-DATE-
19650202
-YEAR-
1965
-DOCUMENT_TYPE-
SPEECH
-AUTHOR-
F. CASTRO
-HEADLINE-
6TH REVOLUTIN ANNIVERSARY
-PLACE-
CUBA
-SOURCE-
HAVANA DOMESTIC RADIO
-REPORT_NBR-
FBIS
-REPORT_DATE-
19650105
-TEXT-
CASTRO SPEECH ON 6TH REVOLUTION ANNIVERSARY

Havana Domestic Radio and Television Service in Spanish 1608 GMT 2 January
1965--F

(Live speech in Jose Marti Square)

(Text) Comrades: As we all know, today--not today, but rather yesterday--we
mark the sixth anniversary of the beginning of the revolution (applause).
When we count the years of revolutionary progress on something more then
the fingers of one hand, we can choose between talking about what has been
done and talking about what remains to be done.

It is true that in the first years of a revolution we naturally always
begin by speaking about what is going to be done. I ask myself whether we
today must emphasize what has been done rather than what remains to be
done. It appears to me that we should really leave to a future time the
business of looking back and counting what has been done. It would perhaps
be even better for us to leave it to a future generation of revolutionaries
(applause), because we should still be primarily interested in what remains
to be done. Therefore, if we perhaps refer to the things done it will only
be as an example, a proof, or an encouragement.

We must above all understand what we still have to do. In six years of
revolution, it can be said that the most understanding accomplishment is
what has been learned. Since we have the opportunity to learn, because the
Revolution is like a great school and those who attend that school can be
either good or bad students, we must try to be good students in this
formidable, magnificent, and only school of the revolution (applause). In
these six years, everybody--absolutely everybody--has acquired something of
extraordinary worth, namely, a little experience. If we know how to utilize
the experience that we have acquired in these six years of revolution, what
we will be able to do in the next six years of revolution will be
incalculable. We must also compare the revolution, in its rhythm and
progress, to a vehicle--a train, for example--which starts up little by
little. It starts and at first moves slowly as it begins to gain speed.

If I were asked at this time how I see the Revolution, I would say that I
view it as a train that has already started and achieved great speed
(applause)--a train fully under way, a train at full speed. When I
explained this to a comrade, somebody declared: "But a train travels very
slowly." I replied, "If you wish, you may compare it with an airplane which
is, after all, the same thing." Of course, an airplane does not fly
backwards (applause). At any rate, the train of the Revolution lost its
reverse gear on the first day. It cannot reverse or make U-turns, and it
has no brakes (applause). (At this point, Fidel replies to questions from
the audience about forward gears--ed.) Yes, someone asked if in order to
accelerate the train should not have forward gears, and I replied that
gears are needed in order to accelerate. (Someone asks if there are any
mechanics for the train--ed.) No mechanics? We are all mechanics of the
Revolution (applause). Let us permit the train to continue (laughter).
(Someone asks something about the imperialists--ed.) We are overcoming if
not overwhelming them.

This is the impression we have on this sixth anniversary. The past year was
named "the year of the economy," as you know and suggested. In this regard,
we must begin to think about the name we will give the coming year. I
imagine that you have some ideas. (Noise from crowd) Not yet, not yet.
Think about it. I told you so that you should begin thinking. We are not
yet ready to baptize this new year; think about it.

Last year was named "the year of the economy." I do not know if you
noticed, but the parade was much shorter. Did you notice? This was because
parades are very expensive, and the least we could do at the conclusion of
the year of the economy was to save ourselves 50 percent of the
expenditures we make on parades (applause). This is why is was shorter. It
must be said that the march-past was father but that fewer units
participated than in past years. Despite everything, this did not prevent
one from perceiving the great progress made in organization, discipline,
martial spirit, and technique by our Revolutionary Armed Forces (applause).

It can be said that 1964 was a magnificent year for the revolution. It
marked extraordinary progress in all fields and extraordinary changes in
organization and quality. Moreover, it could really be seen that it was the
"year of the economy," inasmuch as the economy was made the center of
attention of the masses. In this matter, of course, each year is a year of
education. All years are years of organization and the economy. However,
attention is centered and the mind is focused on one question of basic
interest to the country. It can be said that 1964, I repeat, was a
magnificent year on all counts. It was not only the year of the
economy--and it must be said that the economy became the main concern of
everyone--but also of education. It was the year in which the number of
school students reached 800,000 (applause). It also was the year in which a
tremendous recovery and development campaign was carried out in our
agriculture. It was the year in which recovery and progress was made in our
transportation. It was the year in which production in general, with the
means available to us and despite various difficulties, recorded a great
advance.

We must say with satisfaction that there has been considerable progress in
production, or at least in those fields in which progress has not yet been
concretely achieved and where we have been creating the conditions for it.
In passing, we must say that the famous plan (for egg production--Ed.) of
which we are speaking here has been fulfilled (applause). Some become
concerned because I said that I would not speak from this rostrum any more.
Regardless of whether it is good or bad to make promises of that sort--and
I am prepared to criticize myself if necessary--it is nevertheless a
manifestation of the sense of revolutionary honor and passion (applause).
This is why we can say with much satisfaction and complete certainty that
beginning in January, 60 million eggs will be consumed per month
(applause). In contrast, consumption in January 1964 was 13.7 million. This
effort, made by comrades who work in the agricultural field (applause),
means that we will have had a rise in consumption of something more than
400 percent from January 1964 to January 1965. The four million laying hens
need to fulfill this plan are already laying and the few which are not will
be laying in January (applause).

However, the fact that an extraordinary peak can be shown in one field of
production does not mean that similar peaks can be achieved in all fields
of production. We must realize that this is dialectic and all things have a
distinct nature. Neither can the same goals, the same time periods, nor the
same technology be applied in all fields. However, there is in all this a
really impressive increase. It is or merit that the country this year
produced more meat and milk, and that in 1965 we will have more meat, milk,
and eggs, with less consumption of the fodder that we make from a primary
product, a great part of which we must import. This is because to produce
much milk, meat, and many agricultural products by importing the primary
product is not so important. Nor is it so difficult as it is to increase
production in order to reduce imports.

A series of factors have emerged in this plan. These are technical factors,
that is, an improvement in laying hens, a greater number of technicians,
and better organization. It is necessary that this increase should in turn
achieve not only increased productivity per laying hen, but also increased
productivity per man, since after all production centers are reorganized,
there will be a surplus of nearly 2,000 persons, notwithstanding the
notable increase achieved in production, that is, the increase in
production per man. Costs have been reduced and an entire series of
production problems and factors have already been resolved. This is an
example not confined to this field.

Also, livestock production has increased considerably. Of course, its
effects can be more easily seen in the countryside than the city. Certainly
those of you who have come here from the interior of the country can say
how much supply has improved in the interior.

