortuga Island (APPLAUSE). At any rate, the United
States Navy is investigating the case. The pilots in question
asked the authorities not to divulge their identities (SHOUTS).
They descended from their machines in fatigue uniforms and
immediately proceeded to apply for political asylum in the
United States (SHOUTS).
\ "Edward Arens ?look at this? Edward Arens, of the
Miami Immigration Service, said that -their applications are being
considered. The mustached airman who landed in Miami de-
clared to the Immigration officials that he and three other pilots
of the Cuban Air Force had been planning for months to flee
from Castro's Cuba. He added that because of the betrayal of
pilot Gab o he and the other two resolved to teach him a lesson
by bombing and strafing all air base installations they found on
their way to liberty. He also said he had flown over his own
base, located at San Antonio de los Baiios, and that the other
two pilots had attacked other bases. This pilot was quite ac7,
cessible to newsmen, but lowered his head and donned dark sun
glasses when photographers attempted to take his picture.
''He explained that he ?listen to this colossal lie? he
explained that he and the other pilots had left families behind
in Cuba, and feared Castro's retaliation against their relatives".
So they say that they stole our planes and deserted the Army
but won't tell their names, so that we won't know the names of
the fellows who stole those planes and ran away with them.
And they claim to be Cuban Air Force pilots. It is obvious
that the American who wrote this was thoroughly drunk, hope-
lessly plastered yesterday morning (APPLAUSE).
"Miami, UPI. The bOmber pilot who landed in Miami
explained that he was one of the twelve B-26 pilots who stayed
with the Cuban Air Force after the desertion of Diaz Lanz and
the purges that followed it. Diaz Lanz was the Chief of Cas-
tro's Air Force, but deserted early in 1959, soon after Castro
took over the Government. He added that today his assigment
was a routine patrol flight over his air base, and that the other
two pilots, stationed at Camp "Libertad" in the suburbs of Ha-
vana, had taken off on made-up pretexts: one of them was sup-
posed to fly to Santiago today and the other said that he had to
check his altimeter. He was in the air at exactly five after six
in the morning. "My fellow fliers" he said, "took off earlier in
the morning to attack the airports we had resolved to punish.
Then, because I was running out of gas I had to turn and make
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for Miami, since I was in no position to reach our pre-fixed
rendezvous. It is quite possible that the others went to attack
other bases before getting away, perhaps the Baracoa Beach
area, where Fidel has ?his private helicopter. The airman did
not reveal which was the place where they agreed to meet".
And here are some A.P. cables (SHOUTS).
"Miami, 15 AP.?Just listen to what they have told the
World!" Miami, 15 AP. Three Cuban bomber pilots fearing to
be double-crossed concerning their plans to escape Fidel Cas-
tro's Government, fled to the United States today after strafing
and bombing the Havana and Santiago airports.
"One of the two bimotored bombers, of Second World War
vintage, landed at the International Airport in Miami with a
lieutenant at the controls. He narrated how he and other three
of the twelve B-26 pilots that were left in the Cuban Air Force
had planned for months to escape from Cuba".
"The other plane, with two men on board, landed at the
Navy Air Base at Key West. The names of the pilots were
withheld. The U.S. Immigration authorities placed the Cubans
in custody and impounded their planes".
"Some one hundred Quban refugees who had congregated
at the airport cheered and applauded the Cuban pilot when he
was taken to the Customs Office and then transported to unknown
destination".
? Just look at this: "Edgar Arens, Immigration Service Dis-
trict Director released for publicity ?imagine: the Miami Immi-
gration Director released for publicity? the following statement
made by the Cuban Air Force pilot", In other words, they not
only assert that he is a Cuban, but have the effrontery to say that
they don't give their names so that we won't know who they are!
Not only do they attempt to make us believe that they are with-
holding their names, the names of men who have just com-
mitted a serious crime, but the Immigration Director goes to the
extreme of releasing the news for publicity. And see for your-
selves the gall of those fellows, the degree of impudence of
those officials and leaders of Imperialism; see how they go ahead
and concoct a truculent story which not even Maria Ramos'
little kitten would swallow.
. The pilot is quoted as saying: ?listen to the story they
release for publicity to offer their gag with all sorts of details,
so that the trick will not lack any detail, just listen to the tale
they have invented:?
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-I am one of the twelve B-26 bomber pilots, who stayed in
the Cuban Air Force after the desertion of Diaz Lanz, former
Chief of that force. Three of my fellow pilots and myself had
been planning for months the way to get away from Castro's Cuba.
Day before yesterday I learned that one of the three, Lieutenant
Alvaro Gab o ?even a real name they have used, the name of one
of the real F.A.R. pilots, just to show how far they can go whith
their falsehoods? day before yesterday I learned that one of the
three, Lieutenant Gab, the pilot of B-26 Bomber Number
FAR-9l5 ?it so happens that this particular pilot is in San-
tiago de Cuba, is stationed in Santiago de Cuba:? had been
holding a conversation with one of the agents of Ramiro Valdes,
the Head of the G-2. I warned the other two, and we concluded
that Alvaro Gab, who had always appeared to be something of
a coward, was betraying us. So, we decided to take immediate
action. Yesterday I was assigned to a routine patrol flight over
my own base, that is San Antonio de los Baiios, which covers
a section of Pinar del Rio and the Isle of Pines area. I commu-
nicated the news to my friends at Camp Libertad, and they
both agreed that we should act right away. One of them was
supposed to fly to Santiago; the other gave as a pretext that he
had to check his altimeter; they were scheduled to take off
from Camp Libertad at six o'clock ?the truth is that there were
no B-26's parked at Camp Libertad, they only had defective
machines there? -I was in the air by five after six; due to the
treachery of Alvaro Gab o we had agreed- to teach him a lesson;
so I flew to San Antonio de los Balms where his machine was
parked and let it have two strafing passes, which also included
three other planes that were parked next to it. When I was
leaving I was hit by hand weapon fire and had to change -to
an evasive action. My buddies had already left to attack the
airfields we had agreed to raid. Then, since my gas was run-
ning low I had to make for Miami, inasmuch as I could not pos-
sibly reach our meeting point, as previously agreed. Perhaps
they went to raid other fields before going away, such as, for
instance, the B`aracoa Beach field, where Fidel keeps his hel-
icopter".
So, that is what they have to!d the World. Not only do
the UPI. and the AP.inform the World that -Cuban planes,
piloted by Cuban officers had deserted and bombed ground
installations" but they distributed that short story throughout
the World and, what do you think has been fed to tens of
millions of people everywhere, through the pages of thousands
of newspapers and over hundreds of radio and TV stations?
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What do yOu think they have said in Europe, in many places
throughout Latin America, in many parts of the World?
Not only have they stated all that, but they have circulated
a whole story, with full names and other details, explaining
how they prepared everything. Not even in Hollywood would
they go that far, gentlemen!
Well. That is the version propagated by the UPI and the
AP, seconded by the mercenaries. It is the statement handed
to the papers by the Director of Immigration, while at the same
time he says that he won't reveal the names of the deserters,
so that they will not be discovered, and all of that just after the
fellow in question was supposed to have pilfered nothing less
than a B-26.
But, does it all end there? Not by a long shot, that is not
all! He had something more to say. That tale appears followed
by a statement by Mir? Cardona (SHOUTS AND HISSES).
However, before reading to you the statements of Miro Cardona,
I am going to show you a cable published in Mexico, showing
what the UPI feeds the Mexicans, which illustrates what they
feed the World at large; what has been published in most of
the newspapers controlled by reactionary elements in Mexico,
so that you will see how that international swindling machine
operates:
"Mexico, D. F. 15 (AP). A bomber coming from a Cuban
base and piloted by Cuban deserters was cheerfully welcomed
here by most of the dailies, who joined the groups of Cuban
exiles stating that the bombing was only the beginning of a
movement of liberation from Communism. The Government
kept silent while a group of le ft wing and Communist students
cheered the statement of Cuban Arnbassador Jos?ntonio
Portuondo, who said that the air raids had been just cowardly
attacks prompted by the desperation of the imperialists. A great
deal of activity was noticeable among the Cuban exiles. A
Cuban source commented that the new Cuban Government in
exile will go to Cuba soon after the first wave of the invasion
staged against Fidel Castro to establish a provisional govern-
ment there, which ? is expected to be promptly recognized by
many Latin American anti-Castro Governments. Amado Her-
nandez Valdes, of the "Frente Revolucionario Democratic?
Cubano", said here that the hour of the liberation is near; he
stated that the Cuban deserters' planes had bombed four Cuban
bases: Camp -Libertad", near Havana, San Antonio de los
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Banos, the Santiago de Cuba Air Base, and the "Guanito" Base
in Pinar del Rio". Well, that is what they published in Mexico,
and more or less the same thing was published in most of the
other capitals of the World, the imperialist World, I mean,
the -World exploited by the imperialists!
Here is what Miro Cardona had to say, so that everybody
will know the kind of worms these fellows really are, so as to
leave them naked before your eyes for you to see what sort of
parasites they are:
"A statement delivered by Dr. Miro Cardona ?this is
UPI and AP stuff, of course? goes like this: A heroic attack
on behalf of Cuban liberty was launched this morning by a
number of officers of the Cuban Air Force who, before flying
their planes to liberty, acting as true revolutionists, tried
to destroy the greatest possible number of Castro's military
planes. The Revolutionary Council is proud to announce that
their plans were successfully carried out and that the Council
has already been in contact with them and has praised those
brave pilots. Their action is just another example of the
desperation to which patriots of all social strata can be driven
by Castro's tyranny. While Castro and his partisans try to
convince the World that Cuba has been threatened with an
invasion from abroad, this blow for liberty was, as others before,
dealt by Cubans who lived in Cuba and decided to combat
tyranny and oppression or die in the attempt. For reasons of
safety no details will be made known?.
Just see how those imperialists work, how lacking in respect
for the rest of the World they are. Everybody knows that they
had the planes there, that they had even painted Cuban flags
and insignia on the planes; that has been published numberless
times; see how these fellows, working as in a chain reaction
go making up more and more monstruous lies, more and more
impudent, shameless falsehoods than anybody could possibly
think of!
Still, that is not all either. Now we are going to finish
unmasking that liar kept by Imperialism there at the UNO, and
who posed as an illustrious, liberal, left wing man; I refer to
Adlai Stevenson who is just another shamefaced scoundrel. He
goes on with his swindle trying to deceive the whole World.
The UPI and the AP have already spread the tale; thousands
of reactionary papers have reproduced it, as they themselves
publish, that the "papers had welcomed with joy the news of
the desertion of those pilots".
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,
Here comes the delegates of "Maria Ramos' kitten" at the
LINO. United States 'Ambassador Adlai -Stevenson ? rejected
the statements of Roa and reiterated the statements of President
John F. Kennedy, to the effect that under no circumstances ?I
repeat? under no circumstances would there be an intervention
by the armed forces of the United States in Cuba. Stevenson
showed to the Commission some pictures taken by United Press
International, which depict two aircraft that landed in Florida
today after having participated in- the air raid against three
Cuban cities".
Then Stevenson adds:
"They bear the insignia of Castro's Air Force on the tail
?he said pointing at one of them? it has the star and the
Cuban initials: they are clearly visible, I'll be pleased to show
this photo". Stevenson then said that the two planes in question
were pilpted by officers of the Cuban Air Force and that their
crews consisted of men who had deserted Castro's regime. No
personnel of the United States participated in today's incident
and the planes did not belong to the United States ?he pointed
out? they belonged to Castro himself and took off from his
own fields".
"The Cuban Minister said that this morning's raids are
undoubtedly the prelude to an attempted large scale invasion
organized, provisioned and financed by Washington. The
Government of Cuba, Roa has said,, accuses only and exclusively
the United States before this Commission and before the World
public opinion, of trying to use force to settle its differences with
the member states".
? There we have, as very seldom any people has had, the
chance to know the entrails and the outside on all four sides,
as well as the top and the bottom of what Imperialism really is;
here we have the opportunity to observe how its financial
machine operates, and how its publicity, political and economic
facilities work, assisted by mercenaries, secret organizations,
officials who are so apt to swindle the World with absolute
coolness and impudence. So you can, well imagine, how hard
it Was to know what was going on in the World? How can
we know, what is happening anywhere, if this is the version
which so many people in the World have been led to believe?
In other words, they organize the attack, prepare the at-
tack, train the mercenaries, deliver aircraft to them, deliver
bombs to them, clear up airfields for them, everybody knows it;
then the attack actually takes place, and they just get up and
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say all this without batting an eye; before the whole World, a
World which they knew would rise indignantly at such a
monstruous and so cowardly a violation, which is so contemp.
tuous of the rights of all peoples, of their right to peace and
safety!
And those miserable "gringo" imperialists, after bringing
grief and tears to over half a dozen homes, after murdering a
handful of young men who were not millionaire parasites, they
were not mercenaries sold out for any foreign gold, they were
not thieves, they were beloved sons of our people (LONG
APPLAUSE); they were young workmen, sons of humble, poor
families, who had not robbed anything from anybody, who had
not exploited anybody, who did not live on the Sweat of any.
body's brow, or on anybody's toil; they were men who had
more right to live than all the millionaires and all the parasites
put together. And infinitely more right to live than all the worms
in Creation! (APPLAUSE). Because they did not live, they did
not sponge on the work of their fellow men as those Yankee
millionaires do; they don't live on foreign gold as the merce.
naries, the worms who have sold their souls to the imperialists
(SHOUTS OF OUT WITH THEM!) They don't thrive on
vice or theft, and have the right to be spared, and to be pro-
tected from any miserable millionaire imperialist whose whim
it may be to send down planes with bombs and rockets to de-
stroy the young lives of such devoted sons of the Fatherland!
(APPLAUSE).
And those who approve of such a crime, those who approve
of such savage, such a brutal outrage, those who .are so miser.
able as to sell their consciences and approve of ?such criminal
deeds, those who conspire against their- Fatherland on ?the
streets, in church, at the schools, anywhere, are worthy of being
treated by the Revolution as ruthlessly as possible. (APPLAUSE
AND SHOUTS OF: TO THE WALL, TO THE WALL
WITH THEM!)
Those are the crimes of Imperialism, those are the lies of
Imperialism, and then come the Archbishops to give their bles-
sings to all those lies! (SHOUTS OF: OUT WITH THEM)
Then come the reactionary clergy to sanctify pure lies!
The imperialists plan the crime, organize the crime, fur-
nishes the criminals with weapons for the crime, pays the crim-
inals, and then those criminals come here and murder the sons
of seven honest workers, after which they quietly land in the
United States, and although the whole World knows of their
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deeds, just state that they were Cuban pilots, make up a ridic-
ulous tale, broadcast it to the entire World, publish it in all
available newspapers and through all available radio and tele-
vision channels that cater to the reactionaries and the worms
throughout the World, and then come the archbishops and bless
and sanctify such lies (HISSES AND SHOUTS OF OUT!) ;
and it is thus that all that crowd of mercenaries, exploiters, liars
and scoundrels who still live everywhere in the World get to-
gether and become partners to carry out deeds like this!
(APPLAUSE). Is there any honest Cuban left who does not
understand? Is there any honest Cuban left who still doubts it?
If there is any honest Cuban who still doubts it, this new occur-
rence should be sufficient for him; but if he needs more proof,
then let him go and see our bases at San Antonio, at the FAR
and at Santiago de Cuba. Let him go there and see for himself
if there is a single truth in what they have said; let him verify
and ascertain how those reactionaries and imperialists, that ly-
ing clergy, deceive and swindle the World, just as they deceive
and swindle their peoples. And -the hour has arrived for
those peoples to shake off, those exploiters and parasites, those
defrauders and swindlers and all the crooked imperialists there
are in this W or 1 d; they must be shaken off at any cost!
(APPLAUSE)
Now I want to ask; is it possible for anybody to swindle
the whole World that way? Is it conceivable for the President
of the United States not to have a least bit of shame? Because
if the President of the United States has just a tiny particle of
shame, the Revolutionary Government of Cuba is hereby chal-
lenging him before the whole World to produce and present at
the United Nations the pilots and the planes that, according to
him,' came from Cuban territory! (LONG APPLAUSE).
Cuba proposes to demand before the United Nations the
presentation there of the pilots who allegedly deserted the Cu-
ban Air Force, as well as the planes on which they flew away.
Not let us see if they can keep on holding the mask up. And if
they do not produce those men and those planes, why don't they?
Naturally, His Excellency the President of the United States
would be entitled not to be called a liar. Allright, does His Excel-
lency want everybody to refrain from calling him a liar? If
he does not want anybody to have the right to call him a liar,
well, let him present at the United Nations the two pilots and the
two planes he has been talking about! (APPLAUSE). But if
the President of the United States does not present those two
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pilots at the United Nations, to prove ?and how can he prove
it? that those pilots were here and deserted our Air Force, then
not only the Cuban Revolutionary Government, but the whole
world for that matter, will have the right to call him a liar and.
consider him as a liar! (APPLAUSE). Not only the Cuban
people, but the peoples of the World will have the right to pro-
claim that the Government of the United States is not entitled to
the least prestige or the least respect or consideration in this
world! (APPLAUSE).
When the U-2 spy plane was shot down While flying over
the Soviet Union, the first statement issued by the Government
of the United States was that one of its planes had lost its way
and had been shot down. However, a few days later when they
had already spread that lie, they were left hanging in the air be-
cause it so happened that the plane's pilot was alive and talking
like a parrot, telling everything to the last detail, and the Unit-
ed States Government found itself stripped in front of the whole
world and had to admit that the plane was an American plane,
that it was actually spying on the Russians, and that it had
been sent precisely for that purpose!
? Now, in this case the Government of the United States will
have no choice but to admit that the planes were theirs, that
the bombs were theirs, that the bullets were theirs, that the mer-
cenairies were organized, trained and paid by them, that their,
bases were in Guatemala, which was the point from which they
launched the attack on our territory, and those that were not
shot down went to take refuge in United States territory, where
they have been sheltered.
Yes, because the fact is that, how can the United States
Government stick to their colossal lie? I am asking the UPI and
the AP to be kind enough to tell Mr. Kennedy that we have
warned him that if he does not present those two pilots and
those two planes at the United Nations, we will proclaim, right-
fully of course, that he is a liar, and that if he is not a liar, why
does he not present the two pilots?
And, do they think they can hide the truth from the whole
world? Well, they can't. Cuba has a new radio broadcasting
plant which is already transmitting to all Latin America (AP-
PLAUSE) and what I am saying right here is being heard by
countless brothers of ours throughout Latin America and
throughout the whole World!
Fortunately, the times of the stage coach are long past; we
are now in the era of radio, and what a country may have to
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say can be carried very far beyond that country's ?borders.
Furthermore, those imperialists have forgotten that this is also
the era of the cosmic flights (APPLAUSE) even though that
kind of travel does not seem to be for the Yankees!
And so, when the echo of the words of admiration toward
the Soviet Union for the precision, the advanced technique and
the tremendous success for humanity represented-by the fabulous
scientific feat they have just achieved, when the echo of that
general admiration throughout the World at the great exploit of
the Soviets has scarcely died out, the Yankee Government comes
forth with its own feat, the great feat of bombing the installations
of a country without aviation, which has no planes, or warships,
or military forces to retaliate. In other words, compatriots, we
are asking the world to compare the achievement of the So-
viets with the feat of the imperialists; between the rejoicing, the
encouragement and the hope which the Soviet's exploit has
brought to the human race, and the shame, the nausea and the
disgust provoked by the Yankee deed; between the scientific
exploit thanks to which Man has been able to go into the cosmic
space and return safely to Earth, and the felony of the Yankees
who arm mercenaries and pay them to come here and murder
sixteen? and seventeen?year?olds in a sly, treacherous attack,
despicable from all angles, against a country which they can't for-
give for being virile, for having dignity, and for being cour-
ageous. Because what they cannot forgive, what the imperialists
can't forgive, is our being right here; what the imperialists will
never forgive, is our dignity and courage, and ideologic firm-
ness, and spirit of sacrifice, and the revolutionary spirit of the
Cuban people! (APPLAUSE).
That is what they cannot forgive us for; they cannot for-
give our being right here under their very noses, or to see how
we have made a revolution, a socialist revolution right here un-
der their noses, under the very nose of the United States!
(APPLAUSE) (SHOUTS OF PUNCH THEM HARD!)
And naturally, they hate us because we are ready to de-
fend that Revolution with those guns, with those rifles and
those machine guns you have in your hands!. (APPLAUSE).
Also because they know that this Socialist Revolution is going
to be defended with the courage with which our anti-aircraft
gunners made sieves out of the attacking invaders! (AP-
PLAUSE) (SHOUTS OF WE WILL WIN!) (SHOUTS OF
FIDEL, KHRUSHCHEV, WE ARE WITH YOU BOTHI)
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This Revolution is not going to be defended with merce
naries; this Revolution is going to be defended by men and wo-
men of the people!
Who has the weapons? Are they in the hands of merce-
naries? (SHOUTS OF "NO!"). Are they being held by mil-
lionaires? (SHOUTS OF -NO!"). Because the fact is that mer-
cenary and millionaire are two of a kind. Are those arms in the
hands of the spoiled boys of the rich families? No. Are they
being handled by the overseers? No. Who is holding those
, weapons? Whose hands are those that are raising those weap-
ons? Are they the hands of the rich (SHOUTS OF -NO!").
Are they he hands of exploiters? No, they are NOT. Whose
hands are they? Are they not workers' hands? Are they not
peasants' hands? Are they not hands toughened by hard work?
Are they not creative hands? Are they not the hands of the
humble, of the poor, of the people? And what makes up the
majority of the people? The millionaires or the workers? The
exploiters or the exploited? The privileged or the destitute? Are
the arms in the hands of the privileged? No; they are held by the
poor, by the unprivileged! Are the privileged in the minority?
(SHOUTS: YES!) Are the poor in the majority? (SHOUTS:
YES!) Is it, or is it not democratic, a Revolution in which the
humble people have the arms (APPLAUSE AND SHOUTS OF
FIDEL!").
Comrades, workers and peasants: this is a socialist and de-
mocratic Revolution of the poor and the destitute for the poor
and the destitute! And for this Revolution of the poor, by the
poor and for the poor we are anxious to give our lives!
(SHOUTS).
Workers and peasants, men and women of the Father-
land: Do you swear that you will defend with your last drop of
blood this Revolution of the poor, by the poor and for the poor?
