“Without Socialism”

Speech delivered by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, President of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cuba, on the 40th Anniversary of the proclamation of the socialist nature of the Cuban Revolution, held on 23rd Ave. and 12th St. in Havana City, April 16, 2001.

Compatriots:

Exactly 40 years ago, at this same time, in this same place, we
proclaimed the socialist nature of our Revolution. We had just buried
the men who had died victims of the perfidious attack made at daybreak
on April 15, 1961.

The B-26 bombers used for the attack, a property of the U.S.
government, had been painted with the color and insignias of our modest
Air Force. Our three main air bases — in Ciudad Libertad, San Antonio de
los Baos and Santiago de Cuba — were the targets hit on that
treacherous and bloody morning. The aircraft involved were carrying
10,000 kilograms of bombs, 64 five-inch missiles and 23,040 50-caliber
bullets. In a matter of seconds, our young artillerymen, still in
training, responded to the surprise attack with their antiaircraft
weapons. The enemy could only destroy three fighter planes on the
ground.

Seven of our compatriots died and 53 others were wounded, including
five children who lived in the vicinity of the Ciudad Libertad airport.

The attackers’ planes had taken off from a base in Nicaragua. One
of them was shot down, two had two make forced landings in different
places, and all those that made it back to their base had been hit
repeatedly by antiaircraft fire.

By the end of the fighting at the Bay of Pigs, our devious enemy
had lost 14 pilots, including four U.S. citizens, and 62% of the
aircraft supplied by the United States.

The Revolution, after fighting off the attack of April 15, was
still left with more fighter planes than pilots. And 48 hours later, at
daybreak on April 17, those pilots would deal a devastating blow to the
invading forces. That air attack had served to alert us to the imminent
invasion, 36 hours before the invaders had landed. By then, all of our
forces were mobilized and on full alert.

Thus the superpower commenced its loathsome and cowardly military
aggression against our country in a flagrant violation of international
law.

As was to be expected, the powerful imperialist machinery of
propaganda and deception was immediately put in action. How did the
United States explain those events to the world?

In order to explain this to the generations born later, I will use
excerpts from the same wire dispatches I used on that April 16 to
denounce the shameless conduct of the American leaders:

“Miami, April 15, UPI. Cuban pilots who escaped from Fidel
Castro’s Air Force landed today in Florida in World War II bombers
after having blown up Cuban military facilities…. One of the Cuban
Air Force B-26 bombers landed in the Miami international airport
riddled with bullet holes from antiaircraft artillery and machine guns,
and with only one of its engines working. Another came down in the air
station at the Key West marina; a third bomber landed in another
foreign country different from the one they had originally planned to
head to after the attack. There are unconfirmed reports of another
plane crashing off Tortuga Island. The U.S. Navy is investigating into
the case. The pilots, who asked for their identities not to be
revealed, disembarked from their planes wearing their maneuver uniforms
and immediately requested asylum in the United States.”

Minutes later, another cable:

“Miami, UPI. The pilot of the bomber that landed in Miami
explained that he was one of the 12 B-26 pilots who remained in the
Cuban Air Force…. “My comrades took off earlier to attack the
airfields we had agreed to hit. Later, because I was running out of
fuel, I had to head to Miami because I wouldn’t have been able to make
it to our planned destination.”

“Miami, April 15, AP. Three Cuban bomber pilots, fearful of being
betrayed in their plans to escape from Fidel Castro’s government, fled
to the United States today after strafing and bombing the airports in
Santiago and Havana.

“One of the two twin-engine bombers landed in Miami international
airport, and the pilot described how he and three others of the 12 B-26
pilots who remain in the Cuban Air Force had planned for months to
escape from Cuba… Immigration authorities placed the Cubans in
custody and seized the planes.” As you can see, they seized their own
planes.

“Mexico City, April 15, AP. The bombing of Cuban bases by Cuban
deserter planes was particularly welcomed here by the majority of
newspapers, which joined with the Cuban exile groups to say that the
bombing was the beginning of a movement for liberation from communism….
A great deal of activity was seen among the Cuban exiles. A
Cuban source commented that the new Cuban government in exile would
head to Cuba shortly after the first wave of the invasion against the
Fidel Castro regime, to establish a provisional government that it
hoped would be quickly recognized by many anti-Castro Latin American
countries. Amado Hernndez Valds, of the Cuban Democratic
Revolutionary Front here, said that the time of liberation was drawing
close. He declared that four Cuban bases had been attacked by the three
Cuban deserter planes.”

