-DATE- 19610314 -YEAR- 1961 -DOCUMENT_TYPE- SPEECH -AUTHOR- F. CASTRO -HEADLINE- CEREMONY TO HONOR 13 MARCH MARTYRS -PLACE- HAVANA -SOURCE- REVOLUCION -REPORT_NBR- FBIS -REPORT_DATE- 19610314 -TEXT- CASTRO ADDRESS AT CEREMONY TO HONOR 13 MARCH MARTYRS Source: Revolucion, Havana, 14 March 1961. "If they form a Cuban government in exile, we are going to form many revolutionary American governments in exile, and the first of all will be the government of Free Puerto Rico in exile," said the Prime Minister of the Revolutionary Government last night in his concluding address at the ceremony held at the University. Comandate Fidel Castro spoke before tens of thousands of citizens, all of whom tolerated the inconvenience of a heavy shower for a considerable period without leaving their places. The ceremony was that held on the university steps, culminating the events held to honor the memory of those who fell in the attack on the presidential palace on 13 March 1957. Those seated at the speakers' table along with the President of the Republic, Dr. Oswaldo Dorticos and the Prime Minister of the Revolutionary Government and highest leader of the revolution, Dr. Fidel Castro, included the members of the Council of Ministers; the municipal commissioner of Havana, Mr. Jose Llanusa; the parents of Camilo Cienfuegos; the parents of Jose Antonio Echeverria; and Fructuoso Rodriguez; Comandante Alberto Bayo; Comandante Felix Torres; the President of the FEU [Federation de Estudiantes Universitarios -- Federation of University Students], Comandante Rolando Cubela; the secretary, Comandante Angel Quevedo; members of the Righer Governing Council of the University of Havana, Professors Abelardo Moreno and Hector Garcini; the Secretary General of the FNTA [Federal Nacional de Trabajadores Azucareros -- National Federation of Sugar Workers], Conrado Bequer; Comandante Calixto Gardia; the Presidents of the Students Associations in the various university faculties; the Ambassador of the Chinese People's Republic, Shen Chin, and other members of the diplomatic corps from socialist countries; the head of the China Exposition, Van Han Loi; and the delegates to the Latin American Conference for National Sovereignty, Economic Emancipation and Peace, who were invited to Cuba by our government to inspect the great changes brought about by the Cuban revolution. The ceremony on the university steps began with the national anthem played by the band of the National Revolutionary Police and sung by the thousands of compatriots who crowded the stairsteps and the nearby streets. The first speakers were President of the University Students' Federation, Comandante Rolando Cubela, and the Cuban Ambassador to the Soviet Union, Comandante Faure Chomon. *** Following an ovation which only subsidied with the playing of the national anthem, Comandante Fidel Castro spoke, as follows: (typewritten reports Department of the Revolutionary Government): Students, workers and citizens all: We come here today to commemorate yet another anniversary, yet another sacrifice, yet another group of martyrs, yet another historic date for the fatherland. There are many dates which we could commemorate, but there are some which are like symbols and this day, 13 March, is one of these, and one the fatherland should always remember. A few days ago we met to recall the workers and the soldiers who fell when La Coubre exploded. Today we are gathered to remember the heroic dead and the comrades who fell on this day, to remember the young university students who paid such a high price for what we have today. And it was natural that those of us who represent the revolutionary people should meet here, since here are gathered tonight those who represent the revolutionary forces of the country, the revolutionary social forces, and the revolutionary organizations. The comrades who spoke before me have read the roster, and it is certain that those who have remained faithful to the flag of the revolution here are those who truly wanted to bring about a real revolution. Comrade Cubela has listed those members of the revolutionary leadership who fought together with Comrade Echeverria, and he noted that they were all present here, all those leaders of that revolutionary organization. We could say precisely the same of all those comrades who in the most difficult days of the struggle in the mountains remained ready there to deal with all the obstacles which lay ahead, and we could say precisely the same of those members of the Popular Socialist Party (applause) who in the difficult days of persecution and clandestine action did not desert their cause. We could say the same of all those Cubans who for a long time, for many years, perhaps entire lifetimes, desired what has come to pass for Cuba now, and we could say the same, if they were alive, of all those young people and revolutionaries who throughout our republican life have offered their lives for an ideal. We could say the same of those revolutionaries who in 68 and in 95 fought and died, and even those who did not die did not have the luck that we have had, the opportunity of seeing the symbol of our fatherland fluttering in full freedom. The history of peoples is written by loyal men, men who persevere, men who do not desert their cause. And thus, the ranks of the revolution itself have been purified. There have been time at commemorations such as this when there have been those who have stepped to the rostrum to pay tribute, hypocritically, to the martyrs of the revolution, when because of their lack of ideals, their lack of morality, their lack of honor, they had no right to be on this platform. The revolution itself undertook to proceed, leaving them behind. Many of them have for some time been on the other side. But in fact, those of us who remain here feel much better. There were faces which it took much patience on the part of all of us to tolerate, but nonetheless, they could exercise the right, if they wanted to be revolutionaries, because the revolution denied no one a place in the struggle, since the revolution was not exclusive, since the revolution was not the monopoly of any one. But they did not exercise that right, they preferred to exercise the right of becoming mercenaries. They had the right to remain loyal, and the people were generous in overlooking many sins, but the sinners sinned again. Instead of being loyal, they were traitors. Those who remained here with the revolution are like these men and women who are not moving from their places, who are capable of smiling and even of withstanding rainfall, as they can withstand anything (applause). And in this connection, we were thinking of the determination of the men and women of the people, of the marvel which a revolutionary people represents, of the difference between yesterday and today, of the difference between those crowds which gathered in the heat of a passing enthusiasm and the people who are gathered today, loyal to their flag and attached to their land, a people on whom we can count for everything (applause). This people could not be budged either by economic aggression or the sacrifice this aggression has imposed upon us, nor by danger nor terror. This people had contempt in the past for those who exploited it, those who still had not been able to understand this people yet today, this people with contempt for those who have never been with the people, this people with contempt for those who link themselves with the most immoral interests in an effort to take from them what the revolution has given them, to try to recover what the revolution has won, but most of all, to snatch away not the present, for the present is full of hours of struggle, the present is full of effort, the present may be full of sacrifice, but to snatch away the future, to snatch away the hopes which encourage our people, the future for which we are all struggling. And it is time for us to learn, it is time for us to understand, it is time for us to know what a revolution is. A revolution is a very serious event, a revolution is a very profound and great occurrence in the life of a people, a revolution is not brought about easily. The coming generations will always talk about the events of the revolutions, and we have read and always talked with true admiration about the great revolutions, but in particular about the peoples and the generations which undertook the revolution. Our revolution is one of these events which will make history and the people who are bringing about the revolution and the generation which is undertaking the revolution will be talked about in the future with admiration by the coming generations in Cuba, America and the entire world (applause). For this reason, we must be worthy of the enterprise we are undertaking. We must not harbor any illusion that it is an easy undertaking. Possibly to date it has not been very difficult. Possibly it has not yet required great sacrifice. Possibly, up to this moment, the people have been given much and in a short time we have won a great deal and we have made few sacrifices. Because in reality, the people have not made them, in fact, those here who have had to suffer from the lack of some advantages or some personal satisfactions have been those who exploited the people. They have seen many of their pleasures and privileges disappear. But this class still exercises some influence over the people. This class does not preach sacrifice, but resistance. This class is not the first to advise courage in the face of privation. It is the first to begin to protest, to