(SHOUTS OF -YES!").
Fellow workers and peasants of the Fatherland: yester-
day's raids were only a prelude, a preliminary preparation for
the full fledged aggression by the mercenaries; yesterday's at-
tack, which cost the lives of seven heroes, was designed to de-
stroy our ground installations, and the aircraft parked in them,
though, of course, they failed; the enemy only managed to de-
stroy two machines and most of the enemy craft was badly dam-
aged or shot down (APPLAUSE). Here, facing the graves of
our fallen comrades, close to the remains of these young
heroes, the children of poor people, next to the bodies of
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these victims, let us reaffirm our decision to emulate them; let
us swear that just as they _presented their young chests to the
enemy's bullets, just as they offered their lives, so will we, no
matter when or how those mercenaries may come, all of us,
immensely proud of our Revolution, proud to defend this Revo-
luLon of the poor, by the poor and. for the poor, we Will not
hesitate, we will not waver, and will not be stopped, whoever the
enemy may be, and regardless of how Many they may be, we .
will shed our last drop of blood (APPLAUSE).
Long live the working class! Long live the peasants! Long
live the poor! Long live the martyrs of the Fatherland. Long
live the heroes of the Fatherland! Long live the Socialist Revo-
? lution! Long live liberty for Cuba!
Fatherland, or Death! We will win! (APPLAUSE).
To the battle.., let us sing the National Anthem!
Comrades; all units most go to the quarters of their re-
spective batallions in view of the mobilization ordered to keep
the whole country on the alert, in the face of an imminent
aggression that can be expected after all the occurrences of the
last few weeks and'after the cowardly attack of yesterday. Let
us march to the Militia Houses, prepare our battalions and make
ready to face the enemy, with the National Anthem, with the
words of that patriotic song, convinced that "to die for one's
country is to live foreVerl and that to five in chains is to live in
shame and degradation!" ,
Let us march to our respective battalions and once there
wait for orders, comrades!
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EDITORIAL EN MARCHA
APARTADO POSTAL 6366.
LA HABANA. CUBA.
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STAT
always
always
cietejimineci
Iteadv hze da.iikeA.!
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THE FOLLOWING SPEECH BY DR. FIDEL CASTRO RUZ,
PRIME MINISTER OF THE REVOLUTIONARY GOVERN-
MENT, WAS GIVEN AT THE MEMORIAL MEETING FOR
THE MARTYRS WHO FELL DURING THE MARCH 13, 1957
ATTACK ON THE PRESIDENTIAL PALACF.THE MEETING
WAS HELD ON THE STEPS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF
HAVANA, MONDAY, MARCH 13, 1961.
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THE FOLLOWING SPEECH BY DR. FIDEL CASTRO RUZ.
PRIME MINISTER OF THE REVOLUTIONARY GOVERN-
MENT, WAS GIVEN AT THE MEMORIAL MEETING FOR
THE MARTYRS WHO FELL DURING THE MARCH 13, 1957
ATTACK ON THE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE. THE MEETING
WAS HELD ON THE STEPS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF
HAVANA, MONDAY MARCH 13, 1961.
(Department of Recorded Transcripts of the Revolutionary Go-
vernment).
Students, workers, fellow citizens:
We have come today to commemorate one more anniversary, of
one more sacrifice, by one more group of martyrs, on one more date
for our fatherland.
Many are the dates which we can commemorate, but some are
symbols; and this date, the 13th of March, is one of those symbolic
dates which our fatherland shall always remember.
A few days ago we met together to remember the workers and
soldiers who fell when the "La Coubre" exploded; today, it is to re-
member the heroic act and comrades who fell on this date, to remem-
ber those young university students who paid such a high price for
what we have today.
And so it is logical that we who represent the revolutionary
people, who represent the nation's revolutionary forces, the social
revolutionary forces and their organizations, should get together here
tonight.
The comrades who have just spoken have told the story of this
day, and it is absolutely true that all those who really wanted to
make a true revolution have remained faithful to the banner of the
Revolution. Comrade Cubela enumerated those members of the Re-
volutionary Directorate who fought together with comrade Echeve-
rria, and he pointed out that they are all present here, all leaders of
that revolutionary organization. We can say exactly the same for
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all the comrades who, during the difficult days of fighting in the
mountains, remained there ready to face all obstacles; and exactly
the same for the members of the Popular Socialist Party (applause)
who, during the difficult days of persecution and underground work,
did not desert their cause; and the same thing for all those Cubans
who, during the great stretches of time, during long years, perhaps
entire lifetimes, have been working for this hour for Cuba; and we
would be able to say the same, if they were alive, for all those youths
and all revolutionaries who, in the course of our republic, knew how
to give their lives for an ideal; and we would say the same for those
mambises who in '68 and '95 knew how to fight and knew how to
die, and for those who lived ? even though they did not have this
chance we have now, to see the standard of the fatherland waving
In free air! (applause).
THE REVOLUTION HAS BEEN CLEANSING IT RANKS
? The history of all peoples is made by loyal men, men who per-
severe, men who do not desert their cause. And so this Revolution
has been cleansing its ranks. We have seen days in which men stood
hypocritically on the rostrum, at commemorations such as this, who,
for lack of ideals, for lack of morals, for lack of honor, had no right
to stand here.
The revolution itself has taken care of leaving them behind:
many of them have been, for some time now, on the other side. But,
in truth, we who remain feel much better. There were some faces
which required great patience on our part to tolerate; nonetheless,
just as the revolution has not denied to anyone a battle post, just as
the revolution has not been exclusive, just as the revolution was no-
body's monopoly, they had the right ?if they wanted? to turn
themselves into revolutionaries. They did not exercise it. They pre-
ferred to exercise the right to turn themselves into mercenaries. They
had the right to remain loyal; the people was generous in forgetting
many sins, but the sinners returned to sin ?instead of being loyal,
they were traitors.
Those who remained here at the side of the revolution are like
the men and women here tonight who do not move from their spot,
who are capable of smiling and taking a heavy downpour in their
stride as if it were just anything (applause). And of this I was just
thinking, of the firmness of the men and women of the people; I was
just thinking of the marvel that is a revolutionary people, of the dif-
ference between yesterday and today, of the difference between the
crowds which met in the heat of a passing enthusiasm and the people
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who? meet today, firm-grasping their banner, deep-rooted in their
land, a people to depend on, forever (applause).
Such a people will not be shaken by economic aggression, nor
by the sacrifices which this aggression imposes on us, nor by dangers,
nor by terror; those who scorned this people yesterday still have not
learned to give it enough credit today; those who scorn this people
have never shared the people's feelings; those who scorn this people
are those who associate themselves with the most immoral interests
to try to take from the people what the Revolution has given it, to
try to grab from the people what the revolution has conquered for
it; but above all, to try to snatch away not its present ?for the pre-
sent is full of hours of fighting, the present is full of efforts, the pre-
sent may be full of sacrifices? but to snatch away its future, the
future for which we are all fighting.
OUR REVOLUTION WILL MAKE HISTORY
And the time has come for us to learn, the hour has arrived for
us to understand, to know what a revolution is. A revolution is an
exceedingly serious event; a revolution is an exceedingly serious
event; a revolution is an exceedingly deep and great act in the life
of peoples; a revolution is not easily made. Later generations always
speak of the events of past revolutions, and we have always read
and spoken of the great revolutions with true admiration, but above
all, of the people and the generations who wake revolutions.
And our Revolution is one of those events which will make his-
tory; and the people who is making this revolution, and the genera-
tion that is making this revolution, will be spoken of with admiration
tomorrow by the coming generations of Cuba, of America, and of
the whole world (Applause).
For this reason, we must be worthy of the undertaking we are
carrying out; we should not entertain any illusions that it will be
easy. It is posible that until now it has not been very difficult; it is
possible that until now it has not called for great sacrifices; it is
possible that until now the people have been able to receive much
?and, in fact, we have received much in a short time, and we have
made few sacrifices; for, in truth, the people have not made sacri-
fices. In truth, those who have had to give up some profits or some
personal satisfactions here, have been those who used to exploit the
people. Those who used to exploit the people have seen many of their
luxuries and privileges disappear. But this class still exerts some in-
fluence on the people. This class is not the class that preaches sacri-
fice; this is the class that tries to arouse discontent. This class is not
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the first to advise strength in the face of privations ? it is the first
to begin grumbling, the first to complain, and it tries to spread its
resentment and its bitterness to everybody else.
For this reason, we must understand the revolution for what it
is: a bitter conflict between definite interests. And revolutions are
made in the people's interest; revolutions are made in the interest of
you, young people, humble men and women of the people; revolutions
are made to bring happiness to those who never before have had it,
to bring benefits to those who never before have received them ?
even though to achieve this just end all those excess privileges and
?benefits held by a few must be sacrificed (applause).
The doxninant classes were not only corrupted, they not only
lived dedicated to frivolity and idleness, but in addition, they spread
their corruption, or they tried to expand it, to other sections of the
people. They tried to spread their whims and tastes to the very
classes they dominated; they tried to infect these classes with their
own lack of sacrificing spirit, their lack of creative spirit, with their
own lack of desire for progress.
And, in truth, for us to really understand the revolution, it is
necessary for you, humble men and women of the people, to under-
stand always that this is a fight between those who yesterday ex-
ploited you, and yourselves ?with those of us who are fighting at
your side ? so that the people may have that which they have always
been denied; you must understand that those sacrificed here because
of the reality of the revolution, those deliberately sacrificed, are the
privileged: those whom the revolution sacrifices without the slightest
concern are those who used to exploit the people (applause). And
the other sacrifices, those imposed on us by the struggle, are sacri-
fices which we must make to achieve victory.
THE PEOPLE POSSESSED NOTHING
Before, as we were saying, the people possessed nothing; on the
other hand there was, overriding everything, a vast difference be-
tween those who swam in abundance and those who swam in misery;
between those who had several houses, several cars, big businesses
and big profits ? just think, for example, of that family that used to
take in a hundred and fifty thousand dollars monthly in rent collec-
tions,? between those who had their wardrobes full of clothes, be-
tween those who had the most luxurious furniture in their houses,
the most modern electrical appliances, at whose disposal was every
comfort and all the luxury imaginable, and those who had neither
house nor shoes nor furniture nor medicine nor even food. There was
a true abyss. There was a true abyss between the two.
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Therefore, when in the midst of a revolution a few things are
lacking, those who feel the lack are not exactly those who always
lackd everything. The peasant family who used to live in an earthen
hut and today receives a modern house with electric light and running
water who has a school for his children, who has a doctor, who has
a job, does not notice anything lacking; those who used to lack every-
thing, today miss nothing, and those who used to have everything
today miss everything (applause).
It is good that we have entered upon this topic since the Revo-
lution is entering a stage of bitter struggle, bitter struggle against
those privileges which have not resigned themselves to their dis-
appearance, of bitter struggle against an empire which also has not
resigned itself to its disappearance. And as we enter this stage. we
must alert our spirit, we must alert our minds, we must raise higher
our guard, we must raise our revolutionary consciousness, we must
increase our vigilance, we must steel our courage, we must prepare
ourselves to give battle. (Applause and shouts of: "Venceremos, yen-
ceremos." ?we will win, we will win).
And when we speak of sacrifices, we do not say that the people
will lack clothing, the people will not lack schools, the people will
not lack houses, the people will not lack hospitals, the people wifi not
lack jobs (applause and shouts of: "Venceremos. venceremos"). No,
the people will not lack these things, and he who did not have work,
nor a house, nor a school for his children, nor medicines, nor food,
will feel the shortage of absolutely nothing; he who used to have
nothing will be able to bear the difficult hours much better. The
people will not lack essentials. But the important thing is to know
whether the exploiters of yesterday are going to influence us because
we lack a few things which are not indispensable (applause). Be-
cause without what is not indispensable we can live, without what is
not indispensable we can continue forward.
WE PUT AN END TO %HEIR EXPLOITATION OF
OUR PEOPLE
The aggression and the economic blockade can deprive the
people of many things which are not indispensable; the aggression
and economic blockade can deprive the nation, momentarily, of some
things which are indeed indispensable, for example, for industry. And
it's clear: what do the enemies of the Revolution want? Do they want,
perchance, to facilite its triumph? Or do they want to fill its road
with obstacles? What the enemies of the Revolution want is the
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failure of the Revolution. Why? In order to return to yesterday, to
return to that epoch in which a few had everything and swam in
abundance, while millions of Cubans lacked everything and swam in
misery. (Applause).
When the imperialist Government decreed the elimination of
our sugar quota, what did it want? When the imperialist Government
-decided to stop the shipment of industrial machinery parts and ma-
chines to Cuba, what did it want? It wanted to cause hunger, it want-
ed to leave us without economic resources, it wanted to paralize our
transport, paralize our industries, to leave us without economic re-
sources. To make us fail. And, why did they want to make us fail?
Simply because we put an end to the abuses which they were commit-
ting against our people, because we put and end to their exploitation
of our people, because we recovered our national lands which were
'in foreign hands, because we recovered our national industry which
was in foreign hands, because we recovered our national public uti-
lities which were in foreign hands, because we recovered our natio-
nal banks which were in foreign hands, because we recovered our
national sugar production which was in foreign hands (applause),
because we recovered our national sovereignty which was in foreign
hands, because we have recovered for the people what was yester-
day the patrimony of foreign monopolies.
Because of this, and so that our brother peoples of America will
not do the same thing, because of this, and to prevent the same thing
from happening to their monopolies in other parts of America, they
want the Revolution to fail; because they don't want to lose the mines,
'the lands, the banks, the industries, and the business they have
throughout the world. Because of this they want the Revolution to
fail, and because we have been the first to do what all the peoples
of America would like to do (applause); and because we have decided
to govern ourselves for ourselves; and because we have recaptured
our national independence and sovereignty; and because we are a
free people who do not have to ask anybody's permission (applause);
and because we are, because we are a people decided and firm who
have had the courage to stand up to the imperialist colossus.
(Applause).
&cause they no longer have here a degraded and submissive
government, for that, they want the Revolution to fail; because the
Cuban people are ?showing the rest of the peoples of America the
true road to liberation (applause), liberation which they can never
expect, liberation which they can never expect from the shameless
hands which want to buy the conscience of America with a few
million dollars! (Applause).
Because we are showing the American peoples the true road to
the justice and liberation which they can never expect from those
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very ones who follow only one thought: to maintain their colonial
domination of the continent, to maintain their ownership of the
continent's natural resources, to maintain the markets in which to
invest their usurer's dollars, and to make fabulous profits at the ex-
pense of the people's misery.
It would be as if the farmer were to wait for the latifundist to
give him land; it would be as if the slave were to wait for the master
to give him freedom, it would be as if the poor were to wait for the
rich to give them bread.
We are showing America the true road; it is because of Cuba,
and only because of the Cuban revolution, that the imperial govern-
ment has suddenly become worried and has remembered that Latin
America exists. Until "barely two years ago the yankee empire has
forgotten that Latin America existed. Today, since the case of Cuba
has suddenly shown them Latin America exists, they are seriously
concerned but not about the welfare of America, no, they are worried
about losing America (applause).
Just whom will the business cartels convince that the gold-
thirsty misers, the yankee millionaires, are worried about the pro-
gress of America? The yankee millionaires, and those who represent
them in the government of that country, are preoccupied only with
the feart of losing their business interests in America, the fear of
losing their oil wells in America, the fear of losing their latifundia
in America (applause), the fear of losing the cheap labor in America,
the fear of losing the market for capital in America.
And this supposed -alliance for progress" proposed today by mil-
lionaire Kennedy (shouts and hisses) is truly pulling the leg of his-
tory, and trying to pull the leg of the whole Continent. Alliance for
progress! And of what does he speak? Does he speak of land reform?
No! Because Kennedy knows that his friends and allies in Latin
America are not the poor farmers, not the landless Indians: no,
Kennedy knows that his friends and allies in Latin America are the
big landlords!
HE DOES NOT DARE TO MENTION THE WORD
"FACTORY"
What is he talking about? Does he refer, perchance, to the in-
dustrial development of Latin American countries? To the develop-
ment of their great natural resources? Does he speak, perchance, of
economic independence? No! What does he speak of? Well, he speaks
of houses, schools and roads, that is to say, he speaks of using 500
million dollars, not to build industries, not to carry out a land reform.
No! And why not? Because Kennedy is the representative of the
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American millionaires, and the American millionaires do not want
domestic industries in Latin America; the American millionaires are
losing their markets for capital in Asia, the American millionaires are
being pushed out of other parts of the world, and the American mil-
lionaires do not want national industries in Latin America, they only
want yankee industries in Latin America.
That is the why, when he speaks of the alms, of the 500 millions
in alms with which he hopes to buy the conscience of America, he
does not dare to mention the word "factory", he does not dare to
mention the words "national industry", he does not dare to mention
a single measure by which the people can solve their problems.
Kennedy cannot speak of economic development because his
ties to the big monopolies, to the big millionaires, won't let him. And
if the millionaires give alms, it is on condition that they be spent on
things which will not lead to economic independence, which will not
lead to the development of the national economies, because the high
financiers are not prepared to accept any policy which leads to the
economic development of Latin America. This is not to mention that
the alms will always go to those who, in general, rob even the nails
from the floor; those to whom the dollars will come in by one hand
and be spent by the other, mostly in pleasure trips to Europe or the
United States.
And so, what does he speak of? Of schools. The 500 millions of
Kennedy is not what is needed to solve the school problems. Cuba
is the first country in Latin America that now has all the teachers
needed for primary instruction (applause); and Cuba is the first
country in America, including the United States, that will completely
eradicate illiteracy (applause). And by the end of this year,
Cuba will be the only country in the whole Continent that will be
able to paint on its airport the declaration, "Here everybody can
read and write" (applause).
Kennedy's five hundred million is not what is needed to solve
the housing problem; the Revolution has given each family the house
where it was living (applause). In addition to this, this year in Cuba,
in the countryside alone, twenty-five thousand houses are being
built (applause).
The five hundred million Yankee dollars is not what is needed
to build roads, because in Cuba we are reaching even the most distant
regions of the country, even spots that were isolated for centuries,
such as the Peninsula of Zapata, which today has magnificent high-
'ways?all this in only two years of the Revolutionary Government
(applause).
Kennedy's five hundred million dollars is not what is needed to
solve the problems of school construction; here everything from the
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School City to the smallest fort has been converted into a school by
the Revolution (applause).?
That is to say, what is needed to solve these problems is not five
hundred million in alms, what is needed is something else: the recovery
of the national resources from foreign hands.
And why can we, without five hundred millions, without one
million ?which we neither need nor want (applause)? why can
we, in spite of the fact that we do not ask nor need, and even though
they have been robbing us, as they have robbed us, of hundreds of
millions of dollars, criminally, in an act of infamous aggression, an
act of unqualified aggression against a country whose economy was
completely dependent on a market which they had created, a country
whose economy had been molded by them, in their own interests;
even having robbed us hundreds of millions of dollars, having com-
pletely cut off the sugar quota in an act of unqualified aggression
to be expected only of imperialist bandits (applause), in an act of
international piracy to be expected only of imperialist obstructionists,
snatching millions of dollars from our economy, how is it that in
spite of this fierce aggression we can have teachers, we can have
schools, we can have houses, roads, and hospitals? How is it that
in spite of this cowardly aggression there are two hundred thousand
more Cubans with jobs? How is it that in spite of this dastardly
aggression there are one hundred scholarship students at the Uni-
versity of Havana? (applause) How, in spite of this fierce aggression,
have we vastly increased our national production? How, without
alms, and even being robbed of what was ours, though this was only
because our economy was an economy which they had forged to fit
their own interests, a single-crop economy, an economy dependent
upon only one market, violating all the principles of Marti, how have
we been able to achieve already in two years what Mr. Kennedy
offers to America as pie in the sky? How? And why? Simply because
we have thrown out the Yankee monopolies (applause); simply be-
cause we have made a revolution, and have recovered for the people
their fundamental resources.
And this is something that cannot be stopped with alms, this is
something that cannot be conquered by an usurer's dollars, this is
something they can never offer to our America. And our America
cannot be bought for five hundred million dollars, our America
cannot be bought at any price; because economic independence is
not for sale, national dignity is not for sale, nobody can sell the
people's future, and he who tries to sell it will be cheating the buyer!
(applause).
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THE GIANT, FRIGTHENED, FEELS FEEBLE IN
FRONT OF DIGNITY
Kennedy wants to buy what nobody can sell; that is why, faced
with the determination of a little people, one of the smallest peoples
of the Continent, the "all-powerful giant" of the Continent gets ex-
cited and filled with worries and fear, and says that the problem of
Cuba is not a problem between it, the giant, and the little country;
the giant, frightened, feels weak when confronted by the dignity, the
right, and the prestige of the little people (applause), and says that
the Cuban problem is not a dispute between the United States and
Cuba, but rather between all the American Continent and Cuba; and
we say that the problem of the United States is not the problem
between Cuba and the United States, but rather between all Latin
America and the United States! (prolonged applause).
The distinguished Mexican revolutionary leader, Lazaro Car-
denas (applause), was right when he said that if it should occur to
Kennedy to pay a visit to South America, he would get a reception
very similar to that which Mr. Nixon (shouts of "Fuera"! ? out
with him!) received ?that is, he would be received with the same
demonstrations that received the former vice-president.
The fact is that Latin America is waking up. Why this high-
pressure meeting with the Latin American ambassadors? Why this
announcement of "important declarations"? Why? just because they
can see that America is waking up, and because their plans are failing.
The popular victories of the left wing in several Latin American
countries are more than enough to worry very seriously the followers
of Yankee imperialism; the worthy attitude taken by the President
of Brazil (applause), and the President of Ecuador (applause) in
defense of the Cuban Revolution, that is to say, in defense of the
free self-determination of peoples and against unilateral or collective
intervention in the affairs of other peoples; the declarations of the
current President of the Government Council of Uruguay (applause);
the victory of Palacios in Argentina (applause); the victories of the
Socialist Party and Communist Party candidates in Chile (applause),
where the three candidates of the Popular Front won a formidable
victory; the extraordinary significance of the "Latin American
Conference for Economic Emancipation, Sovereignty, and Peace"
which was just held in Mexico (applause); the attitude of the Mexican
government towards Cuba (applause), and the decided support of
a political figure of such popularity and prestige in Mexico as Lazaro
Cardenas (applause), are more than sufficient reasons for Yankee
imperialism to worry. One of those absurd senators that seem to be
so abundant in the United States Senate actually proposed an
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investigation ?nothing less than an investigation in the United
States Senate!? of a conference that was going to be held in Mexico.