It is characteristic of our country that in the capital of the republic and
in Havana Province in general, one of the smallest provinces, there has
been such an enormous concentration of population that the problem of
certain supplies, such as milk, is not as easy to solve as in Oriente,
Camaguey, and Las Villas, that is, in all other provinces of the interior,
because condensed or powdered milk can be transported. Our plan for
condensed milk was operating in part with imported powdered milk. The
increase in production will immediately be used to replace imported
powdered milk. The basic requirements for milk will be solved in the
nation's interior in 1965. In the capital, we must wait a little longer
(few words indistinct) until we are able to increase consumption in the
capital to the same level as in the interior.

In this connection, I want to cite some planning board figures. Some 43
percent of all salaries in the country are paid in the capital. Something
more than this amount of the total of the country's resources are spent in
the capital. What does this mean? It means that, historically, a deformity,
an exaggerated growth, occurred which determined that less than one-third
of the nation's population receives almost 50 percent of the country's
resources. Of course, nobody would think of blaming workers and residents
of Havana for this problem, for which they are not to blame in any way.
This points the way to a very just policy. It is not a policy of depriving
the people of Havana, because this would not be just or correct. The path
pointed out to us is that we must concern ourselves with development of the
interior. We must do justice to the interior of the country.

If I were speaking in Oriente Province, anyone would think--unjustly, or
course--that these words were pure demagoguery. However, I am saying this
precisely here at a gathering in the capital of the country to workers of
the capital, the working revolutionary masses of the capital (applause).

Historically, these evils have been taking place to the detriment not only
of the interior, but of all workers, including those of the capital,
because the ratio in which all resources of the country and provinces
develop governs the extent to which the standard of living or workers
throughout the country will be raised, regardless of province.

The neglect of our rural areas and interior town was tremendous. This is
why a just and correct line must be taken to exert the greatest effort to
develop the interior. All of us can help in this effort. The capital can
help with its technicians and the masses of young men studying at
universities and technical centers. There is one resource that the capital
can contribute--its technology and knowledge. The capital also has the
greatest experience in technical matters and the largest amount of
knowledge, and our fatherland's development requires thousands of
technicians of all types, many of whom will come from the ranks of the
youth of our capital. This reality and situation determine the line to be
followed in investing the nation's resources.

Every time we must build a factory in the capital, we are faced with the
very serious problem of water supply because the capital has grown so much
in area. Since there are no great rivers, we are forced to use water from
the Havana watertable for the capital's consumption, thus depriving our
agriculture of this water. This is a province with magnificent soil, but a
soil which needs water. However, a considerable portion of the water must
be used in the capital, and we do not know when the day will come when,
through other techniques we may, for example, be able to use sea water. Of
course, various countries are using sea water after making is potable
through a technique still being developed and still expensive. We do not
doubt that the day will come when we will also have to resort to such
resources to satisfy our water needs.

In short, agriculture is developing, Insofar as sugarcane is concerned,
last year there was an increase in its production. This year, as everybody
know--although they do not yet know the figures--there is enough cane
(applause).

Last year the amount of sugar produced daily was forwarded to an
information office; from there, it was passed on to various organizations.
Fifty or 60 copies were made and hundreds of people knew daily sugar
production figures. Naturally, in so many hands, in some cases
bureaucratic, bourgeois, or petit-bourgeois hands not 100 percent loyal to
the revolution, the information became available to the enemy. Thus, the
imperialists knew how much sugar we were producing daily.

At that time, the price of sugar on the so-called world market was very
high. Since the imperialists were very interested in waging a campaign to
influence prices, they changed their techniques. When the hurricane struck,
they said that we had been left without sugar. However, they later saw the
amount of sugar produced daily. Since they were trying to reduce prices,
this information was useful for them in order to harm us. They could take
advantage of it by purchasing sugar from other producers at lower prices.

At that time we decided to pursue a policy of sugar discretion. In passing,
I am going to tell you something. Since they were receiving their little
papers through some informer, we decided not to stop this. What we did was
to put other figures on those little slips of paper (laughter and
applause). It was very strange and at the same time very satisfying to see
how we had misinformed the enemy. Figures issued by the U.S. Agriculture
Department were the latest figures we had inscribed on our little slips of
paper (applause). Hence, they were completely off the track, and some
imperialist agent had done us the favor of helping us to misinform the
enemy. They more or less used those figures in order to speculate--"if they
produced such and such"--but they never really knew how much we had
produced. This year it may well be that we will not send them any kind of
papers.

When will we disclose our sugar production? At the proper time, although
the basic reason--that of preventing prices from declining--has practically
disappeared because prices have declined. Prices of the so-called world
market, that is, where sugar is sold on margin, have declined considerably,
to the point that I do not think they can drop much more. In short, we will
not care in the future if our sugar production is known, even on a daily
basis. However, what we must stress is that we have much sugarcane, and I
am certain that we are going to give our enemies a tremendous slap across
the mouth (applause).

It is possible that we will be able to give figures at the end of the sugar
harvest this year. Really, we will have a hearty laugh on our enemies. They
will be ridiculed and will begin to realize that the hopes they had placed
in the collapse of our economy with a blockade and everything will have
gone to the devil (applause). We are going to reveal statistics on
increases that are truly tremendous, that is, statistics on sugar
production increases in 1964 compared with 1963 and in 1965 compared with
1964. Suffice it to say that, in order to meet our obligations, we need 5.5
million tons of sugar. If we meet this goal, we will have increased sugar
production by nearly 50 percent from 1963 to 1965.

If we achieve this--and I do not think that anyone doubts that we will; I
doubt that anyone doubts it--the slanderers (at this point someone shouts,
"execute them!"--Ed.). No, we will give them a real execution (applause).
It will be a magnificent moral execution. We will invite them to shut their
mouths--those imperialist spokesmen who have been trying to discredit the
country, shouting to the four winds that Cuba will not be able to pay, that
the Revolution is not capable of increasing production, and that the
country is not able to overcome obstacles, and who have been traveling in
Europe and throughout the world attempting to discourage countries which
trade with us not to give us credit so that they will not trade with us. We
will not only tell them that production was such-and-such, but that in
sugar, the basis of our economy, we are capable of raising production to
such an incredible level. If we can do this in sugar, the most difficult
field in which to do so, we also can do it--and we are doing it--in other
branches of our economy.

With regard to the effort being made by the Revolution to develop
agriculture, the spokesman of imperialism, the enemies of the Revolution,
have taken to spreading the false story that we have abandoned the idea of
industralizing the country--that we have abandoned our initial
industrialization plans. Of course this should not come as a surprise,
because they will always be preparing some trick and fabricating some lie
to deceive the people. What is happening is that we have been able to see
the results of the experience--the results of the apprenticeship--of which
we spoke, and we have learned to determine perfectly well in what we should
invest our resources with priority over other things. We are learning that,
of two investments, there is always one which is preferable for a variety
of reasons, and that the order or investments in the country must be
determined strictly by economic factors. It will be determined simply by
reasons of convenience to the country.