Both agencies published the following news item:

“Statement issued by Dr. Mir Cardona: A heroic blow in favor of
Cuban freedom was dealt this morning by a certain number of officers
from the Cuban Air Force. Before flying their planes to freedom, these
true revolutionaries tried to destroy as many of Castro’s military
planes as possible. The Revolutionary Council is proud to announce that
their plans were carried out successfully, and that the Council has
been in contact with them and has encouraged these brave pilots. Their
action is another example of the desperation to which patriots of all
social strata can be led under Castro’s relentless tyranny.

While Castro and his followers try to convince the world that Cuba has
been threatened by an invasion from abroad, this blow in favor of
liberty like others before it, was dealt by Cubans living in Cuba who
decided to fight back against tyranny and oppression or die trying. For
security reasons, no further details will be released.”

Mir Cardona was none other than the head of the provisional
government that the United States had locked up in the barracks of an
air base, together with other political leaders, with their bags all
packed and a plane ready to land them on an airstrip in the Bay of Pigs
as soon as a beachhead had been secured.

But, the numberless lies did not stop here. The wire services
reported that same afternoon:

“The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Adlai Stevenson,
rejected Roa’s claims… and showed the Commission photographs from
United Press International showing two airplanes that landed in Florida
today after taking part in the raids against three Cuban cities. “They
have the mark of Castro’s Air Force on their tails, they have the star
and the Cuban initials; these are clearly visible. I will exhibit these
photographs with pleasure.’ Stevenson added that those two planes were
piloted by officers of the Cuban Air Force and manned by deserters from
the Castro regime. “No U.S. personnel participated in the incident
today, and the planes were not from the United States, they were
Castro’s own planes that took off from his own airfields.”‘

Possibly the U.S. government’s trickery and lies deceived even the
press agencies.

It is clear how such lies were concocted in advance and fed to the
pilots: everyone regurgitated the same lies with the same details.

The frustrated President of the Provisional Government could not be
expected to do anything other than repeat the same version.

The case of the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations was
lamentable. He had been a presidential candidate respected by the
general public and politicians in the United States. Many believe he
too was deceived, with no consideration whatsoever for his reputation.

Forty years have passed. Nevertheless, the methods of lies and
deception used by the empire and its mercenary allies remain unchanged.
Barely four years ago, when bombs began to explode in Havana hotels,
financed by the Cuban-American National Foundation and brought to Cuba
from Central America by bloodthirsty terrorists, the story they tried
to spread was that these were actions carried out by members of the
Cuban state security services disgruntled with the Revolution.

Almost at the end of the speech I gave here 40 years ago, I said,
“What the imperialists cannot forgive us is that we are here. What
they cannot forgive us is the dignity, the determination, the courage,
the ideological firmness, the spirit of sacrifice and the revolutionary
spirit of the Cuban people, and the fact that we have undertaken a
socialist revolution. And that socialist revolution we defend with
these guns! (Applause and shouts of “Viva Fidel!”) We defend that
socialist revolution with the same courage with which our antiaircraft
artillery force riddled the attacking planes with bullets yesterday! We
do not defend it with mercenaries; we defend it with the men and women
of our people!

“Is it the millionaires who have the weapons?” (Shouts of “No!”)

“Is it the children of the rich who have the weapons?” (Shouts of
“No!”) That is what I asked then, and this is what you answer now.

“Is it the foremen who have the weapons?” (Shouts of “No!”)

“Who has the weapons?” (Shouts of “The Cuban people!”)

“Whose hands are those raising those weapons?” (Shouts of “The
people!”)

“Are they the hands of the rich kids?” (Shouts of “No!”)

“Are they the hands of the rich?” (Shouts of “No!”)

“Are they the hands of the exploiters?” (Shouts of “No!”)

“Whose hands are those raising those weapons?” (Shouts of “The
people!”)

“Are they not the hands of workers, are they not the hands of
peasants, are they not hands callused by work, are they not creative
hands, are they not the humble hands of the people?” (Shouts of
“Yes!”)

“And who makes up the majority of the people, the millionaires or
the workers?” (Shouts of “The workers!”) “The exploiters or the
exploited?” (Shouts of “The exploited!”) “The privileged or the
humble?” (Shouts of “The humble!”)

“Do the privileged have them? (Shouts of “No!”)

“Do the humble have them? (Shouts of “Yes!”)

“Are the privileged the minority? (Shouts of “Yes!”)