express its dissatisfaction, and to try to communicate its resentment and its bitterness to the others. For this reason we must learn to analyze the revolution as it is: an adamant battle of interests. Revolutions are waged with an eye to the interests of the people. Revolutions look to the interests of you young people, you humble men and women of the people. Revolutions are waged to bring these people the happiness they have never had, to bring them the benefits they have never received, although to achieve this just goal, it is necessary to sacrifice all those privileges and all those benefits which the few have enjoyed to excess (applause). The dominant classes were not only corrupt, not only dedicated to frivolity and indolence, but they also tried to spread their corruption, to expand it, to other sectors of the people. They tried to contaminate other sectors of the country with their frivolous spirit and their chronic indolence. They tried to infect the very classes they dominated with their tastes and their whims. They tried to spread their lack of spirit of sacrifice, their lack of creative spirit, their lack of desire for progress to these classes. And in fact, in order for us to understand the revolution properly, we must know, you, the humble men and women of the people must always remember that this is a struggle between those who exploited you yesterday and you, as well as those who are struggling with you, so that the people can have what has always been denied them. We must remember that those who are being sacrificed here to make a reality of the revolution, those deliberately being sacrificed are the privileged. Those whom the revolution has sacrificed without any consideration are those who exploited the people (applause). And the other sacrifices which the struggle imposed upon us are the sacrifices which we must necessarily make to achieve victory. In the past, as we said a short while ago, the people had nothing, but in particular, there was an extraordinary differentiation between those who were swimming in plenty and those who were drowning in misery, between those who had several houses and several automobiles and large businesses and large incomes -- think, for example, of the family which received 150,000 pesos a month in rents -- between those who have closets full of clothes, those who had the most luxurious furniture in their homes, the most modern appliances, to whom all the comforts and all the luxury one can imagine was available, and those who had neither homes nor shoes nor furniture nor medicine nor decent food. There was a true chasm between the former and the latter. For this reason, when there is a shortage of some things in the midst of a revolution, those who complain of the shortage are never those who always lack everything. The peasant family which lived in an earthen hut and today has a modern home with light and water, with a school for the children, with a doctor and with work available does not complain of lacking anything. Those who lacked everything in the past do not complain of anything today, while those who had everything complain of everything now (applause). It is good for us to discuss this subject now, because the revolution is entering into a stage of bitter struggle, of adamant struggle against the privileged persons who are not resigned to the loss of their privileges, of bitter struggle against the empire which is not resigned to its disappearance either. And when we enter into this stage, we must warn the minds and spirits of all, we must raise our guard higher, we must increase our revolutionary awareness, we must increase our vigilance, we must prepare our spirit and get ready to give battle (applause) and shouts of "we will conquer!"). And when we speak of sacrifices, we are not talking about a lack of food, for there will be no food shortage for the people. When we speak of sacrifice, we do not mean that the people will lack clothing, for they will not. The people will not lack schools, or houses, or hospitals, or work (applause and shouts of "we will triumph!"). No, the people will not lack these things, they will lack absolutely nothing, those who in the past had neither work, nor homes, nor schools for their children, nor medicines, nor food. Those who have nothing will survive the difficult times much better. The people will not lack the essentials, but what they must realize is that the exploiters of yesterday will indeed try to stir us up because we do not have some of the things which are not essential (applause). Because we can live without the non-essentials, we can continue to advance, without them. The economic aggression and blockade may deprive the people of many things which are not essential. And they may deprive the nation temporarily of some things which are indeed essential for industry, for example. And it is very clear what the enemies of the revolution want. Do they want perhaps to contribute to our triumphs, or do they want to fill our path with obstacles? What the enemies of the revolution want is the failure of the revolution. Why? To return to the past, to return to that era in which a few had everything and swam in abundance, while thousands of Cubans lacked everything and were drowning in misery (applause). When the imperialists government decreed the suspension of our sugar quotas, what did it want? When the imperialist government decided to prohibit the shipping of industrial and machine replacement parts to Cuba, what did it want? It wanted to create hunger, it wanted to leave us without economic resources, it wanted to paralyze our transport, our industries. And why did it want to paralyze our transport and our industries and deprive us of economic resources? In order to make us fail. And why do they want us to fail? Simply because we put an end to the abuses to which they were subjecting our people (applause), because we put an end to their exploitation of our people, because we recovered the land of our nation which was in foreign hands, because we recovered our nation's industry, which was in the hands of foreigners, because we recovered the national public services which were in foreign hands, because we recovered the national banks which were in foreign hands, because we recovered our nation's sugar mills, which were in foreign hands (applause), because we recovered the sovereignty of our nation, which was in foreign hands, because we recovered for the people what in the past was the property of the foreign monopolies. For this reason, and so that the brotherly peoples in America will not undertake the same thing, to prevent the same thing from happening to the monopolies in the other parts of America, they want the revolution to fail, because they do not want to lose the mines, and the land, and the banks, and the industries and the businesses which they control all over the world. For this reason, they want the revolution to fail, and because we were the first to undertake what all the peoples in America want to undertake (applause), and because we decided to govern ourselves by ourselves, and because we demanded independence and sovereignty for our nation, and because we are a free people who do not have to ask permission of anyone (applause), and because we are a determined and firm people who have been courageous enough to face up to the imperialist colossus (applause, and shouts of "Cuba, yes, Yankees, no" and "out and down with Caimanera," etc.). Because there are no longer here any backward and subject government leaders, for this reason they want the revolution to fail, because the Cuban people are showing the other peoples of America the true path toward liberation (applause), freedom they can never expect from the shameless hands which would like to buy the conscience of America with a few million dollars (applause)! Because we are showing the peoples of America the true path of justice and freedom, which they can never expect from those who only seek one thing: to maintain their colonial domination over the continent, to retain possession of the natural resources of the continent and to keep the markets in which they can invest their usurers' dollars and make fabulous profits at the expense of the people in their misery. It was like the peasant waiting for the estate owner to give him land, like the slave waiting for the master to give him freedom, like the poor man waiting for the rich man to give him bread. And we are showing America the true path, and it is because of Cuba and because of the Cuban revolution alone that the imperialist government has become full of concern and has now recognized that Latin America exists. Until just two years ago, the Yankee empire did not recognize that America existed. But as Cuba has come to demonstrate that America does exist, now they are full of concern, not for the welfare of America, but out of fear of losing America (applause). Who can claim that the financial monopolies, the misers greedy for gold, the Yankee millionaires, are concerned with the progress of America? The Yankee millionaires and those who represent them in the government of that country have no other concern than the fear of losing the businesses in America, the fear of losing their oil wells in America, the fear of losing their large estates in America (applause), the fear of losing the workers whom they employ cheap in America, the fear of losing their capital market. And this supposed "alliance for progress" of which the millionaire Kennedy is talking today (shouts and whistles) is a true historic joke which they