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Comrades:
Past, present and future combatants:
 We
welcome good friends of the Cuban Revolution who
have offered their essential support and
solidarity over these last 50 years of prolonged
battle for sovereignty and freedom. Among them I
would like to mention the Guayasamín Foundation
and the relatives of this great Ecuadorian
friend and painter, who conceived this
noble gesture of paying homage to comrade Fidel
on his 80th birthday, an occasion
which has brought to Havana Heads of State or
Government, as well as other dignitaries and
senior personalities from the political and
cultural scenes of various countries. On behalf
of our people we thank them for honoring us with
their presence at this forum.
Another reason why we are gathered here today is
to celebrate the anniversary of a momentous
event in our history. We are here to commemorate
the 50th anniversary of the landing of the
Granma yacht on December 2, 1956, a date which
marks the birth of the Rebel Army and of its
true successors: the Revolutionary Armed Forces.
It is to the combatant people, heroic
protagonist and legitimate pillar
of the Armed Forces, and to their founder and
Commander-in-Chief that this Military Parade is
dedicated. This is divided into sections
representing the beautiful history of 138 years
of struggle by the Cuban people for their final
independence. Firstly, the Liberation Army that
fought the colonial yoke, then the rebel army
against neo-colonial tyranny followed by the
Revolutionary Armed Forces that defend the
Homeland, the Revolution and Socialism; One army
of the people in three different stages of
history.
This is a perfect time to reaffirm the full
validity of the words spoken by comrade Fidel in
his Central Report to the First Congress of the
Communist Party, 31 years ago, as he said:
"The Rebel Army was the soul of the Revolution.
Its victorious arms opened the way for a new
free, beautiful, striving and invincible new
homeland. Its soldiers vindicated the blood
generously shed in all the struggles for
independence and with their own blood laid the
foundations of Cuba’s socialist present. They
gave to the people the weapons wrested from the
oppressor in an epic struggle, and merged with
the people to become forever onward the armed
people".
When "…there was not yet (...) the Party which
would emerge later on, the Army was the factor
of cohesion and unity of the entire people and
the same that guaranteed power for the working
people and the existence of the Revolution …"
And "… upon the foundation of our Party, the
vanguard of our working class, the symbol and
synthesis of the ideals, aspirations and history
of the Cuban Revolution from the glorious days
of La Demajagua until now, and follower of the
work of Marti's Revolutionary Party and of the
courageous founders of the first
Marxist-Leninist party of Cuba, our army, heir
to the heroism and patriotic honor of the
Liberation Army, that has victoriously carried
on its struggles, placed in the hands of the
Party the banners of the Revolution and has ever
since and forever been its most loyal,
disciplined, humble and staunch follower". This
is what Fidel said.
Also, in the context of the 50th
anniversary of the Revolutionary Armed Forces
(the FAR), it is fitting to ratify the
monolithic unity between the People, the Army
and the Party; this unity has been deeply rooted
over the years following the triumph of the
Revolution on January 1st, 1959; this
unity is our main strategic weapon, which has
made it possible for this small island to resist
and overcome so many aggressions from
imperialism and its allies; this unity provides
a basis for the internationalist work of the
Cuban people and is the reason for the heroic
deeds of its children in other countries around
the world, following Marti's maxim that
"Homeland is Humanity".
We are experiencing an exceptional moment in
history. Many thought that the demise of the
socialist block and the collapse of the Soviet
Union would spell the end for the international
revolutionary movement. Some even suggested that
we abandon the ideals to which entire
generations of Cubans had dedicated their lives,
while over the last few years the US government,
in the opportunistic manner characteristic of
them, have stepped up their hostility and
aggressiveness against Cuba to an unprecedented
high, in the hope of economically suffocating
the country and overthrowing the Revolution by
intensifying their subversive acts. In this
regard, the surprise and frustration of our
enemies was great, and the admiration of the
oppressed masses even greater, when they
witnessed the perseverance, equanimity, maturity
and self-confidence that our people have shown
over these last four months.
Despite the maneuvers and pressure of the United
States and its allies, the prestige enjoyed by
Cuba around the world has strengthened. An
example of this was the 14th Non-Aligned Summit
successfully held in our capital last September,
and more recently the unprecedented support
given in the United Nations General Assembly to
the resolution condemning the US blockade on our
country.