Something was perhaps not clearly seen at the beginning of the Revolution:
the extraordinary natural advantages of our country, the extraordinary
possibilities of our agriculture. What happened? The
one-crop--sugar--culture, the sugarcane restrictions, the lack of markets
had caused a certain type of allergy to sugarcane. It had caused a certain
type of allergy to and lack of faith in agriculture. The need to develop
industry, on the other hand, to a certain extent brought about an
underestimation of the possibilities of our agriculture.

In the first place, machines and all types of factory installations are
needed for industrial production. The most important element, the most
important capital, for success in agriculture is land, and we have at our
disposal magnificent land which can be used practically all year. No
country in Europe, no country among the rich and industrialized countries
of the world has the climatic conditions of our country. Neither Europe nor
the United States nor any other place in a moderate climate has the
agricultural possibilities our country possesses. Because of this, we
understand that under new conditions, in which we have practically
unlimited markets, in which the needs of the people increase daily and in
which there is a practically unlimited internal market, agriculture should
be the base of our development (applause).

The industrialization of the country--industrialization which will not
stop--will be carried out to the same extent to which we achieve an
extraordinary agricultural development. Agriculture will thus be the base
of our economic development and agriculture will be the base of our
industrial development.

Fortunately, we understand this with absolute clarity. We saw this in time,
and we should say one thing: it is not enough that an ideal social regime
exists, it is not enough to replace the capitalist system with the
socialist system. If this opportunity is not fully exploited, if there is
no clear concept of the realities, although we might have socialism, we
would be wasting enormous resources, we would be losing magnificent
opportunities. It is not enough to establish socialism unless there was a
clear, realistic, and intelligent concept of our possibilities. Here is the
importance of applying theory to reality, of knowing how to apply theory to
reality, of knowing how to apply Marxism-Leninism in a revolutionary and
dialectic manner to the concrete conditions of each place and each time
(applause).

This does not mean you are a chauvinist, this does not mean you are a
nationalist. Chauvinism and nationalism are very different: they involve
the ambitious and selfish idea of placing nationalist interests over
universal interests, betraying universal interests for national interests.
But thee national interests--that is, the interests of the workers of a
country--do not clash, need not clash, have no reason to clash with the
interests of the workers of other countries, because the interests of the
workers within and outside the borders have only one enemy--the exploiters,
the enemies of the working class in the national or international sphere
(applause).

However, it is clear that each country has concrete conditions, that each
revolution which develops in a particular country is concrete and develops
under completely different international circumstances at a rate of
development that is completely different, often in climates that are
completely different. Not only are there these objectives factors, but also
subjective factors--countries with different traditions, peoples with
different idiosyncracies which indicate to the leaders of the revolution
that in each concrete case, in each concrete country, and in each concrete
circumstance, they must not copy from anybody, but simply interpret the
doctrine-- the theory--and apply it to the circumstances and concrete
conditions of that country (applause).

Each country makes its contribution to the revolution, each country makes
its contribution to history, each country makes its contribution to ideas
and universal culture according to its ability, and each of them
contributes great lessons and great experience.

We must understand that each contributes things that are right and things
that are wrong. However, if the errors that each country contributes from
its own experience are imitated, if they are repeated, the fault will never
lie with those who committed them, but with those who copy them. An error
can also be a positive lesson, since errors committed--that is, errors we
have committed--can be useful also to other countries so that they will not
commit these errors. This means that we must copy all positive experiences,
and those which did not yield positive results must also be taken into
account and we must learn something useful from them so that we will not
repeat them.

This is something else which appears clearer to us on this sixth
anniversary of the revolution. We live in a complex world. We live in a
changing world, and it is necessary that each country in this situation--in
a Marxist-Leninist revolution--each leading party (applause) must know how
to interpret doctrine in a complete and correct manner and know how to
apply it in a complete and correct manner in each concrete case.

We must say something very important: that what each party must do must be
done in a specific concrete circumstances, and nobody anywhere must tell it
to do so (applause), and that what each revolutionary party must do in each
concrete circumstance must be done by each party and by each country. We
must say, of course, that nobody has ever tried to suggest to us what we
must de because, in the first place, that is not the practice of any party
and, in the second place, if any party were to try that with us, it would
meet with a decisive and complete rejection (applause).

Just in case there are some who have some doubts as to who does our
thinking for us, we must answer without hesitation that we have no need to
ask for a loan of anybody's brain, nor do we need to ask for a loan of
anybody's head, nor do we need to ask for a loan of anybody's courage
(applause), nor do we need to ask for a loan of anybody's revolutionary
spirit (applause), nor do we need to ask for a loan of anybody's heroism
(applause), nor do we need to ask for a loan of anybody's intelligence
(applause).

Factors having to do with conscience--subjective factors--are abundant in
this country. We have great material needs. Objectively, we are located 90
miles from Yankee imperialism. It is a situation in which no other country
of the socialist camp finds itself. We are thousands of miles away from the
socialist camp, the only socialist country in this hemisphere (applause).
That is why we need to be armed; that is why we need those weapons and
those cannons. We have needed weapons and we have asked for them, and we
are infinitely grateful to the countries who have made those weapons
available to us (applause). We have asked for those weapons because we need
them and, in addition, not only because we need them--because need is not
enough--there is a moral factor which impelled us to ask for those weapons,
and that is that we feel capable of using them (prolonged applause). And
all of us know very well that those weapons will never bow to the
imperialist enemy (applause). We know very much that those weapons will
always be on the side of those who are fighting for freedom, workers
throughout the world (applause). If we had not had that conviction, we
would not have had the right to ask for that aid, to ask for those weapons.
We all know what our road is; we all know that our road is very clear.

There has been no lack of those who said sometime during the course of this
process: "You are fools because you did not seek the help of the Americans
to make the Revolution." Of course, objectively, in the first place, those
who thought that must have been removed from reality by 1,000 leagues,
because the same imperialists who are now speaking of agrarian reform are
speaking of agrarian reform in countries in which the monopolies are not
the owners of the land. But here they were the owners of the best lands,
the most extensive latifundia of the country. Moreover, the imperialists
will never sincerely help any revolution in any part of the world
(applause). When they do, they are trying to neutralize or halt it. They do
it according to circumstance and each case. Because we must say that the
imperialists on many occasions act with great realism and with a certain
dialectical sense--attempting to apply to each concrete case a concrete
remedy. Of course, I do not believe that anybody doubts that the
imperialists will never help any revolutionary process unselfishly, but
will try to make it less revolutionary, curb it, or turn it from its
course. Furthermore, the imperialists never help without conditions--they
always place conditions--and no revolution can accept any condition from
any imperialism (applause).

