-DATE- 19680102 -YEAR- 1968 -DOCUMENT_TYPE- SPEECH -AUTHOR- F. CASTRO -HEADLINE- 10TH REVOLUTION ANNIVERSARY -PLACE- PLAZA DE LA REVOLUTION -SOURCE- HAVANA DOMESTIC TV -REPORT_NBR- FBIS -REPORT_DATE- 19690103 -TEXT- CASTRO SPEECH ON 10TH REVOLUTION ANNIVERSARY Havana Domestic Television and Radio Services in Spanish 1414 GMT 2 Jan 68 C/F [Speech by Prime Minister Fidel Castro at Havana Plaza de la Revolution, marking the 10th anniversary of the Cuban rebellion--live] [Text] Honored guests, workers: On this 10th anniversary our commemoration is characterized by its simplicity. There is no military parade, in spite of the fact that we considered the 10th anniversary as a possible day for a military parade. Actually, this has been a year of hard work. It has been a year of great efforts in all fields, of great savings in every sense, in which every man and woman in our country has played an important role. And since work and the fulfillment of the assigned goals were more essential to us, we decided, confident that we were interpreting our people's best interest, neither do spend a gallon of fuel in military parades on this 10th anniversary, nor to lose a single moment of work. [applause] What is more, a year of great effort also begins. A year of 18 months begins, [hesitant applause building up] because this year we have to complete the 1969 sugar harvest and part of the 1970 sugar harvest! [applause] Therefore, we must do two sugar harvests. And next year, the traditional next year, in other words, next December, and most certainly, 2 January, we may possibly not meet at this plaza because a number of citizens of this country will be cutting sugarcane. [applause] Therefore, next New Year's day will possibly be on 1 July. [background laughter near Castro, crowd shouts rising] Next Christmas will be more or less between 1 and 26 July. [crowd shouts] It is not that we propose to change traditions. [Castro chuckles] It is not that we are definitely renouncing the classic seasons to which we have become conditions. [Castro chuckles] We shall return to normal New Years! We shall return to normal Christmases. But the machines will have to see to that; the machines will have to come to the rescue of our traditions. But the fact remains that we are deeply involved in this great work and, above all, we shall accomplish it! [applause] Several commemorations of this type have taken place in recent years, but this commemoration certainly has gathered the most people ever at the Plaza de la Revolucion. [applause] This is not only a great multitude but a compact one, and there is something that is much more valuable than the extension of compactness, it is a multitude, a people who are extraordinarily more aware. [applause] And we sincerely think that there are reasons why the revolution's awareness and strength have grown. And we think that we have well-established reasons for optimism. And we think that this optimism is based on real and palpable facts. And we think that the time is approaching when we will not be as interested in material satisfactions which will come as we will be in the moral satisfactions and in the time and the circumstances in which this has been possible. It is natural that on this 10th anniversary in which we have practically graduated not yet as revolutionaries, not with a university diploma, but we could say that we have completed the primary grades of the revolution and we are entering junior high school, ending 10 years and beginning the next 10, when the most difficult 10 years have ended and the most fruitful 10 begin, when the period ends in which we passed from practically absolute ignorance to a certain level of accumulated experience, when we have attained a pace of work and progress far exceeding the pace we had in the beginning. It is natural that we give a very brief synthesis of the effort, an account rather than a keynote, an idea of what the result has meant to the revolution, and at the same time the general line, the task of the next phase. Our country has made its effort specific and we believe that this is of interest in the field of cultural development in general, in social development and at the same time in economic development. We do not need to talk about something which many know as the educational effort, begun at once, characterized by the eradication of illiteracy, the enormous progress made up to this time in this field. This is not only symbolized by a teacher for every child, but also in the fact that we have, after 10 years of revolution, more than 300,000 scholarship students. In this, our country has unquestionably and over the long term led every other country in Latin America. Nor is it necessary to emphasize the effort made in public health, where we have left all other Latin American communities far behind, also in the field of social development, the social institutions of the revolution which brought social security, that is, the right to retirement and pension to all the working sectors of the country. And this year it culminates with the happy event--decided, discussed, and defined by the masses--that the minimum pension will be at the beginning of practically from this moment 60 pesos for all the retired and pensioned, a measure of benefit to approximately 180,000 persons, marking for all Cubans equally the road to well-being and security for all those who in one manner or another have contributed to creating the wealth of this country. Other notable steps in the social and political order have been the measures--also discussed by the masses this year--related to the wages earned by workers who act like communists on the job, on those occasions when illness prevents working, or for families whose support is cut off, or lose their lives at work. These have been among the many institutions established which have brought about human and dignified conditions for all citizens of this country. These are some of those for which we can all feel rightfully satisfied. In the ideological field the road followed has been infinite. The people of today and their political culture, organization, discipline, awareness, and sense of duty can hardly be compared to that of the people 10 years ago. Nevertheless, a revolution must rest on an economic structure. The