In Latin America, the application the neoliberal
formula imposed by the United States and their
European buddies has led the continent into the
sad situation of being the region in the planet
where the opulence of the oligarchy with close
links to foreign capital is the most insulting
and obnoxious when compared to the poverty,
insalubrities and ignorance in which the
majority of the population lives. Over recent
years, the peoples of Latin America have been
progressively expressing their feelings of
indignation and repudiation towards the
treacherous and submissive policies adopted by
traditional governments and parties. Popular and
revolutionary movements are getting stronger and
despite Washington’s multimillion-dollar
campaigns of disinformation, the blackmail and
brazen interference, new and experienced leaders
are assuming the leadership of their nations.
The attempt by the United States to economically
annex Latin America by way of the FTAA was
thwarted while a project of integration known as
the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas,
ALBA, is taking its place following a proposal
by President and brother, Hugo Chávez, to
benefit the dispossessed masses.
Recent events in the international arena bear
witness to the failure of the adventurous
policies of the current US administration. On
November 7, the people of that country showed I
the ballot box their rejection of the strategic
concept of pre-emptive war, the use of lies to
justify military interventions, kidnappings and
secret prisons, and the despicable legalization
of torture in the so-called war on terrorism.
Three years and seven months after President
Bush euphorically and precipitately declared on
board an aircraft carrier "mission accomplished"
with regards to the war in Iraq, the bodies of
young American soldiers killed in a war spurred
by the desire to control the region’s energy
resources continue to be sent back to the United
States. Nobody dares anymore to predict when it
will end. The US government is at a dead-end: on
the one hand, it realizes that it cannot prolong
occupation in Iraq, while on the other it admits
that it doesn’t have the minimum conditions
needed to pull out without damaging their
interests. Meanwhile, the number of deaths and
mutilations continues to mount among civilians
subjected to an internecine war the result of
the anarchy and chaos created by the US
invasion.
Some in the United States are now suggesting
that they simply withdraw from the chaos that
they themselves created. We don’t know what they
will do in this case with the NATO, left high
and dry by its American buddies in the conflict
in Afghanistan, which is also becoming
increasingly unmanageable and dangerous.
In the eyes of the world, the so-called "crusade
on terrorism" is unavoidably heading down the
path to a humiliating defeat.
The American people, just as in the case of
Vietnam, will put an end to these unjust and
criminal wars. We hope that the US authorities
will learn that war is not the solution to the
growing problems afflicting the planet; that
proclaiming their right to irresponsibly attack
"sixty or more dark corners" of the world, even
when they are already stuck in two of them,
makes their differences with other countries
more complex and profound; that power based on
intimidation and terror will never be anything
more than a passing illusion and that the
terrible consequences of this on the peoples of
the world, including the American, are clear to
see.
We feel certain that the way to resolve the
pressing conflicts afflicting mankind is not
through war, but rather political solutions. We
take this opportunity to once again state that
we are willing to resolve at the negotiating
table the longstanding dispute between the
United States and Cuba, of course, provided they
accept, as we have previously said, our
condition as a country that will not tolerate
any blemishes on its independence, and as long
as said resolution is based on the principles of
equality, reciprocity, non-interference and
mutual respect.
In the meantime, after almost half a century, we
are willing to wait patiently until the moment
when common sense prevails in the Washington
power circles.
Regardless of this, we shall continue to
consolidate our nation’s military
invulnerability based on the strategic concept
of the War of All the People which we planned
and began introducing 25 years ago. This type of
popular war, as repeatedly proven throughout
modern history, is simply invincible.
We will continue to improve the preparation and
combative cohesion of the regular troops and
their reserves, the Territorial Militia, the
Production and Defense Brigades and other
elements of the territorial defense corps,
including all levels of the party, state and
government structures. We will continue to
prepare the Theatre of Military Operations while
developing communications and the modernization
of combat resources in order to improve
combative skills and adapt them to their
envisaged use in the event of an attack.
We will also continue to strengthen the
important work carried out on all fronts by the
dedicated combatants of the Ministry of the
Interior.
We will preserve the freedom of the Cuban people
and the independence and sovereignty of the
Homeland at all costs.
With the strength derived from hundreds of years
of struggle and the patriotic energy
characteristic of our people, so noble and
heroic, let us raise our voices in harmony to
proclaim:
Long Live Fidel!
Long Live Free Cuba |