It is good for these things to be made crystal clear. We have said that we
are ready to live in peace. I think that that is the demand and a dream of
all nations, of all countries. No country, no nation seeks war; nor does it
seek to disturb peace-- that is, no nation in which the people, who are the
ones who must suffer the consequences of war, control the destiny of the
country. We have even said that if they want to trade with us, we are
willing to trade. We have said that, in our mutual interests, we would have
been willing to discuss formulas for indemnity. Of course, it would be a
matter of a symbolic indemnity more than anything else.

But we have said--always--that we do not want even water from the
imperialists (applause). It must be said that if they offer us aid, we will
say no (applause). We will tell them simply no. If they offer us the most
disinterested aid, we will also tell them no, because we do not believe
them, because even if they never impose a condition, the very fact of a
revolution being carried out with imperialist aid is no longer a good
example. Revolutions are a really good example when they are made without
the aid of the imperialists, even despite their blockade and with their
hostility (applause).

When we speak of trade--although I say it with all sincerity--we do not
think about that. It is a position of principle, but we are not thinking
about that. We say it because it might be good for them and for us. That is
not a matter of conditions, since moreover, we would never accept any
condition. If they impose conditions for trade, for stopping their
hostility, we will tell them no. We do not recognize any condition or
obligation other than those that emanate from international laws and norms
(applause), never any other type of condition.

Very well, what has happened when our country has spoken of its willingness
to discuss, to negotiate, to talk, to live in peace? How have the
imperialists reacted? They have reacted insolently; they have reacted with
the thought that the water was up to our necks. They have reacted with the
thought that we are sinking and asking mercy of them. These imperialists do
not know revolutionaries. They are incapable of understanding that
revolutionaries, if they must sink, do so calmly when they must and do not
ask aid from anyone (applause).

Since they measure everything by the impartial standard of the dollar and
the peso and profit, without any scruples or thought of any kind, they are
incapable of evaluating the honor of revolutionaries, the conduct of
revolutionaries, the dignity of revolutionaries; that is why they react
that way. And perhaps is was for that reason that the imperialists were so
surprised when they heard the statements made by Maj. Ernesto Guevara at
the United Nations on behalf of the Revolutionary Government of Cuba
(applause). A newspaper that speaks for imperialism revealed one of the
imperialist thoughts when is expressed surprise and said that something
some of them did not know was made clear--the firm and militant position of
Cuba with regard to imperialism. Now they know. Can they be surprised at
it? This shows how easily the imperialists make mistakes, how easily they
become confused.

The newspapers, the press agencies reported the number of times I spoke
without mentioning foreign policy, the United States, or imperialism. It is
clear that we, as revolutionaries with our feet on the ground, feel that we
are duty-bound to devote our time, energy, and words at all times to
stressing all those things that are of vital importance to the country, and
it is not a question of speaking about imperialism all day while the
sugarcane stands still and goes without weeding, no! While the pastures
become thickets, no! Because a revolution is not made with words alone. A
revolution is made with work--work in the fields, in the factories
(applause). What good is the theoretical superstructure without the
material foundation? Does Marxism-Leninism not teach us that? How can we
forget the importance of economic matters? That is why we often stress
that--even to the point of saying that we should not put all the blame on
imperialism--that we should also seek the blame among our mistakes, that we
should also discover our responsibility when something is missing, and that
we should always ask ourselves if we have done everything we could.

Moreover, imperialism is something more contemptible every day for us. But
do not confuse contempt with conciliation, imperialist gentlemen!

Apparently, when a few minutes go by which are not dedicated to telling
them some things that everybody knows, they begin to ponder, to form
illusions; it would be well to remind them of that popular saying: "He who
lives by illusions dies of disillusion." (applause) It is well that we
know, that we learn how they think, how our enemies react. The imperialists
have been so brazen as to say that if we want our relations with them to
improve we must break our ties with the socialist camp (shouting). In
truth, I do not believe there is a single revolutionary citizen in this
country who does not believe that that is a shameless thing. I do not
believe that there is a single one who does not believe that this is
immoral, improper, and that if the socialist camp were a single
country--and not what the socialist camp is today--if the socialist camp
were a single country the size of ours, we would not exchange the
friendship of that single socialist country for the rest of the world
dominated by the imperialists or for the friendship of the rest of the
world (applause).

I believe that this is more than clear, and in keeping with this, what is
our thought? We are a small country that wishes to carry out its
revolution, that has an imperialist enemy before it, that has the socialist
camp beside us. But within the socialist camp problems of various kinds
arise. What is our position? I am going to say, in the first place, the
following: that we must learn something; that we lack something before we
can call ourselves an entirely revolutionary people. Some of you may be
surprised, and may ask what that something is.

When the imperialist aggressions began to take place here, we began to
receive socialist help. That help was explained; we were grateful. That
help was praised. It is not that this help does not deserve to be praised.
No, we will never be able to give enough thanks for it. There will never be
enough words to explain how much generosity it meant. No, I do not refer to
that.

It created among our people a certain complaisant spirit, a certain
tendency to say, "Well if the imperialists take away from us, the socialist
camp will give to us." It created a certain tendency to look on our path as
something easy. And right there is something which causes me to say that we
lack something to be an entirely revolutionary people. It is clear that in
our midst there still breed various currents, there still breed various
feelings of bourgeois ideology, of petit bourgeois clannishness, of the
lack of courage of those elements, who sap the stamina, who sap the
strength of the people.

When will we be an entirely revolutionary people? The day that we
decide--hear this well--that even when absolutely no help could come to
Cuba from abroad, these people would resist (applause). This means that we
will only have the right to consider ourselves entirely revolutionary, we
will only have the right to consider ourselves absolutely secure, we will
only have the right to consider ourselves absolutely strong on the day when
we, all the revolutionaries of this country, are convinced that with the
sole resources of this land, the will and the spirit of the people--that if
we with our sole and exclusive resources had to confront all our problems,
we would be prepared to do so and did so (applause).

Does this mean that this may happen? It is possible that this test may
never come, but in all truth we prefer a people educated in that spirit
than a people educated in the complacent idea that we are going to receive
everything from abroad, because that weakens our revolutionary spirit, that
weakens our revolutionary consciousness, and, if a little greater, could
even weaken our revolutionary dignity (applause).

of course, we have already passed through six years of revolution.
Subjective factors have improved considerably. The people of today are very
much more organized, much more revolutionary, much better trained. Of that
there is not the slightest doubt; I do not have the slightest doubt. I
certainly do not have the slightest doubt that these people would be able
to pass such tests (applause, shouting). Let us imagine that one day there
is a total blockade and that no fuel or anything else can enter here. Let
us imagine the worst circumstances. I am absolutely sure that we would
resist; of that I have the slightest doubt (applause).