economic structure is one in which our people set themselves the most difficult goal, the most most extraordinary tasks: face underdevelopment under modern world conditions. Faced it as our people did, without any experience, as they did with only the enthusiasm of their masses, because the few who knew how belonged almost entirely to that privileged minority which was not in agreement nor could agree to changing the economic structure of this country. And it was, as we said last night conversing with some visitors, as though with great ignorance about everything, overnight we set ourselves to take charge of everything and make [something] of everyone with no experience at all, but further than that false illusion which produces the class society, the capitalist society, the illusion of shelves filled with goods,that illusion so highly flaunted by the privileged societies and which makes the masses believe in the illusory idea that an exaggerated plentifulness exists and that all that is necessary is a breakthrough to reach and have access to those inexhaustible riches as if they were mines with infinite resources. What the masses ignore is that these supposed riches are nothing but the surpluses of misery, the surpluses of misery which they must have in order to incite people to incessant work, in order to force work amid unemployment and underemployment from the citizens of a nation. Naturally, this is illusory wealth which disappears in a few short days, a scant time after the masses have a brief access to this wealth. We also learned something from that privileged, underdeveloped society which, far from creating infinite wealth, still has to create all this wealth. And the masses really know now that the wealth has yet to be created because the masses know how to add and subtract and multiply and divide. And when you divide any of the levels of production which that society achieved among 8 million persons, even a second grade schoolboy would immediately discover that that was a miserable production. [Castro chuckles] It was a time when 80 or 90 percent of the children did not have milk. Some 50,000 cows sufficed to supply milk for all the children, and there was a surplus of milk in some dairies, just as there were hundred of thousands of children who did not have 2 centavos to buy a fraction of a liter of milk. [applause] But when milk is supplied on an equal basis to all the children who are born in this country, when it was to be given to all of them and they all have that right and that opportunity, without exception, then not even 50,000, or 100,000, or 200,000 cows are enough. Then we need half a million cows. And of course, now all the milk is really being divided among all the children or aged persons or persons who need it or persons who want it. We certainly do not have a half million cows; a half million cows are now growing in this country and many other half-millions will be born in the next few years and there will be somewhat more [applause begins] than a liter of milk, not only for all the children but for all the citizens of this nation. [applause] And this will take place certainly in the not too distant future. And therefore all this is understood perfectly well. Now then, has the revolution increased wealth in the first few years? No, it has not increased wealth. What is more, our people did not increase the wealth of the nation in the first few years of the triumph and were even unable to produce the little that was produced by that privileged society. What was produced here was produced under very unhuman conditions. Hunger, disease, lack of housing, evictions, the worst and most terrible things threatened every human being. Sugarcane as cut. Some 40 millions of tons [corrects himself] of arrobas [corrects himself again] of tons of sugarcane, some 40 million tons of sugarcane were cut by hand and they were loaded canestalk by canestalk. The sugarcane workers of this country used to cut more than 50 million tons of cane and they loaded it stalk by stalk. They earned a miserable living from this work--15, 16, 17 hours of work [a day] or else it was hunger for them, for their children; it was despair; it was death. When such subhuman conditions disappeared, it was logical that nobody would have to work 17, nor 16, nor 15, nor 14 hours, to make a living. It was logical that 12, 11, 10, 8 hours would be worked and sometimes slightly less, because some persons were carried away [Castro chuckles] in reducing their workhours going from the extremes of excessive workhours to minimum workhours. Logically, conditions changed before the machines could replace that excess of work. This, of course, does not count something that is most worthy of taking into account, which is the absolute change in administration and its inexperience. But it is true that the people were unable and could not produce more in the first few years than the capitalists, and consequently farm production decreased. And so we went down from a certain level. Farm production today is increasing at a rate of 2, 2.5, 3 percent a year. In the underdeveloped nations, above all in Latin America, in most of the nations it sometimes increases not at all, sometimes it increases 1 percent, 1.5, 2 percent, and in general it grows in tandem with the population. Ours did not grow with the revolution; in fact, it was decreasing, it decreased at a time when sugar production was much less than that of capitalism. And we arrived at three eight [Castro does not indicate whether this is 38 or 3.8] million tons of sugar. We must analyze these facts if we wish to have an adequate notion of what has been the final result of our apprenticeship and our effort in these years. Nevertheless, something really extraordinary. We are the beginning of 1969. However, in 1970, Cuban farm production will be approximately twice what we had before 1 January 1959. [applause] Really an extraordinary thing. Perhaps incredible. Something which undoubtedly, when one analyzes all the history of farm production increases in all countries under all circumstances, will have nothing even resembling this kind of achievement. Because doubling farm production in 10 years is something which not even the so-called developed countries can do. As a matter of