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Friends accompanying us here today;
People of Camagüey, good morning;
Compatriots:
Exactly
one year ago, as we were listening to the
speeches given by the Commander in Chief in
Bayamo and Holguín, we could hardly even suspect
what a hard blow was awaiting us.
Next July 31 will be the first anniversary of
Fidel's Proclamation, and to the delight of our
people he is already taking on more and more
intense and highly valuable activities, as
evidenced by his reflections which are published
in the press, even though, not even during the
most serious moments of his illness, did he fail
to bring his wisdom and experience to each
problem and essential decision.
These have truly been very difficult months,
although with a diametrically different impact
to that expected by our enemies, who were
wishing for chaos to entrench and for Cuban
socialism to collapse. Senior U.S. officials
even made statements about taking advantage of
this scenario to destroy the Revolution.
Those who are amazed at our people’s capacity to
rise to the level of every challenge, no matter
how great, do not know them very well, since
this is really the only behavior consistent with
our history.
The battle waged by many generations of Cubans
is well-known, from La Demajagua and Moncada,
right up to the present, always facing enormous
obstacles and powerful enemies. So much
sacrifice and difficulties! How many times did
we have to recommence the struggle after each
setback!
Suffice it to recall that in the years following
that July 26, 1953, we spent years in prison,
the exile, the Granma, the guerrilla and the
clandestine struggles, until five years, five
months and five days after the attack on Moncada,
victory was attained on the first day of
January, 1959.
In those days, much like what is happening today
even within the very United States, lies could
not hide reality, although our people then were
much less educated and less politically aware
than they are now.
The vast majority of Cubans joined the cause
headed by a leader who brandished the truth like
his main weapon against the enemies of his
people, who instead of making demagogic promises
warned them, from his very first speech in
Havana, that perhaps everything would be much
more difficult in the years ahead.
The conclusion of the U.S. government hierarchy
at that time was also consistent with its
history: they had to destroy this people who
dared to dream of justice, dignity and
sovereignty, and if not, make them suffer to the
utmost. The example set by Cuba was far too
dangerous in a poor, subdued and exploited
continent.
But they were unable to bring us to our knees.
Our response was to massively transform
ourselves into combatants; to stoically
withstand shortages and difficulties; to sweat
in the fields, factories and trenches; to wage
countless victorious battles and to establish
landmarks in internationalist aid.
Before the mortal remains of each of the 3,478
victims of terrorist acts directly organized,
supported or allowed to happen by the United
States authorities; before the fallen in defense
of the Homeland or in the fulfillment of their
internationalist duty, our people confirmed
their commitment to their heroes and martyrs, to
their Mambi heritage and to the examples of
Martí, Céspedes, Maceo, Gómez and Agramonte,
perpetuated by men such as Mella, Martínez
Villena and Guiteras, symbols of the ideas and
actions of an infinite number of anonymous
patriots.
In essence, this has been the last half century
of our history. There has been not one minute of
truce in the face of the policies of the United
States government, aimed at destroying the
Revolution.
In
this forge of effort and sacrifice, the morale
and conscience of this people has reached new
heights; sons with the stature of Gerardo
Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino,
Fernando González and René González have been
born, able to assume with serenity, valor and
dignity the duress of an unjust imprisonment,
scattered in different prisons of the United
States.
They are examples, but they are not exceptions,
since millions of Cuban men and women are not
intimidated by danger or hardship.
The exploit occurs daily in every corner of this
land, as our brave athletes are demonstrating at
the Panamerican Games.
And so it has been during the more than 16 years
of the Special Period, of sustained effort by
the entire country to overcome the difficulties
and press onwards –and so it must still be,
since we have not yet come out of the Special
Period.
Thus, it is twice as commendable that a province
attains the status of Outstanding, which as we
all know is bestowed after evaluating the
results obtained in the main fields.