I am not talking to the men of the rural areas. I am not talking to the men
of the rural areas because a man from the Sierra Maestra would not even pay
any attention to this. He would say: "Well, I have lived all my life
without fuel, electric lights, transportation, medicine, without anything,"
If we were making this speech in San Lorenzo, La Plata, El Jiguo, Tajuara,
Magdalena--any place in the Sierra Maestra, the peasants would say: "Why do
you come to talk to me about those shortages, of those privations? I have
lived all my life without them." We are saying this to the population of
Havana, to the workers of Havana, precisely to those who are used to
electricity, motion pictures, and many things, to the transportation of a
modern city, and this is the reaction of the capital. If we were faced with
such a situation, fuel would be saved for the tanks, troop-carrying trucks,
and the armed services (applause). And the urban population? Well, we would
move en masse. We would go to join the rural population of the country and
to work with oxen, with hoes, with picks, shovels (applause), and we would
resist, we would resist (applause).

This means that we are a people who have the right to walk anywhere in the
world with our heads held high--a people with the right to speak with our
own opinions, thoughts, and voice; a people with the right to be an example
for any small country of the world, for any country dominated by
imperialism or colonialism in any part of the world. This means that we are
a people with enough determination to achieve a place in the history of the
world.

Yet when we speak of those rights, we do not think of our rights, but
rather that we represent the rights of many countries like ours, of many
countries such as ours (applause), because we will be building the
foundations for the future, establishing norms for the future, for a future
in which all countries will have to coexist under different norms, under
different international principles, under different social systems, because
in the future there will be no colonialism or imperialism.

Socialism is a new social system which begins with a tremendous creative
force, which develops new ideas, new lessons; and in that field of ideas
and experience, we must also act, and we must also create. With the arrival
of the most complete interpretation of the ideas of Marx, Engels, and Lenin
(applause), we must also make our contribution under the new circumstances,
under the new conditions. We must arrive at the most complete development
of the idea of the role of the party, and the development of institutions
which will guarantee the closest ties between the masses and their vanguard
party (applause). We are quite satisfied that this tie is growing day by
day and is increasingly greater to the extent that the working masses
participate in the formation and selection of their vanguard (applause). If
the party is the vanguard of the workers, if the party is to represent the
workers, this party cannot organize itself apart from the masses. This
party cannot be organized without the masses because the conditions under
which a party is organized in the struggle for power--in secrecy--is
outside of the law, and it is quite different than when the party is power
and is within the law.

But the methods must be very different in the formation and in the
organization of this vanguard. Marxism-Leninism contains the concept of the
dictatorship of the proletariat and, in effect, socialism is a stage of
transition which is politically characterized by being the dictatorship of
the proletariat.

It is apparent that the word "dictatorship" is unappealing to the entire
world because it is closely associated with dictatorship by men,
dictatorship by cliques and, essentially, with dictatorship by exploiters.
The dictatorship of the proletariat signifies dictatorship by class, not a
clique, not a man. Clearly, this class is not the class of large
landholders, the large businessmen, the bankers, no. Such a dictatorship,
even under the form of representative democracy, was suffered by the people
because, when there was not some form of military dictatorship by class,
there was a form of parliamentary dictatorship by class. There were all
representatives of the large landholders, the bankers, the rich
industrialists and businessmen, and the foreign monopolies.

Perhaps the concept of the dictatorship of the proletariat contradicts the
concept of democracy? No. If we develop our ideas, if we have the ability
to think more deeply, we can understand. For example, in the United States
they have a dictatorship by the class of big bankers, big monopolies, in a
way that it could be called a bourgeois democracy. But in Costa Rica--I am
mistaken--I mean to say in Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala they also
have a dictatorship by monopolies, by large landholders. It is not in the
form of a bourgeoise democracy, but in the form of a military dictatorship.
These classes govern through the gorillas, as a man of the people would
say. And thus there is no democracy there; it is a class dictatorship, a
class governs.

Under socialism, another class rules. The bourgeoise have no rights. The
bourgeoise have no political rights. They have no right to rule. All
concepts are different. Now the newspapers which published what they felt
like publishing to crush the workers do not belong to the bourgeoise. Today
the newspapers belong to the workers and the publish what the workers feel
like publishing to crush the exploiters and imperialists (applause).

Things are clear, quite clear. The bourgeoise have no right to publish
anything in any proletarian newspaper. It is necessary to establish
institutions where the concept of proletarian democracy functions fully
within the concept of the dictatorship of the proletariat, within the
concept of dictatorship of classes. Those institutions must be formed. Our
party must be a link and the essence of those institutions. For that
reason, we must continue progressing and developing these ideas until all
society has been organized, until the entire state has been organized on
this basis, with the concept of democracy of the workers within the
dictatorship of the workers.

The socialist system will be a dictatorship to the exploiters and must at
the same time be a proletarian democracy. Our country has not rushed to
create formal institutions. We are really allergic to formalism. We adhere
to essential institutions and would rather not create anything than create
something with an exclusively formal or formalist character. When we write
our constitution, we will not conceal the role of the party, the role of
the workers vanguard (applause).

We are in our sixth year, and during the following years we must create our
state institutions and we must create our local institutions--the national
constitutional law and the local constitutional law--which will not be the
former bourgeois constitutional law--for the nation or the locality. We
must start concerning ourselves with these matters. We must concern
ourselves with solving these problems. We must advance in the practical
field and also in the development of ideas, because our country also has a
responsibility in that direction. Our country has a great responsibility in
that direction. Our people must find solutions that involve unity of
essence and form and not divorce form from essence. We still have a long
way to go in this direction. And so it is quite clear where our future
lies. It is a distant future, and we will still live under adverse
international conditions.

When will the imperialists decide to talk with us? I doubt that they will
decide to talk with us. We even prefer that they have to talk not with one
revolution but with several revolutions (applause). It is not a matter of
having the imperialists respect our rights and make a commitment not to
intervene in Cuba. We must tell them to make a commitment not to intervene
in Vietnam, in Venezuela, in Guatemala, in the Congo (applause).

Who will teach the imperialists when and how they should discuss? The
peoples. The peoples will be the teachers of the imperialists. One day they
will not have to talk with Cuba alone. When will that day be? No one can be
a fortuneteller or prophet. The only thing we can say is that it will come.
Some day they will learn to discuss with revolutionary peoples to the
extent that the people shake off the imperialist yoke.

We must be realists. For discussions with us now, the imperialists have set
conditions, and we have said that we cannot accept any condition
(applause). Then they are not interested at all in discussion. We are in a
hurry and furthermore we can say that we are not interested in discussions
with them (applause). They say that we should furnish proof, and we say:
You should furnish proof because you have been attacking our country,
intervening in our country's internal affairs, organizing pirate attacks
and invasions, committing violations of all sorts.