fact, this doubling has not been achieved in 10 years. It was done by an effort lasting less than 5 years, with the effort, organization, experience, and the concept attained after 5 years of revolution, so that this country will double its agricultural production in a period of not more than 4 years at the most. We say merely that in this year of 1968 the bulk of the sugarcane for the famous 10-million-ton harvest has been planted. [applause] And the results of the 1970 will be nothing. What really will astound many, astound the skeptics and frighten the reactionaries, will be the farming achievements of our country in the next 12 years. We have given 12 years in order to compare it with what other countries are doing. Recently in neighboring Jamaica there was a meting of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) attended by our delegation. The food situation in our countries was examined at that meeting. With the participation of delegations from many countries, it was learned that the situation is tragic, that it is tragic for almost the entire world, but especially for Latin American countries. Here are some of the data serving to illustrate what is being done in all those countries, and what we are doing here. Why these incredible advances we are making at this time, and those we shall make in future years? How much is agriculture growing, and how much will it grow in those countries in the next few years? Why? How much it is growing and how much will it grow in Cuba, and why? What has happened to the famed Alliance for Progress? What is needed? What do our fraternal Latin Americans expect from 1970 to 1980? We with our revolution, a bold historic undertaking, began by reducing our production. But now we too have realized it is inhuman. We have learned to multiply; it will multiply again. That is, we shall not add to quantities we had, but multiply the quantities we had. [applause] The FAT drafted guidelines for a world plan of farm development. The FAO is an organization of the United Nations, in which many qualified technicians analyze the situation objectively and forecast future occurrences for the world. Among those who work in the FAO, there are many who are busy with the future food supply for humanity. Of course,they have often been alone in their campaigns because predicting the food future is of no concern to the imperialists and reactionaries; it is, if not solved, a sure portent of revolution. In the index development plan proposed for Latin America during 1970 and 1980, an approximate agricultural increase--for South America, that is, from Colombia and Venezuela to Argentina--a 3 percent agricultural increase is proposed annually. The true growth in the past years for these countries has been less than 2 percent, and this 3 percent growth proposed, if achieved, is mostly to compensate for a population increase, which in some countries is more than 3 percent, and in other countries it is somewhat less than 3 percent annually. Now, given what Cuban farm production will be between 1968 and 1980, some years will be greater than others. There will be years of considerable increases, above all in 1970, but the average in those 15 [corrects himself] in those 12 years, how much will Cuban agricultural production increase based on facts available to everybody and based on resources in our hands and based on a people who have made the work their own task. Really, today the most important thing is not the concepts, which are much more developed, the created institutes, the enormous resources we already have, but the subjective factors which have been created among our people. This is really the fundamental thing and it is these factors which will bring about these results. Now then, Cuban agriculture production in the next 12 years will increase--and we give this figure with absolute tranquility and we assume full responsibility for it--at an average rate, in the 12 years, some years it may be more and some years it may be less, but it will reach an average rate of not less than 15 percent a year. [loud applause] We take this opportunity to add that this figure, during this period, exceeds by severalfold that attained by any nation in the world in a similar period. We are not saying that Cubans are better workers than anybody or wiser than anybody, but we have the fortune of gathering various factors together--the concept of our agrarian reform, the concept of our agricultural plans, the massive application of technology, and above all, a people such as this one carrying out this work in a tropical climate. A tropical climate is the hardest place to surmount natural factors at the outset. But when these natural factors are surmounted then we profit from the sunshine and hence from daylight and hence we have a year-round agriculture. Once the droughts have been controlled, once the hurricanes have been mastered, with adequate protection to the crops against this type of phenomenon, once the floods have been controlled, once the plagues, the weeds, and thickets have been controlled, and once the land has been cleared of heavy vegetation, in short,once technology is mastered and the work has been mechanized, then it is possible to achieve results unachievable in other nations without year-round sunshine and daylight conditions. But we are drawing these comparisons with other nations which do have sunshine and daylight the year round, not with Canada or Finland. We are doing so with nations having the same conditions as ours. Good, then let us see what the FAO proposes as an annual increase in arable lands for the next 10 years. They have prepared a 20-year plan. We have extracted a 10-year plan from it, the next 10 years. In the next 10-years an increase of 15 million hectares of arable land is projected for South America. At present those nations have some 100 million hectares of arables land and FAO proposes a 15-percent increase in arable lands in 10 years. Cuba's present arable lands amount to some 300,000 caballerias. This is statistical data. Often caballerias of land are planted in crops which should be changed as is being done, sugarcane being moved near the sugarmills, rice crops where they should be, and each crop in its place. Thus, often so-called arable lands will have to be