However, it seems that the tremendous prestige and personality of
Lazaro Cardenas (applause) had its effect even on them!
QUADROS HAS PROCLAIMED THE PRINCIPLE OF
NON-INTERVENTION
And just look at the attitude of the imperialist press towards
Janios Quadros (applause); just look at the invariable attitude of
imperialism. Quadros has proclaimed a policy of full national sover-
eignty; Quadros has proclaimed the right of Brazil to maintain rela-
tions and to trade with all the countries of the world (applause);
Quadros has proclaimed his support of the movement for the admit-
tance of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations
(applause); Quadros has proclaimed the principle of non-interven-
tion; to the Yankee plans of forming an anti-Cuba block, Quadros
has said "No" (Applause). These are absolutely sovereign actions
of one country of America.
A special U.S. envoy goes to Brazil, and whom do they send?
Oh, miracle of Yankee intelligence! They send no one less than a
former ambassador who had previously served there with complete
lack of respect for Brazilian sovereignty. It is natural that the Brazi-
lian President should receive him courteously, of course; at the ap-
pointed time, of course; but without crawling there like a reptile to
eat humble pie as other government leaders of Latin America have
done on similar occasions. He simply keeps the proper attitude, main-
tains the composure and dignity of a President, and that, that alone,
has been enough for the imperialist newspapers to unleash a fierce
propaganda campaign against the President of Brazil. How well we
remember this attitude by this same press towards us!
No economic and social questions have been discussed; just
measures of international scope, and already the empire is annoyed,
and once again the empire declares in the face of the world that it
will not tolerate independent policies in Latin Amrica, that it is not
prepared to stand for dignified postures in Latin America. And even
some Yankee newspaper actually threatened Quadros. Here is an
example of the lack of respect shown by one of these imperialist libel-
sheets towards the President of Brazil:
"El Diario de New York", which published in full the exclusive
interview of Janos Quadros by the General Director of Prensa La-
tina, Jorge Ricardo Masetti, later attacked the President of Brazil
and the Latin American news agency in an editorial: -Last week,
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Quadros came very close to refusing to speak with President
Kennedy's envoy, former Ambassador to Brazil A. Berle, and yet he
receives as a special visitor the Director General of Prensa Latina
to proclaim his support for People's China, the Soviet Union, and the
Government of Cuba". (applause) So says "El Diario de New York".
Finally, "El Diario de New York" threatens the Brazilian Pre-
sident, declaring that -if Quadros continues along the same line, we
don't think he will stay in power much longer in the biggest country
in the hemisphere. The Brazilian army" ? just look how they already
begin to speak of the army ? "in spite of communist infiltration into
high and unsuspected positions, is not communist, nor will it tolerate
a fidelist regime" (shouts). That is to say that this Yankee libel-
sheet is threatening the President of Brazil with a coup d'etat; this
Yankee libel-sheet already speaks of the army; faced with a simple
manifestation of sovereignty, this Yankee libel-sheet declares that
if he follows along the same road he will not last long, that if he
follows along the same road he will be overthrown ? just because
he has asserted his country's sovereignty!
It won't be long before imperialism moves from criticism to cons-
piracy, that is, from the words to deeds, in order to do what they
have always done whenever a government has declared itself iscle-
pendent, whenever a government has declared itself sovereign: the
coup d'etat, the counter-revolutionary conspiracy; as they have done
it so many times in so many countries of America, and as they are
trying to do it here, of course, without the remotest possibility of
success! (Applause).
We are certain that the slander campaigns of the imperialist
press, the threats of imperialism, will result only in uniting the Bra-
zilian people, as they united the Cuban people, will unite them around
their President to maintain the line of independence and national
sovereignty (applause).
And it won't be long before they begin to accuse President janios
Quadros of being a Communist; some newspapers are already be-
ginning the campaign. Meanwhile, in Ecuador, its President declared.
with unusual courage, that he had been offered financial aid for
breaking relations with Cuba. just observe how corrupt and shame-
less is the imperialist policy! The corrupt policy of the millionaire
usurers who hand out a handful of dollars and expect to buy the
dignity and self respect of the governments of America. That is the
alliance for progress about which Mr. Kennedy spoke.
But we will see what happens in Latin America, we will see
whether the imperialists are right; we will see if the conscience of
America can be bought as Kennedy thinks or if the conscience of
America is not for sale as we think (applause). And, of course, he
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did not forget to mention .Cuba. he did not forget to mention his
"deep sympathy" for the Cuban people; sympathy for the latifundists,
yes! sympathy for the Yankee companies that were here, yes! sym-
pathy for those who used to control the banks, yes! sympathy for
the gangsters who used to control gambling and smuggling, yes!
sympathy for rats and war criminals, yes! sympathy for traitors, yesl
sympathy for racists, yes! sympathy for exploiters, yes! But sympathy
for the worker, no! sympathy for the peasant, no! sympathy for the
Negro. no! sympathy for the humble, no! sympathy for the exploit-
ed, not; because the millionaires usurers sympathize with other
usurers like themselves, and they are incapable of sympathizing with
the people (long applause and shouts of "Pim-pom fuera, abajo
Caimanera" ? pim-pom fuera, down with Caimanera).
And this was not the first time that the President of the United
States has made gestures in that hypocritical tone towards our co-
untry. In recent days an incident occured which revealed a great
deal about the true personality of the new U.S. President; a very
significant incident.
There was an outbreak of poliomyelitis in the city of Guantanamo.
At the moment there was no vaccine on hand and the local Red Cross
officer, instead of communicating immediately with the National
Red Cross to fly vaccine to the scene at once, decided, .perhaps out
of impatience, perhaps out of naiveness, or maybe, who knows, out
of kindness, on his own to ask the Red Cross at the naval base for
some vaccine ? without first consulting anybody. Neither the Na-
tional Red Cross nor the Health Ministry knew anything.
Faced with this emergency, what did the people at the base do?
Did the act as one should act in such circumstances ? if anyone for
whatever motive comes to ask for vaccine to prevent an epidemic
among children? Did they send the vaccine discreetly. maintaining
a dignified reserve in the face of this? No. An army of reporters and
photographers arrived immediately, and with much ceremony, and
much solemnity, they drew up a formal document, and made a big
fuss about the vaccine. This, of course, was bad. But what was in-
credible was that scarcely 48 hours had passed when the very Pre-
sident of the United States at his press conference, so much hatred
and worry does he apparently feel in connection with Cuba, that
making undignified and political use of that action, declared that he
? the humble saint that is Kennedy! ? had a great sympathy for
the Cuban people, as shown by the vaccine which he had sent; one
hundred and sixty some vaccine shots, requested without need and
without consultation.
And this should teach us, this should teach" us that everyone
is not like ourselves, this should teach us that everyone does ncit
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know how to distinguish between a political act and a human act;
to the point where an enemy may even do you a favor. And if some
day these same imperialists should come to ask our aid to save some
North American children, we would give them vaccine without pu-
blicity and without politics (applause).
To act as a vulgar hack politician would have acted! As that
subject we know so well ? the petty politician ? would have acted!
And the most ridiculous thing of all was that they were so anxious
to make political hay out of those vaccine shots that they did not
notice, or they did not want to notice, that the vaccine had expired
three months before.
This incident tells us a great deal about the character of this
gentleman, who is always trying to profit by sowing, in passing, his
insidious assertion that he loves the Cuban people, but does not love
the Revolutionary Government. Now then, doesn't Mr. Kennedy
know that this Government is the people (applause and shouts of
"Fidel! Fidel!"); doesn't Mr. Kennedy know that he cannot separate
us from the people, just as we cannot separate him from the mono-
polies and the millionaires (applause); that today in Cuba the people
and the Revolutionary Government are one and the same, just as
today in the United States millionaires, loan sharks and Government
are one and the same (applause); that this is not a government of
the enriched caste, that this is not a government of thieves, that this
is not a government of exploiters, this is not a government of politi-
cians, this is not a government of eunuchs, that this is a government
of the people, by the people, and for the people! (Applause) ? the
Revolution of the humble, by the humble and for the humble!
(applause).
I thank them for what they are teaching the people of Cuba; I
thank them for what the people of Cuba have learned; I thank them
for what they have done to open the eyes of the people of Cuba.
I thank them for teaching the people to distinguish between
what is true and what is false, between the essence of human rights
and liberties, and their mascarade of human rights and liberties.
Thank you for having shown this people that the "free world"
of the imperialists is the free world of Spain, of the millions murdered
by Francoism (applause); that this free world is the free world of
the German war-mongers and militarists, of the Japanese war-making
oligarchy; the free world of the Chiang Kai-Shek's (shouts and
hisses); the free world of the assassins of Lumumba; the free world of
the assassins of Sandino; and; above all, the free world of those cri-
minals who murdered close to a hundred workers and soldiers by
blowing up the ship, "La Coubre"; the free world of those who arm
the murdering hands of Batista's lackeys; the free world of those who
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?
support the exploiters; the selfish oligarchies which swim in abun-
dance while- the people swim in misery; the free world of the mono-
polies and trusts; the free world of the hypocrites the free world of
disguised patriots who speak impudently of liberty and insult the
name of liberty and of fend the name of human dignity -- because
they want to turn the people into slaves to work for the usurers and
the easy idlers! (applause)
And we have learned from them, in a very short time, what im-
perialism is, how it will not tolerate the slightest manifestation of
liberty; how it is a world without ideology and without principles;
a world that practices and worships crime, violence and aggression;
that worships war, that worships gold.
That is their only ideal, their only goal: gold, even though it be
blood-stained gold; gold, even though it be gold made on the sweat
of millions of men of all the peoples of the world. And this is also
their only religion. Do they believe in God? No! For them the only
god is gold. Do they believe in liberty? No! For them the only liberty
is gold. Do they believe in democracy? No! For them the only
democracy is gold. Do they believe in dignity? No! For them there
exists no dignity which cannot be bought for gold, and they are not
capable of conceiving any dignity which cannot be bought for gold!
They have no ideals which they are not apt to sell for gold! They
have no principles which they are not capable of trading for gold!
Gold, gold, and gold ?that is the philosophy of imperialism!
(Applause).
That is what we have learned. And if the North American people
do not know this yet, it is because the magnates who control the
magazines, television, newspapers, movies, and all the means of
spreading ideas do not let them know it. And they are even capable
of bringing a catastrophe to destroy that whole people while that
people hardly realizes it! Because if the North American people do
not understand these truths it is because there exists today a machi-
nery specially designed to deceive them, to make them look at the
most essential things in national and international policy with the
same criterion with which they would buy a bottle of Coca-Cola or
a brand of cigarrettes.
They inculcate lies just as they inculcate advertising slogans.
And they persecute the writer; and if there should be a writer or an
artist who dared to rebel against this world of lies, they ban him
and even jail him. And they exercise absolute control over all the
means of spreading ideas.
And that is why that people doesn't see; although the day may
be near when the North American people will learn, and learn a great
deal, according as the millions of unemployed increase, according as
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that artificial economy flounders between war and crisis; some day
the people of the United States will learn, some day the people of the
United States will wake up!
And here is something that we can tell Mr. Kennedy: He will see
a victorious revolution in the United States before he will see a vic-
torious counter-revolution in Cuba (applause). Because this regime
rests on solid foundations; this revolutionary regime rests on founda-
tions of justice. And his regime, considered nationally as well as inter-
nationally, rests on foundations of injustice, rests on foundations whicl,
are destined to disappear just as colonialism and imperialism are des-
tined to disappear (applause).
Because of this, we can think of the dawn of a new life while
they live with the obsession of a dying old life. We can think of
the future and fight to make a better future, while the imperialists
must live recalling the era of slave chains, and anxiously trying to
hold back a new world, better for the world, and better for the United
States as well.
This is the great difference. The other is just a difference of
power. Of material power? All right, but we have another power,
the power of reason; and we have another great power, the power
of justice; and still -one more great power, the thirst for justice, for
right, and for a better life for 200 million Latin Americans (applause).
And the peoples of Latin America, having decided to be free and
to have a better world, cannot be stopped by force; all the millions
of marines could not stop them; not all their soldiers and all their
planes, and hardly even all their atomic bombs would be sufficient.
Because when men scattered over the Continent, the hungry men of
the Continent, know what free men can achieve, all the power of
the empire will mean nothing against them.
What can an empire do against a world? What could the nazis
do even when they controlled most of Europe? The peoples rose up
and fought them, resistance increased, and throughout Europe groups
of armed patriots fought the nazi invaders.
Are the imperialists brutal, as brutal as the nazis? Yes, for
nazism was nothing more than a consequence of imperialism; nazism,
like Fascism, is the goal or the end pursued by imperialist regimes:
and that which fed their thirst for blood, those horrible crimes, the
extermination of entire peoples, was the same eagerness for domina-
tion, exploitation, and gold that dominates the morbose brains of
the Yankee war-mongers.
Are they, or can they become, as brutal as the nazis? It doesn't
matter. It is difficult to surpass the nazis for brutality, and yet the
nazis could not control Europe; and much less can they; for all their
organization of training schools for oligarchy officials, for all their
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brain-racking to think up tactics to combat revolutions, they are
doomed to failure, and history will show that all their tactics, all their
millions, all their schools and all their preventive measures will not
stop tire destiny of America.
Against their material power is the power of our right; but the
power of right is not the only power we have; the world is not only
Cuba. Cubans are not the only colonial people; Cubans are not the
only people exploited by imperialism; fortunately, the world is much
bigger, the world is big, and the world of peoples who have freed
themselves from exploitation; from colonialism, from imperialism,
and from capitalism, is also a mighty world! (applause). And science
in the service of mankind, science in the service of justice, has dev-
eloped forces much more powerful than those developed by science
serving exploitation; and therefore, looking at the question of force
to force, the power of imperialism is a decadent power against the
power of the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China and the
socialist countries! (long applause).
Also, the imperialist gentlemen no longer thrive on the respect
of the world as they did in past decades, and their chances to man-
euver are greatly diminished; so, what lies ahead inevitably ? and
it is good for us to think carefully about this ? is that within ten
years the production capacity and the actual production of the Soviet
Union will be far ahead of the production capacity and the produc-
tion of the United States (applause) and what will inevitably happen
is that the living standard in the Soviet Union will surpass the living
standard in the United States (applause). And when that country, a
country devastaded by the civil war that they hurled against the
October Revolution, the civil war plotted in foreign lands, a country
invaded and almost destroyed by 13 armies, a country which had a
semi-feudal economy and then was devastated again by imperialist
aggression. Remember that when the last war was over, tens of
thousands of plants and tens of thousands of towns of the Soviet
Union were destroyed, fields were razed, and cattle herds extermin-
ated; while all the industrial installations of the United States were
left intact, not a single bomb exploded on a Yankee factory, not a
single screw was lost by a single Yankee plant.
Fifteen years have passed. In the so-called "free world", there
is more hunger, more misery. Who says so? Ah! Kennedy himself
says so ? he said it today: (reading)
"Population growth is surpassing economic growth; low stand-
ards of living threaten to become still lower": ?In the "free world"!?
.'and the dissatisfaction of a people who knows that abundance and
the instruments of progress are finally within reach, will increase..
What Kennedy does not say is the why, why the industrial output
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of that country is so much below its capacity to produce; what
he does not say is that this crisis of hunger, this increase in poverty,
is simply a consequence of imperialism; and we see no way to solve
the problem without the disappearance of imperialism.
These are truths which no type of lie comes even close to chang-
ing; these are truths so irrefutable that they cannot be altered by any
sermon of any reactionary clergyman (shouts: "Fuera!" ? out with
them!), or any editorial of any reactionary newspaper; these are
truths: that in the United States after the war there was an enormous
industrial capacity, a capacity of no use to humanity. 15 years have
passed, and the country razed by the nazis, the country demolished
twice in forty years, is advancing so rapidly that very soon it will be
ahead of the country that has not lost a single screw in the last fifty
years ? except the "loose screws" of the leaders of that country!
(applause).
These are irrefutable truths. And how to prevent the world
from continuing in this march? How to prevent the defeat of impe-
rialism? Only one formula: war, war of extermination, destruction of
those countries that are advancing; this is a philosophy of those who
know they are beaten, because they have only to calculate, they have
only to add and subtract, In addition, imperialism now has competi-
tion of its own allies, the other colonialist countries, the other impe-
rialist countries, competing among themselves, fighting for a market
every day poorer, and every day more weakened by their own con-
tradictions.
That's why all you have to do is to think logically and you will
soon understand why the enemies of the advancement of Humanity
must necessarily fail, and why they must go somewhere else with
their falsehoods and their gold philosophy; let them go away with
their inhuman methods, their hunger and misery systems, let them,
let them go their way and stop taking part in the history of Humanity;
let them go and take oblivious refuge right where they belong: in the
past!
Humanity advances; scarcely a century ago slaves were recruit-
ed in the African Continent, but no slaves are taken out of Africa
today; less than a century ago long strings of slaves were shipped
out from Asia, but that does not happen anymore.
Humanity advances; Humanity is breaking the chains of slavery;
Humanity marches on its road to Justice; the World advances, and
in the end, what else could happen if it is not a final, absolute victory
of the peoples? What can possibly be the final outcome of these
strugles if it is not the absolute liberation of all colonies? What else
could possibly be the final result but the full sovereignty of the man-
acled nations, the economic independence of all nations, the dev-
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elopment of their natural resources and cultures? (applause). The
end cannot be a return to slavery, to the colonies; to foreign economic
domination.
And colonialists cannot teach anything to Humanity; the impe-
rialists cannot teach it anything either. Those who carry on their con-
sciences the sufferings of millions of enslaved men are not qualified
to speak of the future; those who have on their consciences the his-
tory of a continent like the African Continent, from which they have
kidnapped millions of 'men and have sold them as if they were beasts
(applause); Humanity cannot be taught anything by those who sold
the natives of Asia; Humanity cannot be taught anything by those
whc have deliberately kept Latin America in backwardness and
hunger; Kennedy cannot teach anything to Humanity. Only peoples
like ours can teach Humanity anything, or like the Chinese people.
or the Czech people, or the Socialist peoples (applause); Humanity
can be shown a thing or two by the Egyptian people, or the Indone-
sian people, or the people of the Congo, the brave people that is
fighting right now under their nationalist and revolutionary leaders;
Humanity can be taught things, but only by the people that have.
broken their chains; but Humanity cannot be taught anything by
those who have forged for centuries the chains with which so many
peoples have been enslaved.
And now, to bring this talk to a close.. (Cries of No!), I am
going to refer, very friendly, to a fresh episode which speaks volumes
of that "alliance for progress", the civilized alliance for progress ol
which those gentlemen talk so much! The 'fact is that on this day
and hour, in a country devoted to hard work and to minding its own
business, a country that is not aware of being at war with anybody,
in the second largest city of Cuba, and in the middle of the night, a
warship has entered the port and bombarded a local industrial plant.
It is something extraordinary.
I don't know how the World, has reacted to this news, but the
truth is that it is really incredible! And it only shows the effrontery
of the imperialists, the impudency of the men who run the United
States, to think that our country can be so cowardly and criminally
attacked; that a city of a nation of this Continent, and an industry
of a Nation of this Continent, just when so much talk is going on
about continental security, while it is being said that Cuba constitutes
a danger and a threat to the security of our Continent, a warship,
delivered to the counter-revolutionists by the only one who could
possibly deliver it to them, which means that it was delivered to them
by the Government of the United States (Cries), and coming from
the only bases from which it could possibly come, that is to say.
from the bases organized for the counter-revolutionists by the Gov-
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ernment of the United States (Cries), has actually carried this
amazingly scandalous deed, which would be the source of widespread
scandal and would justify the unanimous indignant protest of the
entire Continent were it not for the fact that it has already become
a law in this part of the World that we Cubans are condemned to
see hundreds of workers murdered in our ports, and to see our sugar
cane plantations burnt to cinders, and to see our air space constantly
violated, and shipment after shipment of explosives smuggled in for
the saboteurs of our plants and factories; it should be more than suf-
ficient cause for the whole of America to rise indignantly if the im-
perialists had not made it a law of this Continent their right to violate
our territory, the right to massacre our workers, the right to murder
our children, to burn our sugar cane plantations and, now, the right
to destroy our plants, our work centers with their gun fire.
That is what we have witnessed today. Now, what does that
mean? That the aggression is being intensified, that the effrontery
of the enemies of our country is becoming more and more shamefaced,
and that just as their planes come now to drop arms and ammunition,
or to drop printed propaganda, nobody can feel sure that they will
not come one of these days to drop bombs on us.
Just as they bombarded an industrial plant today, and murdered
a seaman and wounded a militiaman, is it or is it not true that just
as in the worst times of piracy and filibusteering when those sangui-
nary bandits looted and plundered the cities and towns of our Island,
those same cities and towns are now exposed, on this day and age,
to the attacks of pirate aircraft and pirate ships, obviously organized
by the Central Intelligence Agency of the Yankees? Because the truth
is that everybody knows that it was they who have placed those
deadly weapons in the hands of those murderers, and have given
them planes and ships. And our little nation is incessantly harassed
and vexed by those who, having failed in their counter-revolutionary
campaigns ,having failed with their bands of mercenaries, having
failed in their plans of territorial expansion, having failed with their
economic aggressions, seeing that the Revolution stands firm and
unyielding, seeing that the Revolution cannot be stopped and keeps
on its victorious march, get exasperated, become desperate, and want
to wreck our industries with their heavy artillery and their bombs!
This deed ought to serve to teach the American continent what
the imperialists are capable of doing;- the degree of impudency and
criminality to which they are capable of going; their absolute con-
tempt for the lives of the people of other nations. Right here we have
one of the bullets shot against a Crude Oil Refinery in Santiago de
Cuba, a 57 milimiter cannon projectile, made in U.S.A.... (Cries).
And we ask ourselves if our country is going to keep on being
victimized by those attacks, which have become fiercer since that
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new gentleman is there. Really we don't know the answer to that
one; but we must have our minds and our courage duly prepared
for outrages like this, and for much worse ones too. If they wage a
war against us, we will resist that war; if they insist on subjecting
us to these acts of vandalism and piracy for many years, which do
not happen anywhere else, only in Cuba, by virtue of the imperial
law, if we have to start building Morro Castles and fortresses at all
our ports we shall build them (Applause); if we have to defend our-
selves against those treacherous attacks, we shall do so; we shall
defend our country against all physical aggressions just as we are
defending ourselves against their economic aggressions!