are trying to make a continental joke. And what are they talking of? Agrarian reform? No! Because Kennedy knows that his allies and his friends in Latin America are not the poor peasants, not the landless Indians. No, Kennedy knows that his allies and his friends in Latin America are the large estate owners. Of what are they talking? Of the industrial development of the Latin American countries, perhaps? Of the exploitation of its great natural resources? Of economic independence, perhaps? No! What are they talking about? Of homes, schools, roads, that is, they are talking of providing 500 million pesos, but not to promote industry, not to promote agrarian reform. No! And why not? Because Kennedy represents the American millionaires and the American millionaires do not want national industries in Latin America. The American millionaires see that they are losing their capital market in Asia. The American millionaires see that they are being pushed out of other parts of the world, and they do not want national industries for the peoples of Latin America, but Yankee industries in the Latin American country. And for this reason, when they talk of the charity, of the 500 million with which they want to buy the conscience of America, they do not dare mention the word "factory," they do not dare mention the phrase "national industry," they do not dare mention any of the measures to which the problems of the people could indeed be resolved. Kennedy does not dare talk of economic development, because he is prevented by his complicity with the great monopolies, the great millionaires. And the millionaires, if they give us charity, do so on condition that we spend it for things which will not mean development of the national economies, not economic dependence, because financial monopolies are not ready to accept any policy which will mean economic development in Latin America. And this is apart from the fact that the charity will always fall into the hands of those who in general work hard at anything, those who accept the dollars here, and send money out again to Europe or the United States itself. And for these reasons, what do they talk of? Of schools. To resolve the school problems, there is no need of Kennedy's 500 million. Cuba is the first country in Latin America to achieve the number of teachers it needs for primary education (applause), and Cuba is the first country in America, including the United States, to do away with illiteracy entirely (applause). And Cuba, by the end of this year, will be the only country in all of America which can paint the slogan "everyone here can read and write" on its airports (applause). To resolve the housing problems, there is no need for Kennedy's 500 million. The revolution has given each family a home in which to live (applause), and apart from this, Cuba is building 25,000 housing units this year in the rural sector alone (applause). In order to build roads, no one needs 500 million Yankee dollars, because in Cuba we now have communications even with the most distant parts of the country, and even with localities which were isolated for centuries, such as the Zapata Peninsula. There are magnificent highways everywhere, after only two years of revolutionary government (applause). There is no need for Kennedy's 50 million dollars to resolve the problems of school construction. Here, we have converted everything, from the School City to the smallest barracks, into schools for the revolution (applause). In other words, to resolve these problems no one needs 500 million in charity. What we need is something else: to recover the national wealth from foreign hands. And how have we managed, without the 500 million, without 1 million -- which we do not need and do not want (applause), how did we manage, since not only did we neither ask for nor need money, but hundreds of millions of dollars were criminally taken from us in an act of infinite aggression, in a downright act of aggression against a country whose economy depended entirely on the market they created, against a country whose economy had been molded by them in accordance with their interests, although they took hundreds of millions of dollars from us in totally suspending our sugar quota, in a downright act of aggression, which could only be expected from the imperialist bandits (applause), in an act of international piracy, which could only be expected from the imperialist freebooters, who snatched millions of dollars from our economy -- how, despite the ferocious aggression have we managed to have teachers, schools, homes, roads and hospitals? How, despite the ferocious aggression, have we managed to employ 200,000 more Cubans? How, despite the ferocious aggression, can it be that there are a thousand student scholarships now at the University of Havana (applause)? How, despite this ferocious aggression, can it be that we are developing a program of 80,000 in credit for the small farmers (applause)? How, despite the ferocious aggression, have we increased our national production so extraordinarily? How, without charity, and although they have snatched from us what was our due, although it was only because our economy was one they had forged to the measure of their interests, a single crop economy, an economy which depended on a single market, violating all of Marti's percepts, how have we been able to provide, in only two years, what Mr. Kennedy offers Latin America in the never-to-be-achieved future? How and why? Simply because we dislodged all of the Yankee monopolies here (applause). Simply because we undertook a revolution and we have recovered the basic wealth for the people. And it is this which cannot be halted with charity, which cannot be won with usurers' dollars, which can never be offered to our America by them. And our America can never be bought with 500 million dollars, and our America can never be bought in any way, because economic independence cannot be sold, national pride cannot be sold, no one can sell the peoples their future, and those who try to do so are deceiving the buyers (applause)! And Kennedy wants to buy what no one can sell him. For this reason, the "all powerful giant" of the continent is agitated, is full of concern and fear because of the action of a small people, one of the smallest peoples on the continent. And the giant says that the Cuban problem is not its problem. The problem of the small country is not that of the giant. The cowardly giant realizes its own weaknesses against the morality, the rightness and the prestige of the small people (applause), and it says that Cuba is not the problem of the United States, but the problem of all America. And we can say that the problem of the United States is not the problem of Cuba, but the problem of all of Latin America (extensive applause)! The distinguished Mexican revolutionary leader Lazaro Cardenas (applause) has quite rightly said that if it should occur to Kennedy to visit South America, he would receive a welcome very like that accorded Mr. Nixon (shouts of "out!"). In other words, he would be met with the demonstrations with which the former Vice President was welcomed. The fact is that Latin America is awakening. What is the reason for this hasty meeting with the Latin American Ambassadors? What is the reason for this announcement of "important statements"? What is the reason? Well, they are seeing that Latin America is awakening, and what their plans are failing. The popular victories of the leftist sectors in various Latin American countries are more than enough to create serious concern among the Yankee imperialists. The worthy stand taken by the President of Brazil (applause) and the President of Eucador (applause) in defense of the Cuban Revolution, that is, in defense of the free determination of peoples and against unilateral or collective intervention by other peoples; the statements of the current President of the government council of Uruguay (applause); the victory of Palacios in Argentina (applause); the triumphs of the candidates of the socialist party and the communist party in Chile (applause), where the three popular front candidates won a remarkable triumph; the extraordinary importance of the Latin American conference for economic emancipation, sovereignty and peace, which has just been held in Mexico (applause); the attitude of the government of Mexico with regard to Cuba (applause), and the definite support in Mexico and throughout the continent of such a beloved and respected political figure as Lazaro Cardenas (applause) are reasons more than sufficient to concern the imperialists. And they were on the point of seriously offending Mexican national feelings, with the proposal by one of these absurd senators of whom there are so many there in the US Senate that nothing less than a US Senate investigation be undertaken with regard to the conference that was to be held in Mexico. But it seems that the tremendous prestige and personality of Lazaro Cardenas (applause) impressed them. And look at the attitude the imperialist press has adopted with regard to Janio Quadros (applause). Look at how the imperialists invariably react. Quadros proclaimed a policy of full national sovereignty. Quadros proclaimed the right of Brazil to maintain relations and trade with all the peoples of the world (applause). Quadros declared his support of the entry of the Chinese People's Republic into the United Nations (applause). Quadros set forth the principle of non-intervention, and to the Yankee plans to form a blockade against Cuba, Quadros said "no" (applause). These