planted again with other crops. Even so, in the next 10 years, the arable land of 300,000 caballerias will increase to half a million caballerias. In other words, from 4 million hectares to 6.68 million hectares. Therefore, an increase of 15 percent in arable land is projected for Latin America and in that period Cuban arable lands will increase by 75 percent. [applause] The increase in agricultural production is achieved by the application of technology and the expansion of arable land. We are going to increase both intensively. Fertilization plays an important role in the application of technology, in other words, in the increase of yield per agricultural unit. The FAO program projects a total production of 2 million tons net content of fertilizer for all South America. What does net content mean? It is the formula which can be produced chemically in 1 ton of 100 tons applied to the soil. Many people know this but there may be some who are not familiar with agriculture and who need this explanation. It is not 100 percent nitrogen. It could have 20 or 25 percent in a complex fertilizer. Fifteen percent phosphorus, let us suppose 15 percent potassium, a relatively high figure. The net content is not 100 percent, but 50 percent of the net content. The formulas are variable. To apply 2 million tons net content of fertilizer, one must calculate that between 6 and 8 million tons of fertilizer have to be applied to the fields. Well, this year Cuba is applying more than 1.5 million tons of fertilizer to the fields. This is approximately half a million in net content. But for South America, 2 million tons net content of fertilizer are proposed. Let us say, some 8 million tons gross. In 1975 we will apply 1 million tons net content of fertilizer, approximately 4 million tons gross. Therefore, in 1975, Cuba will be applying half of the fertilizer that is proposed for all South America. Third, irrigation. Now this is serious. The FAO program calls for an annual increase from now to 1975 of 200,000 irrigated hectares. Irrigation plays a decisive role. But the most important thing is not water as such, which helps growth and checks the effects of drought, but because water permits planting at an optimum date, fertilizing at the proper time, herbicides at the right time, preparation of the soil at the optimum time, optimum use of machinery and manpower distributed throughout the year, optimum crops, so that all these factors give more than just the direct benefit of water on the plants. That is, the possibility of optimum use of technology is a factor generally not considered when one speaks of water. It not only insures against drought but also permits optimum application of technology. For a country like ours it is most important. For a country which has sunshine year round it is much more important than for one like Finland, I repeat, which has frost for a good part of the year. Even if they had water they could not do anything with it. But during these months we do not have frost, nor do we have water. Ah, if we did have water in those so-called dry months, and they are indeed, then the advantage would be indisputably extraordinary. For this reason, irrigation is to us--although it seems a bit strange--a very special factor, more so than for any other country in the temperate or northern zone. Any northern country can build dams and assure water for August, but they cannot cultivate in January or February. With water we can provide against drought in August, but we also cultivate in January, February, March, and we irrigate. That is, we take advantage of the light and soil all year round and machinery, technology, and manpower the year round. If not, we must wait resignedly for rain, and in 15 days plant the entire crop. But that is impossible. The result is that weeds grow long before planting is done. We know it well from the caballerias of sugarcane we have had to plant in the rain these past years, especially this year. Well, in this program 200,000 more hectares of irrigated land are proposed annually for South America. So, beginning in 1969 and going to 1975 our irrigated area will increase by 300,000 hectares a year. That is, 50 percent more than is planned for the rest, for South America, if they do irrigate 200,000--it is not certain, because it is only a plan--and we know the conditions for this plan. These are data based on the resources we have. So that these data reveal the absolute inability of those countries at this time to do anything which resembles a respectable development of agriculture, that is, production of food which even resembles or approximately or compensates for the population increase. While they can propose to increase farm production to match the rate of population growth and maintain it at that level of hunger and underconsumption, in Cuba the farm increase per year, the average increase for the next 12 years, will be seven times greater than the annual population growth. And the cumulative effect of a 15 percent increase in 1968 and in 1969, and afterwards 15 percent in 1975, cumulatively is simple multiplication. However, the Cuban area compared to South America, which has 17.3 million square kilometers, is only 111,000 square meters. The geographers state this. For your information, it is a bit more. But about this figure, of 111,000, Cuba has 158 times less area than South America. Inhabitants: Cuba has 22 times less population than South America. However, it will use half the fertilizers they use in 1975, and we will increase annually more irrigated hectares--although logically the total quantity of land increased cannot be the same with the difference in size--they propose to increase 15 percent in Cuba in 1975. What resources are available to do this? Was this an easy thing? No, it was not easy. Could we have done this at the beginning of the revolution? The truth must be told. At the beginning of the revolution we did not even know the geography of Cuba. Not even geography. Let us say not even the landscape. Imagine the farm development of a country by those who do not even know its geography. We did not know it. Neither the capitalists. They knew only their own parcels, their large parcels. But we had to know, almost to discover the geography of this country. And