It is well that the imperialists know how we feel about it. We feel no
urgency to talk things over, and we are aware that today we represent a
single country. Things will be different when several countries are
involved. We are only one country, but we are sure that we will withstand
all the hostility and blockade of the imperialists. We are only one
country, but we are also sure that there is only one way of destroying the
revolution--that is, by wiping us off the map (applause), and I would like
to know whether it is possible to wipe off the map an entire people
possessing the Pico Turquino (highest mountain in Cuba--ed.) and everything
else (applause, shouts).

We know that they are aware of their material power, but we are aware of
our moral power. That is our strength (applause). But let us be realists.
Since we are revolutionaries, we cannot assume a theoretical position and a
practical position at the same time. We cannot assume one position toward
theory and another toward work. This ideological position of the Revolution
also tells us what our practical obligations should be and what our
obligations toward work should be.

There is something more: I do not have the slightest doubt, even in the
country's present condition and in face of all the hostility of
imperialism, that we can develop, that we can grow and progress
economically. We can be absolutely sure of this (applause).

This does not mean that we face a frightful time or a terrible outlook. Not
at all. We are convinced of it. Really, our prospects are good, if we take
good advantage of them and work hard. It is true that the price of sugar on
the world market has decreased considerably, and that we shall have less
exchange with which to buy on the international market. But it is also true
that we shall have many more food products as a result of our effort and
our work. We may have to go through this difficulty a few more years, but
we are developing other fields of our economy extensively. We can speed up
this development, improve the quality of supplies in general, and have
other products for export. That is happening because we had only cane to
export and because we depended on cane, whether the price was high or low.
But it is also true that a considerable portion of our sugar is sold to the
socialist camp at stable prices satisfactory to us (applause).

We shall continue exporting at the same level, more or less, to the world
market. But an increase in sugar production will go primarily to the
socialist camp at a price satisfactory to us. Both the USSR and CPR pay us
more than six cents a pound for our sugar (applause)? These are the two
largest sugar consumers. We sell sugar to other countries of the socialist
camp at a little over five cents. This means that the largest part of our
production will go to consumers that have stable and satisfactory trade
with us.

Indeed, as long as our economy maintains certain characteristics in these
first years, foreign currency income for the world market is important to
us, but it is not decisive. There is not a capitalist country which we will
not pay what we owe. The imperialists' insinuations, intended to impede our
trade with the rest of the world, are false.

Just as I said before, if we have to go hungry, we will, but we will pay up
to the last penny (applause). But this is not necessary, we will not go
hungry. Not only will we not go hungry; we will have more supplies, and
besides we will have more supplies, and besides we will always pay up to
the last penny. We will never owe a penny to anyone (applause).

We have the support of the people who are the creditor, debtor, producer,
and at the same time owner of what they produce. The government here is not
a representative of businessmen--bourgeois exploiters; it represents the
people, and on behalf of the people enters into commitments and fulfills
them. Now, sugar prices have fallen on the world market; nevertheless, that
does not mean that our sugar workers earn less. On the contrary, this year
our sugarcane workers will earn a higher wage than last year (applause).
Even though the price of sugar on the world market has decreased, our small
canegrowers will not receive less. On the contrary, our small canegrowers
receive a stable and satisfactory price for their sugar independent of the
ups and downs of the world market. Why? Because in our country the workers
are one. There is no cane, transportation, electrical, or petroleum worker.
Now all workers have the same rights; all workers are the same; the
country's resources belong to one and all. Today things are different from
what they were before. Now we all depend on each other and we all give to
each other the guarantee of our rights, of our wages.

For that reason, our cane workers will work more enthusiastically in the
cane this year. Does anyone doubt that we will cut the cane? (Shouts of
"No") No, we have much cane and it must be cut. The imperialists doubt that
it can be done, but we do not, because we are going to cut even the last
cane stalk. If the workers are not enough, if the volunteer workers are not
enough, the cane will still be cut because if it is necessary, we will
mobilize all the people. If necessary, we will mobilize all the students
(applause).

At times we have mobilized the armed forces. But what happens? We must
protect the transport of the armed forces. We must see to the combat
readiness of our armed forces. Hence it is necessary to be careful. It is
necessary to mobilize a part of our armed forces, but the other part must
stand guard defending the country, defending the rights of the working
people (applause). If it is necessary, we will mobilize absolutely all of
us, and we will cut the very last cane stalk. Let no one harbor any doubt
about that; we are going to cut it low down and at a single stroke
(applause).

But in addition, with every machine stroke we are going to cut a stalk of
cane weighing 50 percent more than last year, because we have taller cane
and thicker stalks, and with every couple of machete strokes we will be
sending a few pounds of cane more to the sugar mill. Labor will be yielding
more. And furthermore, we already have 500 combines (applause) and even
more loaders.

And I am going to give you a bit of good news: In Oriente, the cane at five
mills in December gave a sugar yield of 10 percent or more (applause), and
that is good news, for it will enable us to use the mill longer, and it
will enable us, at least in some areas of the country, to begin the cane
harvest earlier; and, with the same amount of machinery, the same
industrial investment, produce more cane. And this year it was possible to
glimpse this.

It will be necessary to observe what happens in successive years, but there
must not be the slightest doubt that we will cut the very last stalk of
cane, even if it rains, thunders, lightenings; even if there is a threat of
aggression, invasion, or whatever. For now we have greater organization,
and today we can cut the cane with one hand and with the other the people
will sweep away any invasion of mercenaries (applause). Just as in the past
our parades lasted eight hours, while today they last 35 minutes, any
invasion that formerly would last three days would today last a few hours.
Do you understand?

Since we have better defense, better organization--formerly we had to
devote much attention to defense--today we have a much greater force; yet
we can also devote ourselves to the country's economic construction and
economic development.

Now then, from the practical viewpoint, one last thing: What ills do we
have to eradicate? (shouts) What is that? (more crowd noise) What did you
say? Ah, we are absolutely in agreement (applause), absolutely in
agreement. But now are we going to do it? By creating
unemployment--dismissing people? No, we must not do it that way; it would
not be proper or fair, for, gentlemen, if we are going to let anybody go we
should begin by letting ourselves go first, because we are the ones who
have created bureaucracy.

To put it better--no, no, I am going to amend that: bureaucracy came from
the past, but in some cases we have developed it, and in others we have not
combated it effectively. Does this imply contempt for the comrades who work
in offices? No. There is necessary administrative work; we must not confuse
administration with bureaucracy. Bureaucracy, first of all, is a concept,
the belief that from an office the world is made. First concept, 100
percent petit bourgeois: the world made in the image and likeness of a
petit bourgeois from an office with an atmosphere and milieu that is not
proletarian.