are the absolutely sovereign assertions of an American country. A special envoy was sent to Brazil, and whom did they send? Oh, miracle of Yankee intelligence! They sent no less than a former Ambassador who had previously acted with absolute lack of respect for Brazilian sovereignty there, and naturally, the Brazilian President received him courteously, in his own good time naturally, but without going crawling there subserviently, as other government leaders in Latin America have done on some occasions. He simply maintained a dignified attitude, behaving with the composure and dignity suitable to a president, but this alone was enough to provoke a ferocious propaganda campaign against the President of Brazil in the imperialist press. How this reminds us of the attitude of that press toward us! There was no question of measures of an economic and social nature, but simply measures of an international nature. But the empire was offended, and again it told the world that it is not prepared to tolerate an independent policy in Latin America. It is not prepared to tolerate dignified behavior in Latin America. And one Yankee periodical even threatened Quadros. Let us see with what lack of respect one of the imperialist libel sheets referred to the President of Brazil. The New York Daily [News] (Diario de New York), which carried the exclusive interview granted by Janio Quados to the managing editor of Prensa Latina (Latin Press Agency), Jorge Ricardo Masetti, in its entirety, later attacked the President of Brazil and the Latin American press agency in an editorial. "Quadros all but refused to talk with President Kennedy's envoy, former Ambassador to Brazil A. Berle, last week, but he nonetheless made a special point of receiving the managing editor of Prensa Latina to assert his support of People's China, the Soviet Union and the Cuban government" (applause), the New York Daily News added. Finally, that newspaper threatened the President of Brazil, stating that "if Quadros continues along this line, we believe that he will not last long in power in the largest country in this hemisphere. The Brazilian army" -- note how a reference is already being made to the army -- "although it has been infiltrated in high and unsuspected places by the professional communists, is not communist, and will not tolerate a Castro type regime" (shouts). In other words, this Yankee libel sheet is now threatening the President of Brazil with a coup d'etat. It is already speaking of the army. This Yankee libel sheet, in response to a simple statement of sovereignty, is saying that if the President continues this way he will not last long, that if he continues thus he will be overthrown, simply because he set forth a statement of sovereignty! And the imperialists will not wait long before proceeding from criticism to intrigue, that is, from words to deeds, in order to do what they have always done when a government has proclaimed its independence, its sovereignty, promoting a coup de'etat, a counterrevolutionary plot, as they have done so many times in so many countries in America, and as they are trying to do here today, but without the slightest chance of success (applause)! We are certain that all that will happen as a result of the campaigns of the imperialist press to discredit them, the threats of the imperialists, is that the people of Brazil will unite, as the people of Cuba united, standing with the President who is maintaining the line of national independence and sovereignty (applause). And it will not be long until they begin to accuse President Janio Quadros of being communist, and there are already some periodicals which have begun the campaign. But in Ecuador, the President himself has stated with extraordinary courage that they will offer economic aid instead of breaking off relations with Cuba. See what a corrupt and shameless policy the millionaire usurers are pursuing in offering a handful of dollars and proposing indignities to the government leaders of America. This is the alliance for progress of which Mr. Kennedy speaks. But we will see what happens in Latin America. We will see if the imperialists are right or if Cuba is right. We will see if it is possible to buy the conscience of America as Kennedy believes, and we will see if it is impossible to buy the conscience of America, as we believe (applause). And, of course, there was no lack of reference to Cuba, to the "great sympathy" felt for the people of Cuba. Sympathy for the large estate owners, yes! Sympathy for the Yankee companies established here, yes! Sympathy with those who controlled the banks, yes! Sympathy with the gangsters who controlled gambling and smuggling, yes! Sympathy for the hired ruffians and war criminals, yes! Sympathy with the traitors, yes! Sympathy with those who discriminated, yes! Sympathy with the exploiters, yes! But sympathy with the workers, no! Sympathy with the rural peasant, no! Sympathy with the Negro, no! Sympathy with the humble people, no! Sympathy with those who have been exploited, no! Because the millionaire usurers sympathize with userers like themselves, but they are incapable of sympathy with the people (extensive applause and shouts of "down and out with Caimanera!"). And this is not the first time the President of the United States has evidenced this hypocritical tone with regard to our country. Recently, an episode occurred which showed us a great deal about the true personality of the new President of the United States, a significant incident. It happened that there was an outbreak of polio in the city of Guantanamo. There was no vaccine immediately available, and the Red Cross official, instead of getting in touch with the national Red Cross, so that a plane could send vaccine immediately, decided on his own to apply to the Red Cross at the base for some vaccine, without consulting anyone, perhaps due to impatience, or out of naivete, or even, who knows, due to some noble motives. Neither the national Red Cross nor our Ministry of Public Health knew anything about this. And then, what did the people on the base do? Did they act as they should have under such circumstances, if someone came for any reason to ask for vaccine to prevent an epidemic among the children? Did they quietly provide the vaccine and maintain dignified silence about it? No. They immediately invited a whole battery of reporters and photographers to be present when the vaccine was delivered to the official, and they made the presentation with much ceremony and solemnity, making a great to do about the vaccine. This was certainly unfortunate. But the incredible thing is that before 48 hours had passed, and in a press conference, no less, the President of the United States himself was apparently carried away by his hatred and his worry with regard to Cuba to the point that, making unworthy political capital of the event, he stated that he -- oh, pious Kennedy! -- had great sympathy for the people of Cuba, as was evidenced by the vaccine sent there, a hundred and seventy-some doses, unnecessarily and shamelessly requested. And this shows us that everyone is not like us, that not everyone can distinguish between political and human actions. One can render a service even to an enemy. And if these same imperialists come one day to ask us for help to save some US children, we will give them vaccine without publicity and without politicking (applause). How did they act? As a vulgar precinct politician would have acted, as these individuals we know so well here, these petty politicians, would have acted! And the ridiculous thing about all this was that, engaged in petty politicking about the vaccine, they did not realize, or did not care to recognize, that they had delivered vaccine which had ceased to be usable three months before. And this fact shows us a great deal about the character of this gentleman, who always finds an occasion to make his insidious statement that he loves the people, but not the revolutionary government, of Cuba. Well, then, let Mr. Kennedy realize that the government is the people (applause and shots of "Fidel, Fidel!"). Let him realize that he cannot separate us from the people, as we cannot separate him from the monopolies and the millionaires (applause). The people and the revolutionary government in Cuba today are the same thing, just as the millionaires, usurers and the government in the United States today are a single thing (applause). This is not a government by a rich cast, not a government of thieves, not a government of exploiters, not a government of petty politicians, not a government of high ranking officers. This is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people (applause)! this is the revolution of the humble, by the humble and for the humble (applause)! And we thank the imperialists for all they are teaching the people of Cuba, for all the people of Cuba have learned, for the many things which have opened the eyes of the people of Cuba. We thank them for teaching the people to distinguish between truth and lies, between the essence of the rights and the freedoms of man and the pretense of the rights and the freedoms of man. We thank them for teaching his people that the "free world" of the imperialists is the free world of the Spain of 2 million murdered by Franco (applause), that this free world is the free world of the German warmongers and militarists, of the warmongers oligarchy of Japan, the free world of Chiang Kaishek (shouts and whistles), the free world of murderers of Lumumba, the free world of the murderers of Sandino, and