we did not know it. Some of us knew a part of the Sierra Maestra quite well, and some knew corners of some provinces, but the geography of the country where development had to be carried out and staged was unknown. That is, what was visible. How can we talk about what we cannot see? We knew nothing about our geology. Nothing. Some mines owned by U.S. monopolies were known through prospecting. We did not know about how much nickel, whether there was any petroleum, chrome, manganese, or anything else. How much rainfall was there? In some places it was known because of rain gages on some sugar plantations. How much water flow there was in the rivers was unknown. At water meter had to be put there to find out, for several years, to obtain an average annual flow. To construct a dam--anyone would say building a dam was easy but one first had to know where the river could be dammed; the geology of that proposed dam, whether it was hollow or compact, whether water filtered or not. No one knew anything about all this. That is, neither what flowed in the rivers, nor where there was a watershed, nor the geology. All of that had to be researched, and of course there was no geologist or designer for dams, nor anyone who could possibly qualify; just a very few. Logically, none of us learned to build dams when we did not build any. It is logical and elementary. Neither did we have this kind of personnel,nor could we have trained them in a few years, and we still do not have them, because with our bare technical knowledge we could not have done this, not by a long shot. Machinery to do this? The same was happening to use that is happening there. As we were saying recently in Santiago de Cuba to the students, this country had 300,000 automobiles. However, in the Sierra Maestra there were 300,000 persons not just without teachers, or without a physician, but even without a road. Without a road. We did know that and we do know it. Tractors: No statistical data available but the FAO estimated that there were some 5,000 in 1950. In 1958 there were some 7,000 or 8,000 rubber-tired tractors in this country. But the enormous number of machines necessary to carry out a plan like this one was beyond dreams. The operators for all this equipment, the mechanics, the qualified personnel to organize and direct all this work was beyond dreams. Now then, how many machines do we have now to support these statements? How many machines and on what strength and factors do we base this program? In the rest of South America, logically, 3 percent cannot attain it. They cannot attain it. They import millions of automobiles and cannot attain it. They would have to stop this importing and that would be impossible. No wealthy man in those countries would resign himself so much as to ride a bus or to get a new model automobile every year. And those are the ones who rule over there and administer everything. Perhaps they may impose some little tax but then they mark up the prices on everything and they laugh at everybody and spend their time on trips to Paris or the United States or Europe in general. We are not going to campaign against any nation here but I want to say that they spend their time traveling throughout the world. They take their big bankrolls with them and they bank it abroad because they think it is safer over there than in those nations (?seething with the despair of hunger). Of course it remains to be seen whether they will retain that 3 percent, if they will achieve that program. How do we support these statements? Actually we have organized all the basic forces for agricultural development in an organization known as DAP, or National Agricultural and Livestock Development. In DAP is centered all the basic machinery for the construction of dams, drainage systems, wells, irrigation systems, highways, roads, bridges, railroads, land clearing, and mountain terracing. How many machines does the DAP have at this moment? Well, in basic equipment, that is, bulldozers, motorized scrapers, scrapers, levelers, loaders, rollers, cranes, dump trucks, well diggers, and trench diggers, it possesses 6,138 of these basic items of equipment at the moment, (?as of) December 1968, 6,538 [as heard] machinery. [applause] In complementary and auxiliary equipment, it possesses 3,190 pieces of machinery including concrete mixers, compressors, mobile work shops, greasing plants, (?tank) trucks, pressers, pavers, asphalt applicators, stone crushers, mobile electric plants, and so forth. This is a total of 9,328 pieces of machinery, with an approximate value of 150 million pesos in foreign currency. This is the enormous force that supports and guarantees our development plan to which we have referred. And these items of equipment and [words indistinct] are supported by the labor of 40,676 men, of whom 22,705 are skilled workers. Work is being done simultaneously on more than 20 dams and numerous underground water sources. As a result of this effort, in 1969 the country will--in only 1 year--incorporate 2 billion cubic meters of water in its agriculture. Of this amount, approximately 1 billion cubic meters will be provided by dams, and an approximately equal amount will be obtained from underground sources. This will be more than enough to equal and surpass the figure of 300,000 hectares. But we must mention that this figure will grow, will grow in 1970. It will be larger in 1970. Thus our aspiration, which once seemed impossible, to arrive at approximately 15 billion cubic meters by 1973 will be achieved. The total water potential in our country? To reach approximately 20 billion cubic meters by 1975 will be to reach our total potential. As a result, nearly all the farmland of the country will be under irrigation. In parallel, in highways and roads, we have at this moment 120 brigades, of which 101 were organized during the past 18 months. We are presently working on roads and highways on some 115 work fronts, 115. So, by 1975, the country will have no less than 40,000 kilometers of asphalt highways. And without highways there can be no agricultural development. This is impossible. It is just as impossible as in agricultural development not to know geography. It is impossible to transport machinery, fuel, fertilizers, technical assistance, without