Second, it is the hypertrophy of certain administrative functions, often as
the result of this concept. We have created every kind of thing in these
six years. While I was talking about experience, I was thinking of those
things. The poultry problem was not solved by a consolidated enterprise; it
was solved by a pool--that is something different--with magnificent
results. It linked up the plant that made the chicken feed and the poultry
genetics centers; it even gathers and distributes without middlemen. This
organization gathers the eggs at the farm and takes them to the store
without state middlemen; this is tantamount to saying without state
parasitical bodies, because parasitism can be created under socialism too,
and parasitical bodies--that is, unproductive bodies--can also be created
under socialism.

Well then, this means a great saving in personnel, in the labor force.
There is a pooling. I forgot to tell you something: All the hatcheries and
all the incubators and all the installations that made the development of
this plan possible were bought with some of the money paid as indemnity by
the Giron Beach mercenaries (applause). So remember, beginning tomorrow,
every time you fry an egg, or boil one, remember that the imperialists
helped us develop this plan with the indemnity paid us by their
mercenaries.

But I was talking. (Voice from crowd says something about million--ed.)
They stole 10 million from us, but we are going to get much more out of
that hen (applause). It should be noted that we established a pool there
with very good results, but this does not mean we should start forming
pools on all sides now. No. One of our ills has been this lack of dialectic
sense, which has led many people to fit the same frock to everything. It is
as if we tried to make all our women--tall, short, fat or thin--wear the
same dress. It would be horrible. The women would protest, and rightly so,
but the poor enterprises cannot protest. And sometimes we make a
consolidated enterprise of some miserable stories; it could well be called
ecochinche, as the paper (slight pause; voice apparently from platform
prompts, "PALANTE Y PALANTE") as the paper PALANTE Y PALANTE says.
Ecochinche--that is, the organization that would correspond to a developed
industry when there is no such developed industry.

And so there is this mania in many bodies for organizing vertical
enterprises from end to end of a long, narrow island, enterprises which in
many cases are out of line with the degree of development of the industry
or the branch of economic production. Unquestionably, in many state bodies
we must make corrections and create more suitable and more adequate
structures. Structures based on erroneous concepts are partly to blame for
bureaucracy.

But in addition to the petit bourgeois spirit in the bosom of the
proletarian revolution, there is a lack of concern for money among many
people. And really, when I see an official who does not care about money, I
think that the official never produced a single peso in his life, and if he
ever did, he has forgotten it. I think the best that could be done with any
of these officials who, before creating a new post, do not ask themselves
how much it costs, do not think about the cost, do not care if more pesos
will be put into people's pockets and another burden on the shoulders of
the workers, would be to send them to a brahma dairy for at least three
months. They they could learn, getting up at 0400 or 0300 hours and
struggling with those animals, which are pretty wild, how much work it
takes to produce a peso's worth of milk. Then they would have to take that
into account when they were about to put a peso into somebody's pocket,
gentlemen, for production must go before pesos, and some day queues must
disappear (applause). Some day we must get rid of ration books. No, we
cannot resign ourselves to ration books. And I believe we are going to get
rid of them despite of bureaucracy, provided we put a brake on bureaucracy
and repel it.

Bureaucracy has many causes. It is an ill partly of the past and partly of
the present, and I believe sincerely that socialism must be on guard
against bureaucracy as much as against imperialism. Let that not be
forgotten (applause), because it is more dangerous, for it is a clandestine
enemy. You have heard 10 million people speak against imperialism; how many
have you heard speak against bureaucracy? Surely not many. It is a serious
ill which we do not realize; we are not aware of it, and yet it is a very
serious ill; it hampers production, consumes the best minds in unnecessary
work, consumes much of the people's energy.

But does this mean that now we must make those who are working in offices
pay for the broken china? No. Fire somebody? No. Reduce anybody's income by
a cent? No. Those methods would not be fair, those methods would not be
revolutionary. What are we going to do? First, freeze. You already know a
freeze means not one single additional employee in an office. We offer the
slogan to all workers throughout the country: (applause) We are going to
combat this ill with the masses and with the party, and in every region we
are going to create a committee--but not centralized employment control,
for that is absurd, but at the local level. If a new job, a new need
arises, well then, that committee must discover a manpower surplus in some
other factory in order to make a relocation. So-called relocations are
often lies.

And then there are friends who call their friends (shouts). If you follow
the course of some officials, you will see that some get along with their
friends even better than with their brothers at home, and when they change
organizations their friends want to change. Or they begin to make requests
of one another. Some have been in four places, and their friends have been
there too. This cannot be, this cannot be.

Then there is pirating. Resign there and come over here; you will make 30
more (shouts). Every time you see that, denounce it to the party, denounce
it to the organizations which are going to be created everywhere
(applause). The party is not going to administer enterprises, no; but it is
going to give instructions to a committee and it will see to it that in
every new post created, first priority is given to the person who is poorly
utilized in some other place of work, in another office, at something else.

There are also many people who go joyriding in government-owned cars. That
is the truth. That is why every government-owned automobile will have its
sign and its gauge, because it is a waste of gasoline and equipment. No one
has the right to do this. But let us fight these evils through the masses
and through the party.

We must get organized. It will not do for someone to tell me one day: We
are not doing anything. We must organize the people's awareness. We must
organize the people's vigilance and action through the party.

Now, there is an excess of personnel in many organizations and factories.
We are going to do the following: We will not dismiss anyone; we shall not
reduce anyone's salary even by one penny. We are going to organize schools,
but not through the organizations. The party is also going to work to
organize these schools in coordination with the Labor and Education
Ministries.

These are scores of thousands of persons who are not doing any useful work,
and we can see this if we use a little logic. What should we do? Start
scores of thousands of persons studying. It is preferable to pay them their
entire salary without discounting a penny and keep them studying
(applause).

Many organizations that employ a person 40 years old now dismiss him when
they start rationalizing. Often a person of 40 knows more than one of 20.
Or they intend to retire him. What is this? We have not yet reached the
stage of communism. We cannot retire everyone here. Social security alone
places a tremendous burden on the country's economy. It is already costing
more than 200 million pesos and we cannot eat the seed until we have
harvested the crop. We have had an erroneous retirement policy here. We
cannot continue to do what we desire, but what is possible. We must reserve
the millions which can be spent yearly to increase social security for the
most needy cases, for the most urgent cases, for the cases of a widow
without means of support, the worker who has had an accident, the person
who because of health or age can really no longer work. Often persons who
have retired and are collecting their pension are needed again. Then they
collect two incomes. This is not the meaning of retirement, gentlemen. We
are not millionaires.