above all, the free world of the criminals who murdered some hundred workers and soldiers in the explosion of the La Coubre, the free world of those who armed the murdering assassins, the free world of those who depend on the exploiters, the egotistical oligarchies which are swimming in abundance while the peoples are drowning in misery, the free world of the monopolies and the trusts, the free world of the hypocrites, the free world of the deceivers who talk shamelessly of freedom but who insult the concept of freedom, who insult the concept of human dignity, because they want to make the people into slaves who will work for the userers and the idlers (applause). And in a very short time we have learned from them what imperialism is, how it will not tolerate the slightest evidence of freedom, how it is a world without ideology or principle, how it practices and makes a cult of crime and violence, of aggression, how it makes a cult of war and of gold. And this is its only ideal, its only goal -- gold, even if it be bloody gold -- gold, even if it be acquired by the sweat of millions of men among all the peoples of the world. And this is also the sole religion of the imperialists. Do they believe in God? No! For them there is no God but gold. Do they believe in freedom? No! For them there is no freedom but gold. Do they believe in democracy? No! For them, there is no democracy but gold. Do they believe in dignity? No! For them no dignity exists if it cannot be bought with gold, nor are they capable of conceiving of a dignity of their own which they will not sell for gold. And they have no ideals which they will not sell or exchange for gold! They have no principles they will not exchange for gold! Gold, gold and more gold -- this is the philosophy of the imperialists (applause)! And this is what we have learned. And if the people of the United States do not know this it is because they are not allowed to know it by the magnates who control the periodicals, the television, the newspapers, the movies and all the means of propagating ideas. And they are even capable of plunging this entire people into catastrophe before the people realize what is happening! Because if the American people do not understand these truths it is because there is an entire apparatus for deceiving them, for making them view the most important aspects of national and international policy with the same criteria as they use to purchase a bottle of Coca Cola or a package of cigarettes. Lies are inculcated with the same methods as are used in advertising. And they persecute those who write. If there is a writer or an artist who rebels against this world of lies, his work is prohibited and he may even be imprisoned. They have an absolute monopoly over all the communications media. And for this reason, that people does not understand, although perhaps the day will come soon when they will learn, when the US people will learn much, as the millions of the unemployed increase, as that artificial and war oriented economy is plunged into crisis. One day the people of the United States will learn. One day the people of the United States will awaken. And there is one thing we can tell Mr. Kennedy. A revolution will triumph in the United States before the counterrevolution triumphs in Cuba (applause). Because this regime is founded on solid bases. This revolutionary regime is founded on the basis of justice. And that regime, domestically as well as internationally, is founded on the basis of injustice, and on bases which are bounded to disappear, just as colonialism and imperialism are bound to disappear (applause). For this reason we can think of the new life which is developing, while they are living obsessed with an old life which is perishing. We can think of the future and struggle to create a better future, while the imperialists will have to exist yearning for the good old days, and seeking in anguished fashion to assure a better world for the world and for the United States itself. This is the great difference. There is also a difference of power. Material power? Well, we have another power, the power of right, and yet another, the power of justice, and yet another, the thirst for justice, and for law, and a better life for 200 million Latin Americans (applause). And force cannot hinder the peoples of America, determined to be free and to have a better world. All of the millions of soldiers and sailors will not suffice to hinder them. All of their soldiers and all of their planes, and not even all of their atomic bombs, can hinder them. Because when the men scattered over the continent, the hungry men of this continent, know what they can do to be free, all of the power of the empire will avail nothing against them. What can an empire do against the world? What could the Nazis do when they controlled the larger part of Europe? The peoples rose up and fought. Resistance grew, and throughout Europe groups of patriots took up arms to fight the Nazi invaders. Are the imperialists ferocious, as ferocious as the Nazis? Yes, since Nazism was but a consequence of imperialism. Nazism, like fascism, is the result or end point of imperialist regimes, and what fed that thirst for blood, those horrible crimes, the extermination of entire peoples was the same desire for domination, exploitation and wealth which prevailed in the diseased brains of the Yankee warmongers. What is they are, or may become, as ferocious as the Nazis? It does not matter, difficult though it is to defeat them, for the Nazis could not dominate Europe, much less can they, however well they may organize schools to train officers for the oligarchies, however much they may scour their brains to develop tactics for combating revolutions. They are condemned to failure, and history teaches that all of their tactics and all of their schools and all of their preventive measures will not hinder the destiny of America. Opposing their material power, we have the power of our right. But the fact is, moreover, that we have not only this power, because the world is not Cuba alone, and the Cubans are not the only colonized people, the only people exploited by the imperialists. Fortunately, the world is much larger, the world is large, and the world of the peoples who have freed themselves from exploitation, from colonialism, from imperialism, and from capitalism is also a powerful world (applause). And science in the service of man, in the service of justice, has developed forces much more powerful than those developed by science in the service of exploitation. And for this reason, with regard to the problem of force against force, the imperialist power is a decadent one compared to that of the Soviet Union, the Chinese People's Republic and the socialist countries (extensive applause)! Thus, the imperialist gentlemen cannot act as they please throughout the world, as they did in past decades, and their potential for maneuvering is reduced today. What inevitably lies ahead of them, and it is good that we think about this, is that within ten years the production capacity, the effective production, of the Soviet Union will exceed that of the United States (applause). And what will inevitably happen is that the standard of living in the Soviet Union will rise above that in the United States (applause). And that country is one which was devastated by the Civil War plotted against the October Revolution abroad, a country invaded by 13 armies and almost destroyed, a country which developed from a semi-feudal economy only to be razed again by imperialist aggression. We must remember that when the Second World War ended, tens of thousands of factories had been destroyed in the Soviet Union. Tens of thousands of rural towns had been razed and the herds annihilated. Meanwhile, all of the industrial installations in the United States remained intact. Not a single bomb exploded in a Yankee factory, and not a single Yankee plant lost even one screw. Fifteen years have elapsed. In the so-called "free world," there is more hunger, more misery. Who recognizes this? Ah! Kennedy himself, and he has admitted it just today (reading aloud): "Population growth is surpassing economic growth. The low standards of living are in danger of dropping still further? -- in the "free world"! -- "and the discontent of the people which knows that abundance and the tools of progress are finally within its reach is growing." What Kennedy does not say is why, why the installed industrial capacity of this country has produced much less than it might have. What he does not say is that this hunger crisis, this increase in poverty, is simply the result of imperialism, and we do not see how the problem can be resolved unless imperialism disappears. And these are the truths which no lies of any kind can possibly alter. They are truths so undeniable that no sermon by any reactionary clergyman (shouts of "out!"), no editorial in any reactionary newspaper, can alter them. They are these truths: in the United States after the war there was tremendous industrial capacity, capacity which was not used for mankind. Fifteen years have passed, and the country razed by the Nazis, the country devastated twice in 50 years, has advanced with such rapid steps that it will soon surpass the country which has not suffered the loss of a single screw in the last 50 years, unless it be in the brains of the leaders of that country (applause)! And these are undeniable truths. And how is it possible to prevent the world from continuing this advance, to prevent imperialism from proceeding toward