That is why I was telling you when I started this talk that we
must temper our minds and our hearts for the sacrifice. And I say
this because we must not permit the penetration in the minds of the
people of the evil influence of those affected by the Revolution, their
complaints and lamentations. We must be ready for everything!
We would not be a great people, would not be worthy of the
work we are doing, would not be the standard bearers of the Revo-
lution of Latin America, if we were not thoroughly tempered, as
other peoples have been, though we have not had a chance to prove
it yet; because there are some here who complain when they cannot
see a picture by Gary Cooper; and complain when some utterly un-
necessary article can't be found in the stores. That is why we must
do away with complaints, we must eliminate them from our midst.
When a nation has to live mobilized, ready for war, as ours has to
be, when a country has to live under the constant threat in which
we live, that nation has to make up its mind to do what a great people
must do when its territory and its plants, its cities and its country-
side, are liable to be attacked, bombed and bombarded at any moment,
when its workers are exposed to extermination at any moment. The
ideas of the peoples when they are at war, the idea of the peasants on
the Sierra Maestra range, the idea of our own soldiers on the Sierra
Maestra range.
Let's not allow ourselves to miss anything. Furthermore, we
ought to, we must be prepared to use our intelligence and our talents
to solve our own problems, we must oppose certain uncivil manifes-
tations we have been noticing.
When anything is said about the scarcity of a given article
everybody rushes to buy that article and produces an artificial scar-
city, because of the hoarders of that article, those who want to hide
it away so as to have more for themselves. That is what has happen-
ed with some articles, soap among them, the "FAB" powder among
them. Now, if a certain article has to be scarce, well, let it be scarce
if it must, but not because a bunch of speculators hoard it to sell it
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for more money (Applause). The people ought to be particularly
interested in deterring such activities, and all peace officers, all public
order agents ought to cooperate with the people to put an end to
such activities. In the old times we had the speculation of the whole-
salers, of the big dealers. And if we got rid of those, how can we
stand now for a few people who go about buying those articles to
sell them later on the market at a profit. That illicit traffic with essen-
tial articles must be eradicated. (Applause).
There is a plague of people who run chasing the truck and vir-
tually assault the grocery stores. That sort of exhibition should not
be permitted here; if something is lacking, let it be lacking, but those
uncivil displays should not happen here, the people should not permit
speculation to show its ugly nose through that crack. We have done
away with the large scale speculation of the big agiotists, and now
should not permit the speculation of those people who, acting crook-
edly, go about conniving to rob the people (applause.).
Those are manifestations of incivility, of dishonesty, of lack of
conscience, which the people ought to prevent.
Other things have happened, which have been the cause of com-
plaints which we have heard about the places where the buses stop.
An investigation of that problem, we have been informed by the
fellows who are in charge of transports, who are intimately familiar
with their operation, have reported that the trouble lays on the scar-
city of repair parts and the wear and tear of the busses. That it is
not a measure adopted at the whim of anybody, but something that
was necessary in order to be able to live through the period of crisis
of spare parts brought about by the embargo placed on them by the
United States Government, because many of those machines are
American made, and the parts in stock must be carefully handled so
that they will last as long as possible. Perhaps what our 'bus friends
did wrong was that they failed to explain these reasons to the public.
We believe that people are willing to do their utmost. Only they
have to be told why they must do it. So it should be a standard rule
for all of us not to issue an order without explaining why; it should
be a general rule for all Government officers to work always with
the people, explain everything to the people, because we are sure
that the people will always understand and will always cooperate;
the true people, the people that defends the Revolution as something
of their own, those who know that the stumblings of the Revolution
are their own stumblings, that the prestige of the Revolution is their
own prestige, that the victory of the Revolution is their own victory,
and that the defects of the Revolution are their own defects
(applause). So we should always seek and find practical solutions
for all problems, in all activities, including when we are forced to
adopt measures such as those taken to discourage saboteurs.
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Some work centers were forced to "shake the tree". That was
because of certain acts of sabotage; yet, we happen to know that
their own labor leaders are considering the possibility of a careful
review of all cases, so as to make good any injustice unwillingly
committed in this respect.
The enemies of the Revolution do have, in very few cases of
course, certain contacts in certain labor sectors. The war against
saboteurs should be, first of all, a matter of vigilance, of watch-
fulness by the workers themselves, of effort to make them see the
truth. It is very sad to see a workman serving the cause of the ex-
ploiters, taking the side of the monopolies; to see a poor man enlist
in the forces of his natural enemies, of those who have always ex-
ploited him.
It is true that there are certain minds that cannot be changed:
there are brains that are so conditioned and so corrupt that they
cannot be saved. But within our labor groups our struggle should
be for the conquest of every worker for the Revolution, because
unless it happens to be one of those irretrievable brains, unless it is
one of those corrupt brains, that worker has to understand his own
interests, has to understand and realize the fairness of the cause that
defends the worker. We have to fight against the counter-revolu-
tionists and the saboteurs with revolutionary vigilance and revolu-
tionary work (Applause). Whenever a worker, because of his atti-
tude, is believed to be unsafe in a key position or within an industry
he should be transferred to some other position, and if that is un-
feasible, then he ought to be replaced on that job. However, the Re-
volution proclaims the right and the duty to work of those who have
been discharged from the service. To us, even those fellows are en-
titled to a chance to work, not where they can do harm, but at some
other place, in a plant or in the fields.
The Revolution proclaims the right of every citizen to work,
and the Revolution is under the obligation to protect itself against
saboteurs; but it should protect itself without failing to adhere to
that principle: only those who are inveterate loafers do not work
here, only the mercenaries (Applause), because whoever wants to
rectify, to change his ways, and to work, has work, has a job; be-
cause the Revolution proposes to see that everybody can execise
that right, the most sacred of the rights of every citizen, the right
to work!
And to keep the Revolution from having to take drastic steps
we have to intensify our vigilance on the job, to increase our revolu-
tionary work, to become, each one of us, a soldier of the Revolution,
a guard of the Revolution, wherever we may happen to be, at the
job, in school, anywhere!
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When we were speaking today someone cried that we should
? 'purge the schools". Well, we cannot "purge our schools"; on the
contrary, what we want is to make changes in the direction of the
schools; we can, and must, adopt whatever measures may be neces-
sary to make certain that nobody can make a counter-revolutionist
out of any youth or any child (Applause). Yet, the Revolution can-
not purge the schools because the Revolution is under the obligation
to educate, to teach and to train the youth of the country. So, how
can we permit a young intelligence to go to waste? ?How can we
stand by and see how a young boy or a young girl is led through
anti-patriotic roads? How can we abandon him to his fortune, or
misfortune? What do those children believe? They believe in the lie:
with which they have been saturated; they believe the stories, false
all of them, fabricated by our enemies, which they have been repeat-
ing day after day against the Revolution.
Just as a child who has a revolutionary teacher can be a properly
guided child in all matters concerning his country, a child who has
to listen to a counter-revolutionist can very well have his mind
damaged beyond possible repair. And yet, that will not be his fault.
Do you know who will be to blame after all? Yes, we, we will be
responsible, for permitting fresh undeveloped intellects to be molded
by criminal hands into counter-revolutionists (applause). It would
certainly be our own fault if that should happen!
And children should always be our first consideration. And we
are the first to regret the condition of many of those children who
used to be enthusiastic about the things of the Revolution, who were
fans of the Revolution and who have been sent to foreign lands by
their own parents. We think of the poor luck of those children, who
have been taken out of the atmosphere of fairy stories and false-
hoods in which they had been living and have been sent to a foreign
country.
What will become of those children? What will become of the
children of those who were blinded by ambition and went to live up
North? Those children are, in reality, victims of their own parents.
That is why we must help the Country's children, and you may rest
assured that at the proper time the Revolutionary Government will
take whatever steps may be considered most beneficial, because the
Revolution is not going to be stopped. Those who believe that their
acts of piracy, their aggressions, their threats and terror are going
to stop, to hold back the Revolution ,are utterly mistaken. They can't
stop the Revolution; the only thing they can do is to radicalize the
Revolution; that is, about all they will be able to get is just a deeper
reaching revolution.
The Revolution is going to keep advancing, victoriously and
unswervingly With whom? With the good ones, with the best, with
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the stalwarts, with the real revoltitionists, those go are going to
temper their souls for a true Revolution; those who do not frighten
easily, those who do no sell their consciences, those who won't sur-
render! With those we shall keep on marching ahead fighting, wres-
tling, struggling with our enemies, fighting against our own errors,
rectifying them, trying to strengthen the Revolution in every possibie
way and by all possible means, always trying to gain more ground
from the enemy, trying to defend our cause, to defend every man
and woman, trying to convince, to persuade those who are suscep-
tible of being convinced and persuaded; and those whom we can't
convince or persuade we just neutralize them; and those whom we
cannot convince or persuade or neutralize, those who keep combating
us, those who wage war against us, we simply wage war on them
(applause); the active counter-revolutionists, being the parasites
they are, (Cries of -TO THE WALL) as the worms they are (Cries
of TO THE WALL), as the servants of imperialism that they are
(Cries of TO THE WALL), those have to be exterminated!
The Revolution has to be hard with its enemies; the Revolution
has to be very tough with its enemies. I want to repeat here what
we said here on January second. I remember that I said that the Re-
volution was a fight to death between the interests of the people and
the interests of the anti-people, between the revolutionists and the
counter-revolutionists. And if the Revolution does not anihilate the
counter-revolution the counter-revolution will surely anihilate the
Revolution.
But the counter-revolution would not have any strength here,
it would be extremely weak; the only strength on which the counter-
revolution is relying is the great strenght of the empire, the enor-
mous might of the powerful foreigner; that is their only strength.
Thai is what encourages them and makes them bolder. Because they
get from their foreign friends, they get the explosives, the arms, the
pirate planes, and now pirate ships too. That is the only reason, the
only strength on which the counter-revolution can count, the out-
side help, the power of the enemies of our country, the enemies of
the Nation!
That is why, because we are fighting against powerful enemies,
and because the counter-revolutionists are agents of that enemy and
are commanded by that enemy, we must -necessarily be ruthless and
implacable with them, to be tough, to be inexorable with them,
(Applause).
The doors of the Revolution have been open to all. Nobody has
been denied the right to serve his country. We have to be very tough
against those who become the enemies of their own country and sell
their souls to the enemies of their country. We have not denied to
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anybody not even the right to live, even to live with certain degree
of comfort, we have not denied that, even to the exploiters of the
people. That is the reason why we have to be tough with those who,
ignoring the generosity of the Revolution, join the foreign enemy in
a futile attempt to come back and exploit the people once more.
We were generous even with the petty politicians; we let by-
gones be bygones. The sins committed before the tenth of March
were not taken into account; and yet, we see the recurrent sinners
who, true to form, crossed the line to join the imperialist enemy. We
have to be tough. We have to be very tough and inexorable with
those recurrent criminals who have crossed the line to the imperialist
enemy. We have seen how terrorists and murderers have become
bolder and bolder. The Revolution had even discountinued the Re-
volutionary Courts and had discarded the death penalty.
This is enough to prove how the Revolution has acted, to show
what the designs of the Revolution have been. However, the Revo-
lution has been forced to take action against those who murder our
workmen, and murder our children, and destroy our factories, those
who kill and maim honest workers, just because they are wearing
the blue shirt of the militia, which is not the shirt of a mercenary but
the shirt of a workman, who without getting any pay for the hours
he has to spend protecting our plants stick to their posts and actually
protect Ahem to their death! (Applause).
The torturers, the executioners, the terrorists, have forced the
Revolution, much to our regret, to establish the revolutionary courts
and severe penalties, and we are really sorry to have to adopt such
measures, but it is not the Revolution's fault, it is the counter-revolu-
tion's fault, it is the fault of the imperialists, of the lackeys who insist
on coming back and bring death and distress with them, to take
more lives, kill more people.
And what do they want? Do they want us to cross our arms
and just watch them do their loathsome work? So that the streets
would be found at dawn strewn with corpses and the students would
be tortured and maimed? No. What did that want? Did they want
the Revolution to cross its arms so that the murderers and the crooks
could come back? No. The workers, the students, the peasants, the
people, who were first hand witnesses to the past of horror and fear,
because today the people who are afraid are the traitors; today the
ones who have to be worried are the conspirators and the terrorists,
but the workman who works, the student who studies, the peasant
who tills the land, the hard working people, the fighters, who saw
that horrible past with their own eyes, a past when a man was
murdered because he was a student, or a workman or a peasant.
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the people who were witnesses to that past, cannot possibly cross
their arms and stand on the sidelines.
Of course, we know exactly who is pulling the strings, who is
moving those criminals. They are pulled and moved by Yankee hands,
just like the hands that forged the tyranny and kept it in power;
Yankee were the bullets and the bombs with which so many lives
were reaped; Yankee were the explosives and Yankee were the
agents who prepared and consumated the sabotage of the steamer
La Coubre; and the explosives with which stores have been damaged
and schools have been blown up and factories have been wrecked;
Yankee are he planes that have been violating our territorial rights;
Yankee are the ships that commit acts of piracy agains our cities;
and the mercenaries who are preparing to invade Cuba are trained
by Yankee officers; and our economy was colonized by Yankee
hands; and the Platt Amendment was imposed on us by the Yankees
and our Army of Liberation was prevented from winning the War
of Independence by Yankee hands (Applause).
And those hands want to come back, and those who serve those
hands and are willing to act as tentacles to carry out the orders the
enemies of the country, of the men who prevented the successful cul-
mination in the past, who prevented the victory of the people; against
those we have to be very tough and relentless.
Outside of that, we will see, we will see if those violations con-
tinue, if those piratical assaults keep on happening, we will see if
they keep the country living in a constant state of war, of aggression
of threat of destruction, we will see. Because the peoples of America
will react and will teach a lesson to the enemies of our people.
We are ready and more than willing to resist here, and nobody
doubts that we will resist; we are prepared to stand firm right here
and nobody doubts that either; we are prepared and anxious to ad-
vance, and nobody can doubt that. Our Revolution shall march on,
and nobody doubts it for a second. (Applause).
We are going to defend ourselves and we know how to do it,
all right. We are going to mobilize whatever resources may be ne-
cessary to defend ourselves; and in the face of hostility and aggres-
sion we will do just what we said a while ago: we will continue arm-
ing ourselves, we will keep on buying arms and ammunition, we will
keep on bringing in piles and piles of arms of all sorts and descrip-
tions! (Applause).
And if they bother us with filibustering ships, we shall buy ships
to pursue those filibustering ships (Applause); and if they keep on
sending pirate planes, we will go out and buy planes to rout those
pirates! (Applause); and if they promote a revolution against us,
then we will promote a revolution against each of the governments
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that promote revolutions against us! (Applause). And we shall arm
and prepare ourselves, be sure of that!
And furthermore, let the rats and the mercenaries, the criminals
of yesterday and the imperialists of today, let them know that we
are not alone. (Ovation). And let them watch their step lest their
repeated failures will lead them to repeated stupidities!
Now it seems that they don't even dream of being able to es-
tablish a little government here and are thinking of establishing it
in exile! (Laughts). That's all very good; let them establish a govern-
ment in exile whenever the Yankees say so. In exchange we will es-
tablish here any governments in exile, the first of which will be the
Free Puerto Rico Government in exile! (Applause). And as soon as
the imperialists establish a counter-revolutionary government in exile
we are going to form many revolutionary governments in exile!
(Heavy applause).
And I ask: What happens? Why have not they dared to land?
Just what happens? Is it that they know that they cannot take a single
little piece of the national territory? Or is it that they know that they
won't last long wherever they may finally land? So, sheer despera-
tion leads them to form a government in exile. Very well! Let us see
if they do it. Just let them remember that every right they take upon
themselves here in this Continent, corresponds to a right to which
we feel entitled right here in this Continent! (Applause). Let them
know that we are not in the least afraid of the imperialist, no fear
at all (Applause); and we hope the imperialist will realize that we
will answer deed for deed, that the Revolution does not shrink back,
does not fear them.
Now, let us see what they answer before the ONLI to Cuba's
charges; let us see what they have to say about the act of piracy per-
petrated today; we will see what they have to say for themselves.
They are so impudent that they dont s:y anything! (Laughs).
Yes, we remember when we were there at the ONU, that we
told a few things to the Delegate of the United States and then sat
down to wait and see what he was going to say; well, he simply did
not say anything! They are so shameless that in the face of the truth
they just keep mum, because the fact is that there is nothing easier
than to unmask a delegate of imperialism and to tell him hundreds
of truths for which he has no retort.
That's is the way they go through the World: from discredit to
discredit from failure to failure, from ridicule to ridicule, without
realizing that they only have one intelligent road to follow, so dumb
they are (laughs), yes, so hopelessly stupid, that they don't see that
the only logical way is just to leave Cuba in peace. They don't seem
to realize that the more they keep bothering Cuba, and threatening
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Cuba and illtreating Cuba, and attacking Cuba, the more fiercely
and more determinedly will Cuba hit back to defend itself; and the
more they try organize and promote counter-revolutions in Cuba, the
more sympathy and admiration and devotion will be won for the
Cuban Revolution throughout Latin America (Applause). If they
could realize that, they would do the only intelligent thing they can
possibly do. But they are not intelligent, they are stupid, they are
dumb and, consequently, it is only logical for them to do stupid
things.
In the mean time, the only thing to do is to keep on going, to
continue, to march on, ever certain of one thing: Victory! Final
Victory!
That victory was much farther off in other days; it was much
farther that day when, while our dear friend Jose Antonio was being
murdered in Havana, other comrades of the "Directorio Revoluciona-
rio" sacrificed their lives. We counted our men that day. March
13th, and do you know how many were there? Twelve, yes, just
twelve! And that was only four years ago! (Applause).
And today we are twelve times half a million (Laughs); today
we have tens of thousands of twelve rifles platoons (Applause); and
today we have a people and the Revolution is no longer a promise
but a glorious accomplishment. And what was it that the Revolution
promised? Could anybody accuse the Revolution of having reneged,
having fallen down on a single promise? (Cries of No, No!). And if
the principal promises have been fulfilled what is there to be done?
Well, make fresh promises. And when those new promises have
been fulfilled, what shall we do? Why, make still more promises,
and fulfill them!
That is what is happening. The Revolution has fulfilled its first
promises, and now the Revolution is making new promises, the Re-
volution proposes to fulfill the platform approved by a million souls
in that gigantic Assembly of the People.
What can be said against that by those who go with their tears
and their laments to the FBI and the Central Intelligence Service
and other intelligence agencies of the non-intelligent? Those who
go weeping to the Pentagon, what have they to say about this? What
is their moral justification to combat us? What can be the reason
they will invoke? None; at all. The only reason they could name
would be the reasons given by all traitors, by all cowards, by all
irresolute, timid, useless poor devils; the reasons invoked by all de-
serters!
So. let us march on, always forward without looking back! That
is what we have to do. Always determined, always ready to face
sacrifices! So far our sacrifices have been but a few, and we have
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the courage and the temper to withstand sacrifices a thousand times
greater, to make sure that the principles advocated by the Revolu-
tion will win, that final victory will be ours, and will stay that way!
FATHERLAND OR DEATH! WE SHALL WIN!
(OVATION).
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EDITORIAL EN MARCHA
APARTADO POSTAL, 6386.
LA HABANA, CUBA.
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?,?
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n
Zn z
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' ,,,i ..-.0-8?r! ..", ,,/-- /
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? ??' ?
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LECTURES ON ECONOMIC PROBLEMS
? THE ROLE OF FOREIGN AID 1N
THE DEVELOPMENT OF CUBA
by Major Ernesto -Che- Guevara,
delivered at the Min-Far Theater
on March 9, 1961, Year of Education
EDITORIAL EN MARCHA
APARTADO POSTAL 6386.
LA HABANA, CUBA.
1962
ARO DE LA PLANIFICACION
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$500.000,000
$257,000,000
CREDIT GRANTED BY SOCIALIST COUN-
TRIES, WITHOUT CONDITIONS AND IN
ONE YEAR, TO SIX MILLION CUBANS:
$257,000,000
CREDIT THAT THE GOVERNMENT OF
THE UNITED STATES 'WILL GRANT TO
200 MILLION LATIN AMERICANS IN
A FIVE-YEAR PERIOD, WITH STRINGS
ATTACHED:
$500.000,000
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Without the foreign aid of friendly countries ?fundamen-
tally and almost exclusively the credit and other sorts of aid
offered by the Socialist nations?, we would not have been able
to carry forward this process of development that we began with
the victory of the Revolution. That is, this present stage of the
Revolution is conditioned by the fact that Cuba is firmly sup-
ported by a group of nations that possess the most powerful
means of destruction ever ki;lown in history, which they are ready
to put at the service of Cuba in case our country is invaded.
I point this out because politics and economics can never be
separated, they are always closely linked, and the final theme of
this cycle of lectures, which comrade Dorticos will be in charge
of, will exllain, precisely. th-! ntimate connection between politics.
and economics, and the relationship that exists between political
and economic changes in a given regime.
During 1960, and more precisely after February 13, when
the Vice Prime Minister of the Soviet Union, Anastas 1V1ikoyan,
signed a trade and payment agreement and a long term loan with
Cuba, trade relations with all Socialist countries quickly
developed, and long term loans were obtained from eight of
them, which had a total value of 257 million pesos, that is, 257
million dollars.
It would be fitting to analyze this figure: the Cuban Revo-
lution receives credits for a total value of 257 million dollars in
one year, whereas the United States offers Latin America 500
million dollars in credit at a high rate of interest, and controlled
at that, during a five-year period. That is, that whereas we may
use the Socialist credit in behalf of our industrial development in
? any manner we believe best, the United States gives credit to
Latin America in such a manner that the credit is only received
if it is invested in a way that the United States accepts or believes
convenient.. That is the difference between colonial credit and a
credit promoting development.
But further, the most remarkable difference is that six million
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CREDIT GRANTED TO CUBA BY
SOCIALIST COUNTRIES AND TRADE
EXCHANGE WITH THESE COUNTRIES
. CREDIT GRANTED:
Soviet Union ..
? ?
$ 100.000,000
People's China ..
60.000,000
Czechoslovakia ..
40.000,000
Rumania ..
15.000,000
Hungary
15.000,000
Poland ..
