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JULY 26, 2008
Men and Women from
Santiago:
Compatriots:
Fifty five years is a short period of time in
the life of a nation but enough to confirm that
July 26 marked the beginning of a new era in
Cuban history.
In his fundamental speech at the official
ceremony on the 20th anniversary of
the Moncada also held here in Santiago de Cuba,
Fidel recalled the inflammatory poem written by
the outstanding Communist leader and noble
intellectual Ruben Martínez Villena:
"A charge is needed
to kill the scoundrels,
To finish the work
of revolutions,
To avenge the
outraged dead,
To remove the
tenacious scab of colonization,
So the humiliating
fate, the efforts and hunger,
The wounds and death
shall not be in vain;
So the Republic
stays by itself
To fulfill Martí’s
dream of marble,
So our
children do not beg on their knees
The Nation
our fathers won for us on their feet."
And he
concluded by saying:
"Ruben:
the July 26 was the charge you asked for."
Since that memorable ceremony in 1973, we Cubans
have confronted many difficulties and hard
times. Only our people’s deep convictions and
determination to hold its ground and to win have
made it possible to celebrate this new
anniversary with pride and optimism.
 The
Granma newspaper had the fine initiative to
start a few days ago reproducing that speech,
dividing it into fifteen parts. It is thus
unnecessary for us to recount the background,
the causes, conditions and consequences of the
attack on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de
Céspedes barracks since the Chief of the
Revolution explained them that day in an
unrepeatable synthesis.
That speech offers not only a sound analysis of
the past and of those days specifically, but
also an accurate and precise appraisal of the
harsh realities the future had in store and the
way to tackle them.
In a day like this, in 1973, Fidel asserted that
the only possibility the Latin American peoples
had to save themselves was to join forces and to
get rid of the imperialist domination, since
only that would enable them to take their place
in the large human communities.
And referring to our region, he added:
"Only that would make us strong enough to face
up to the enormous economic, social, human and
food problems with a population that will grow
an additional 600 million in the next 25 years.
Only that would make possible our participation
in the scientific and technical revolution that
will shape up life in the future. Only that will
make us free."
Later on, he admonished:
"…luxury and wastage in the developed capitalist
societies are depleting the non-renewable
natural resources such as oil whose price is
threatening to increase extraordinarily." End of
quote.
 If
seems to have been said just today but he said
it 35 years ago. That’s why Abdelazis Bouteflica,
President of the sister nation of Algeria and a
dear friend of Cuba, said on one occasion:
"We have had the immense privilege of being
friends with comrade Fidel, who has never failed
us. Fidel has the strange quality of traveling
into the future, returning and then explaining
it all."
The 55 years that have passed since July 26,
1953 have more than justified the choice of
Oriente, particularly Santiago de Cuba and
Bayamo, to restart the then incomplete Cuban
Revolution. In this indomitable land of
mambises and rebels, like in all of Cuba,
the glorious patriotic and revolutionary
traditions of our people are kept alive.
From that very first year of 1959, the nation
has been making great efforts to develop the
eastern provinces where 35% of the country’s
population lives today, however, compared with
the rest of the nation they are still in a
disadvantage. The Special Period and the natural
disasters have hit this area with special force.
These have also prevented us from advancing at a
greater speed.
We are aware of the great amount of problems
waiting to be solved, most of which weigh
heavily and directly on the population.
Nevertheless, it should be recognized that
lately the limited resources the nation has been
able to additionally deliver to the eastern
region have been quickly put to good use.
An example of this is the renovation of numerous
facilities that improve the people’s quality of
life while contributing to education and leisure.
A wok of special significance for the people in
Santiago, one which started last year, is
advancing at a good pace: the reconstruction and
expansion of the aqueduct. This old and serious
problem should be definitely solved by 2010,
when the entire city will have a daily supply of
water guaranteed.
Then, by 2011 the renovation of the El Cobre and
El Cristo aqueducts shall be completed --there,
too, they will have a daily supply of water--
and the construction of the 15.6 miles of water
pipeline from the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes
reservoir up to the Gilbert’s. This will
guarantee an additional source of this liquid in
case of severe draughts.
So far, 231.2 miles of major water networks and
370.6 miles of secondary water networks have
been completed. This is approximately one-third
of what should be installed; however, it has
already benefited over 26 thousand housing where
some 111 thousand Santiagueros live.
Additionally, 15.3 miles of the major water
pipeline has been completed, that is, 17% of the
total. Likewise, the modernization of the
Quintero Uno water purification plant will be
soon completed. This will raise the quality of
the water supply.
The equipment required for this work is
available. Now, to maximize its use a double
shift shall be arranged wherever it is advisable
trying to reduce to the minimum the
inconveniences for the population since a large
part of this work is to be done inside the city.