this defeat? There is only one way: war, a war of extermination, to destroy the advancing countries. And this is a philosophy of those who know that they are defeated, because all they have to do is look at the figures, all they have to do is add and subtract. The imperialists are now faced with the competition of their own allies, the other colonial countries, the other imperialist countries, who are competing against each other, fighting for a market which is increasingly impoverished and increasingly plagued with contradictions. Therefore, one needs only to reason logically to understand the failure of the enemies of progress for mankind. Let them fail, let them go with their lies, with their philosophy of gold, with their inhuman system, their system of hunger and misery. Let them go, let them cease to count in the history of the mankind, let them go and take refuge where they belong -- in the past. Mankind is advancing. Only a century ago they recruited slaves from the continent of Africa, but now Africa is producing no slaves. They recruited slaves on the continent of Asia, but Asia is no longer producing slaves. Mankind is advancing, mankind is breaking the chains of slavery, mankind is advancing toward justice. The world is advancing, and the result -- what can the result be except the triumph of the peoples? What can the result be but the freedom of the colonies? What can the result be but the full sovereignty of the nations, the economic independence of the nations, the development of the wealth of the nations, the development of the culture of the nations (applause). The end result cannot be slavery again, colonies again, economic domination again. And the colonialists can teach mankind nothing. The imperialists can teach humanity nothing. Those who have on their consciences millions of enslaved men, those who have on their consciences the history of a continent, like Africa, from which they have taken millions of men and sold them like animals -- these people cannot speak for the future (applause). Those who sold the natives of Asia cannot teach mankind anything. Those who maintained Latin America in backwardness and hunger cannot teach mankind anything. Mr. Kennedy, you cannot teach mankind anything. Mankind can learn from peoples like ours, like the Chinese people, the Soviet people, the Czech people and all the socialist peoples (applause). Mankind can learn from the Egyptian people, the people of Indonesia, the people of the Congo, these peoples which are fighting there along with the nationalists and revolutionary leaders. Mankind can learn from the peoples who have broken their chains. Those who for centuries forged the chains which bound mankind can teach humanity nothing. And to conclude (shouts of "no!"), a brief reference to an episode which says much about the alliance for progress, the civilized alliance for progress of which these gentlemen speak or preach! The fact is that today, in the early hours of the morning, an armed warship penetrated to the second city of Cuba, a country which is dedicated to work, and which as far as I know is not at war with anyone, to fire on a national factory in a surprise action. I do not know what the repercussions of this news have been throughout the world, but it is truly incredible, and it is an evidence of the cyniciasm of the imperialists, of the effrontery of the government leaders of the United States, that our country could be attacked in this cowardly and criminal manner, that a city of a people of this continent, a factory of a people of this continent, could be attacked while they talk of continental security, while they say that Cuba represents a danger to continental security, by a warship provided by the only ones who could deliver such a warship to the counterrevolutionaries, that is to say, provided by the government of the United States (shouts), coming from the only bases from which it could come, the bases provided by the government of the United States to the revolutionaries, to commit this scandalous deed, which will be the cause of shock, of indignant protest by America, if they have not already made it a law on this continent that we are condemned to the murder of hundreds of workers in our ports, to the burning of our cane, to the constant violation of our national air space, to the sending of shipment after shipment of explosives to sabotage our factories. This will cause America to rise up indignant, if the imperialists have not made a continental law of their right to violate our territory, the right to kill our workers, their right to murder our children, their right to turn our cane, their right to destroy our factories by gunfire. And this is what we have witnessed today. What does it mean? That the level of aggression is rising, the effrontery of the enemies of our country is increasing, and thus as they are sending planes to drop weapons or leaflets, no one can be sure that one day they will not come dropping bombs. And just as they have today attacked a factory and murdered a sailor and wounded a militiaman, are the ports of our country and the towns of our country not threatened by attack just as much as in the worst days of piracy and freebooting, by pirate planes and pirate vessels sent by the Yankee Central Intelligence Agency? Because everyone knows that it is they who have provided these weapons, they who have provided these planes, they who have provided these vessels. And our small people finds itself constantly harassed and molested by those who, having failed in their counterrevolutionary campaigns, having failed in their plans for mercenary bands, having failed in their plans for expansion and in their economic aggression, and seeing that the revolution stands firm, that it is holding its own and advancing, have become desperate, and now what to destroy our factories with explosives and gunfire. And this occurrence should serve to teach America what imperialism is, how cynical and criminal its actions are, what absolute lack of respect it has for the rights of other peoples, what absolute lack of respect it has for the lives of the citizens of other countries. And we have right here one of the projectiles fired at the Santiago de Cuba refinery, a 57-mm projectile made in the USA (shouts). And we ask ourselves if our country is going to continue to be the victim of these attacks, which have increased since this gentleman has been there. In fact, we do not know, but we must be prepared for this, and for everything. If they wage war against us, we will resist. If they try to subject us for years to these acts of vandalism and piracy which have no place anywhere in the world, in Cuba either, under jurisdictional laws, if we have to begin to build castles and fortresses in all the ports, we will build them (applause). If we have to defend ourselves against these freebooters' attacks, we will defend ourselves. Against physical aggression, and against economic aggression, we will defend ourselves. It is for this reason that I said when I began to speak that we must prepare our minds for sacrifice. And I say this because we must not allow the influence of those who have suffered from the revolution and the complaints they voiced to affect the people. We must be ready for anything. We would not be a great people, worthy of the enterprise we have undertaken, we would not be the flagbearers of the revolution in our America if we did not have this attitude, this attitude which other peoples have had, and which we have not yet had the opportunity to test, because here there are those who complain when they cannot see a Gary Cooper film (laughter), and when they cannot buy some trifling article, and we must set aside their complaints, we must eliminate complaint from our revolutionary nature. When a people has to live ready for war as we do, when a people has to live under the harrassment from which we suffer, we must develop an attitude, an attitude suited to a people which may be attacked at any moment, when its workers may be murdered at any moment, the attitude of peoples when they are struggling, when they are at war, the attitude of the peasants in the Sierra Maestra, of our soldiers in the Sierra Maestra. We are not suffering from the lack of anything, and moreover must prepare ourselves to resolve our problems with intelligence, we must combat certain improper evidences which are sometimes seen. When there is talk of the shortage of a certain article, many people immediately rush out to buy that article, thus producing an artificial shortage, due to the hoarders who buy up these articles, and the dollar hoarders who want to keep things for themselves. And this has happened with some articles, for example, soap, including "Fab," and other articles. If there is going to be a shortage, there will be, but let there be no shortages because a wave of speculators has brought up these articles to sell them at higher prices (applause). And it is the people who must take the main responsibility for combating these activities. The police authorities should collaborate with the people in combating these activities. In the past, there was speculation on the part of warehouse owners, the big business men, and similarly we will now have speculation by a series of people engaged in buying up these articles to sell them later on the market. Illegal trade in all these essential articles must disappear (applause). There are many people who run after the delivery trucks and virtually attack the shops. And we must not permit this spectacle. If there is a shortage, let