This year, the provinces of Ciudad de La Habana,
Granma, Villa Clara and Camagüey attained this
distinction, and we congratulate them on behalf
of the Commander in Chief, of the Party and of
all the people, for having reached this
important triumph. Also to Cienfuegos, Matanzas
and Sancti Spiritus for the acknowledgement
received, and to Las Tunas for displaying
heartening advances.
In order to decide which of them would be the
venue of this main celebration, the Political
Bureau especially considered the day-to-day
efforts, silent and heroic in the face of
difficulties. And in this way, the people of "El
Camagüey", as the Mambi used to call it,
achieved these results.
The advances are the fruit of the efforts of
hundreds of thousands of comrades; of the
laborers, peasants and the rest of the workers;
of the indispensable contributions of
intellectuals, artists and workers in the
cultural sector; of the heroic housewives and
retirees; of the student members of the
Middle-level Education Students Federation and
the Federation of University Students; of our
children; of the Cuban Women Federation, the
Committees for the Defense of the Revolution,
the Association of Combatants and the community
Party cells who make such an important
contribution to society.
Without them, without the daily work, study and
sacrifice of so many men, women and children,
the bugle of the Agramonte cavalry would not be
resounding anew on these great flatlands.
Well then, it should not happen as it does in
baseball, where the victories go only to the
players and the defeats go to the team manager.
It would not be fair to fail to publicly
acknowledge the important role played by the
leaders of the Party, the Government, the UJC
and the mass and social organizations at every
level, as well as the numerous administrative
cadres to attain this success.
In particular, I should like to stress the good
work of comrade Salvador Valdés Mesa, the
current Secretary General of the Workers Union
Central, who for a long time and up to 13 months
ago, was the First Secretary of the Provincial
Party Committee, and the excellent relief
provided until the present by comrade Julio
César García Rodríguez.
It is only fair and necessary to acknowledge
what has been achieved in recent years, in these
provinces and in the rest of the country, but
with a clear conscience about our problems, our
inefficiencies, our errors and our bureaucratic
and/or slack attitudes, some of which gained
ground in the circumstances deriving from the
Special Period.
Pointing out the important results attained in
these provinces does not mean that we ignore
that the rest of the country is working. In the
eastern provinces, for example, it has been
necessary to do this under very difficult
conditions, with a shortage of resources
resulting from both objective and subjective
reasons.
Nevertheless, efforts do not always bring the
results hoped for. Efficiency largely depends on
perseverance and good organization, especially
of systematic controls and discipline, and in
particular on where we have succeeded in
incorporating the masses to the struggle for
efficiency.
We need to bring everyone to the daily battle
against the very errors which aggravate
objective difficulties derived from external
causes, especially those induced by the United
States' economic blockade which really
constitutes a relentless war against our people,
as the current administration of that country is
especially bent on finding even the slightest of
ways to harm us.
One could point to a myriad of examples. I shall
limit myself to mentioning the obstacles to the
country’s commercial and financial transactions
abroad, often directed at the purchase of food,
medicines and other basic products for the
people, and the denial of access to banking
services through coercion and the
extra-territorial imposition of its laws.
There are also the almost insurmountable
obstacles imposed by that government that goes
to ridiculous lengths to prevent its people from
traveling to Cuba and also on the Cuban
residents there coming to visit their relatives;
the denial of visas not just to our officials,
but to artists, athletes, scientists and, in
general, to anyone who is not willing to slander
the Revolution.
As our Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently
denounced, we can add to all of this the
obstacles to the fulfillment of what is
established in the migratory agreements with
regards to the minimum number of visas to be
granted annually.
This policy encourages those who turn to illegal
emigration and are received there as heroes,
often times after endangering the lives of
children, and in spite of the fact that such an
irresponsible behavior puts at risk not only the
safety of Cubans, but also of Americans, the
ones who the government constantly claims to be
protecting, since whoever risks trafficking with
human lives for money, would probably not
hesitate in doing so with drugs, arms or other
such things.