The idea is to open up the trench and
immediately lay down the pipes, and to
reestablish the way as soon as the work has been
tested.
We shall be checking the timetable for the
execution of this work on a monthly basis with
those responsible who signed the contract on
behalf of the entities involved. That is, Fidel
Figueroa, minister of Construction; Rene Mesa,
director of the National Institute of Water
Resources; and Rolando Yero, president of
People’s Power in this province.
This kind of work is not only being done here
but also with the 27 brigades created for this
purpose in the aqueducts of Holguín, Baracoa and
Tunas, and other eastern provinces; in the
capital of the country; in Camaguey and other
places in the center and west of the island.
This major work also includes tens of small
towns and small communities.
A piece of advise: the more water that is
distributed, the greater the need to save it.
Water is a very valuable resource which is
indispensable for everything; therefore, it
should be used rationally.
Also, it is necessary to work hard and urgently
on the recovery of roadworks as a good part of
them was destroyed at the end of last year by
tropical storm Noel. There is much to be done,
but despite the limited resources about 2218.7
miles of dirt roads and paved roads were rebuilt
in the eastern and Camaguey provinces, the same
as the 75 miles of railways affected, including
most of the bridges and other major pieces of
work associated with them.
Likewise work is being done on several water
transfer systems throughout the country which
will allow us to take water from one province to
another. Given their significance, our media has
been reporting on them.
I will only mention the so-called east-west
water transfer system in Holguín whose
construction is advancing at good speed. The
first stage of this project will soon be ready
for opening. This will make possible a steady
water supply to the provincial capital and to
other areas, as construction proceeds and
concludes with the reestablishment of the water
pipeline.
The brigades involved in these works have the
necessary equipment. Besides, the production
capacity of heavy polyethylene pipes has been
largely increased with the construction of
factories in Holguín and Havana City, which come
to add to that of Ciego de Avila which has been
in operation for years.
This is an enormous investment that we are
carrying out looking not only into the present
but especially into the future. This work is of
paramount importance in a long and narrow island
such as ours where the rainfalls run fast into
the sea and where we regularly sustain periods
of severe draughts which can be alleviated by
transferring water resources, including those
from the mountains, through large tunnels.
Such precaution will be appreciated by all,
especially by the future generations, those that
will be living in a world where drinking water
will be an ever more scarce and expensive
resource.
That’s why many are predicting that future wars
will be fought over the reserves of this
irreplaceable natural resource. Presently, wars
are being fought over oil.
A special place among the new investments
undertaken in cooperation with Venezuela is
taken by petrochemicals: the increase of oil
refining, the production of fertilizers and the
manufacturing of synthetic resins like the
so-called PVC. This is used, among many other
things, for the manufacturing of petrohouses.
Actually, 100 of these houses are being built at
the La Risueña community in this city. They are
similar to those built in Cienfuegos as part of
an effort to test their possibilities in our
environmental conditions.
At the same time, a major expansion has been
undertaken --in some cases with our own
resources and in others with foreign companies--
in the area of nickel, cement and mining. Many
of these works will be carried out here in
Santiago de Cuba and other eastern provinces,
albeit they are spread all over the country. For
example, the expansion of the ‘Hermanos Diaz’
oil refinery has been planned to exceed twice
its capacity; at that point it will be in a
position to supply oil to the entire eastern
part of the country.
As we said last July 11th at the Parliament, an
extraordinary effort is made to invest the
existing resources in those areas that can
generate a profit on a short term basis. We
should try for the best possible coordination to
exist among investors, designers and
construction workers in order to achieve the
greatest efficiency and to complete every work
according to the agreed timetable.
We must bear in mind that we are living in the
midst of a true world crisis which is not only
economic but also associated to climate change,
the irrational use of energy and a great number
of other problems.
This situation impacts on every nation but it
has a particularly dramatic effect on the Third
World peoples. International agencies have been
issuing strong alerts. Such is the case of FAO,
whose director general, who has just visited
with us, has made brave denunciations and
offered sound arguments on the seriousness of
this crisis of unpredictable consequences.
Meanwhile, in the light of this crisis the
leaders of the wealthy nations and the big
transnational corporations behave passively, an
attitude that is not only selfish and
irresponsible but also suicidal, since we all
live on this planet whether they like it or not.
A few days back, even the President of the World
Bank, an organization nobody would say is
opposed to capitalism, brought pressure on the
industrial nations for these to take part in the
solution of the problem. However, his words fell
on deaf ears despite the fact that he invited
them to contribute to the UN Food Program with
the ridiculous sum of 500 million dollars. Both,
the World Bank and the International Monetary
Fund have stated that the already serious
situation with food is aggravated by the U.S.
policy that promotes the use of agrofuels.