there be, but these crude actions should not occur, and the people should not permit uncivil dealings and speculations to develop. The speculation by the great moneychangers has now disappeared, and speculation by these people, who, acting as criminals, are in fact, robbing the people, must not develop (applause). These are manifestations of crudity, of lack of honor and lack of conscience which the people must combat. There have been other things which have been the cause of complaints, and we have heard talk of certain measures at the bus stops. Investigating this problem, the comrades who are in charge of transportation, who are concerned with these matters, reported that this measure was due to the problem of bus parts and usage. It was not a measure dictated by whim, but one which was necessary in order to survive a replacement parts crisis resulting from the embargo imposed by the United States, since many of these vehicles are US manufactured and a great economy in parts is necessary. Perhaps these comrades made the error of not explaining this matter. We believe that the people are capable of collaborating in everything and doing everything, and it is only necessary to explain to them. And it should be a principle for all of us never to implement a measure without explaining why. It should be a norm for all government officials to work always with the people, to explain to the people, since we are certain that the people will always cooperate -- the true people, those who defend the revolution as their own, those who know that the reverses of the revolution are their reverses, that the prestige of the revolution is their prestige, that the triumph of the revolution is their triumph and that the shortcomings of the revolution are their shortcomings (applause). And therefore we must always seek practical solutions in all activities of all kinds, even when we find ourselves to take steps such as those taken against saboteurs. Some of the labor centers have found it necessary to "shake the tree." This was the result of certain acts of sabotage. However, we know that the workers' leaders themselves are considering undertaking a careful review of all these cases to correct any injustice which may have been committed. Although they are relatively few, the enemies of the revolution have some contacts with certain labor sectors. The battle against the saboteurs must be, above all, the result of vigilance, the result of work among the workers themselves, the product of an effort to make them understand the truth. It is very sad when a worker serves the cause of the exploiters. It is very sad when a worker takes the part of the monopolies, when a humble laborer joins the ranks of his enemies, of those who have always exploited him. It is true that there are attitudes which it is now impossible to change. There are brains so conditioned and corrupted that they are beyond saving. But within the workers' sectors, our struggle must be to win each worker for the revolution, because unless it is a matter of a lost brain, unless it is a matter of a corrupted brain, that worker must understand his own interests, he must understand the justice of the cause which defends the workers. It is necessary to fight against the counterrevolutionaries and against sabotage, with vigilance and with revolutionary effort (applause). It is necessary to win the workers. When because of his attitude it is not safe to have a worker in the key point in a certain industry, he should be transferred to another, and if he proves impossible, then he should be replaced in this work. But the revolution proclaims the right and duty to work of those who have been dismissed from the service, and we are ready to give them also an opportunity to work, not where they could do damage, but in other places, in factories or in agriculture. The revolution proclaims the right of each citizen to work. The revolution has a duty to defend itself against saboteurs, but it must defend itself while maintaining the principle: he who does not work here can only be an incorrigible loafer, a hired mercenary (applause), because all of those who want to reform and to work will have work. The revolution proposes to implement this right, the most sacred right of every citizen, the right to work. And so that the revolution will not be obliged to take drastic steps, we must increase vigilance, increase revolutionary labor, each of us making ourselves into a militant of the revolution, a guardian of the revolution, wherever we may be -- in the factories, in the schools. We are talking today, and someone said that we should clean out the schools. We cannot clean out the schools. On the contrary, we want to change the orientation of the schools. We can and we must adopt the measures which will guarantee that no one can win a young person or a child over to the counterrevolution (applause). But the revolution cannot clear out the schools, because the revolution has a duty to teach and to educate. How could we allow a young mind to be lost? How could we allow a young person to be led along anti-patriotic paths? How could we abandon him to his fate? What do these children believe? They believe the lies which have been incubated in them. They believe in the false myths created for them, which have been repeated against the revolution here every day. And just as a child with a revolutionary teacher can be a well oriented child with regard to the problems of his fatherland, a child with a counterrevolutionary teacher may suffer great mental damage. And this child is not to blame. Do you know who, in the final analysis, will bear the blame? We will, because of having permitted children's minds to be molded by criminals who are capable of converting them into counterrevolutionaries (applause). The blame would be ours. And the children must always be the subject of our greatest concern. We are the first to lament the situation of many of these children who were enthusiastic about the things of the revolution, who sympathized with the revolution, and whose parents took them abroad. And we think of the fate of these children, who were taken away from the historic environment in which they were living, taken away to a foreign country. What will happen to these children? What will happen to the sons of those blinded by ambition who went to live in the north? These children are in fact victims of circumstances. For this reason we must aid the children, and the revolutionary government, in due time, will take the steps it deems desirable, because the revolution will not halt. Those who believe that through acts of piracy, aggression, threat and terror, they can hinder the revolution are deceiving themselves. They will not hinder the revolution. All they will achieve is to make the revolution more radical. This is all they will achieve (applause). In waging war on the revolution, all they are achieving is the deepening of the revolution. The revolution will continue to advance triumph and immovable. With whom? With the good people, the best, the adamant people, the true revolutionaries, those who will adapt their minds to a true revolution, those who will not lose courage, those who do not sell themselves and do not surrender. With these we will continue to advance, fighting, fighting against our enemies, against our own errors, correcting our errors, trying to strengthen the revolution by every means, trying to gain ground against the enemy, trying to defend each conscience, trying to defend each man and each woman, trying to convince and persuade those we can convince and persuade, and to neutralize those we cannot convince or persuade. And against those we cannot convince or persuade or neutralize, those who fight us, those who wage war against us, we will fight, very simply (applause). We will fight the acts of counterrevolutionaries, parasites that they are (shouts of "to the firing wall!"), abject worms that they are (shouts of "to the wall!"), servants of the imperialists that they are (shouts of "to the firing wall!") -- we will exterminate them. The revolution must be harsh with its enemies. The revolution must be energetic with its enemies. I repeat here and I recall again what I said on 2 January. The revolution is a struggle to the death between the interests of the people and the anti-popular interests, between the revolutionaries and the counterrevolutionaries. And if the revolution does not annihilate the counterrevolutionaries, the counterrevolution will annihilate the revolution. And the counterrevolution here will have no strength, it will be very weak. The only strength the counterrevolution has is the great strength of the empire, the great strength of the powerful foreigner, this is its force. This is why the counterrevolutionaries strut and take courage -- because they obtain their resources, their explosives, their weapons, their planes, their pirate ships from them. This is the only reason the counterrevolutionaries have some strength -- foreign strength, the strength of the enemies of our country, the enemies of the nation. Therefore, because we are combating only powerful enemies, and the counterrevolutionaries are the agents of these enemies and take orders from them, we are sorry, but we find it necessary to be adamant, to be harsh and to be energetic (applause). The doors of the revolution have been opened to everyone. Here, no one has been denied the right to serve the country. It is necessary to be harsh with those who oppose the country and sell themselves to the enemies of the country. We have not