Cuba, for her part, will continue to honor her
commitments to the migratory accords, as she has
done until today.
The past twelve months have constituted a
remarkable example of our people’s maturity,
steadfast principles, unity, trust in Fidel, in
the Party and above all in themselves.
Despite our deep sorrow, no task was left
undone. There is order in the country and a lot
of work. The Party and the Government bodies are
functioning on a daily basis in the collective
search for the most effective response possible
for every problem.
There is not one issue pertaining to the
development of the country and the people’s
living conditions that has not been dealt with
responsibly, working to find a solution. There
is no task in the Battle of Ideas, the Energy
Revolution and others promoted by the Commander
in Chief that is paralyzed. As it is always the
case in matters of such magnitude, we have had
to make adjustments and postponements, and
others might be needed in the future, due to
material imperatives and the threats we are all
aware of.
At the same time, our people have continued
since then, with serenity, discipline and
modesty, to prepare themselves to face up to any
enemy military adventure.
Hundreds of thousands of militiamen and
reservists of the Revolutionary Armed Forces,
together with officers, sergeants and soldiers
in the regular army have carried out Operation
Caguairán, allowing for a substantial increase
in the country’s defense capability, attaining
levels of combat readiness that are superior to
those of any other period.
It is a great effort in moments when our
resources are scarce, but it is simply
essential. It shall continue, as it has up till
now, with the greatest of rationality, both from
the material point of view as well as in the use
of our people’s time.
We cannot fool around with defense! The
Commander in Chief directed and reaffirmed it
yet once again just a few days ago. For us, as I
have said so many times, avoiding a war is
tantamount to winning it, but to win it by
avoiding it, we must sweat a lot and invest
quite a few resources.
The resounding popular response to the
Proclamation of the Commander in Chief threw all
the enemy plans into crisis mode; but the enemy,
far from evaluating the reality and correcting
its errors, insists on stubbornly crashing into
the same rock. They speculate about an alleged
paralysis in the country and even about a
"transition" in progress. But no matter how hard
they close their eyes, reality shall take care
of destroying those stale, old dreams.
As the press has reported, Operation Caguairán
will carry on in the next months. It will allow
us to train about a million compatriots and will
have as its crowning glory the Bastion 2008
Strategic Exercise which will take place at the
end of the year.
By that date, therefore, we shall be better
prepared to resist and win on all fronts,
including defense.
By that time the elections will also have taken
place in the United States and the mandate of
the current president of that country will have
concluded along with his erratic and dangerous
administration, characterized by such a
reactionary and fundamentalist philosophy that
it leaves no room for a rational analysis of any
matter.
The new administration will have to decide
whether it will maintain the absurd, illegal and
failed policy against Cuba or if it will accept
the olive branch that we offered on the occasion
of the 50th anniversary of the landing of the
Granma. That is, when we reasserted our
willingness to discuss on equal footing the
prolonged dispute with the government of the
United States, convinced that this is the only
way to solve the problems of this world, ever
more complex and dangerous.
If the new United States authorities were to
finally desist from their arrogance and decide
to talk in a civilized manner, it would be a
welcome change. Otherwise, we are ready to
continue confronting their policy of hostility,
even for another 50 years, if need be.
Fifty years seem like a long time, but soon we
will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the
Triumph of the Revolution and the 55th
anniversary of Moncada, and among so many tasks
and challenges those years have gone by and we
have hardly noticed. Furthermore, practically
70% of our population was born after the
blockade was imposed, and so we are well trained
to continue resisting it and finally defeating
it.
Some who have been influenced by enemy
propaganda or are simply confused, do not
perceive the real danger or the undeniable fact
that the blockade has a direct influence both on
the major economic decisions as well as on each
Cuban's most basic needs.
Directly and on a daily basis, it weighs heavily
on our food supply, transportation, housing and
even on the fact that we cannot rely on the
necessary raw materials and equipment to work
with.