“Are the humble the majority? (Shouts of “Yes!”)

“Is a revolution democratic when it is the humble who have the
weapons? (Shouts of “Yes!”)

“Comrades, workers and peasants: This is the socialist and
democratic revolution of the humble, by the humble and for the humble!
(Applause and Shouts of “Long live the Commander inn Chief!”) And for
this revolution of the humble, by the humble and for the humble, we are
willing to give our lives!

“Yesterday’s attack, which cost seven heroic lives, was aimed at
destroying our planes on the ground. But they failed, they only
destroyed three planes, and the bulk of the enemy planes were damaged
or shot down.”

Compatriots of yesterday, today and tomorrow:

At the Bay of Pigs, our patriotic and heroic people, who had
matured extraordinarily in barely two years of confrontation with the
powerful empire, fought fearlessly and unwaveringly for socialism.

Once and for all, they crushed the absurd idea that the suffering
endured, and the blood and tears spilled throughout almost a hundred
years of struggle for independence and justice against Spanish
colonialism and its slavery-based model of exploitation, and later
against imperialist domination and the corrupt and bloody governments
imposed on Cuba by the United States, were to serve for the rebuilding
of a neocolonialist, capitalist and bourgeois society. It was essential
to seek out loftier objectives in the political and social development
of Cuba.

It was necessary, and it was possible. We did it at the exact and
precise moment in history, not a minute before and not a minute later,
and we were daring enough to attempt it.

When we see that south of the Ro Grande there is a whole collection
of balkanized countries — although they all share the same language,
culture, history and ethnic roots about to be devoured by the
mighty, expansionist and insatiable superpower of the turbulent and
brutal north that scorns us, we Cubans can cry out at the top of our
voices: Bless that day, a thousand times over, that we proclaimed our
revolution to be socialist! (Applause and shouts of “Fidel! Fidel!
Fidel!”) Today it might have been too late. The victory of January 1,
1959 offered an exceptional opportunity to do it.

Without socialism, we would not have been able to reduce the
illiteracy rate to zero.

Without socialism, we would not have schools and teachers for all
our children, without a single exception, even in the most distant and
remote corners of the country. Nor would we have special schools for
those who need them, nor a primary schooling rate of 100%, nor a
secondary schooling rate of 98.8%. We would not have exact science
vocational schools, or senior high schools, or military schools, or
sports training schools, or schools for physical education and sports
instructors, or trade schools, or technological and polytechnic
professional training institutes, or colleges for workers and peasants,
or language schools, or art schools in every province of the country.

Without socialism, Cuba today would not have 700,000 university
graduates, 15 teacher-training colleges, 22 medical schools, a total of
51 higher education institutions, plus 12 affiliates and independent
faculties, with 137,000 university students.

Without socialism, we would not have 67,500 doctors, over 250,000
professors and teachers, and 34,000 physical education and sports
instructors, the highest number per capita in all three categories
among all countries in the world.

Without socialism, sports would not be a right of the people, and
Cuba would not win more Olympic gold medals per capita than any other
country.

Without socialism, we would not have been able to attain the level
of political culture we have today.

Without socialism, we would not have 30,133 family doctors, 436
polyclinics, 275 hospitals, both general and specialized, including
surgical, pediatric and maternal hospitals, and 13 specialized medical
institutes.

Without socialism, our country would not have 133 scientific
research centers and tens of thousands of either Masters or Ph.D.
researchers.

Without socialism, there would not be 1,012, 000 retired workers,
325,500 pensioners and 120,000 people on social welfare receiving
social security benefits, without a single exception, nor would those
social security benefits be available to all of the country’s people
when needed

Without socialism, 163,000 peasants would not be the owners of
their lands, whether in the form of individually owned parcels or
cooperatives, nor would 252,000 agricultural workers be the owners of
the facilities, machinery and crops in the basic units of cooperative
production.

Without socialism, 85% of families would not own their homes, nor
would 95% of the population have access to electricity, and 95.3% to
drinking water; 48,540 kilometers of highways would not have been
built, nor would there be 1005 water reservoirs, which hold almost all
of the water that can be dammed for agricultural, industrial and
domestic use.

Without socialism, the infant mortality rate would not be less than
8 per 1000 live births. Vaccines against 13 diseases would not protect
our children, nor would our people’s life expectancy at birth be 76
years. The HIV positives’ rate would not be 0.03%, as compared to 0.6%
in the United States and other developed and wealthy countries; nor
would 575,000 voluntary blood donations have been made in the year 2000.