communications. Of course I can imagine what communications must be like in South America, but Cuba will have approximately 1 kilometer of paved highway for every 2 square kilometers of unpaved surface in 1975. And there are more than 100 brigades doing this work. Besides there are the dams, irrigation systems, and drainage, which are an important aspect of agricultural development. These are projects that cannot be used because the water is being accumulated. Well, in 1969, this equipment will be made complete with about 3,000 other machines. So, by December 1970, our farm and livestock program will have 12,000 pieces of equipment, basic and auxiliary equipment. With this force, with these resources, without any possible error, this agricultural and livestock program, which even this year has begun to show signs of its imposing shape, is insured. For example, for the 1970 harvest, how much did we plant in 1968, the year that has just ended? Not the whole year, but since about the beginning of spring? [words indistinct] 27,250 net caballerias. Some of these suffered from excess rain or, in some cases, from droughts, and had to be planted twice,but they are planted. The 27,250 caballerias which are equivalent to 364,150 hectares. And during the coming 5 months, 14,000 more caballerias will be planted, 12,000 with irrigation, which will increase this to 180,000 more hectares. Thus, within a 12 month period this country will have planted the incredible figure of 41,250 caballerias of cane, that is 551,150 hectares of new cane. For an idea of what this volume signifies, we just have to state that the harvest this year will be achieved from shoots. All the cane which had been used before has never been replanted. Thus, with the new cane which has been sown, during that 12-month period, a harvest of over 5 million tons could be reaped, in other words a harvest that is virtually reaped from new shoots sowed only 12 months previously. And why? Because we had this force of thousands of machines to support that land, opening roads, breaking the ground, draining, making dams, drilling wells, plus the complementary equipment for irrigation. Thus you have an example before you. At the first of the year we did not have all these machines. The machines began accumulating this year, many of them. But nonetheless in 12 months we sowed so much cane that we could reap a harvest equal to what we are going to reap in 1969. Naturally in 1970 we will reap both harvests--that is, with all th shoots and all the old cane--for we will have about 116,000 caballerias of cane for 1970, 1,554,000 hectares. Moreover, this plan for the 10-million-ton harvest has been implemented taking into account the possibility of a dry year, a dry year. We therefore feel, naturally counting on the effort ahead, quite assured. This is why everyone says, "the 10 million will be," and there are only a few who are skeptical about the outcome of our effort. But work has not been limited to cane, since other cultivation has gone ahead, the production of farm foodstuffs. The results are beginning to be seen. Havana Province, for example, which received many farm products and vegetables from the interior, is now receiving almost nothing from that area. And in 2 years it has raised, from the 3 million--that is, what was bought in 1967--to 7 million [weight not specified] of farm products, fruits, and vegetables. This will increase to 9 million in 1969, and to 12 million in 1970. In other words, there is another boom harvest of farm products, fruits and vegetables in this province. [applause] It need only be said that this province will produce as much fruit and vegetables in 1970 as the entire country produced before the revolution. In rice, a notable effort has been made. In the coming year we will have an additional amount of rice, which will allow us to increase consumption. This year--I said the coming year, but it is this year, a reflex, in other words, not 1970 but 1969--we have foreign trade negotiations pending. And, supposing we import the same amount in 1969 as in 1968, we will still have an additional 100,000 tons of rice, 100,000 more. [applause] Consumption has not been raised until we arrive at the import figure, so as to avoid inconvenience. In other words, we are waiting to ascertain our imports, and we hope they will be the same as last year, and as soon as we are sure of the figures we will increase rice consumption. In any case we produced 50,000 tons last year--I mean between 1967 and 1968--and between 1968 and 1969, or from May 1968 to May 1969, we will have 150,000 tons, three times as much. [applause] Furthermore, for 1970, for 1970 this will again multiply, again multiply. This is because some factors already show, even when we still lacked materials, multiplying increases in cultivation, multiplying increases. A considerable number of coffee seedlings have been planted, as well as other plants. Some figures: In point of fact we have been unable to put forth an equal effort in pasturage, but it will be done this year, in 1969. Half a million dairy cows are growing at this time--calves, heifers, young cows, and such--which will also, most of them, begin producing in the last half of 1970. Thus milk will also be multiplied in 1970. Thus rice, cane, legumes, vegetables, rice, milk--the whole range will be multiplied in 1970. [applause] Naturally, to continue all this effort we must keep mechanizing. There would be only one way not to achieve this, and that is if we do not mechanize rapidly, or if we had to substitute manual work for all the cane, all the farm production. Mechanizing is imperative, all-essential. For this country with 8 million inhabitants cannot do that. For all the cane must be cut. Some cane areas will have to be redistributed, new mills will have to be expanded to handle the cane in the hilly countryside, to mechanize all the cane between 1970 and 1975, to mechanize milking, where could we get all the persons who are going to milk those cows? We must abandon old methods, replace them with machinery. In other words we will have to make a great deal of investments--not in basic development equipment, but for the exploitation of all these lands. We must benefit from all those harvests. This also implies a special