even denied the exploiters of the people the right to live, and to live in a certain comfort. Thus, we must be harsh with those who have ignored the generosity of the revolution, and have joined with foreigners to try to exploit the people again. We were even generous with the petty politicians. We forgot the past. We did not count the sins prior to 10 March. However, we see that the sinners go back to their old ways and sin again, joining with the imperialist enemies. We must be harsh and adamant with the repeaters who went over tot he imperialist enemy. We have seen how the terrorists and the criminals took courage, and the revolution even suspended the revolutionary courts, the revolution suspended the death penalty. This serves to show how the revolution has acted and what the intentions of the revolution have been. However, the revolution must deal with those who murder the workers, those who shoot children, those who destroy factories, those who cut short the lives of honest workers simply because they are dressed in a militiaman's shirt, which is not the uniform of the mercenary soldier but the uniform of the worker who without paying for the hours he puts in, defends the factories (applause)! The ruffians, the executioners, the terrorists force the revolution, much against its will, to establish the revolutionary courts and severe penalties, because we are sorry that the revolution has had to adopt these measures, but it is not the fault of the revolution. The fault lies with the counterrevolutionaries, the imperialists, the hired ruffians here who want to plunge families into mourning again and who want to cut short more lives. And what do they expect? That the revolution will cross its arms and sit back? No. Why should the streets be filled with corpses again, why should students be tortured and murdered again? No. What do they expect, that the revolution will cross its arms while the murderers and the thieves return? No. The workers, the students, the peasants, the people who were witnesses of that horrible and fearful past -- for today it is the traitors who are afraid, today it is the conspirators and the terrorists who have to live in fear -- but the worker who labors, the student who studies, the peasant who cultivates the land, the toiling people, the struggling people, witnesses of that past full of terror in which one was murdered for being a student, a worker of a peasant, the people who witnessed that past will not sit back with their arms crossed. We know now whose hands manipulate the criminal. The hands which forged the tyranny and maintained it were Yankee hands. The bombs and bullets which took so many lives were Yankee bombs and bullets. Yankee explosives and Yankee agents were responsible for the sabotage of La Coubre. The explosives which have blown up shops, schools and factories were Yankee explosives. The weapons of the mercenaries have been Yankee weapons. The planes which have violated our territory are Yankee planes. The vessels which commit acts of piracy against our cities are Yankee vessels. It is Yankee officers who are training the mercenaries, and it was Yankee hands that colonized our economy. It was Yankee hands that imposed the Platte Amendment upon us, and prevented the triumph of the liberation army in the struggles for independence (applause). They wanted to come back and those who served them, those who lend themselves as tentacles to implement the will of the enemies of the fatherland, those who prevented the happy achievement in the past of the triumph of the people -- with these people, we must be harsh and adamant. For the rest, we will see, we will see if they continue the violations, if they continue the pirate attacks, if they think they can make the country live in a state of war, of constant aggression and destruction, we will see. Because the peoples of America will react. The peoples of America will teach a lesson to the enemies of our people. We here are prepared to resist, and no one doubts that we will resist. We are ready to stand firm, and no one doubts it. We are ready to advance, and no one doubts it. The revolution will continue to advance, and no one doubts this (applause)! We will defend ourselves, and we know how to defend ourselves. We know how to mobilize the resources necessary to defend ourselves, and if faced with hostility and aggression, as we said a short time ago, we will continue to arm, we will continue to purchase weapons, we will continue to bring mountains of weapons here (applause)! And if they harass us, with freebooting vessels, we will buy vessels and we will pursue theirs (applause)! And if they harass us with pirate planes, we will purchase planes to pursue theirs (applause)! And if they promote revolution against us, we will promote revolution against the governments which promote revolution against us (applause)! And we will arm ourselves and we will prepare ourselves. And also the hired ruffians, the mercenaries and the imperialists should know that we are not alone (extensive applause)! Let them measure their acts, let them measure their steps, so that failure after failure will not lead them into stupidity after stupidity! Now it seems that they are not even planning on a little government here. They are thinking of establishing a government in exile (laughter). Well, let them establish a government in exile whenever the Yankees want. We will establish many governments in exile here, first of all, the Government of Free Puerto Rico in Exile (applause)! As soon as the imperialists establish a counterrevolutionary government in exile, we will establish many revolutionary governments in exile (extensive applause)! What has happened? They have not dared to land. What has happened? They know that they cannot seize even a tiny piece of our national territory, nor can they stay long at any site where they may land. And now, desperation has led them to establish a government in exile. Very well, let them do so! And let them remember that each right that they claim for themselves here on this continent is another right that we claim for ourselves on this continent (applause). Let them remember that we have absolutely no fear of imperialism (applause)! Let us hope that the imperialists know that we will answer deed for deed, that the imperialists know that the revolution is not cowed and is not frightened. And now, let us see how they answer the charges of Cuba in the UN. Let us see how they explain the freebooting action of today to the UN. We will see what they say. They are so insolent that they may say nothing (laughter)! We recall when we went there to the UN and told the United States delegate there the truth. We waited to see what he would say. Well, very simply, he said nothing! They are so insolent that before the truth, they even maintained silence, because there is nothing easier than to expose an imperialist delegate there and tell him truths to which he has no answer. And thus they proceed on a world-wide scale, from discredit to discredit, from ridicule to ridicule, from deceit to deceit (laughter), without understanding, so stupid are they (laughter), that there is only one intelligent path for them, which is simply to leave Cuba in peace, that the less they leave Cuba in peace, the worse it will be for them, that the more they harass Cuba, the more energetically Cuba will defend itself, that the harder they try to promote counterrevolution, the greater the sympathy the revolution wins throughout Latin America will be (applause). If they understood this, they would do the most intelligent thing, but they are not intelligent, they are stupid, and as such as must expect them to act. Meanwhile, we advance, and we advance certain of one thing, of triumph. In other eras triumph was must more distant. It was much farther off on that day when they murdered Comrade Jose Antonio in Havana, other comrades among the revolutionary leaders sacrificed their lives. We counted our men, on that 13 March, and do you know how many of us there were? There were 12 of us! And only 4 years ago (applause). And today we are 12 times 500,000 (laughter). Today we have many tens of thousands of dozens of guns (applause). And now we are a people. Today the revolution is not a promise but an accomplished fact. And what has the revolution promised that it has not fulfilled? Can anyone accuse the revolution of failing to fulfill a single promise (shouts of "no!")? And if the main promises were kept, what remains? What must we do? Make new promises! And when they have been fulfilled, what must we do? Make new promises again! And this is what has happened. The revolution has fulfilled its first promises, and it is proposing to make new ones. The revolution proposes to implement the principles supported by a million persons at that gigantic people's assembly. What can those who go there to weep to the FBI and the CIA and the intelligence agencies say to this? Those who go to weep at the Pentagon, what can they say to this? What moral authority do they have to oppose us? What reason can they claim? None, except the reasons of traitors, the reasons of cowards, the reasons of the unstable, the reasons of deserters. Forward, then, always forward! This is what lies ahead for us! Always firm, always determined, always ready to make sacrifices! The sacrifices, to date, have been few. We are willing and courageous enough to make sacrifices a thousand times greater, so that the certainty that the revolution will triumph will be realized! Fatherland or death! We will triumph! (Ovation). -END-