The enemy established it half a century ago for
this reason, as we were saying, and today it
still dreams of forcing us to submit to its
will. President Bush himself insists on
repeating that he will not allow the Cuban
Revolution to continue. It would be interesting
to ask him just how he intends to do that.
How little they have learned from history!
In his Manifesto published on June 18, Fidel
said to them once again what every revolutionary
on this island is convinced of: "They shall
never have Cuba!"
Our people will never give an inch of ground
under the attempt of any country or group of
countries to pressure us, nor will it make the
slightest unilateral concession to send any kind
of signal to anybody.
With respect to the economic and social tasks
ahead of us, we know the tensions that Party
cadres are subjected to, especially at the base,
where there's hardly ever a balance between
accumulated needs and available resources.
We are also aware that, because of the extreme
objective difficulties that we face, wages today
are clearly insufficient to satisfy all needs
and have thus ceased to play a role in ensuring
the socialist principle that each should
contribute according to their capacity and
receive according to their work. This has bred
forms of social indiscipline and tolerance
which, having taken root, prove difficult to
eradicate, even after the objective causes
behind them are eradicated.
I can responsibly assure you that the Party and
government have been studying these and other
complex and difficult problems in depth,
problems which must be addressed comprehensibly
and through a differentiated approach in each
concrete case.
All of us, from the leaders to the rank-and-file
workers, are duty-bound to accurately identify
and analyze every problem in depth, within our
working areas, in order to combat the problem
with the most convenient methods.
This differs greatly from the attitude of those
who use existing difficulties to shield
themselves from criticisms, leveled against them
for not acting with the necessary swiftness and
efficiency, or for lacking the political
sensitivity and courage needed to explain why a
problem cannot be solved immediately.
I will limit myself to drawing your attention to
these crucial issues. A simple criticism or
appeal will not solve these problems, even when
they are made at a ceremony like this. They
demand, above all else, organized work, control
and dedication, day after day; systematic rigor,
order and discipline, from the national level
down to the thousands of places where something
is produced or a service is offered.
This is where the country's efforts are headed,
as they are in other areas of similar importance
and strategic significance. We are working
hastily but not desperately, avoiding
unnecessary public statements so as not to raise
false hopes. And, again, speaking with the
sincerity which has always characterized the
Revolution, I remind you that all problems
cannot be solved overnight.
I am not exaggerating when I say that we face a
very trying international economic situation,
where, in addition to wars, lack of political
stability, the deterioration of the environment
and the rise in oil prices —apparently an
irreversible trend— we now face, like comrade
Fidel has recently denounced, the decision made
primarily by the United States, to transform
corn, soy and other food products into fuel.
This move is bound to make the price of these
products, and those directly dependent upon
these such as meats and milk prices, climb
dramatically as it has been the case in recent
months.
I will just mention some figures. Today, the
price of an oil barrel is around 80 dollars,
nearly three times what it was only 4 years ago,
when it was priced at 28 dollars. This has an
impact on practically everything, for, to
produce anything or to offer any kind of
service, one requires a given quantity of fuel,
directly or indirectly.
Another case in point is the price of powdered
milk, which was 2,100 dollars the ton in 2004.
This already placed great strains on our ability
to make this product available, as its import
meant an investment of 105 million dollars. A
total of 160 million dollars were spent to
purchase the needed quantities in 2007, as
prices shot up to 2,450 dollars the ton. In
these four years, nearly 500 million dollars
have been spent in these purchases.
Currently, the price of powdered milk is over
5,200 dollars the ton. Therefore, should
domestic production not continue to increase, to
meet consumption needs in the next 2008, we
would have to spend 340 million dollars in milk
alone, more than three times what was spent in
2004. That is, if prices do not continue to
rise.
In the case of milled rice, it was priced at 390
dollars a ton in 2006 and is sold today at 435 a
ton. Some years ago, we were buying frozen
chicken at 500 dollars a ton. We made plans on
the assumption its price would go up to 800; in
fact, it went up to its current price of 1,186
dollars.