Most of our people have shown to have sufficient
knowledge and maturity to understand these
simply inescapable realities. Others, however,
try to stubbornly close theirs eyes to the world
problems.
I repeat that the revolution has done and will
continue to do anything within its power to
continue to advance and to reduce to the minimum
the unavoidable consequences of the present
international crisis for our people. Yet, we
should timely explain to our people the
difficulties so that we can be better prepared
to face them. We must get used to receiving not
only good news.
Some opinions collected with regards to the
preliminary draft of the Social Security Bill
show that it is necessary to continue providing
information on this strategically important
issue.
The process of study and consultation with all
of the workers will begin next September, prior
to the adoption of the Bill by the National
Assembly on December. That procedure will be
useful to clarify every doubt and offer the
opportunity to volunteer any criteria.
Everybody will be attentively listened to,
whether their views coincide or not with those
of the majority, the same as we have done with
the views expressed during the process of
reflection on the last July 26th
speech. We do not aspire to unanimity which is
usually fictitious, on this or any other
subject.
Nevertheless, it should be kept in mind that in
1953, the year we attacked this and Bayamo’s
barracks, life expectancy in Cuba was 59 years,
almost 20 years less than at this moment. This
means that at present we are living 5 years more
than the average Latin American and Caribbean,
as I said at the National Assembly. Let’s not
forget that in the past there were no jobs
during the sugarcane off-season; that there were
long lines of unemployed; that the peasants were
evicted from the land they tilled and the
workers from their housing when they could not
pay the rent. Let’s not forget the terrible
image of the hungry children begging for alms,
without access to doctors or schools.
Thousands of compatriots, including the martyrs
of Moncada and Bayamo, have given their lives to
put an end to all those injustices that Fidel
summed up in History Will Absolve Me. It is most
appropriate to remember the situation of poverty
and inequality inherited by the revolution
almost have a century ago, especially when 71%
of today’s Cubans were born after January 1st,
1959.
There are still many things we would like our
people to enjoy, even though our reality today
is very different from that found by the
Revolution. I remember that in the toughest days
of the Special Period, a Latin American trade
union leader addressing his Cuban colleagues
said: "You may have many problems, but I know my
country and a good part of this continent, and
I’ll give you a piece of advise: preserve what
you have!"
Regardless of our great wishes to solve every
problem we cannot spend in excess of what we
have. And to make the best of what we have it is
indispensable to save everything, foremost fuel.
I shall repeat what the Chief of the Revolution
said from this same rostrum, in a day like this
35 years ago, because I think it is permanently
valid. He said:
"As a poor country, with little natural
resources that can be easily exploited, one that
must work hard to earn its living in a world
where a large part of the peoples live in
dreadful poverty […] the goals of our people in
terms of material goods cannot be very
ambitious." And he added:
"It will be our duty in the following years to
rise to the maximum the efficiency in the use of
our economic and human resources; and to
carefully take note of costs and spending. Also,
we should have the courage to rectify the
mistakes made on the side of idealism in the
management of our economy."
Recently, the Law Decrees were published on the
distribution of idle land and the remuneration
of teachers and professors that return to the
classrooms. Both have received ample support
from our people.
Likewise, an experience of which I spoke one
year ago in Camaguey, that is, the direct
distribution of milk by the producer to the
grocery stores, keeps extending at a good pace.
Last June 30th, the consumers
registered in 5,361 grocery stores, that is, 49%
of those in the 154 municipalities that could
implement this procedure, were receiving milk
this way. Actually, 52 million liters of milk
were sold in this way in the first six months of
this year.
Additionally, 1,800 tons of fuel has been saved
whose value exceeds 2,350,000 dollars. This fuel
saving could increase every year with the
expansion of this direct milk distribution
procedure.
Efforts are also being made to improve the
organization of cargo transportation since it is
a fact that an adequate operation allows for a
20% fuel saving.
Besides, an experience is underway in 16
municipalities which consist in centralizing the
transportation used for this purpose at that
level, except in those cases where it is not
logical due to the type of vehicles used or the
nature of the work they do. The results are
showing that the work can be done with 30% of
the cargo transportation operated today. We
shall continue to advance with this experience
at a pace that can guarantee its rigorous
application to avoid spoiling the idea, which,
by the way, has had to face some people’s
useless resistance.
Progress has also been made in crucial sectors
of the economy. The oil production plan is being
fulfilled, although as we all know it is far
from meeting our needs. Also, a part of it is
produced in joint ventures with foreign
companies from which we need to purchase the
amount required at the present high prices.
Advances have been experienced in the recovery
of tourism. Until June 25th, close to
1,309,000 tourists had arrived in our country;
this accounts for a 14.8% growth compared with
the same period last year. And something very
important: the cost has been reduced for every
incoming dollar.