12.000,000
German Democratic Republic
..
10.000,000
Bu!gory
5.000,000
TOTAL .. .
?
.
$ 257.000,000
VOLUME OF TRADE EXCHANGE:
With the Soviet Union .. .
$ 270.000,000
With People's China ..
117.000,000
With Czechoslovakia .. . .
30.000,000
With the German Democratic Republic .
25.000,000
With Poland ..
22.000,000
With Rumania ..
11.000,000
With Hungary ..
10.000,000
With Bulgary
7.000,000
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people receive credits for a value of 257 million dollars, while
200 million people in America get the offer of 500 million: dollars.
This shows how relations with Socialist countries allow Cuba to
develop her industry at the rate we are developing it.
A country may always develop, may always march forward,
if it applies the right policies, but great rates of development
cannot be attained with the sole resources of a so-called under-
developed country, as ours was: foreign aid is necessary to do so
at a high rate of development.
The aid from Socialist countries is divided in the following
manner: 100 millions from the Soviet Union, as a first step, be-
cause shortly we will sign new credits with the Soviet Union to
develop mainly nickel, which is already approved, and may be
considered a fact, as well as some other facets of our industry
such as heavy chemistry, fertilizer chemistry, and the paper
industry. China lends us 60 million dollars; Czechoslovakia, 40
millions; Rumania, 15 millions; Hungary, 15 millions; Poland, 12
millions; Bulgaria, 5 millions; and the German Democratic Re-
public, 10 millions.
It is very interesting to study how these credits are distri-
buted; the basis for the industrialization of the country is the iron
and steel industry. Under the present conditions of the modern
world, there can be no industrialization without an iron and steel
industry; the Soviet Union takes care of our iron industry, and
will develop by 1965, a production capacity. of some 500 thousand
metric tons a year, and by 1970 we will develop factories capable
of producing 1 million 700 thousand tons a year.
To give an idea of what that means, let us mention that at
the present time Cuba produces 30 thousand tons of steel of the
lowest quality, that is, steel bars for construction, which require
a minimum amount of effort and technique, and besides we have
to buy pig iron from other countries in order to process it here.
The factories purchased from the Soviet Union allow us to do
the complete processing of our iron ore, convert it into its first
stage, pig iron, and then into the different types of steel. One
may begin to industrialize when there is steel, it is very difficult
before that, because steel is the basis for the whole process of
development, and it is difficult to obtain, and further it is very
expensive to launch a process of development without a real and
national production of steel. Steel is the basis, and it has been
contracted for with the Soviet Union, but further there is what
in economic language is called a "bottleneck," that is, a point
where the whole comprehensive planned process of development
is paralyzed, preventing the completion of the process. In all
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underdeveloped countries the bottleneck is electricity. One may
advance and progress up to the point where there is a lack of
electricity. The use of electricity may be .rationalized, for ex-
ample, Cuba is a country where electricity is very badly utilized;
the consumption of electricity may be improved, but if new
sources of electric power production are not created, the country
is inevitably limited in its process of development.
To give you an idea (many of these figures ?that we are
handling are new to you, that is why we have to use comparisons
at each step), I have already told you that by 1965 Cuba will be
producing more than 500 thousand tons of steel, and that at the
present time there is a production of only 30 thousand tons.
There was sufficient electricity in Cuba for the type of country
without many industries that we used to know. There was an
installed capacity of about 650 thousand kilowatts; well then,
during the next six years we will make contracts with Socialist
countries for approximately the same quantity, that is, in six
years we will double the installed power capacity, but we will
accomplish more than doubling it. Why? Because the installed
capacity is one thing and the way that installed capacity is used
is another; for instance, you know about the boilers in .Talla
Piedra, or in Melones, that generate electricity; they are obsolete
machinery has to be moved; in mountainous countries it is
thousand kilowatts, that is, at a given moment, when gauged,
they may produce 600 thousand kilowatts, but when the machines
are not in operation they don't generate power, and if at the end
of a year one counts the number of hours in which electric power
was generated, one will realize that the degree of efficiency is
very low, because the machines do not make the best use of the
steam they create, that is, the real figure of production is
quite inferior to the capacity to generate power.
The new factories, new in every sense of the word, with a
modern technology, allow a much more rational use of the power,
and increase to a great degree the production of electricity. With
those two bases built, we can then get started on the road to
industrialization: on one side, steel, on the other, electric power.
But all these things are linked, are united, one to the other; we
may buy the machinery that will generate electric power, but that
machinery has to be moved; in mountainous countries it is
moved by the current of great rivers, dams are built, generators
are installed, and consequently they obtain very cheap electric
power. In countries that have their own fuel, as coal or oil, it
is moved by those fuels; we have to make an additional effort,
because we have to bring in all the fuel to move everything that
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it may be necessary to move with oil in Cuba, and the production
of Cuba itself is only about half of one percent of our needs, that
is, it is practically nonexistent, all the rest has to be imported.
You are familiar to a great extent with the history of our
relations with the great foreign monopolies, the threats that were
directed against us, the attack of the foreign companies, and how
the Soviet Union is now solving the supply of oil. Oil is also a
N,ital point; in our case it is the necessary fuel; in other countries
the main thing is coal or the direct electric power generated by
great waterfalls; here in Cuba the thing is oil. Now, this oil has
to be processed, then also we have to build the new refineries,
because the needs of the country increase. There are four refi-
neries in the country now, the one that is named after Rico Lopez,
that before used to belong partly to Standard Oil and, partly to
Shell; the one at Santiago de Cuba; the Texaco refinery, and a
small one at Cabaiguan. All those refineries may process a lit-
tle over 90 thousand barrels a day, but we have to increase our
capacity even more, and thus we have also contracted for a new
refinery from the Soviet Union, which will probably be installed
in Oriente province in the new industrial zone that will be
developed near Nipe Bay in the vicinity of Nicaro, where the
nickel factory is, and also the -Felton," an iron mine, an iron
producing plant furnished with furnaces. That is, the Soviet
Union will also take care of the supply and processing of oil.
Once the basic requirements are satisfied, Cuba must then
dedicate herself to covering the great lines of development, the
following lines. One of the most important is the automotive
industry, which will allow us to manufacture trucks, to manufac-
ture tractors, all kinds of motors, and also, automobiles, which
are not so important. I would like to tell you that, in the Socialist
countries we have visited, the proportion of trucks to
automobiles is three, four or five to one, whereas here the oppo-
site is true; that is the distinguishing trait of a country in develop-
ment. Industrial countries need a lot of trucks, a lot of heavy
equipment; colonial and semicolonial countries, countries that are
also wealthy, as Cuba, have a lot of automobiles belonging to
people who only use them to travel around or go to work.
We have not given much importance to automobiles, we have
insisted more on tractors; the tractor and automotive plants, with
trucks in the first place, will all come from Czechoslovakia;
Czechoslovakia gave us a 40 million dollar loan to develop this
line of production, and in 1965 we will already be in the position
to start the new line of production, which will then be automo-
biles, that is, from now till 1965 we will develop the most irnpor-
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tant lines: trucks, tractors, vehicles, fixed engines for water
pumping, for irrigation, and then we will proceed to the next
stage, which is the production of automobiles. The technological
process of automobiles is more complicated, it requires finer
parts, a more skilled worker, who has to be trained during those
five years.
The problem of skilled labor is a serious problem; when a
rhythm of development as rapid as ours is begun, the worker
necessarily lags behind plans. Once again a sort of bottleneck
is created, because there is no one to do the work, or it is done
badly. In that sense we have also received aid from the Socialist
countries, which is greatly comprehensive, and encompasses all
the aspects of technical assistance. Several plants will come
from various countries to teach the students directly, plants where
the students will begin to work and create, that is, factory-
schools; other plants also which will only be for training, the.
professors will come here to teach the students; and finally.
students of all kinds will go to Socialist nations to acquire skills.
These trips to Socialist countries are of ?dif ferent types; for
instance, when a factory is bought, it is provided for that a
number of technicians or workers will go to the country where
the plant is purchased to acquire the necessary skills, so that
when the plant begins to function the workers and the technicians
will be here already; it is practically a commercial transaction,
where both the plant and the schooling are acquired.
Now, there are also scholarships given to workers and
students, to acquire a higher degree of knowledge; the scholar-
ships. have been as comprehensive as we asked for, we didn't ask
for more comprehensive scholarships because we weren't sure of
our capacity to send people to very distant regions, to unhospi-
table climates, and for long periods of time; the list is really very
extensive; three hundred engineers, one hundred scientific
workers and, four hundred workers and technicians will be trained
in the Soviet Union, a total of eight hundred people. What they
call scientific work is a different field of activity which is not,
involved directly in production, for instance, agricultural biolo-
gists, that is, the scientists who do research to find new varieties
of sugar cane in the laboratory; that kind of scientist has a fun-
damental importance, an importance that is not readily seen
because his work is very slow, very patient, but whose achieve-
ments ,are worth millions. and millions of pesos if a good job is
done; that man has to be very conscientiously trained.
At the same time, we will also develop our Institutes here,
which will train our future technicians, Cuban technicians trained
here by Cuban professors, in a Cuban environment; but today we
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is11111111111111111MIIK
-1111111 BRIM I RI
mim u mlii ?
1111111 .0' mo-
ping,
BY THE SOVIET UNION:
iron and steel plants
electric power plants
oil refineries
? BY CZECHOSLOVAKIA:
automotive industry,
for the production of tractors,
trucks, automobiles, etc.'
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cannot aim at perfection; and so they go directly to friendly
countries for training. All the countries have participated in this
effort to train our people. The total is 785 engineers, 225 scien-
tific workers ... that is, 1,000 students and 1,700 workers and
technicians who will go for a shorter period of time, in total, 2,700
engineering students, students of other scientific fields, workers
and technicians.
It is a great number of people, let it be enough to tell you
that in order to find the 1,000 students who had the sufficient
qualifications to go on such a long trip we have had many dif-
ficulties; as I have told you, it is not easy to send a young man
to an unknown country for 5 or 6 years; countries, also, about
which there was, until very recently, a series of prejudices that
the press had spread among us, forcing us to interpret the facts
as they wanted us to see them.
But the aid doesn't stop here; that is just the training of the
technicians over there, we have also signed contracts for 227
technicians from the Soviet Union, 60 from Czechoslovakia, and
from all other countries, Poland, Hungary, China, Rumania,
Bulgaria, up to a total of 339, to come this year and work in
different branches of industry. That is 339 highly .skilled
technicians from Socialist countries who in a few months will be
working in Cuba; right now there are about 150 here.
The fields of activity of these people cover practically all
Cuban industry. We have fundamentally given great importance
to mineral prospecting, that is., to the study of all our national
territory, to see what kind of minerals there are in it and study
how we can develop them; it is also a slow, non-spectacular task:
industrial tasks are not as spectacular as agricultural tasks, re-
sults cannot be achieved in such a short length of time, and many
more technicians. are required to do it.
The work of these Soviet comrades, many of whom are here
already, is not easily noticed; yet, they are already in the fields
of Cuba doing the necessary research to extract the minerals.
This is the first long stage, which needs the complement of a lot
of scientific instruments, and then comes the stage of the exploi-
tation of the mineral, and also the development of the old mines
that we have here. You know that the El Cobre mine was the
first copper mine in America and it is still in production ?and
good benefits may still be gotten from it?, but it must be done
in a technical manner, and in truth, there is not the least techni-
que in Cuba, except in the Matahambre mine, which is more
rationally exploited. We have, then, a very extensive field where
our Soviet comrades, aided by Czechs, have been working for
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months; along with this there is the technological work to develop
nickel production, which is our basic export mineral at the
present time, and it is highly priced because it is a strategic
mineral, strategic in the military and in the industrial sense; it is
strategic in the military sense because the tips of all space
rockets, whether they go on a scientific flight to explore the
universe or to carry an atomic load, have nickel. The "cow-
killing- rocket also carried nickel, (LAUGHTER).
Further, nickel is the necessary complement for the develop-
ment of the chemical industry, because all containers to be filled
with acid, made with what is called stainless steel, contain nickel;
'so that there we have an enormous source of wealth, that before
was only used for the benefit of the Yankees.
It is good to point out the difference, There are two mines
in exploitation, with their corresponding plants: the Nicaro,
which is at Nipe Bay; and a little further to the east, between
Nicaro and Baracoa, there is the Moa. The Moa mine had begun
to operate a few months after the triumph of the Revolution, and
it was never perfectly set up; the Nicaro paid some small taxes,
the Moa mine was totally exempt from taxes; the Moa mine was
a superimposition, a new Guantanamo placed in our territory,
dedicated to extracting wealth and sending it to the United States,
through one of our ports over which we had no jurisdiction.
It left behind only the wages it paid the 700 workers, which
were not anything great anyhow, very inferior to the salaries
they ?pay their own workers. The Nicaro mine was a little bit
different, some taxes were paid, but in general it was the same
thing as this other mine. The Soviet technicians came four
months ago, they made a promise, which they are fulfilling to
the last detail: to get the Nicaro mine to work at full scale, and
also to buy all our production ?if we wanted to sell it, because
it was not a condition, it was simply an offer? besides devel-
oping new technological discoveries to renovate that plant,
which is a little bit old from the point of view of technique,
where there has been great progress (that plant is already
twenty years old and is behind-the-times now). All that is
being done.
The Moa plant, a lot more advanced, was finished a year
and a half ago. The Soviet technicians promised to put it in
operation this month of March. We are expecting it to begin
operation in a few days, and in the month of June it will be going
at full production; these are tentative figures, they may change
from one month to another, but in general by the middle of the
year a plant will be in operation that we thought would never
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function; the Yankees thought they were the masters of technique
and that if they didn't operate it no one could; the greatly
developed Soviet technique has already mastered the plant and is
preparing it for operation; the raw material has to be brought
from a great distance, it is a complex mine, a complex factory,
very modern, but very complex.
The Soviet success is a clear demonstration that the Yankees
no longer control the technique of the world or anything of the
sort; but also the most important thing is the form and the spirit
in which the aid is given, and in which capital or capital goods
are given for the development of a country. Socialist countries
have offered us all they could give us, so that we could choose
if we agreed: their technicians, their technical knowledge, and
rates of interest that fluctuate between two percent and zero, as
is the case of the People's Republic of China. The Yankees offer
what they want at prices at least twice as high, without any
control on the part of the State over private companies, and also
at very high interests; that is, there is a complete difference
between the two ways of acting. Even if we had maintained
good relations with the United States, it would have been impos-
sible, under the present Cuban conditions, to launch this process
of industrialization with Yankee capital, it would have been
absolutely impossible: their demands are of such a type that they
necessarily imply either economic slavery or the simple refusal of
the offer of capital. That is why those brother countries of
America that have chosen the road of close friendship with the
United States and who favor the investment of Yankee capital
are necessarily condemned to either slavery or rebellion, to the
rebellion of the peoples, because slavery can only be enforced
until the people know their strength and they know that they
can destroy their oppressors; that is why the situation in almost
all those countries is very perilous. At the same time, the 500
millions they are offering now are to build things that could be
done inside the country with no need for the investment of
foreign money.
We don't need the loan of millions of dollars to build houses,
because the houses are made here, the cement is made here, the
steel bars are made here, we may import wood, but the frames
are made here; perhaps we have to import some glass, some mesh,
some other things, but it isn't worth-while to get the loan that
would have to be paid in dollars, with foreign exchange, to build
houses or highways. A country should do that with its own
resources; what has to be gotten is credit for the machinery that
will create wealth, things that will add value with their work,
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such as factories where new things are created for the use of
the people.
Such is our contract with the Socialist countries: no part of
the 257 million pesos of the loan, or of the enormous quantity of
money that circulates in the trade between both countries, is
alloted to the purchase of houses or of luxury items: just simply
machinery, at times complete factories (complete as regards the
machinery, because we do the construction here), or individual
machines to complete other industries. That is, the money that
is invested comes to Cuba to create absolutely new wealth.
The list of all the factories that are going to be purchased
is very long, they are more than a hundred, but we should also
say that we are working intensely in another important field of
mineral extraction and processing, the field of oil. I had told
you that oil comes entirely from the Soviet Union, and that we
produce from half to one percent of our own consumption. Well,
then, the Cuban Institute of Petroleum and the Soviet technicians
are working intensely to find oil. It may exist, we don't know
where, but it may exist; oil is something where you take a gamble
every time you dig a well to extract it. Yet, we hope that
there are some good deposits; we don't know whether they will
be enough for our needs, but they will relieve our situation
anyhow, and will allow us to use the money to buy something
else instead ot fuel. In the field of sugar mills, our main wealth,
Socialist countries can also help us greatly, although they
produce a different type of sugar, from a special kind of beet,
because they have new factories and because their organization
of work allows then to save a lot of money. Some technicians
are working here now, Czechoslovakian technicians, and in a
few days a mission of ours will go over there to travel throughout
their countries and buy entire sugar mills if necessary.
We have new ideas of what a sugar mill should be, how the
sugar mill should be linked to a whole series of factories, in order
to work all year round, and how we may increase the efficiency
of the best sugar mills and gradually eliminate those that are too
old or too small. It is a long task, very complex, because one
has to take into account many factors, as for instance the number
of people that are employed, but in this respect we can also count
on important aid from Socialist countries.
There is one very important theme to be dealt with and
which also expresses, in numbers, the radical change that has
taken place in Cuba: foreign trade with the Socialist countries.
You all remember the phrase where Marti said that the country
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SCHOLARSHIPS GRANTED BY SOCIALIST COUNTRIES
TO CUBAN STUDENT'S, WORKERS AND TECHNICIANS
For students For workers
in other and technicians
fields
Soviet Union .. .
Other Socialist Countries
SENT BY SOCIALIST 'COUNTRIES T
ID -CUBA'S -DEVELOPMENT
From the Soviet Union ..
From Czechoslovakia ..
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that wishes to be a slave sells to only one country, and the coun-
try that wants to free itself trades with the whole world.
It is not that we wanted or didn't want to become slaves.
We were slaves, Seventy-five percent of our foreign trade was
with the United States alone, and we bought all items at the
price of gold while selling our sugar at a better price than. on
the world market. With that cover-up of the higher price of
sugar they had us hoaxed. Take for instance a practical
example: the United States buys sugar at 5.25 cents a pound, it
pays a higher price than the world market. Let us suppose that
the world market price is at that time 3 cents a pound; that is,
they buy the sugar for 5.25 cents while the world market price
is 3 cents a pound. Then the United States sells rice, a great
portion of the rice importation used to come from the United
States; here we were producing a more or less substantial amount,
,bolit 40 percent of our consumption, but 60 percent came from
the United States. That rice was paid for at 10 or 12 pesos a
hundred-pound weight; that is, 5.25 cents on one hand, 12 pesos a
hundred-pound weight on the other.
China, for example, buys our sugar at 4 cents a pound this
year; not at 3 cents a pound, which is the world market price
but at four cents: naturally, the United States bought our sugar
at 5.25 cents a pound, but the rice we buy from China costs' 5
pesos a hundred-pound weight, that is, less than half that of
the United States: as you may see --of course, the difference is
not so sharp in all cases? this is, in general, the explanation of
why the United States bought our sugar at a higher price, because
we were part of its internal market, and it controlled us here
and then distributed its products and prevented any national
production, because when some competitor raised his head here,
it immediately defeated him in a price war. They had preferential
customs tariffs, and no European products or very few could
enter here; only the production of some Yankees and Cubans
who had the courage to fight against Yankee power, in which
case, generally, they were defeated or became agents of impe-
rialism, which was very common. They did not fight any longer,
but became importers instead, or they had their production and
their importations', and thus, in that state of dependence, they
became accomplices of imperialism, and at the same time received
a share of its profits.
For instance, the Ariguanabo Textile Plant belonged to
Hedges. Hedges had then three businesses: the textile produc-
tion, the production of artificial fiber in Matanzas.. . for these
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two he received credits 1rom the State, he didn't spend his money;
but besides, he was the representative of the United States firms,
and was in charge of buying the cotton for the textile plants
and -also the fabrics for processing. He had another little business
of his own, contraband; that is, the whole thing was linked to-
gether, and naturally, the Yankees were very pleased with that
state of things. It is not only what a country spends in buying
things from the United States, but also that the United States
investments in Cuba returned again, as Hedgeg money. Hedges'
means of production were expropriated and lie wasn't able to
get them out, but all the money was in the United States; all
the money they stole here they took to the United States.
When they traveled, they traveled to the United States.
Then, Cuba was really a part of the United States territory,
the dollar was safe here, because, if the worst came to the
worst, it would remain here for a while, but from here it didn't
go any place. it inevitably returned to the United States. Natu-
rally, it was claimed that sugar was bought at 5.25 cents a pound,
but after they paid the 5.25 cents, then the United States indus-
trialists had their profit here, and that profit was exported back
there ?it was a free exchange. All that caused us to sell 75
percent of our production, to hold 75 percent of our trade with
the United States, and we had practically no trade with the
Socialist countries.
There is a table that clearly shows this situation and shows
the violent changes that have taken place in such a short time in
Cuba in order to adapt ourselves to the new conditions. In 1958,
before the triumph of the Revolution, Cuba sold some sugar to
the Soviet Union, for which the Soviet Union paid in dollars,
but Cuba didn't buy anything in return. Simply, the Soviet Union
needed sugar, it bought it from Cuba, nothing more; in 1958, for
instance, Cuban imports from Socialist countries amounted to 1
million pesos; in 1960, our imports from all Socialist countries
amounted to 136 million pesos, that is, from one year to the next
it went from 1 million pesos to 136 million pesos, not only
because of the contracts with the Soviet Union and China, but
because we also had to intensify our trade to prevent the blockade
that was already being hinted at in the United States.
For 1961, this year, trade is calculated to be 500 million
pesos, that is, there has been a complete change from ,one
extreme to the other, and today we trade mainly with the Socialist
world, not with one country, not with the Soviet Union only, but
with the Socialist world at large, with all the countries. Naturally,
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with the Soviet Union, the greatest and strongest, we have an
exchange of products for a total value of 270 million pesos; with
China, 117 millions; with Czechoslovakia, 30 millions; with Ger-
many, 25 millions; with Poland, 22 millions; with Hungary, 10
millions; Bulgaria, 7 millions. It adds up to 500 million pesos
going and 500 million pesos coming, because in our trade system
with Socialist countries no foreign exchange is used, the means
of the exchange is the product itself. We supply the sugar and
then bring back something they produce; that is how all the
contracts have been made.