This is the case with practically all products
the country imports to meet, essentially, the
needs of the population, products which, as it
is known, the people purchase at prices which
have practically remained unchanged in spite of
the circumstances.
And I am talking of products that I think can be
grown here --it seems to me that there is plenty
of land-- and we have had good rains last year
and this. As I drove in here I could see that
everything around is green and pretty, but what
drew my attention the most, what I found
prettier was the marabú (a thorny bush)
growing along the road.
Therefore, any increase in wages or decrease in
prices, to be real, can only stem from a greater
and more efficient production and services
offer, which will increase the country's
incomes.
No one, no individual or country, can afford to
spend more than what they have. It seems
elementary, but we do not always think and act
in accordance with this inescapable reality.
To have more, we have to begin by producing
more, with a sense of rationality and
efficiency, so that we may reduce imports,
especially of food products --that may be grown
here-- whose domestic production is still a long
way away from meeting the needs of the
population.
We face the imperative of making our land
produce more; and the land is there to be tilted
either with tractors or with oxen, as it was
done before the tractor existed. We need to
expeditiously apply the experiences of producers
whose work is outstanding, be they in the state
or farm sector, on a mass scale, but without
improvising, and to offer these producers
adequate incentives for the work they carry out
in Cuba's suffocating heat.
To reach these goals, the needed structural and
conceptual changes will have to be introduced.
We are already working in this direction and a
number of modest results can already be
appreciated. As demanded by the National
Assembly of the People's Power, all debts to
farmers were settled; in addition to this, there
has been a discrete improvement in the delivery
of inputs to some productive sectors and a
notable increase in the prices of various
products, that is to say, the price the state
pays to the producer, not the price the
population pays, which remains unchanged. This
measure had an impact on important production
items, such as meat and milk.
With respect to milk production and
distribution, we are aware that the material
resources we have managed to secure for the
livestock industry are still very limited.
However, in the last two years nature has been
on our side and everything indicates that we
will reach the planned figure of 384 million
liters of milk, which is still far lower than
the 900 million we were producing when we had
all the fodder and other required inputs.
In addition to this, since March, an experiment
has been underway in six municipalities —Mantua
and San Cristóbal in Pinar del Rio, Melena del
Sur in La Habana, Calimete in Matanzas, Aguada
de Pasajeros in Cienfuegos and Yaguajay in
Sancti Spiritus—where 20 thousand liters of milk
have been directly and consistently delivered by
the producer to 230 rationed stores and for
social consumption in these localities every
day.
In this fashion, we have eliminated absurd
procedures through which this valuable food
product traveled hundreds of miles before
reaching a consumer who, quite often, lived a
few hundred meters away from the livestock farm,
and, with this, the product losses and fuel
expenses involved.
I will give you one example or maybe two in
order to mention one from Camaguey. Currently,
in Mantua, one of the western most
municipalities in Pinar del Rio, 2,492 liters of
milk, which meet established consumption needs,
are being distributed directly to the
municipality's 40 rationed stores and 2,000
liters of fuel are being saved every month.
What was the situation until four months ago?
The closest pasteurizer is located in the
Sandino municipality, 40 kilometers away from
Mantua, the most important town in the area.
Thus, in order to deliver the milk to that
plant, a truck had to travel a minimum of 80
kilometers –because distances are different--
each day to make the round journey. I say "a
minimum" because other areas of the municipality
are even farther away.
The milk that children and other consumers in
Mantua receive on a regulated basis, once
pasteurized at the Sandino plant, returned,
shortly afterwards, on a vehicle which, as it is
logical to assume, had to return to its base of
operations after delivering the product. In
total, it traveled 160 kilometers, a journey
which, as I explained, was in fact longer.