Likewise, we keep on our cooperation with other
peoples. Next December, this city will be the
venue of the Third Cuba-CARICOM Summit. There is
a growing exchange with the Caribbean countries
members of CARICOM. We are sure that the
Santiagueros will be great hosts.
It has also been decided that here, in our
Heroic City, we celebrate an extraordinary
event: the 50th Anniversary of the
Revolution. Yesterday, today and forever:
Santiago is Santiago!
And together with production, we shall continue
paying special attention to defense, regardless
of the results of the next presidential
elections in the United States.
The country is doing well in its defense
preparation. On November 2007 we conducted with
satisfactory results the Moncada military
exercise in the west and center parts of the
island. This was done in the eastern territory
last June since the decision had been made to
postpone it to avoid interfering with the work
of recuperation after the intense rainfall at
the end of last year.
On the other hand, Operation Caguairán continues
to favorably develop; this has enabled us to
significantly raise the preparation of our
reservists, who complement the regular troops,
and of our militia.
At the same time, we have continued the
engineering fitting-out of the military theater
of operations and the modernization of the
weapons and other means as well as the training
and upgrading of officers. This year over 2,000
officers graduated; the highest figure in the
last ten years.
Simultaneously, conditions are being created to
perform with excellence and rigor, in the month
of November, the Bastion 2008 Strategic Military
Exercise.
Comrades all:
When we think 50 years into the future it seems
something rather distant; however, as I look
back at the past 55 years, I feel that they have
gone by very quickly.
When we attacked the Moncada, none of us dreamed
of being here today; we didn’t have such dreams
even when following the Commander in Chief’s
orders we entered this fortress victoriously on
January 1st, 1959, exactly five year,
five months and five days later. Most of us were
twenty or thirty some years old, some were even
younger, and half a century seemed to us an
eternity. But if there is something we have
learned well is that time flies, therefore, to
waste it away out of inertia or hesitation is an
unforgivable negligence. We must take advantage
of every minute and learn fast from every
experience, even from our mistakes since they
always teach a lesson if they are seriously
analyzed.
The main problems and tasks we shall continue to
analyze with the people, particularly with the
workers, with the same transparency and
confidence we’ve always had. We shall seek for
the best solutions mindless of those who abroad
try to take advantage of such debates. Sooner or
later the truth prevails.
We shall continue to care for, prepare and
listen to our youths so that they can act with
the firmness, the conviction and the loyalty of
our Five Heroes. We are aware of the high
responsibility and dedication demanded from the
new generations, and we are certain that the
same as those who unhesitatingly followed
Céspedes in 1868, Martí in 1895 and Fidel in
1953, they will live up to their historical
moment, equally difficult and glorious.
Let’s never forget that this is the socialist
Revolution of the people, for the people and by
the people. We will never betray the memory of
those who fell in combat or who were murdered in
Santiago de Cuba and Bayamo 55 years ago.
In the days following the attack, this barrack
was wet with blood everywhere, from the dungeons
to the cellar, even to the terrace roof of the
building where I was taken one night for several
hours, when they brought me here from San Luis
where I was captured. I will never forget the
horrific image of the already clotted blood of
my comrades spread throughout that terrace roof.
That dreadful image, that stain on the glorious
name of Guillermón Moncada, could only be
watched away by the happiness and the smile of
the tens of thousands of children who have
studied in the classrooms of this School Center,
one of the first barracks of the tyranny to be
turned into a school. This is partly the fruit
of the work of our entire people and of the
sacrifices of all those who have given their
lives for the same ideas, from the independence
wars until the present, in Cuba and in the
fulfillment of our internationalist duty.
Our battle today is the same that started on
July 26, 1953. It is only taking place in new
scenarios, at a higher scale and now in defense
of the great conquests attained in half a
century.
We are now facing an enemy which is much more
powerful than the soldiers of the tyranny
entrenched behind the walls of this barrack and
in Bayamo. But the strength of our people has
also grown tremendously thanks to its
revolutionary unity, organization and
conscience, and to its education. We also have
very superior reasons to sacrifice our lives
for, if need be.
Fifty-five years ago a bunch of revolutionaries
attempted to take heaven by storm. We were then
impelled by the decision to free our land from
ignominy and to fulfill Martí’s purpose to
conquer all the justice for the people.
On behalf of every patriot in this island, from
the heroic Santiago de Cuba, birthplace of the
Revolution, we dedicate this 55th
Anniversary to you, Fidel, and we say to you:
We shall continue with the charge Rubén asked
for and that you started on July 26!
Everlasting glory to our martyrs!
Long live the Revolution!
Long live free Cuba |