The work has been very difficult, more than you can imagine,
because you would have had to be inside of the mechanism to
know what it meant that even in Revolutionary days the mentality
of Cuban businessmen, the mentality of Cuban executives, was
channeled towards the efficiency of private enterprise, and how
comfortable it was to phone Miami or cable New York and
ask for some raw material that would get here in one or two
days, that didn't even remain at the docks, but came in a freight-
car, on the ferry, and went directly to the factory.
We have had to make changes, eliminate private enterprise
in the import business, because it was a big hindrance; we have
had to change our trade organization entirely and direct it towards
Socialist countries. We have had to face the consequences, the
goods don't get here after a two-day trip anymore; before, we
didn't need storage room because the goods arrived immediately.
Now it is necessary to make two-month trips, at times three-
month trips, and we need to have big reserves against all con-
tingents. Besides, these countries have a planned economy, and
you have to place the orders at a certain time. You can't ask
for your orders, as was the case with the United States, from
one day to the next, because any businessman in the United
States who got an order was pleased, because he always had
more idle capacity around, ready to produce; in Socialist countries
the industrial capacity is totally in production, so you have to
plan the orders.
Nevertheless, in spite of the obstacles, in spite of the diffi-
culties, we have managed to change the system entirely, and
we have done it at a price that is difficult for you to appreciate,
but I assure you that it has been very important. We have
managed to change all out trade, while we changed ? our social
system, without affecting even the least important habits of the
Cuban people in the process... because there has not been a real
lack of some items that are absolutely superfluous (we are still
importing spare pieces for big automobiles),, as happened
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in all the countries of Europe when they began this change-over
to a planned economy and into a people's economy where the
owners of the means of production would be the people and not
private capitalists or foreign monopolies.
The battle has been hard and constant, there have been com-
plaints about the Bank Foreign Trade, some gaps have been
found; I assure you, however, that a real feat has been achieved.
Now a harder stage will come when, because of the blockade.
we'll be missing some raw materials, not for soap, or anything
of minor importance, regarding which production is normalized
now, but raw materials without which some factories may be
paralyzed, because our foresight has a limit, and the variety of
products that it was necessary to import from Socialist countries
was very extensive.
Further, because of a very special system, each subsidiary
plant here in Cuba didn't have the exact specifications of the
raw materials. For instance, lampblack; lampblack is used for
many things, but if another substance is added, then it's called
X. 17, or any other name, and then that has to be imported from
the United States, if we don't know what it's made of; Socialist
countries have a different nomenclature, and it is very difficult
to order it. That is why some factories have had to stop for
some time, a month, fifteen days, but by the middle of this year
we will have industrial production entirely normalized. All in
all, we can be highly pleased at having gone through such a
hard test with so few interruptions. It is one more proof of the
vitality of the Cuban Revolution, and it is also a proof of the
great solidarity of the whole world with the Cuban Revolution.
That is what makes this Revolution invincible and sets it as
an example for other peoples, but that also creates a responsibility
for us, which is that of being worthy of the example we have
set. We cannot sit down and ask friendly countries to solve our
problems, we have to improve constantly; one of the ways to
improve is to acquire more skills, we have to modernize our pro-
duction, and to acquire new skills, every one of us, a great amount
of skill. The lack of technicians in Cuba is already noticeable
today; a year ago engineers were selling insurance policies from
door to door, and today we can't find any more engineers, and
in about a year this lack will be really drastic, and then we'll
have to bring them from somewhere, or improvise them, but an
improvisation is never as good as a man with university expe-
rience, arid work experience; that is why all of you have to begin
thinking about studying and acquiring new skills within your
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profession, whether you remain in your military profession, where
you also have to acquire new skills, or within any civilian profes-
sion you Choose, where each day there is greater need for more
profound knowledge.
I have given you a very brief outlook of our relations with
the Socialist world, of what this aid, given in such a rapid,
effective and fraternal manner has meant for us, and what it will
mean for national development. Cuba is going to become,
from a country where there was nothing but sugar cane and,
mainly, some small sugar mills that are not sugar industries in
so far as modern technology is concerned, a really industrial
country, a country that is going to build its own vehicles, its
own machinery, machine-tools, that is going to build its own
ships, and where, simultaneously, agriculture will develop at a
dizzying speed. -
All this is done, first of all, because of the will of the people,
the union of the people, the correct leadership offered them by
. the Revolution, and, further, because of the fraternal aid of all
these European countries, some of which have made great sa-
crifices to buy our sugar, even though it was in a small quantity,
to prove their fraternity. Such is the case of Mongolia, a republic
lost in the great immensity of Asia, which has frontiers with
only the Soviet Union and China, which until a few years ago
was a country of shepherds, and which has progressed immensely,
but has no great industrial power. Yet, Mongolia has wanted
to buy one thousand tons of sugar from us, a very small quantity,
as a symbol of the fact that the whole Socialist world has been
marching alongside of us to support the Cuban Revolution, to
support it eyen militarily if necessary, which would be the
most unfortunate thing for all, because it would be a world
war, and to support it in this competition, which is also very hard,
of peaceful coexistence, or semi-peaceful coexistence (in our case
it is not so peaceful, because every day we have to shoot down
a plane, or chase away it at least, and bear arms and discover
terrorists).
The whole Socialist world is supporting us in this compe-
tition to prove to America, in the first place, and to the whole
colonial world, in the second, that a colonial country, no matter
how near the oppressing country, in this case the United States,
can free itself, and that if it conducts its Revolution correctly,
knows how to unite its people, and knows how to find the
fraternal aid of other countries that struggle for liberty every-
where in the world, it becomes invincible. That is one of our
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tasks, let's say, our foreign task: proving to America, to all our
brothers and sisters, those who speak the same language that we
do, what can be done when power is really taken, when the
instruments of oppression of the previous power, such as the
army, are annihilated, when the oppressing classes, the big land-
owning class and the great monopolies are liquidated, and the
people install themselves olidly in power.
The next task, the following task, is to work every day,
and organize, because all this requires constantly greater orga-
nization; every day it is proven that without organization no
progress can be made, and that the whole economic process and
the entire process of the country must be united in a central
planning board, to evaluate and balance all the component fac-
tors, being careful that what we call a botleneck does not occur,
that is, when forgetting about one field and developing another
field greatly, we are brought to a stop.
I think we have done it fairly well, it couldn't be expected
of us to do it perfectly this first year, but we all have to improve
ourselves; it is not a one-man task, it is not a task of the govern-
ment alone. It is a task of the people; the following task, the
' task of planning, is a task of the people in which everyone has to
participate. (APPLAUSE).
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EDITORIAL EN MARCHA
APARTADO POSTAL 6306.
LA HABANA, CUBA.
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PEOPLE'S
HERO
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CAMILO CIENFUEGOS
People's Hero
1962
YEAR OF PLANNING
HAVANA, CUBA
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CAM1LO
On October 28, 1959, Cuba lost one of her most glorious heroes,
Major Camilo Cienfuegos:
Member of the Granma expedition, courageous fighter in the Sierra
Maestra, chief of the Antonio Mace() Invasion Column, and of the
Rebel Army after the triumph of the Revolution, Camilo was the model
revolutionary, a worthy son of the working class who dedicated all his
effort and enthusiasm to the cause of liberating his land.
? .Today. Carnilo is a symbol of the Cuban people, an inspiration for
all lighters.
The workers who combat the imperialist embargo, who raise pro-
duction levels, who .create new .work procedures, regard Camilo as a
symbol, an inspiration. The thousands of young people who taught
illiterates to read and write in the mountains and valleys ,were carrying
out Camilo 's ideal. Those who wear the uniform of the National Militia
or the Revolutionary Armed Forces follow Camilo's example. As Fidel
explained, Camilo was a product of the people, and the people always
create newheroes.
When mercenaries paid by Yankee imperialism trod on Cuban soil
at. Playa Giron, each of our heroic fighters, each man who bore arms
ready to win, and won, each man who died 'defending the soil of his
country, was a Camilo.
Today Cuba is menaced once more. Imperialism grepares to attack
the rebel island .again.
But heroic Cuba will kneel only before the memory of her dead,
to 'tell them that she will defend her Revolution at all costs. Heroic
Cuba will win again and again, now and always, over the imperialist
aggressor. And Camilo'Cienfuegos, hero of the people, Will again be
the glorious inspiration of our combatants.
Camilo and those like him who died with the people foremost in
their thoughts will live forever in the memory of the people.
Long live the Socialist ReVQIPOPTI of Cobol Glory to Camilo
Cienfuegos
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Biography of a Hero
"Camilo was our comrade in a hundred battles, he en-,
joyed Fidel's full confidence in the most cliffItult mo-
ments of the war, he was a selfless fighter who always
employed self-sacrifice as an instrument to steel his
character and form the character of his troops."
(From the book Guerrilla Warfare, by Major Ernesto
Guevara.)
Camilo Cienfuegos was born in the Jesus del Monte district ol
Havana on February 6, 1952. He came from a humble home; his honest,
hardworking parents took great pains to assure their three children an
education. Camilo started public school at the age of five. In 1939 his
family moved to the Lawton district of Havana, where he was to grow
up. He attended Public School No. 105 up to the Fifth Grade. In school
and at home he learned about the history of his country and about the
Spanish Civil War; his parents, of Spanish origin, followed the dev-
elopments of the war closely. The study of the history of his country
and of the Spanish war left its trace on his character, which was
displaying the first sparks of rebellion.
Camilo's life was much like that of any other youngster; he had
friends in the neighborhood and at school, earning their affection
through his cheerful character and unselfishness. He gained a reputation
as a good baseball player.
After finishing elementary school, Camilo enrolled in Junior High
School No. 13 in the Vibora district, for the Seventh and Eight
Grades. At the age of 17 he began attending the San Alejandro Art
School, where he studied sculpture for a year. While a student at San
Alejandro, he began to work at the El Art? Store.
In 1935 he left for the United States, fleeing the tyranny and
seeking better living conditions. He was soon repulsed by the environ-
ment and the exploitation to which the working people were sub-
jected in the United States, and decided to return to Cuba. In 1934 the
student struggle against Batista intensified, Camilo was attracted by
the rebellious spirit of the youth who fought Batista's hirelings daily.
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He began attending political meetings, especially at the University of
Havana. On December 7, 1955, while participating in a demonstration,
he received a bullet wound in a foot. At the hospital he requested that
other comrades be treated first because my wound is not so impor-
tant.-
In December, 1955, unemployed, finger-printed by all repressive
forces, and witnessing the disorganization of the opposition, he had
to leave Cuba again. The Yankee way of life smothered him; he had
a very difficult time, working at all sorts of jobs.
In New York he read statements by Fidel Castro proclaiming the
need of armed struggle in order to free the country from the Batista
tyranny. He decided to go to Mexico, setting out with very little money.
In Mexico he joined the group which, led by Fidel, marked the birth
of liberation.
On December 2, 1956, he was one of the 82 men who landed at
Belie, province of Oriente, on the yacht Gramma. On December 5, at-
tacked by the tyrant's air force, the group arrived at Alegria de Pio,
where a bitter battle took place and the group was dispersed. Many
days later, in the middle of December, a group of combatants came
together and, led by Fidel, were heading for the peaks of the Sierra
Maestra mountains by the end of the month. Camilo, a plain soldier
in that group, proved to be an outstanding fighter in the La Plata
battle; he distinguished himself again at Palma Mocha and all en-
counters with the enemy. At the battle of El Uvero he was placed in
charge of a platoon, with the rank of lieutenant. The battles of Loin-
brito, Bueycito, and Pino del Agua were marked by his courage and
his qualities as a strategist.
After a few sporadic battles, Pino del Agua was attacked again.
In that combat, Camilo displayed great courage and fearlessness. He
reached the very trenches of the enemy. He practically grabbed the
weapons from their hands, attacking with true passion. In the middle
of the crash of battle he fell with a serious lung wound, another
bullet wound in a thigh, and fragments of shrapnel in his forehead.
Though critically hurt, he demonstrated his gallantry and nobility.
When they saw him, his men ran to help him and improvised a stret-
cher to carry him from the battlefield. But Camilo noticed another
wounded man at his side and ordered them to attend to him first. Seeing
that his order was not being followed, he said: -Either you carry him or
I will.- And they had to remove the wounded soldier first.
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After recovering, Camilo participated in the actions of Las Merce-
des and El Jique. When it was time to take the war to other fronts.
hs.: received the colossal task of taking it to the plains. On March 31.
leading an invading column, he left the mountains for the Bayamo
area, where he dealt blow after blow to the Batista army. In April,
1958, he was promoted to major, with the areas of Bayamo. Manzanillo,
and Victoria de las Tunas under his jurisdiction.
In the following months Camilo participated in the counter?
-
offensive which totally destroyed the forces sent in by Batista in his
determination to destroy the Rebel Army; Camilo was responsible for
many actions that humiliated and ridiculed the tyrant's pompous offi-
cer corps.
On August 18, Fidel signed the military order that put the Rebel
Army on the offensive for once and for all. Camilo and Che Guevara
were responsible for directing and carrying out the invasion of the
western provinces. The Antonio Maceo Column set out on August 21.
with Camilo heading it, while Che commanded the Ciro Redondo In-
vasion Column No. 8. On October 7, after numerous hardships in
which the troops and their glorious leader demonstrated extraordinary
heroism, the Antonio Mace? Column entered Las Villas. The combats
waged at Mayajigua. Placetas, Zulueta, and the hard-fought battle of
Yaguajay, made the forces of the tyranny feel the overwhelming presence
of the Rebel Army.
When the tyrant fled, the Invading Column received the order to
head for Havana and take the military camps of Columbia and La
Cabana. Camilo assumed command of the armed forces. Acclaimed by
the people as one of their genuine heroes, Camilo was deeply admired for
his spirit of sacrifice, his courage, and his loyalty to the Revolution.
When Hubert Matos turned traitor, Camilo carried out the order to
arrest him. Addressinethe people from Camaguey, he strongly con-
demned the divisionist treason, expressing himself as a true revolutionary,
who sees in unity the strength of the people and their cause.
On October 28, 1959, returning to Havana, the airplane in which
he was flying disappeared with all aboard. Stricken with grief, the
people searched incessantly for days. On November 12, the Prime
Minister of the Revolutionary Government. Major Fidel Castro, informed
them of the fruitless results of the search. His words drew a picture
of that extraordinary fighter: "Men like Camilo arise from the people
and live for the people. Our only compensation for the loss of such
a close comrade is the knowledge that the people of Cuba produce
men like him. Camilo lives and will live in the people."
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Report on the Invasion.
3
Pages from the field diary of Camilo Cienfuegos
? Plains of Santa Clara,
October 9, 1958
Fidel Castro Ruz,
Commander-in-Chief of the
.Revolutionary Forces;
Fidel, give everyone a big hug from me. After an involuntary
silence caused by the thousand mishaps of the march, today, after
. ,
having penetrated fifty kilometers into the province of Las Villas and
having found a rebel camp in the north, well organized and with
courageous men, although not enough weapons, the opportunity has
come for making the report that should have reached your hands some
time ago.
To begin with, I want to tell you that since we left the Cautu
region, heading westwards, we have traveled, without resting a single
night, for forty days, many times without' guides, with the southern
coast to orient us and a compass as a guide. The trip through that area
was disastrous. We marched, for fifteen days with water and mud up
to our knees; every night we had to evade ambushes and troops situated'
at places we had to cross.
In the thirty-one days that the trip through the province of Ca-
rnagiiey lasted, we ate only eleven times; even though this is the major
cattle zone of Cuba, after four days without any food, we had to eat
a mare, the best of our already depleted cavalry.
Almost all of the food stayed in the marshes and swamps of the
southern coast.
We haven't heard from Che in twenty-two days. The last news
Was on the 16th of last month, when eight comrades and later on some
others from his troops joined us after a combat in a place known as
Cuatro Companeros.
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Yesterday we arrived at this rebel camp, where we were given a
marvelous welcome by its chief, Felix Torres, who showered us with
attentions. Waiting for Che, they had placed guides all around the
province. A 26th of July group also operates in this area, with which
we have already made contact.
Today they tell me that Che left the Baragua area, although he is
marching very slowly, due to the physical condition of his men; this
news is still unconfirmed. We passed through the same place and we
know it well; it is terrible, the sea and the marshes are at one side:
in front is the Lituabo River, with only one crossing-place, the Can-
tarrana bridge, where there were three ambushes of twenty men each,
a half kilometer away from one another; the Baragua, Jagiteyal and
Stewart sugar mills are to the north, with a great number of soldiers,
and numerous ambushes the length of the line. To the rear of the
Baragua line is the wharf of the same name, with several ambushes that
they placed there after we penetrated to that point. The tyranny has
placed, and I am not exaggerating, about seven hundred soldiers there.
The tactic followed by the army was to let us pass to the Lituabo River,
shut the exit, and give us a blow that would prevent the Antonio
Maceo Invading Column from advancing to its goal.
During the crossing of the province of Camaguey we had a total
of three encounters with the mercenary army of the tyranny, in which
we did not suffer any casualties. However, we lost Lieutenant Zenen
Marino, who was taken prisoner when he was scouting for a guide in
the vicinity of the Aguilera Rice Mill. We also lost Lieutenant Delf In
Moreno. the one who delivered our messages when we were operating
in the Cauto area, when he was surprised by the army in a house,
along with soldier German Barret? (Grandfather) who managed to
escape, although he could not make contact with our troops; we lost
a number of documents, including the field diary of the days we spent
in the low lands the first time. This happened when the rest of the
troops were not able to reach the spot where we were supposed to meet
in the forest, since the guide who was to take us lost his way for more
than two hours in a canefield. Dawn caught us there, making it impos-
sible to reach the rendezvous-point due to the great number of houses
in the neighborhood. This happened the morning after we crossed the
line from JUcaro10 Moron, where we burned and destroyed the water-
supply plant at Ciego de Avila, after a small skirmish where an army
corporal died and we took a soldier prisoner, seizing two Springfield
rifles. two cartridge belts, and two pistols.
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Now for a detailed report of some of the most important events
that happened during the crossing of the province of Camaguey by
the Invading Column.
We crossed the Jobabo River in the south, on September 7, before
midnight. On the eighth we avoided meeting up with a small ambush
that the army had placed in the village of Tana, waiting for a group
of gunners who were said to operate in that zone; it was with this am-
bush that Che had an encounter, when he passed through that area. We
reached the La Federal woods without any problem. Early in the morn-
ing shots were heard sporadic shooting keeping up for over two hours,
which made us think that the army was advancing along the road
that we had taken the night before.
A little while later, we received a message from Che that his men
had clashed with them, with the result of two dead and one injured
on our part and two dead and five taken prisoner on their part; seven
rifles were captured. After that, the Ciro Redondo Column, com-
manded by Che Guevara, joined us and together we set out for the
woods in the vicinity of the Francisco sugar mill.
On the night of the tenth we left our cavalry, which was composed
of more than seventy horses, and we set out in trucks. One kilometer
from the railroad of the Francisco sugar mill, scout squad no. 1, com-
manded by Captain Guerra, came across a jeep full of soldiers coming
from the sugar mill; we immediately took the necessary measures think-
ing that we had fallen into an ambush, since the army knew our route;
that same afternoon two hundred and fifty soldiers had arrived from
Camaguey; we cut the telephone wires and took up combat positions,
the jeep fled and everything ended with our troops crossing rapidly.
The overflowing river stopped us. and we had to camp in the
forest by the Macaretio sugar mill. The following night, we undertook
the trip again, in other trucks. After many attempts to draw out the
trucks in the mud, we took to the highway that goes from Santa Cruz
to Camaguey, which is always patrolled by enemy jeeps,. After mar-
ching two kilometers along that highway, we turned off onto the road
that goes to Cuatro Compatieros, having to stop again due to finding
the Najasa River overflowing; the trucks returned and we camped
nearby.
On the thirteenth, we reached the Forestal woods, near the town
of Cuatro Compaiieros. Quite early we were sure that enemy troops
were on our trail, although they did not reach the place where we
were; we had already taken the necessary measures in case there was
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combat. The railroad line and the telephone lines from Camaguey to
Santa Cruz would be cut at the moment of the first shot. At seven
P.M. we emerged from the woods; a few kilometers away we reached
a road. Scarcely had we crossed the bridge when a strong explosion
was heard, followed by volleys of machine gun fire and rounds from
automatic rifles. We all threw ourselves to the ground rapidly; the
lead platoon, headed by Captain Guerra, answered the enemy fire.
The house and near-by area from which the shots came were sur-
rounded. That was enough for Batista's troops to withdraw, taking
several wounded with them. We were not able to determine their
number, but in several places there were traces of blood. It is necessary
to point out the firm decision and courage with which our guide led
us at that time.
We camped for the day. On the first we learned that Che's
column had fallen into an ambush in the same town of Cuatro Corn-
paiieros.
That same afternoon we met a group of nine comrades who had
lost contact with the troops; three of them were officers who marched
with us from that moment on. Together with those comrades came two
young gunmen who had served them as guides, leading them to us.
They turned out to be the men who were assaulting and robbing in
the name of the 26th of July Revolutionary Movement: Eclel Casanas,
seventeen years old, and Maximo Quevedo, nineteen. They were de-
clared guilty of the crimes of assault and robbery, not being able to
deny their guilt before their victims; they were tried and condemned
to death.
On the eighteenth, we headed for the bridge where we were
going to cross the San Pedro River, already explored by the scouts,
where enemy troops and two cannons were found, as well two hundred
soldiers and several ambushes at the Castillo farm. We crossed the
Altamira river, which was very high, being forced to make rope brid-
ges and rafts in order to send over weapons and equipment. There,
where we were planning to spend several days, our position was dis-
covered by two men who fled when they saw us; we were able to
confirm later on that they were soldiers.
At dawn on the 20th we reached a small forest on the Trinidad
farm, three kilometers from the La Yagua river, crossed by the highway
that goes to Vertientes, and we passed the railroad line that goes
from the Agramonte sugar mill to the beach, or port, of Santa Maria;
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the tyrant's troops had ambushes ready on the road that goes to the
beach, at the Trinidad store, at Tres del Caney, and at Seis de Agra-
monte?a total of six hundred mercenaries.
On the 21st we crossed the fine of ambushes that they had pre-
pared for us from the Santa Maria beach to the Agramonte sugar mill.