I don’t know if at the moment this is still the
case but some time ago, as I was touring the
southeast of Camaguey and in a place known as
Los Raules –my namesake-- I asked a few
questions. It happened that all the milk
produced at Los Raules was brought to Camaguey
for pasteurizing, and the milk assigned to the
children at Los Raules had to be taken back
there after that. Is that still the case?
On one occasion, not long ago, less than a year,
I asked if that insane and absurd crisscrossing
had been eliminated. I assure you that I was
told it had, and now we are finding out this.
Try thinking about things like these and you’ll
see the spending they mean.
The commendable aim of all of this crisscrossing
was, as we can see, to pasteurize all milk. This
measure makes sense and it is necessary in the
case of large urban centers —even though it is
customary in Cuba to boil all milk at home,
whether the milk is pasteurized or not— and all
milk needed to supply cities will thus continue
to be stocked and pasteurized, but it does not
prove viable for a truck --or hundreds of
trucks-- to travel these long distances every
day to deliver a few liters of milk, to places
which produce enough of it to be
self-sufficient.
As from the victory of the Revolution, the
Cubans have learned to travel from west to east,
mostly from east to west really, but our wishes
to travel have led us to make the milk travel as
well.
In addition to the municipalities participating
in this experiment, which I mentioned already,
another 3,500 rationed stores in other
municipalities and provinces are also directly
distributing milk, and over 7 million liters of
milk have already been distributed.
This procedure will gradually begin to be
applied in more and more places, as expediently
as possible but without any rash attempts at
making it a general formula. In all cases, its
application will be preceded by a comprehensive
study that demonstrates its viability in a
specific place and reveals the existence of the
needed organizational and material conditions.
We will continue to work in this direction until
all of the country's municipalities that produce
the needed quantities of milk become
self-sufficient and can complete, within their
jurisdiction, the cycle which begins when a cow
is milked and ends when a child or any other
person drinks the milk, to the extent that
present conditions allow.
That is to say, the chief aim of these efforts
is to produce as much milk as possible, and I
say this is possible in the overwhelming
majority of municipalities, except for those in
the capital of the country, that is, those which
are not in the outskirts of the city, because
there they can produce milk too. There are
already some capital cities in various provinces
that can produce enough in their main
municipalities; such is the case of Sancti
Spiritus. And, we must definitely produce more
milk!
I mean, the main purpose is to produce more milk
to first ensure what we need for our children.
We are talking about a basic food for children,
and for the ill people; we cannot fool around
with that either. But we should neither renounce
the possibility that others may also receive it
in the future.
Additionally, this program intends to continue
increasing fuel savings; something very
important, too.
This program responds to today’s existing
situation, where dreams of the vast imports of
fodder and other inputs of decades past, when
the world was very different from what it is
today, are just that: dreams.
This is but one example of the abundant
resources that become available when we organize
ourselves better and analyze an issue as deeply
as required, mindful of all the involved
factors.
I reiterate that our problems will not be solved
spectacularly. We need time and, most
importantly, we need to work systematically and
with devotion to consolidate every achievement,
no matter how small.
Another nearly endless source of resources —if
we consider how much we squander—is to be found
in saving, particularly, as we said, the saving
of fuel, whose price is increasingly
prohibitive, and very unlikely to decrease.
This is a task of strategic importance which is
not always undertaken with the necessary care,
and wasteful practices have not yet been halted.
The example with the milk is enough.
Wherever it is rational to do so, we must also
recover domestic industrial production and begin
producing new products that eliminate the need
for imports or create new possibilities for
export.
In this connection, we are currently studying
the possibility of securing more foreign
investment, of the kind that can provide us with
capital, technology or markets, to avail
ourselves of its contribution to the country's
development, careful not to repeat the mistakes
of the past, owed to naivety or our ignorance
about these partnerships, of using the positive
experiences we've had to work with serious
entrepreneurs, upon well-defined legal bases
which preserve the role of the State and the
predominance of socialist property.