Without socialism, we would not be able to promise, as we are now
doing, to provide decent employment to 100% of our youth under the sole
condition that they be trained; nor would we be developing the programs
that will offer them all the opportunity for training.

Without socialism, manual laborers and intellectuals, whose works
help fulfill the material and spiritual needs of our species, would
never have taken the vanguard role they justly deserve in human
society.

Without socialism, Cuban women — formerly discriminated against and
relegated to humiliating work — would not constitute 65% of the
country’s technical workforce today, nor would they enjoy the right to
equal pay for equal work, a goal that has yet to be achieved in almost
all of the developed capitalist countries.

Without socialism, there would not be mass organizations, made up
of workers and laborers, peasants, women, neighborhood residents
organized into Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, primary
school, junior and senior high school students, university students,
veterans of the Cuban revolution. These organizations encompass the
vast majority of our people and play a decisive role in the
revolutionary process and the truly democratic participation of all the
people in the leadership and destiny of the country.

Without socialism, we could not have a society without beggars
wandering the streets, without children going barefoot or begging, or
absent from school because they need to work for a living, or subjected
to sexual exploitation, or used for committing crimes, or joining
gangs, things that are so common in other parts of the world, including
the United States.

Without socialism, Cuba would not have an outstanding place in its
growing, tenacious and sustained struggle to preserve the environment.

Without socialism, the country’s cultural heritage would be left
unprotected, subjected to plunder or destruction. The historic parts of
Cuba’s oldest cities would have been replaced with new buildings
totally unrelated to their architectural surroundings. The oldest
section of our capital, where visitors increasingly marvel at the
painstaking care taken in its restoration and preservation, would not
exist. The eyesore built behind the Palace of the Captains-General,
where a centuries-old university building was torn down to put up a
heliport in its place, provides ample evidence for these claims.

Without socialism, we would not have been able to withstand the
overpowering foreign influence progressively imposed on so many peoples
around the world, nor would we be witnessing the vigorous cultural and
artistic movement developing in our country today: the Higher Institute
of Arts, a prestigious institution created by the Revolution, is being
restored and expanded; valuable knowledge is being passed on in the 43
vocational and professional art schools throughout the country, which
will soon grow in number; and 4000 young people have just entered the
first year of study in 15 new art instructor training schools (Shouts
from the audience), created last year. Every year, another 4000
students will enter these schools, which have room for a total
enrollment of 15,000, and they will graduate with a baccalaureate
degree in humanities.

Presently, we have 306 cultural centers, 292 museums, 368 public
libraries open to the entire population, and 181 art galleries.

Without socialism, we would not have the televised courses of the
University for All; its initial programming has had a tremendous
impact, and it promises to contribute significantly to achieving a
level of comprehensive general knowledge that will make Cubans the
most educated people in the world.

Three hundred Youth Computer Clubs are operating, and 20,000 personal
computers are being distributed among junior and senior high schools.
Computer skills will be taught on a mass basis from pre-school all the
way up to the university level.

The list of comparisons and contrasts would be endless, but there
are a few that I cannot fail to mention, given their patriotic,
internationalist and human significance:

Without socialism, Cuba would not have been able to endure 42 years
of hostility, blockade and economic war imposed by imperialism, much
less a ten-year special period that has still not ended. It would not
have been able to achieve an appreciation of its currency from 150
pesos to the dollar in 1994 to just 20 pesos to the dollar in 1999, a
feat unequalled by any other country. Nor would it have been possible,
in the midst of inconceivable difficulties, to initiate modest yet
sustained and sound economic growth.

Without socialism, Cuba would not be the only country in the world
today that does not need trade with the United States in order to
survive, and even to advance, both economically and socially. As to the
latter, not even the wealthiest and most industrialized countries
compare to Cuba.

Cuba is one of the few countries in the world that is not a member,
and does not want to be a member, of the International Monetary Fund,
which has become the zealous guardian of the empire’s interests.
Nothing I have described here would have been possible if our hands and
feet were tied to this sinister institution spawned at Bretton Woods,
which politically crushes those who must turn to it, destabilizing and
destroying governments. There is no escape for those tied to the double
yoke of the IMF and neoliberalism, both manifestations of the unfair
and irrational economic order imposed on the world.

Without socialism, each and every person in our country would not
have the same right to receive educational or health care services free
of charge, regardless of the cost, and without anyone ever questioning
him or her on their religious or political beliefs.