effort in acquiring farm machinery, tractors. Over the past 10 years we have imported 42,000 tractors. And taking into account those which have been worn out during that time, we have 35,000 tractors net in farming at this time. This is still much more than we had before the triumph of the revolution, that is why we do not have to many, nor can this be [word indistinct]. Let me present some figures. In 1966 there were 14 million tractors in the world, of which 94 percent were in the developed countries, and 6 percent in the underdeveloped ones. What a difference. In other words, our developed world had over 13 million tractors. Yet the more needy, the underdeveloped world had less than 1 million. The developed countries have 19.3 tractors per 1,000 hectares, or 65 caballerias, yet the underdeveloped ones have 1.13 tractors. But at this moment Cuba already possesses about 8 tractors per 100 hectares. Nevertheless, a country like Denmark, with 43,000 square kilometers--less than half Cuba's areas--has, or had 2 years ago, 162,362 tractors. Of course, where there are small farms more tractors are needed. We do not need that many, but rather tractors which are more productive and which work longer hours, although, since our farming is extraordinarily intensive, we will have, we will need, tens of thousands of tractors. It therefore follows that to attain an average of what the developed countries have, we would need to import over the next 10 years some 8,000 tractors a year. To this we must add, over the next 5 years, 6,000 cane combines, and over the next 2 years, to complete 2,000 rice combines, we must calculate the number of personnel, trained workers, and operators to drive and maintain this equipment. Over the next 10 years we will need 80,000 new tractor drivers, and a total [as heard] for the tractors and combines--hundreds of drivers for driving farm vehicles. And, as for the ones to maintain that equipment, the country must have, at the end of that 10-year period, approximately 180,000 trained workers in the mechanized farming sector. This gives an idea of the dimension of the effort for training technical personnel, only in the mechanized farming field. Now what importance, for our country and future, is putting such special stress on farm development, for seeking and use of all the country's potential? At the present time there are 3.5 billion inhabitants in the world. But within 10, 13, that is 30 years, there will be about 7 billion. To supply so that population farm production must be increased by 6 percent annually. Yet this increase is half that or less now. However, at this time there has been an increase, as never before, that is, the population increased at such a rapid rate in the world, that it is more rapid than the rate farm production is increasing even now. In other words, in the next 20 or 25 years humanity will have to face one of the most serious problems it has ever had to face. In this respect, we are fully aware of the difficulties which the problems of development entail, just as we know that a revolution must be effected, or that the tremendous difficulties which such a task involves for a country with backward economic structures could not be solved. Therefore, humanity has before it an epic effort, and it is genuinely encouraging to see that in this regard our country will be obtaining results that will set us virtually in the forefront among the underdeveloped countries in the world. Hand in hand with what has been done in the field of industry, tremendous work has been accomplished in raising the capacity o the sugar mills, in developing electric power, the construction industry, transportation, and the production of fertilizers. At this time two huge fertilizer plants are going up and others are to be built in the coming years. But not only farm production will rise during this time, for in 1970, the production of fishing, the fishing fleet, will be about eight time what it was before the triumph of the revolution, eight time. [applause] Moreover, our merchant fleet has also been greatly expanded. This singular growth of our fishing activity is nothing like what has occurred in other countries. This expansion of our fishing fleet--for we were an island without a fishing fleet and without a transportation fleet--in any case everything we export must be sent by sea, and everything we import must come in the same way. We had neither sailors nor a maritime tradition. It was necessary to create a tradition of fishermen, for it must be said that it actually has been created. And an irrefutable proof is that new generation of fishermen which is represented by the crew members of the Alecrin [applause] who are present here today. [prolonged applause] This episode of our fishing boat, which shocked our citizens because of the provocation involved, because of its arbitrariness, and especially because of the very worthy and brave attitude of its crew [applause] is an episode which intrigues our people. What should be done in the face of this arbitrary act? Of course, our country is not one of unlimited means which could under any circumstance confront aggression of this nature thousands of kilometers from our coasts. Such an episode, of course, could not have taken place anywhere near here. [applause] It happened thousands of kilometers away. But of course we could have taken reprisals. The provocation was very irritating. Very irritating, because of its nature, its arbitrariness, the arrests, questionings, an unlimited insolence. And we had the means with which to have taken certain reprisals. However, how did the revolution act in the case? We asked ourselves: What was behind all this? Then, any reprisal against the government could have implied measures that would also affect the Venezuelan people in a certain sense because there are Venezuelan ships around here, and we could capture them in the same way that they arbitrarily captured our. [applause] They do not have many, but they are around. But they were the Venezuelan workers, and if we carried out th same episode at night, shooting against a ship, what blame would those crewmen have? Also little planes of all nations fly the air corridors, and if they practiced air piracy against us we could take over a few