When a comrade fell off a horse, he accidentally shot off a San
Crist?bal automatic rifle. Days later, when we arrested a soldier, we
learned that a group of soldiers stationed there saw us, heard the shot
and our signals, and did nothing to stop us. This is the most palpable
demonstration that the Batista army does not want to fight and that
its bungling is increasing and its morale lower every clay.
That night we camped on the Ceiba farm, belonging to the Ver-
tientes Company, near the road that leads to Florida; a hundred and
fifty soldiers were camping two kilometers from us on the same farm.
At midday we heard shots and the sounds ofjeeps on the line; it all
turned out to be the moving of troops to intercept our next step. At
night we went along the road that goes from Santa Maria to Florida,
which is patrolled constantly, and had no problems.
On the 24th (Wednesday), Lieutenant Zenen Marifio, accompa-
nied by a prisoner called Fernandez, went to explore the area and try
to find some peasant who would guide us, since we were lost. That
afternoon the air force bombed intensively a small forest some kilo-
meters away from us. Comrade Zenen did not return, since he was
captured by the soldiers; although the air planes were bombing, our
position was not disCovered, showing that our comrade knew how to
behave like a valiant revolutionary, not revealing our location.
The situation became graver, since we we had to continue the
march without a guide. We kept going for two nights, walking along
the coast with a compass as a guide. After walking at night, we
camped in a forest ?Nye were lost again. We placed Lieutenant De'fin
Moreno with a squad in a forest two kilometers from where we were,
with orders to stop anyone who came along the highway, in order to
get a guide. After waiting all morning without anyone passing, he
headed to che rice mill area, and located three workers, explaining to
them that he was lost and that he needed someone to guide him out
of the place; one of the three, Edilio Sanabria, a big moon-faced Negro,
offered to go in search of a certain person who knew the area. But he
turned out to be a first class informer. Instead of bringing the guide,
he brought the tyrant's troops, thus preventing us from finishing roasting
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.
? MOIL
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the mare that we had slaughtered for food, after four days without
eating. Lieutenant Moreno escaped to where we were, leaving the soldiers
firing heavily at the empty forest for twenty-three hours.
Led by workers from the rice mill, we left the place where the
soldiers were attacking an empty forest, fighting with a valor seldom
seen.
We beaded towards the house of some charcoal-makers, where
we found five men who were not worth anything; one of them began
to cry, the situation was difficult, and we had to take them with us so
that they would guide us out of the place. They took us to a forest,
where we camped, while in the distance we heard the constant rounds
against the besieged forest.
A squad of scouts located a house where, aside from food, we got
a guide, a guide for one league; .none of them were any good.' That
night we crossed the line that goes from the Baragua sugar mill to
the wharf of the same name.
A few kilometers from the line we found a guide whom we were
told was an informer, but could lead us to the bridge over the Lituabo
river, since the marshes on the coast are impassable, and the river
cannot be crossed on foot. Considering that we would not be able to
reach a place to camp before night, after passing the bridge, and
having a certain distrust in the crossing point, we decided to camp
before crossing, in order to send a scout the next day to that dangerous
point. Ambushes were placed at a certain distance from our camp, since
we knew that the foreman of the farm was a consummate rogue, who had
handed in people in the August 5 strike. At three in the afternoon a
sentinel caught three men who pretended to be peasants. After long
individual questioning, they fell into contradictions; two of ,them were
wearing military boots. All denied belonging to the army; the young-
est, Enrique Navarro Herrera, was the foreman of the farm. When
they were told that they, had to take us along the bridge, marching
in front, they confessed to being corporal Juan Trujillo Medina and
soldier Jesias Pino Barrios, of unit 22 of the Rural Police, Agramonte
Regiment No. ,2; the other, foreman Navarro Herrera, acting as the
stool pigeon he was, was the spies' guide. Corporal Trujillo detailed
fully all the ambushes that five companies (over 500 soldiers) had
placed for us along the bridge, all along the line from the beach to
the Baragua sugar mill, and from the sugar mill to the Central High-
way; even if we broke through those ambushes, they had others all
along the line as far as the Stewart sugar mill, and from Stewart to
Rican).
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As Corporal Trujillo was the one who had placed the ambushes,
and as he had the most knowledge of the whole area, since he had
thirty years service there, we told him that the only way he had to
save his life was to take us out of there without firing a shot. The cor-
poral explained that the only way to escape the ambushes was to head
for the north and cross the Central Highway, 25 kilometers away, be-
tween the small towns of Gaspar and Colorado, not very far from Ciego
de Avila. Corporal Trujillo undoubtedly turned out to be the best .of
the guides, since he led us without any problem by an endless number
of ambushes and near the Baragua army post, where there were over
200 soldiers.
After walking a twisting and turning 50 kilometers, we got very
near the Central Highway before daybreak, and we decided to stay
at a canefield 200 meters from the highway and about 24 kilometers
from Ciego de Avila.
At dawn we sent the medical captain of the column to Ciego de
Avila to establish contact with the local leadership of the 26th of July
Movement in order to get a supply of food, medicine, guides and trucks
which we needed in order to move forward in the direction of restless
Las Villas province.
We waited under intense rain until 12 midnight: at that time,
our presence there being known in Ciego de Avila, and considering
the danger of remaining in that open area, we decided, in spite of the
late hour and the muddy roads, to seize some trucks and get as far
away as possible from such an inhospitable area, running the natural
risk, mainly, that the trucks would get stuck in the mud and that we
would be located through them.
Late at night, at 12:50, we sent to a nearby village for some trucks.
We moved forward in them on a very bad road, constantly getting
stuck and delaying our journey a great deal. At dawn we reached
another small village, and we were forced to occupy the 30 homes
composing it. The inhabitants were frightened because they thought
that the army might show up at any moment. Shortly afterwards they
overcame their fears and spoke amicably with the Rebels. We placed
guards and ambushes in the village, far enough away so that the resi-
dents would not run any risk, and strong enough to repel the enemy.
Everyone was aware of the great danger of the army entering the village
and another act of barbarity. burning down the houses and
killing the residents. At school there were over 40 children. At first
all cried and wanted to go home. That clay, the teacher had not at-
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tended school due to the impossible road conditions. A rebel, Captain
Alfonso Sanchez (Pinares) gave classes and distributed soft drinks,
sweets, notebooks and some change among the children. Then i hey
were all happy. Among the children we found some happy hours that
made us forget the fatigue and hardships of the previous night.
When time came to go home, one boy refused to go; crying, he
wanted to go with us or have us come back on the following day. They
all sang the National Anthem and promised that every Friday they
would place flowers before the-bust of Jose Marti at the school, and
that on the following day they would ask the teacher to speak to ihem
of Jos?arti, why he struggled and why he died.
That night we had to cross the historic area of Jercaro-Moron.
The men, filled with patriotic fervor, waited impatiently for the
time to depart. At seven o'clock we began the difficult task of driving
out on the stranded trucks. It was late when we crossed the highway
from Moron to Ciego de Avila.
At 12:30 A.M. on September. 31 we crossed the area. All the
men crossed it on foot, the trucks following behind. Since the trucks
were almost out of gas, we went to get some near the waterworks of
Ciego de Avila. As we were passing, we saw a man in the shade, carry-
ing a rifle, who tried to hide himself. We told him to stop, but he
managed to get into a house. We surrounded it and told him to surren-
der; we didn't want to kill him or wound the woman who was crying
inside. The man finally opened the door; he was a soldier. Jos?. Ruiz
Cruz, of Unit 23 of the Rural Police of Ciego de Avila, 54, with
11 years in service, married. He surrendered and handed over a Spring-
field rifle and a Luger pistol with ammunition. Through him we learned
of the presence of two other soldiers in the area, and we surrounded
the house of Corporal Domingo Montejo Pernut, of the same Rural Po-
lice unit. Ruiz called him from the outside, so he would not suspect
our presence, but Montejo was suspicious and came out through the
back door, opening fire against Lieutenant Walfrido Perez, who aimed
at him with his Browning automatic rifle and shot when attacked;
the Corporal died with the first round fired against him, we had no
casualties, and neither did the family inside. We took the corporal's
Springfield rifle, ammunition and a pistol. The other soldier, Leandro
Castellanos Brito, ran away in a great rush, in his underwear. Im-
mediately afterwards the waterworks at Ciego de Avila was set on
fire, and the city was left without water for several days.
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The Rebel troops inmediately got on the trucks and set off on
the road to Marroqui. A few kilometers clown the road we had to
leave the trucks, since they were stuck and it was almost clay. On the
road we found a man with a team of oxen, who offered to guide us
to a nearby forest where we could spend the day. Since the oxen had
to be taken elsewhere, along a different road, we assigned Lieutenant
Delfin Moreno and soldier German Barreto (Grandfather) the task of
taking them there, while the rest of the troops marched towards the
area where we were to camp. After two hours of walking along a road,
the guide lost his way and it became impossible to continue the march.
A great many houses surrounded the canefieId where we were, and
we decided to camp in it until nightfall, At seven A.M. a reconnais-
sance plane flew over, locating the abandoned trucks, two kilometers
away. At 11:50 A.M. a rebel reconnaissance patrol discovered a great
number of soldiers at the river that we had crossed a few hours before.
At that time, six trucks loaded with the dictator's soldiers rode along a
road about 800 meters from where we were. About noon a great many
soldiers passed very near our guards; all our men, in a state of alert,
were placed in a defensive line throughout the canefield where we
were camped. The sun was scorching; the men did not move from
?
their positions, so that our location would not be discovered. At about
4 P.M., more or less, we heard strong fire about 4 or 5 kilometers away;
the constant going and coming of trucks showed the soldiers' eagerness
to discover our position. In the evening we had to cross a truly dan-
gerous area, without any knowledge of where the enemy might be.
At 7 P.M. we started off; after several hours of walking we were out
of danger. We were all eager to establish contact with the comrades
who had left our troops; all had the same thought in mind ?whether
the shots we heard in the afternoon had been directed at them. They
were, A truck filled with soldiers reached the house where they were,
surprising Lieutenant Moreno, who was machinegunned by the soldiers.
Soldier Barret? managed to escape, since he was not inside the house.
That grave accident cost the life of one of our most courageous men,
and caused the loss of some documents and the field diary of the months
when we operated in the Cauto area, when the column reached the
plains for the first time. Deeply hurt by the loss of our comrade, we
continued marching, reaching the forest where we were td camp about
4 A.M. Following security measures, we did not let anyone see us;
we were not even interested in eating..EverYone was eager to reach
Las Villas. It was near, and that gave us the necessary strength to
continue forward. At nightfall we reached a house where we got a
guide who could lead us on the road. That night we crossed the road
from Marroqui to Majagua. In that area we found more resolute men
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who were ready to cooperate in any manner. We received many visitors
in our camp, and got three recruits, making a ztotal of seven for .the
province of Camaguey.
When we Crossed the border separating the two provinces a few
clays later, some men were still carrying two rifles. There we were
informed that five youths riding in a car on the highway from Marroqui
to Majagua had been murdered by the tyrant's troops. The night
before, at twilight, trucks carrying soldiers had met on that toad; in
their confusion, each thinking the others were rebels, they opened
fire against each other, causing five deaths and several wounded.
A great number of soldiers fled in "confusion and reappeared on the
following day. Their line was that they had been attacked by the rebels.
and they asked the local farmers for protection as far as the nearest
army post. That night we walked little and ate a great deal. 'We
reached Americanos hill at 2 A.M. There began the hills, reminding
us of our beloved Sierra Maestra Mountains, our many beloved com-
rades hundreds of kilometers away who were with us in our thoughts.
At seven in the evening we began the walk to Las Villas. Due to the
cowardice of the guides the trip was very long. One of them, Jesus
LOpez, a volunteer, who was armed with a Wincheiter and a revolver,
and who had been passing for a revolutionary and a rebel for some
time, fled when he found out that on the road we had to cross there
were two ambushes of forty soldiers each, and that we had to cross in
between. Through the guide's mistake, we almost wound up in . the
town of Florencia. We had to cut through a number of fences, which
allowed our presence there to be discovered.. We camped two kilometers
from restless and hospitable Las Villas.
Dawn was foggy and rainy. Camaguey bid farewell to us the same
way it had welcomed us ?with a storm. That was the only night we
rested after marching 40 days. The Jatibonico river had overflown and
this prevented us from crossing it; we had to return to our previous
camp beneath torrential rain and strong winds. We spent the night in
several houses there. The next day we had food prepared. The fol-
lowing reports reached us, one ofter the other: that the army was coming
near; that soldiers were moving in all directions; that the roads were
blocked; that soldiers from Ramones, Boquerones and Florencia had
'joined to form a line that would prevent us from crossing to Las Villas.
But nothing could prevent our crossing, neither the overflowing rivers
nor the hundreds of soldiers who were said to be moving about us.
2.1
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We put a rope. across the Jatibonico; the water vas: chest-high
and:the ? current was strong. Ikised the .soil of. Las Villas-, ,and all
the men were delirious with joy. A small part of .our misSion had been
fulfilled. Camaguey and its difficult moments were behind us. Cama-
guey and its hours of hunger Were -behind us. In regard .to. this, during
the 31 days of marching through that province we only ate eleven
times, including the day we ate a raw mare without salt.
In that manner we "achieved one of the greatest revolutionary mi-
litary triumphs-, since, despite the numerous troops of the dictatorship
who tried to exterminate us, we had crossed the long distance from
Oriente. to Las. Villas withonly three casualties.
Signed: 'Camilo Cienfuegos
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"An entire people are ready to die before
living on their knees.. .99
Last speech delivered by. Major Camilo Cienfuegos on
October 26. 1959. before a gigantic rally held in front
of the Presidential Palace, two days before his disap-
pearance.
People of Cuba:
As high and mighty as the Sierra Maestra mountains are the rev-
olutionary consciousness, dignity, and valor of the people of Cuba.
today assembled at this huge rally held in front of this presidential
palace, now revolutionary, of the people of Cuba.
The invincible Turquino peak is today, and will always be, the
model for the Cuban people's support of their Revolution. It is shown
this afternoon that the treacherous and cowardly treasons carried out
against this people and this Revolution do not matter: that the merce-
nary airplanes that come here manned by war criminals and protected
by powerful interests of the United States government do not matter.
because our people do not let themselves be confused by traitors, they
do not fear the mercenary aircraft, as the rebel troops, when they were
advancing to the offensive, did not fear the aircraft of the dictatorship.
This huge rally confirms the irrevocable faith of the Cuban people
in this government, because we know that the Cuban people will not
let themselves be confused by the campaigns conducted by the enemies
of the Revolution: because the people of Cuba know that for each
traitor who appears there will be a thousand rebel soldiers who are
ready to die defending the liberty and sovereignty won by the people.
We see signs and we hear these valiant people saying: "Forward.
Fidel, Cuba is with you!"
And today the Rebel Array, the men who fought in the mountains,
men who do not sell out to money, who a not frighten, tell him:
"Forward. Fidel, the Rebel Army is with you!"
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This demostratton oi the people, these workers, these tanners.
these students who have come to this rally today, give us the strength
to continue on with the Revolution, to continue on with the Agrarian
Reform, and nothing and no one will halt us. Because it is shown
today that just as twenty thousand Cubans died to achieve this liberty
and sovereignty, an entire people are ready to die if necessary before
living on their knees.
Because in order to stop this deeply. Cuban Revolution, an entire
people will have to be killed. And if that should come to pass, these
lines of Bonifacio Byrne will be reality:
If one day my flag
Is cut into tatters,
Our dead, upraising their arms,
Will still defend it..."
The traitors do not matter, the enemies of the Revolution do not
? matter, the interests that try to confuse a people who do not let them
selves be confused do not matter, for our people know that twenty
thousand Cubans died for this Revolution, died to end abuse, to end
hunger, to end all the agony that the Republic of Cuba endured for
over fifty years.
The enemies of the Revolution should not think that we are going
to halt, the enemies of the Revolution should not think that our people
are going to halt: those who man the airplanes should not think that
we are going to get down on our knees and bow our heads.
Only once will we get down on our knees, only once will we bow
our heads.., and that will be the day when we kneel before the tombs
where twenty thousand Cubans are buried to tell them: Brothers. the
Revolution has won, your blood was not shed in vain!
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EMP. CONS. DE ARTES GRAFMAS
CMN. DE INDUSTRIAS3
UNIDAD 1217
FOMENTO 114, LUYANO. HABANA
EDICIONES. MINREX
HABANA, .CIJBA ?
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COMMITTED
? TO
OUR
OWN
PRINCIPLES
EDITORIAL EN MARCHA
AO DE LA PLANIFICACION
1 9 6 2
APARTADO POSTAL 6386.
LA HABANA, CUBA.
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Cuba's participation in the Conference of Non-Aligned Countries.
recently held in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, showed once More the one and
only commitment of our Revolution to its principles aid the people.
Our country attended the meeting to mise its voice once more in
defense of peace and brothevhood among peoples. Consequently,
President Dorticos, when delivering his speech, was able to announce
that Cuba would spare no efforts toward the success of the Conference.
These efforts_materiajized in the examination of the main international
problems presently facing the ,world. From this examination
resulted the confirmation of Cuba's views, so many times expressed,
particularly before the United Nations.
The appearance at Belgrade had happy consequences for the de-
velopment of the sessions. President Dorticos recalled Marti's advice
that one should approach problems with sleeves rolled up, as the
butcher does with the meat. Cuba maintained its inflexible line of
fearlessly declaring the truth in public, at any moment.
The speech of our President is a model of systematic and planned
exposition. For this reason, and because it was weighty, full of
content, the speaker could convey to the minds of the participants in
the Conference the unquestionable justice of the causes defended by
our country.
The voice of Cuba was the voice of a people standing up in defense
of peace and against imperialism, colonialism in every form and race
discrimination, and for the final elimination of exploitation of man by
mar!.
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Mr. President,
Heads of State and Government:
Let my first words be an expression of my feelings of gratitude
towards the Yugoslav people, the Government of this country, and
specially towards President Josip Broz Tito, for the cordial and fra-
ternal welcome that has been accorded us. It is also my desire to use
this rostrum, in the name of my people, to pay a tribute of admiration
to the heroic tradition of the Yugoslav people, and state our sincere
desire for their progress and welfare.
When the Revolutionary Government of Cuba was invited to
participate in the preparatory meeting of this conference it did not
hesitate in offering its affirmative answer. This is not the first time
? once the Revolution had triumphed and had earned for the nation
the sovereign power of deciding its own international conduct, and had
ended the relations of obedience which, formerly tied the interna-
tional policy of my country to the directives of an imperialist country?
that Cuba participates in talks or meetings with countries from other
continents not ,bound by military pacts or otherwise to a policy of
alignment -with either, group of nations.
Furthermore; Cuba has advocated that in the international scene,
at the time of debating the problems that -today excite the anguished
attention of all peoples of the world, the voices of the non-aligned
nations and the economically under-developed countries be -heard.
In fact, it would suffice ,to remember the attitude .of Cuba at the
meeting in Tunis in January, 1960,-sPeCially the initiative of the Cuban
Government, shown right after the discussion in the Fourteenth Ses-
Sion of ,the General Assembly of the United Nations of the Algerian
question, to bring about an international meeting of under-indus-
trialized countries. Likewise, -on the occasion of the Summit Meeting,
Which later failed, the Revolutionary' Government submitted to the
cconsideration of the statesmen of the Great Powers certain points of
view regarding the urgent need to establish on a world scale the appro-
plate principles, so that the ideal of peaceful coexistence would become
a reality and would reach and benefit, not only the nations which, be-
cause of their power, occupy the first positions on the world scene,
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but also 'those which strti'ggie to defeat the grave and complex diffi-
culties that have arisen front their inadequate- ecOtioinic developnient.
,
-Our enthusiastic attendance at this meeting should. cause no.
_ ?
surprise, not only because all necessary _conditions for our participation
were present in our case, but because the subjects on the agenda of
this conference have constituted the ,essential concern . of the Cuban,
Government. On. each of the questions - which this illustrious.:
meeting will discuss, the Government _of Cuba, following the firm:
principles of its foreign policy, has 'fixed, with extraordinary precision,
its opinion and its conduct. :Therefore, :Cuba: has dome.to this' ,COnfe7
rence to reiterate its points of view stated on :many occasions,-specially'
in the forum of the United Nations . She is likewise here.- to ekert,
her best efforts towards achieving positive and -practical results 'in
this meeting which may really, contribute -to- the peaceful solution.of
the problems that mankind is facing today in an atmosphere charged
with drama, and also charged with hope.
COMMITTED TO OUR
OWN PRINCIPLES
Gathered in Belgrade are the representatives of the countries,
which are not aligned or committed in military pacts. This means
that in Belgrade those countries are represented that have advocated
an independent foreign policy, without any commitments whatsoever
with those which take part in military alliances conclUded within _the
sphere of conflict between the Great Powers. But this does not ran
that we are not committed to our own principles. Those of us ,who
have the honor to represent our countries, which are peace loving
countries that struggle to assert their sovereignty and reach their full
national development, are committed, in short, to respond to those
vital aspirations and not to betray those? principles. Therefore, Cuba
proclaims her purpose of fulfilling those commitments and her confi-
dence that all who are here today share her intentions.
It must not be forgotten that this conference is being held
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when significant progress is being made in the work for peace, in the
struggle against colonialism and imperialism, and for the development
of the backward countries. Surely, this. meeting would not have been
convoked if we had not had the antecedents of other historical meetings
that mark significant milestones in the struggle for peace, for the
independence of the peoples, and for civilized coexistence. The con-
ferences of Bandung, Cairo, Accra, Tunis, Leopoldville and Casa-
blanca, constitute- precedents without which we would not have been
able to meet in Belgrade today.
But we cannot ignore that in spite of all these efforts, in spite of
the appearance of new independent states, in spite of the powerful
movement for the liberation of the peoples, in spite of the entry of
new countries in the United Nations Organization, and in spite of the
awakening of. the conscience of the people, which spurs us forward to
the inevitable destiny of liberty of the peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin
America, grave dangers and the survival of age-old evils threaten the
world's future.
The dangers of a nuclear war have increased. Disarmament ne-
gotiations have not progressed. The eradication of colonialism has
ceased in Asia and Africa, and new methods of exploitation of the
peoples are promoted through the economic, political and military
penetration of neo-colonialism. In those continents and in Latin
America, through different channels and in many forms, political and
economic imperialism, in its last dying gasps, is preparing to drown in
blood and poverty the national liberation movements. International
perfidy, bribery on a world scale, and warmongering are the instru-
ments that the colonialist and imperialist countries use with inhuman
preference.