We shall step up our cooperative efforts with
other nations more and more, aware that only
united, and on the basis of utter respect for
the path chosen by every country, will we
prevail. Proof of this are the steps we are
taking forward next to our brothers in
Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua, and our solid
ties to China and Vietnam, to mention but a few
noteworthy examples of the growing number of
countries in all continents with which relations
of all kinds are being re-established and
extended.
We will continue to make a priority of the
Movement of Non-Aligned Countries and the
growing international movement of solidarity
towards the Revolution. We will also continue to
work with the United Nations Organization and
other multilateral organizations of which Cuba
is a member, which respect the norms of
international law and contribute to the
development of nations and to peace.
Many are the battles we face simultaneously and
which require us to bring together our forces to
maintain the unity of the people, the
Revolution's greatest weapon, and to take
advantage of the potential of a socialist
society like ours. The coming People's Power
elections will be a new opportunity to
demonstrate how extraordinarily strong our
democracy —a true democracy—is.
It is the duty of each and every one of us, of
Party cadres especially, not to allow ourselves
be overwhelmed by any difficulty, no matter how
great or insurmountable it may seem to us at a
given moment.
We must remember how, despite the initial
confusion and discouragement, we managed to face
up to the first, harsh years of the Special
Period early the last decade, and how we managed
to move forward. What we said then we can more
justifiably repeat today: Yes, we can do it!
In response to bigger problems or challenges,
more organization, more systematic and effective
work, more studies and predictions on the basis
of plans where our priorities are clearly
established and no one attempts to solve their
problems at any cost or at the expense of
others.
We must also work with a critical and creative
spirit, avoiding stagnation and schematics. We
must never fall prey to the idea that what we do
is perfect but rather examine it again. The one
thing a Cuban revolutionary will never question
is our unwavering decision to build socialism.
It was with the same profound conviction that,
in this very place, on July 26, 1989, exactly 18
years ago to this day, Fidel historically and
prophetically affirmed that, even in the
hypothetical case that the Soviet Union were to
collapse, we would continue to move forward with
the Revolution, determined to pay the steep
price of freedom and to act on the basis of
dignity and principles.
History has offered abundant proof that our
people’s determination is as hard as rock. To
honor this determination, we are duty-bound to
question everything we do as we strive to
materialize our will more and more perfectly, to
change concepts and methods which were
appropriate at one point but have been surpassed
by life itself.
We must always remember — and not to repeat it
from memory like a dogma, but rather to apply it
creatively in our work every day—what comrade
Fidel affirmed on May 1st, 2000, with a
definition which embodies the quintessence of
political and ideological work:
"Revolution means a sense of our moment in
history, it means changing all that ought to be
changed; it is full equality and freedom; it is
being treated and treating others like human
beings; it is emancipating ourselves by
ourselves, and through our own efforts; it is
defying powerful and ruling forces inside and
outside of the social and national spheres; it
is defending values that are believed in at the
cost of any sacrifice; it is modesty,
selflessness, altruism, solidarity and heroism;
it is fighting with audacity, intelligence and
realism; it is never lying or violating ethical
principles; it is the profound conviction that
there is no force in the world capable of
crushing the strength of truth and ideas.
Revolution is unity, it is independence, it is
fighting for our dreams for justice for Cuba and
for the world, it is the foundation of our
patriotism, our socialism and our
internationalism."
The best tribute we can pay the Commander in
Chief today, the greatest contribution to his
recovery we can make, is to ratify the decision
to make a guide of those principles and, most
importantly, to act in accordance with them
every day, at whatever post has been assigned
us.
True to the legacy of our glorious dead, we will
work tirelessly to wholly meet the directives of
his Proclamation, the many he has given us since
then and as many as he gives us in the future.
There is no room for fear of difficulties or
danger in our country, which shall never lower
its guard before its enemies. That is the
essential guarantee that, in our squares and,
should it be necessary, in our trenches too0,
these are the cries that shall always resound in
our land:
Long live the Revolution!
Long live Fidel!
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