Without socialism, we would not have a country free of drugs,
brothels, gambling casinos, organized crime, vanished people, death
squads, lynching and out of court executions.

Without socialism, Cuban families could not watch their children
grow up healthy, educated and skilled, with no fear of them being lured
into drugs or crime, or killed at school by their own classmates.

Without socialism, Cuba would not be, as it is today, the most
solid barrier in the hemisphere against drug trafficking, something
that benefits even American society.

Without socialism, Cuba would not be a country in which, for 42
years, no one has suffered the repression and police brutality so
commonly practiced in Europe and other parts of the world, where
anti-riot vehicles and men dressed up in strange gear, like visitors
from outer space, attack the population with clubs, shields, rubber
bullets, tear gas, pepper gas and other means.

It is difficult for the West to understand why such things do not
happen in Cuba. They do not have the slightest notion of the way human
society can be enriched by the unity, political consciousness,
solidarity, selflessness and generosity, patriotism, moral values and
commitment built through education, culture and all the justice offered
by a true revolution.

Without socialism, hundreds of thousands of Cubans would not have
discharged internationalist missions; nor would our country have
contributed even a grain of sand to the struggle against colonialism in
Africa; nor would its people have shed a single drop of blood fighting
against the seemingly invincible forces of the hateful system of
apartheid, racism and fascism.

Not one of the countries that traded and invested back then and still
now possess enormous wealth in South Africa and other countries on the
African continent — where Cuba neither sought, nor has, nor wants to
have a single square inch of land — contributed the least share of
sacrifice. Not even the enormous distance separating us from Africa
could be an insurmountable obstacle for the spirit of solidarity of
this small, blockaded and besieged island.

Without socialism, over 40,000 Cuban health care workers would not
have provided their noble internationalist cooperation in more than 90
countries, nor would they be helping to develop comprehensive health
care programs today in 16 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean and
Africa, thanks to the immense human capital created by the Revolution.

Without socialism, it would not have been possible for 15,600
students from the Third World to graduate in Cuban universities, nor
would there be 11,000 students from those countries currently enrolled
in higher studies in Cuba.

Without socialism, we would not have the prestigious Latin American
School of Medical Sciences, where there are currently young people from
24 countries and 63 indigenous ethnic groups studying, and 2000 new
students will enroll every year.

Without socialism, we would not have been able to establish the
International School of Sports and Physical Education that can
accommodate a total of 1500 students, and where 588 youths from 50
countries are currently enrolled in the first year of studies.

Without socialism, we would not have been able to provide medical
treatment in Cuba for 19,000 children and adults from the three
republics affected by the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986, the
majority of whom were treated in the midst of the special period, and
for 53 people harmed by the radiation leak in the state of Gois, in
Brazil.

What we have shared with other peoples has not prevented a single
one of our compatriots from having the opportunity to be a part of the
millions of mid-level technicians and university-educated professionals
in Cuba today. This shows that much can be done with very little, and
that everything could be done with many fewer resources than those spent
today on commercial advertising, weapons, narcotics and luxury.

Without socialism, Cuba would not have become, without actually
trying, an example for many people in the world, and the loyal and
constant voice for the most deserving causes; a small country that
enjoys the enviable privilege of being almost the only one that can
speak out at any international forum and freely denounce, with no fear
of reprisals or aggression, the unfair economic order and the
insatiable, rapacious, hypocritical and immoral policies of the
hegemonic superpower’s government.

Without socialism, Cuba would not have been able to endure the
hostility of nine U.S. presidents, all of whom, with the exception of
Carter — I must say this, in all honesty — were either hostile or
extremely aggressive and hostile towards our country. I would have to
add the one who has just assumed the presidential throne, since judging
from his first steps in the international arena and the language of his
advisors and allies in the Miami terrorist mob, there are signs that we
could be facing a particularly aggressive and utterly unethical
administration.

On a day like today, it is worth recalling that immortal quote from
Maceo, the Bronze Titan: “Those who attempt to take over Cuba will
reap nothing but the dust of its blood-drenched soil, if they do not
perish in the fight!” (Shouts and Applause)

The Cuban people today, heirs of the thinking of Maceo, and of
Mart, and of the whole legion of heroes who pioneered the long path
we have followed to get to where we are now, are in a position to
declare that: “Those who attempt to take over Cuba today will not reap
even the dust of our blood-drenched soil, because they will have no
other choice but to perish in the fight!” (Applause and Shouts of
“Fidel! Fidel! Fidel!”)