This Conference must face up to those signs of universal
holocaust, exploitation, colonial domination and violence. But it is of
vital importance that we define in advance how we shall proceed to do
this. The prdblems of peace, disarmament, peaceful coexistence,
colonialism and neo-colonialism, of the independence of nations, are
not abstract problems. These are not problems that can be solved
through mere declarations of principles that many can subscribe to and
very few are ready to fulfill.
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APPROACHING TRUTH
WITH SLEEVES ROLLED UP
Each of these problems has a name and an expression of its own.
Cuba invites all participating countries to abandon general declarations
in favor of the consideration of concrete problems. It is well that, upon
ending this conference, we should adopt resolutions and declarations
of principles. It is well that we should formulate general standards of
international conduct aimed at overcoming those evils. But this is not
enough. It is also necessary that our voice be heard and that we fix
our respective positions with regard to each of the concrete problems
that affect peace, the liberation of the peoples and the development of
nation's.
This Conference would lose effectiveness in the degree that we
speak a language of diplomatic hypocrisy and elusive reservations.
Therefore, Cuba urges all delegations to follow the advise of our
national hero, Jos?arti, to approach truth with sleeves rolled up.
as the butcher does with the meat.
One of the subjects which we must emphasize is that of self-de-
termination of the peoples in the struggle against imperialism, colo-
nialism and neo-colonialism. In the resolution approved by the
General Assembly during its fifteenth session the need to end, rapid
ly and unconditionally, colonialism in all its forms and manifestations.
was solemnly proclaimed. It is the duty of this conference to examine
whether this solemn declaration of the United Nations Organization
is. being respected by the colonialist and imperialist countries. It is
also its duty to adopt pertinent measures and resolutions in order to
achieve the eradication of colonialism within a given term, as said
resolution demands.
Let us ask ourselves, therefore, whether there is really a sincere
conduct on the part of the colonialist and imperialist countries and a
true desire to obey the decision of the United Nations Organization.
The Conference must make clear that such conduct does not exist and
that, far from obeying that decision, methods of perfidy and violence
are used so that the forms of colonial exploitation may survive and
new forms of imperialist domination may be created.
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In spite of the declaration of the United Nations Organization and
the specific resolutions adopted with regard to the Algerian case, it is
intended to drown the aspirations of liberty of the Algerian people in
more blood, and war is maintained by the French Government with
the complicity of other imperialist countries and without the slightest
shame. That is why I ask myself: how are we to carry into life the
principles of which I spoke in the 'beginning, if this Conference does
not condemn once more French colonialism and adopts resolutions
aimed at guaranteeing a future of independence to the heroic Algerian
people?
How can we speak here of respect for the right of peoples and
nations to self-determination, and of respect for the sovereignty and
integrity of States, if we do not adopt resolutions condemning the
Portuguese colonialist genocide in Angola?
How could we condemn colonialism and neo-colonialism in this
conference again, if we do not condemn in a concrete manner the crime
of Algeria, the crimes of Angola, Mozambique, Laos and Tunis? Is it
possible that we should forget to state our views regarding the need
to hasten talks on Laos, so that a neutral and independent Laos,
without foreign interferences, may result from them?
? ON GUARD AGAINST "CLIENTELE
SOVEREIGNTY"
Is it possible to overlook aggression against the integrity of a
country, such as the aggression against West Irian?
Shall we cease to demand the withdrawal of British troops from
the Kuwait territory? How could we proclaim again in this conference
the sacred principles of self-determination of the peoples and the
independence and integrity of the States, if we did not air here the
imperialist behavior of the Government. of the United States in the
face of the national struggle of liberation of the Cuban people, whom
I represent? How could we proclaim these Principles without con-
demning the bombings of our cities and the invasion of our country by
mercenary forces equipped, financed, organized and directed by the
United States imperialist government?
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How can we possibly declare the universal need of peaceful co-
existence among nations, whatever their social .and political regimes
may be, if we do not also praclaim that this principle is not only appli-
cable to the Great Powers, but to all nations on any of the continents?
It is therefore necessary that we deal with all these concrete
situations, and thus guarantee the effectiveness of this Conference.
I believe we should take special care in considering the subtle
proceedings with which the imperialist countries. intend to promote the
survival of the colonial exploitation of the peoples. Many nations have
earned the title of independent states, and have obtained their political
liberty, but these nations come into international juridical existence with
a limited economic and social development, and circumstances are
The President of the Republic. Dr. Osvaldo Dottie& Torrado. Head of the Cuban
Delegation to the Conference of Non-Aligned Countries. and Dr. Raid Roa Garcia,
Minister of Foreign Relations, are welcome by losip Broz Tito, President of the
Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, upon their arrival at BAgrade.
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therefore extremely favorable for attempts to mutilate the economic
independence of those countries and limit their political liberty.
Through pretended economic assistance that misdirects the national
development and establishes political conditions, or through the obli-
gation imposed on the new countries of taking part in military blocs,
or through the establishment of strategic bases in their territories, the
hateful forms of neo-colonialism appear which today threaten the Afro-
Asiatic countries, and that is why it is timely to cite the words of
President Nkrumah, when during the last session of the United Nations
General Assembly he reiterated his constant warning to the African
countries to be on guard against what he called "clientele sovereignty,"
or false independence granted by the metropolitan Power with the
hidden intention of making the liberated country a client State by
means not necessarily political.
It is therefore imperative that the countries which are gathered
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The Heads of the
Delegations
attending the
j Belgrade
Conference.
Dr. Osvaldo
Dorticas
is in the center.
here, with a non-alignment policy and with respect for the individual
positions of each before the problems that we shall debate, make an
inventory of all such situations in which the principles Coat guide the-
peoples and nations to self-determination, and the States to their
sovereignty and integrity, appear committed..
When making this inventory, let us all remember, gentlemen, that
the problems of the struggle against imperialism and for the eradication
of colonialism and neo-colonialism do not exist only in Asia and Africa,
but also in Latin America, and that for this reason the concern of this
Conference should not only extend to the Afro-Asiatic countries, but
to that region of the world as well.
If we want to be logical, when we condemn the colonialist domi-
nation in Algeria and Angola, let us also condemn the colonialist
domination in Puerto Rico.
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ENERGETIC CONDEMNATION
OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
It is our plan to approach in this Conference one of the problems
that affect in a fundamental manner the interests of a considerable
part of the world population. I refer to the problem of racial 'discri-
mination, and specifically to the "apartheid" policy. The voice of the
Revolutionary Government of Cuba and the Cuban people can be
raised without 'hypocrisy to urge this Conference to reiterate, with
more energy than ever, the condemnation and rejection of all the
forms and manifestations of racial discrimination that constitute for
the colonialist and imperialist Powers an insttument used for the di-
vision and exploitation of the peoples.
It is quite timely that we adopt resolutions in clear-cut terms for
liquidation of the -apartheid" policy practiced in South Africa.
We must end the power held by the Union of South Africa,
and arrive at formulas through which the resolutions adopted by the
United Nations may become effective.
But we should not only oppose that particular manifestation of
racial discrimination. It is true that the United Nations Organization
has made statements of principle regarding this matter, and it is .
curious that these manifestations of racial discrimination are still
taking place, not only on the African continent, but even in highly ,
developed countries, such .as the very country .in which the United
Nations Organization has its headquarters. The African Heads of
State who are listening to me know that members of their delegations
in the City of New York have been the victims of abuse because of
the color of their skin. Only a few days ago the international press
reported the gross physical abuse committed against the interim repre-
sentative of the Republic of Guinea in the United Nations Organization
by the police of that city. -
And I ask whether it is not time?and our Conference seems to
offer an exceptional occasion for it?that the countries whose govern-
ments and leaders forbid, not only in theory, but in practice, all
manifestations of racial discrimination, to adopt measures of
im-
mediate application by international organizations. t wish to ask
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whether we should resign ourselves to the shameful circumstance that
illustrious delegates and diplomats, in the exercise of their functions
and mandates, forced to travel to the United States of America in
order to attend the meetings and carry out their work at the United
Nations Organization, should suffer aggressions, abuse and offenses
resulting from racial hatred.
I sincerely believe that this Conference should declare for this
very reason, and also because of the limitations imposed upon the
representatives of nations in dispute with the United States of America
?and I wish to remind the delegates at this moment of the abuse
and outrages committed against the Cuban. delegation last year, gene-
rously mentioned by President Nasser?that the country which acts
as Headquarters of the United Nations Organization does not offer
the necessary guarantees for the complete and dignified performance
of their functions to all delegations of this organization, and in the
next General Assembly we should promote discussions on that subject
and consider the future removal of the Headquarters to a place or
country where human dignity will not be so rudely reviled.
As I represent a nation, a Government, a people, and a Revolu-
tion that have abolished forever all traces of racial discrimination, I
can therefore express in this Conference the most energetic condem-
nation of discriminatory policies.
FOR GENERAL AND COMPLETE DISARMAMENT
Allow me to discuss at this moment one of the most polemical
matters and at the same time of the greatest interest for world peace.
I refer to the problem of general and complete disarmament. The
voice of the non-aligned countries should be raised with exceptional
vigor with regard to disarmament. This voice should dramatically
and urgently demand from the big Powers that they take the necessary
immediate steps for the conclusion and signing of a treaty on general
and complete disarmament. I firmly believe that the problem of ending
nuclear tests is subordinated to the general problem of disarmament
and the elimination of situations of conflict which constitute the source
of war dangers. An agreement on total disarmament would also imply
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the ending of such tests. We should preferably adopt a resolution
with a call to the Great Powers to hasten those talks before it is too
late.,
The Revolutionary ?Government of Cuba has fiad the opportunity
of stating its opinion with regard to the problem of disarmament, and
again declares in this Conference that it is not only the concern of
the Great Powers, but also of the countries which are not members of
military blocs and the countries whose twisted and paralyzed
economies demand the employment of? resources which are today
squandered in the arms race. That is why we believe that we should
include in the discussions on disarmament the question of using a good
part of the resources thus liberated to finance the development of
under -industrialized countries,, that is; of the peoples and countries
which have been subjected to the exploitation of colonialism and
imperialism and have not been able to achieve an adequate level in
their economic development.
The agreements on disarmament should contain not only
provisions about the disso'ution of the armed forces, the banning
and destruction of armaments and the means to carry out mass exter-
mination, but also about the dismantling and demolishing of military
bases in foreign countries. It is evident that the peoples of the countries
where foreign .military bases have been installed were not consulted.
It is not only by reasons of principle and sovereignty and national
independence that military bases hurt deeply, but by mere instinct
of survival the people reject the establishment in their territories of
foreign military bases, which involve close danger of war. At times
some governments, forgetting the interests and the will of their peoples,
have consented to the establis?hment or permanency of such bases.
However, what represents an absurd and unacceptable situation is that
such bases are established and maintained in countries in which
the legitimately representative governments of the peoples reject the
permanency of same and demand their dismantling.
But absurdity reaches unbelievable proportions when some of the
bases, do, not meet the strategic needs of a potential world war,
but serve only for the imperialist domination of the peoples, for the
enslavement of nations, and for fighting the movements of national
liberation.
It is for these reasons that Cuba did not hesitate in joining the
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group of nations that in the United Nations Organization demanded
from the Government of France the withdrawal of the troops at the
military base of Bizerta, and in condemning the genocide committed
againt the people of Tunis in the interest of imperialist colonization.
THE GUANTANAMO BASE IS HELD AGAINST
THE WILL OF THE CUBAN PEOPLE
Cuba can speak in this Conference from her own painful expe-
rience. When our country was militarily occupied by forces of the
United States? of America, it was forced to tolerate the Guantanamo
Naval Base, and after the victory of the Revolution on the 1st of
January, 1959 that base is still held in our national territory against
the will of the people and the Revolutionary Government of Cuba.
This base does not even serve the strategic plans for the military
defense of the United States. It has only served to hurt our national
honor, to shelter counterrevolutionary forces, to smuggle arms into
the country with which to fight the liberating Revolution, to concen-
trate troops whenever the liberation movements of the Caribbean
countries have endangered imperialist domination.
Cuba, as well as Tunisia and other countries, has part of its
territory occupied by a foreign imperialist military base against the
will of its people and its Government. Our national independence
and our historical revolutionary achievements suffer every day the
threat of military aggressions originated and organized in the United
States of America and in the territory of that military base. That is
why we have understood the drama of Tunisia and we have offered
our spontaneous solidarity to the people of Tunisia in the presence
of the crime of Bizerta, and with the authority gained by that dramatic
experience, we urge this Conference to adopt a firm resolution de-
manding the immediate dismantling of all military bases in countries
whose people and Governments do not accept them. This decision
should be boldly promoted in the next General Assembly of the United
Nations and would be a great step forward on the road to disarmament.
But the problem of disarmament is not in itself the entire problem
of peace. In order to guarantee peace it is necessary to accept the
principle pf peaceful' coexistence among States with different social
and political systems. The principle of self-determination of the peoples
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implies that through their sovereign powers they decide their oivn
economic and social structure without interferences and aggressions
from other countries. In practice, the imperialist nations do not resign
themselves to live in peace with those countries that choose different
political and social regimes for their historical development. This
not only happens with regard to the big nations, but With regard to
the ,small nations as well. One of the most difficult problems of
the countries that .reath their national independence is that of the
liniitations. and conditions imposed upon them in relation to their
decisions on internal policies. It does not even matter whether all
necessary-efforts to 'live in peace .with' those imperialist nations are
made. Cuba can -offer you an -,instance of what usually happens in
these Cases.
Because we chose our own ways and means of development, in
the exercise of our sovereignty and our self-determination, we have
been the victims of criminal aggressions, although we had publicly
stated on many opportunities our decision to submit to bilateral nego-
tiations, through normal diplomatic channels, all controversies, with
the Government of the United States; yet, this Government has orga-
nized a' commercial and economic blockade against our small country;
it has promoted conspiracy and terrorism under the direction of the
Central Intelligence'Agency, and finally followed up its despicable
activities with the bombing and the armed invasion of our territory.
OUTSTANDING COURAGE. OF THE CUBAN PEOPLE
The Cuban people defeated With extraordinary courage the
mercenary troops which the United States, according to its own confes-
sion, had equipped and organized to destroy the Cuban Revolution.
The Revolution gained in strength and organization after -the .triuni,ph
against the invaders.
Not only do we wish to express our desire to live in peace and
to develop our country without external military conflicts, but we
accept and welcome most emphatically the friendly mediation Of several
Latin American governments in the exploration of possibilities "for
honorable negotiations' with the Government of' theUnited States. The
arrogant: answer of the Government of the , United States of America
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to this peaceful and worthy conduct of the Cuban Revolutionary
Government has been to continue in its aggressive designs and to
declare as its irrevocable decision not to initiate any negotiations
whatsoever with the Cuban government. In other words, that impe-
rialist government refuses to enter into peaceful, honorable under-
standings with a small country like ours and proclaims the necessity of
destroying the achievements of our Revolution. The imperialist stub-
bornness on our continent has reached the point where the govern-
ment of the United.-States is not even willing to tolerate that other
friendly governments pursuing an independent foreign policy defend the
self-determination of the .Cuban people; as: a consequence of this
stubbornness and the pressure of imperialism, togetheT with -action
taken by elements: of the national oligarchy, we now have to regret
that the constitutional president of Brazil has been forced to renounce
his 'office and that said 'sister' nation is now faced with the danger
of a reactionary miliary dictatorship.
This is certainly not the path that leads to peace and thesu events
do not indicate that the imperialist Powers are honestly ready to
coexist in peace with the nations and peoples that do not submit to
their designs.
When I give you the Cuban example I know perfectly well that
this is nothing new to you. The painful experiences of the Suez Canal in
Egypt, the Congo, Laos, Bizerta and, of Algeria contribute to the
understanding of what has happened in our country. That is why I
said in the beginning of my talk that the fruitfulness' of this meeting
will depend on the degree of firmness of the agreements adopted here.
Let us formulate general principles and declarations, but let us not
forget the names of Tunisia, Laos, the Congo, Algeria, Puerto Rico
and Cuba.
The strengthening of peace is today affected further by one of
the problems which during the last few years have caused worry to
all peoples of the world. I am referring to the German problem. We
all watch with alarm the German rearmament, fearing it may lead
to war.
Before anything else and facing the danger of a war which would
-inevitably develop into a nuclear cOnflict, it is imperative to urge the
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parties directly concerned to renounce attempts to defend ttieir res-
pective positions with military means. It is imperative that we proclaim
the necessity of solving the German problem through peaceful nego-
tiations, and that confronted with clear evidence of Jearmament
we ask for the immediate signing of the Peace Treaty.
This treaty would confirm. the.German frontiers as determined in
Potsdam. Further, it is convenient that we consider the German
problem without ignoring a geographically and historically undeniable
fact: the actual existence of two German states. It is only by recogni-
zing this fact that the German problem can be tackled.
It is necessary that we, make all possible efforts to prevent that
the German problem lead to war, and the effective manner to do
this is to negotiate the solution of the conflict. Let us ban military
methods and demand immediate negotiations in an atmosphere of peace.
Cuba proposes to present a draft resolution in this respect.
CHANGE IN THE
UNITED NATIONS
SECRETARIAT
Now, with the coming opening of the sixteenth sesison of the
General Assembly of the United Nations, I wish to refer to one of
the topics on the agenda of this meeting which I consider of the ut-
most importance regarding the good and efficient functioning of that
world organization. What we discuss and decide here must be brought
before the United Nations: therefore, and because we must aspire to
make that institution fully meet its historical and institutional duties,
we must see to it that it becomes an efficient instrument for the
strengthening of peace and international security, and we must ac-
cordingly propose and advocate substantial changes in the United
Nations Organization.
On several occasions, particularly in the case of the Congo,
we have been able to confirm beyond doubt that the composition and
structure of the Secretariat of the United Nations Organization, far
from being institutionally adequate for the execution and fulfilment of
the resolutions, facilitates the violation of same.
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We Must therefore begin by declaring that its prese'nt structure
is not adequate for the aims of the founding charter of the organiza-
tion. First of all, it must be recognized that it cannot continue in the
hands of one sole person, whose supposed neutrality nobody can
guarantee after the events in the Congo and the murder, of Lumumba.
In this meeting we must come to agreement as to the urgency of
changes in this structure, changes that will insure the impartiality of
the General Secretariat.
It is impossible to discuss the grave problems of peace and
peaceful coexistence while the right to participate in these discussions
is denied a sovereign nation and indepent state comprising six hundred
million Chinese.
Finally, let us consider the problems of uneven economic devel-
opment in the world. Independently of the technical aspects con-
nected with international cooperation, a central criterion should rule
the handling of this question: the liquidation of uneven development
can only be obtained through the eradication of colonialism, neo-
colonialism and imperialist exploitation.
Economic and technical cooperation on an international scale to
encourage the economic development of the backward countries can
only, be effective if carried out on the basis previously mentioned.
The cause of underdevelopinent is the survival of world imperia-
lism. The imperialist economic 'penetration deforms the national eco-
nomies, turns the backward countries into mere suppliers of raw
materials at low price, Prevents industrial progress, favor's ignorance
'and breeds poverty.
STRUGGLE AGAINST IMPERIALISM
AND MONOPOLIES
Consequently, let us agree, gentlemen, that we can only combat
the uneven economic development of nations if we combat imperialism
and the mcinoPOlies, and if we proclaim the right of all peoples to
teeover their natural resources and employ them for the benefit of
their respective economies.
On the basis of these principles, international technical and econo-
mic aid can be successful. This aid must be given under terms that
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,offer the necessary guarantees that it will not be, subject to political
conditions nor economic domination,
Mr. President in the course of this Conference we shall -debate
-and decide on questions in .Such a Way that other countries And
governments will be affected as a consequence of the responsibilities
that- these governments . have -incurred through their actions. For
example, it is inevitable that on reviewing, the problems of the struggle
against colonialism, neo-colonialism and imperialism; we should men-
tion the imperialist and colonialist; countries: and governments, and we
shall have to mention their names and point an accusing finger at
.them when the time comes..
That this should thus happen at the present meeting :is not our
fault, it is the fault of those, government. Therefore, when we
act in this manner, let those governments not try to 6311 us to order.
.1 am quite sure that; like th Cuban people, all peoples here repre-
sented who have been the victims of imperialist and colonialist ,ag-
gressions intend to .coexist in peace with the aggressive .countries.
We do not struggle against them of our OWn accord. We are
forced to fight, and' no government that truly aspires to preserve the
dignity and the sovereignty of its 'nation can 'teject. the ?challenge.:
In our initial words we have referred to gases and situations whith
are painfully typical of colonialism, and imperialism and we are 'there-
fore compelled to mention .the .Governments of the countries Which
provoked 'those situationS When We spoke of the Cuban case,' we
denounced' the unforgiVable. sin' Of the' a4gress.'icin committed against
my country by the Government and ruling circles -of the United States
a America. It cannot be adduced. here,. that our conduct does not
cOntribitte to relieve international teni'ion and the dangers of war.
Fidel Castro, in the, last General Assembly of the United Nations
Organization, said:
.-End the philosophy of :plunder and war will cease We who
;desire to end war, should fight? ,without timidity and with 'devotion
to truth, '.the philosophy of plunder. we do not do this; our peoples
will have the right to ask for an account of our actions, and the
coming 9enerations will despise our names.
I have expressed, in its essential points, qhe:criterion with which
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Cuba attends this meting. We are here because we have faith in its
results. We are quite sure that there are countries represented here
that, like Cuba, can contribute rich and illustrative experiences with
regard to each of the subjects on the agenda.
We believe that this conference can be useful and contribute
to the noble efforts of the struggle for peace, against colonialism and
imperialism. We have spoken clearly. That is our style, we know
no other.
This, gentlemen, is the language of a people in Revolution who
have paid a high price in blood for their liberty. It is the language of
a people who wish to progress, increase their wealth and achieve
true happiness through peace and creative work.
It is the language of a people who have earned, by their own
efforts, a place of honor in history, and have won victories, even on
the battlefield, against the fiercest representatives of? modern impe-
rialism-.
We are read Y for the task of reconciling conflicting criteria and
interests so that the fundamental 'objetives of this conference may be
achieved. We can do this because, as I said at the beginning of my
speech, we have only one commitment. It is a commitment to our
principles and our people.
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