Someone said to me one day: look, the truth is painful. When someone gets
sick, he gets 40 percent of his wages. I replied: The truth is very painful
and very sad, but we cannot do any better. The very fact that we are able
to pay 40 percent to those who get sick is a great step ahead compared with
the way things used to be when only nine day's pay was given. Today, if a
worker is sick for six months or a year, he is assured of part of his
wages. We should like to give him 100 percent, but where would we get the
money? Just to queue up again?

It is right that we increase salaries and wages. The circulating currency
has been increases without increasing the circulation. A knowledge of
addition and subtraction is enough to understand this.

We have made considerable progress, but we must advance cautiously in this
matter of social security. Many comparatively young people have been
retired. Who should go to school? preferably the young people, instead of
retiring the older ones. The business of retiring a women of 46 is an
insult, besides being wasteful. And the same is true of men, of course; no
one wants to be retired before his time. This is wasteful. Instead of
retiring people who can still work, we must start them studying younger. We
must train them. They should study for three years and become accountants,
learn administrative technology, how to handle electrical and electronic
equipment, and what have you, so that one day there will be fewer people in
the office producing more. We are going to put all excess personnel to
work.

What are we going to do with the young man? Do we have to look for work for
the young man? Do we have to look for work for the young man? No, we have a
scholarship for him if he wants it; we have technological centers and
preuniversity education for the young man; for the young man we have the
university. We do not have to put a young man to work in an office. We will
make an engineer of him. Anyone can understand that this is better, that it
is more useful. We can offer study to all young people.

Now, a young man wants to study, but he is working. We have said that in
cases where someone has a real need, it is preferable to give him a subsidy
if he is a good student. Recently, we have been working out a formula which
is an improvement over the subsidy, to that in the future no more subsidies
will be extended. The already existing subsidies will remain and will not
be touched; but in the future, instead of a subsidy for the university and
in certain other centers, if a person is practically forced to abandon his
studies, he will be asked: how much do you need? We will not give you a
subsidy, but we will give you a loan so you can repay it in a certain
number of years after you have finished your studies. (applause)

I believe that is better, and I also believe that it is much more
convenient. Actually, with a technician's wages it is very easy for anyone
who needs any assistance to repay the loan in a certain number of years and
say: I need to many years to repay it, according to my needs. Rather than a
subsidy, society is giving this future technician a loan, and he will repay
society so that it can do the same for someone else after he has graduated.

Thus every young man has an opportunity to become a technician. It is an
honest opportunity for anyone who is not performing any useful work to
study without detriment to his income, without detriment to his interests,
and without detriment to his family. Therefore, as early as this year we
will create many schools and no one will be dismissed, no one's income will
be reduced one penny. I believe that this is the humane, the revolutionary,
the socialist way of solving this problem. That is what we will do.

Not only in the administrative offices is there an excess of personnel, but
also in many work centers.

Now, someone said that the sugar mill had retired him, and now they had to
ask him to return to work at the mill. Thus, whenever we can reclaim
someone who is still capable of producing, and who wants to work, we must
give him the opportunity to produce. We must therefore reserve the social
security pensions for the more vital, needy, and urgent cases.

Now, what shall we baptize the coming year? (shouting heard in background)
What? Did you say the year of the sugar harvest? No? (more shouting heard,
Castro cannot speak) The year of bureaucracy? (more shouting) What did you
say? We will make a suggestion: The year of struggle against bureaucracy.
(more shouts and suggestions) Well. (shouts) Well, someone is talking about
the year of agriculture. (shouts)

I admit, I would like it to be the year of struggle against bureaucracy,
but the choice of the year of agriculture is very good, too. However,
however, (shouts) however, what if bureaucracy remains with us without
being fought? (shouts) else here is talking about the year of production,
but I believe that the year of production is still a bit generic, and
agriculture is good because it involves the stud of agriculture, its
increase, impulse, material for the study of agricultural questions,
schools, (shouts cover his voice). It is a big thing, production is a big
thing (shouts).

Well, I will put the question to a vote. Here are three suggestions:
One--do not vote yet, do not vote; first I will tell you what they are--do
not say anything. 1) Year of struggle against bureaucracy; 2) year of
agriculture; 3) year of production (shouting resumes) Are there any more
suggestions? (shouts) Someone suggested the year of technical agriculture,
another called for the year of the sugar harvest. Well, we will have to
submit three. Those who are for the year of production? Who are for the
year of production? Who are for that? (shouts) Good. Those who are for the
year of bureaucracy, how many? (louder shouting) Well, it looks like there
are lots of votes here. And who wants it to be the year of agriculture?
(loudest shouts)

Well, actually I believe that this suggestion and this viewpoint that we
should concentrate our efforts upon this sphere of economy shows a great
understanding, a great understanding on the part of the masses. Let us
concentrate our efforts upon agriculture, particularly upon the development
of technical agriculture (applause and shouts). At the same time, in all of
us there is concern and awareness of the need to combat bureaucracy. We
must give a vote of confidence to our party so that it can execute the
people's mandate to combat bureaucracy (applause).

Actually that is better, because I can imagine some comrade who is not very
satisfied with his job (writing down on a piece of paper): The year of
struggle against bureaucracy. It is better to have the year of the struggle
against agriculture with the typewriter, but also with the cane cutter
(shouts). Did I say against agriculture? No, I mean against bad
agriculture. (shouts) What? (crowd continues to give suggestions to which
Fidel keeps saying: What?)--and adopt suitable methods, both humane and
effective.

Fighting bureaucracy does not mean combating the office employee; that
would be confusing the causes with the effects. We must combat the spirit
of bureaucracy, the method of bureaucracy, the philosophy of bureaucracy,
the idea that problems can be solved objectively and idealistically from an
office. And I am certain that the fact that we can overcome this evil will
be of great benefit to the country. It will be of incalculable benefit,
especially because all of this vice and energy which absorbs the country's
good efforts can be turned into technical preparation: we can use this time
in learning and in improving production.

Very well, by a virtual majority--because I believe that those who voted
for another title are also in agreement and will heed the wishes of the
majority--we will call this year "the year of agriculture (wild applause)."
The people--and I am sure, the farmers, above all the farm workers and
peasants--will be very pleased with this decision adopted today. Hence, we
have only to--(someone shouts from the audience).

I have heard that several of you have mentioned Professor Voisin, and I
believe that is is a very apt gesture. It shows the capacity of our people
to understand, to aspire, and to thank those men who have devoted their
lives to research which can be useful to all people. I am certain that your
spontaneous sentiments will be an additional source of inspiration and
consolidation to Voisin's widow, who said that she wanted to remain in Cuba
today to be with the Cuban people on this, their day (wild applause).

On behalf of all of the comrade leaders of the Revolution, on this sixth
anniversary, we wish for all of the people much happiness and much success
in this the year of agriculture. Fatherland or death, we will win!
-END-