As I said earlier, at this very moment in history, the nations of
Latin America are about to be devoured by the United States, the
hegemonic superpower of today’s world. Within a few days, from April 20
to 22, a hemispheric summit meeting will be held in Quebec. There, the
hegemonic superpower will attempt to dictate the terms of surrender to
the governments of Latin America.

The documents for a free trade agreement among the countries of the
hemisphere have been hastily drawn up. The United States wants to speed
things up, in order to feast upon the privileges it hopes will block
the path for commercial competition and investment from Europe and the
industrialized countries of Asia. The strategy is to get the agreement
adopted at any cost before there is time for MERCOSUR to consolidate
and for the integration of the countries of South America to develop to
the point where they can negotiate with the United States from a much
stronger position.

The U.S. government would prefer to negotiate with each of these
countries individually, exploiting their economic weakness, their
unequal levels of development, and the conflicts among them, as
well as the desperation created by the enormous foreign debt that
suffocates them.

Given their total dependence on the United States and the
international financial institutions, some of these countries are in no
position to put up resistance; others are unaware of the danger they
face of being swallowed up, or do not want to put up any resistance.
But, not all of them are willing to be simply devoured, and there will
be resistance.

For their part, the peoples represented there, many of them mired
in ignorance, extreme poverty and desperation, will have no
participation whatsoever in the decisions made, and will look on from
afar at negotiations whose objectives, content and consequences they
are not in a position to know about, much less understand. Building
awareness, denouncing the voracity of imperialism and the danger facing
the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean is perhaps the most
urgent task today for political and social leaders, progressive
economists and intellectuals, and all the forces of the left.

Those of us aware of the social realities, of the gravity of the
daunting problems facing us, and of the fact that they can never be
solved in this way and will only grow ever more critical, we do know
that Latin America can be devoured, but it cannot be digested. Sooner
or later, like the biblical character, in one way or another they will
escape from the whale’s belly. And the Cuban people will be waiting
outside, for they learned a long time ago how to swim in troubled
waters, and they know that until there is a radical change in their
living conditions, the peoples of the Third World will become
increasingly ungovernable and force the needed solutions to be adopted.

On a day like today, as we look back over the accomplishments of
the Revolution, it is amazing to discover that we are far from having
achieved all the necessary and possible justice.

The years that have passed have come to enrich our experience and
knowledge tremendously. Four decades of struggle in the face of
enormous difficulties have strengthened our convictions, and our
confidence in human beings and their infinite potential.

The socialism we conceive of today is far superior to our dreams
back then. The special period forced us to walk back on a stretch of
the road we had traveled. Painful inequalities emerged. Those who were
willing to patiently endure, those most dedicated to the revolutionary
cause above all else, our most loyal manual and intellectual workers,
the most humble and faithful of the people, the most conscientious
revolutionaries understood this inevitable circumstance. And as has
always happened and always will happen in difficult times, they
shouldered the bulk of the burden in the efforts to save the country
and socialism at any cost. (Shouts from the audience)

In the future we will not only achieve much higher goals than those
we achieved in the past but we will even surpass them. Today, we are
advancing towards objectives we would not have even dreamed of 40 years
ago, and much less in the extremely difficult stage that began 10 years
ago, from which we are emerging victorious. A new dawn is beginning to
shine on our future, a future that will shine brighter on a more
accomplished socialism, a more promising and profound revolutionary
work.

We did not come here today to commemorate the 40th anniversary of
the proclamation of the socialist nature of the Revolution, but rather
we came here to ratify it, to swear on it once again.

Using the exact same words as on that unforgettable day 40 years
ago, I will ask you, “Workers and peasants, humble men and women of
the homeland, do you swear to defend to your last drop of blood this
Revolution of the humble, by the humble and for the humble?”
(Exclamations of “We do!”)

“Here, before the tomb of our fallen comrades; here, near the
remains of those heroic young men, sons of workers and sons of humble
families,” — and today I will add two more things: in memory of all
those who have died for the homeland and for justice in the last 133
years, and in the name of all those who have given their lives for
humanity in heroic internationalist missions — “we reaffirm our
determination that like those who stood up to the bullets, like those
who gave their lives, no matter when the mercenaries come, all of us,
proud of our Revolution, proud to defend this Revolution of the humble,
by the humble and for the humble, will not waver, in the face of
whoever they may be, in defending our Revolution to our last drop of
blood.”

Ever onward to victory!
Patria o Muerte!
Venceremos!

________________________

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