planes. [applause] While we are not in a position to confront a provocation in those parts, we are able to take reprisals nearby. We are neither crippled nor unable to do this, because we could force those little planes to go to hell. [applause] However, we realized that our duty was to contain ourselves, to analyze the facts carefully, and to act calmly. They had no way of doing anything. We had the force with which to completely sink that little fleet, if they went near our shores. [lengthy applause] In other words, we have the ability to defend our country within a short distance of its coasts. And the provocation was really irritating. But what was there behind all this? We understood. The band of thieves and assassins that had been governing that country [Venezuela] for all these years, who are sold hands and feet to the imperialists, was so lacking in prestige, so rejected, that it could not even win an electoral farce. Gentlemen--and we know how those things once worked in Cuba, how votes were bought--in a country where the ruling groups have at their fingertips lots of money from the exploitation of oil, which is left them by monopolies, after leaving them the holes; they leave them the holes plus a portion of the value of the oil, but what they take out is so much that the part that is left still amounts to more money than that owned by many countries. Everything is bought in these elections: radio time, television time, newspaper and magazine space, posters, Panama hats, all those fellows with cigars, and uniforms. Imagine all the energy that that country puts into this, sadly for itself, yet the group so lacked prestige that it could not even win the electoral farce of rejection. And there were several candidates. This is unbelievable. In Cuba, for instance, there have been bad governments of thieves of all types, assassins, but they won the elections under those conditions, buying and doing the normal things. What did they do when they saw their defeat, their failure, their rejection by a small margin of 1 percent, among many rivals? They turned boldly and desperately to search for an international event. Apart from other matters, anything that Cuba might have done would have created the perfect situation so they could say: The fatherland is in danger, there is a danger of war so the change of government could not take place now. This would have fitted like a ring on a finger, and the smallest incident, it is possible that the slightest incident would have changed the results and statistical data have shown this. We, therefore, realized that the one determining factor was patience. Then came the farce, and we were right. The ship had been captured 100 miles off the Venezuelan coast, 100 miles, with a Japanese expert, a teacher in fishing, without the remotest evidence or proof or anything of the sort. They kept it after the farce. And after it became evident that nothing had been gained, we were certain that they had to release the ship. On the other hand, our patience could last for a while but it was not going to last indefinitely. We waited. This damaged our economy, and our government will claim a month's indemnity, so that it can appear in the records that they have a monetary debt [applause], and we expect the Venezuelan Government to recognize and pay this debt. It better, because it is bad to have debts. But this maneuver was obvious, and it shows the lack of scruples, the measures taken by these bold bandits, the plunderers of the people, the flunkies of imperialism, when they find themselves in crisis like this. What a big difference between the Cuban revolution and the Venezuelan comedy! What a difference between the forces of our people, our revolution, its future outlook, devoted to work, assured that the future of the country is in their hands, and the cast of fake actors who, despite spending hundreds of millions of pesos for votes, hardly have acquired sufficient votes to insure even seats in the municipal council. This is unbelievable, but it is an everyday lesson. How many lessons we have learned and will learn, gentlemen, during the next decade! How different is the picture in the rest of Latin America? The Alliance for Progress, that invention that was made allegedly to bring about a peaceful revolution, will progress be brought about by the development of which so much has been written? Some naive persons may have been confused, or even some of its supporters. But we have here an article that should not be wasted, which really should be printed, and I suggest this, by our press. It is entitled "The Alliance for Progress Scandal." And do not think this was published by a leftist paper, by a leftist writer. No. It was written by a gentleman who was an official of the Department of State of the United States, who is an expert on Latin American affairs. It is published by none other than LIFE magazine. It would be worthwhile for revolutionaries to read and analyze this article, because it is the most perfect picture of the frustration, failure, and confession of the incredible things that were hidden behind the Alliance. If we had been the ones to expose this, they would have said that it was because we are their enemies and are agitating from platforms, repeating slogans. But no, it was written by an official who has access to information, and I doubt that any revolutionary could have written more eloquently. Some data follow. For instance, it says that national income continues to be poorly distributed after 6 years of the Alliance. Examples are Colombia, where 5 percent of the population receive 30.5 percent of he country's total income; Brazil, where 5 percent receive 31 percent of the total income; El Salvador, 33 percent; and Costa Rica, 35 percent--that is, where 5 percent of the population receive more than 30 percent. Half of the population that is allocated in the lower brackets receive 20 percent of the income in Colombia and 5 percent receives over 30 percent, and 50 percent receives 20 percent; 25 percent in Argentina; 19.7 percent in Brazil; 16 percent in El Salvador; and so forth. But what is most impressive is what is published in this article. And of course it would be better that the newspapers published it so you may read its conclusions regarding the Alliance, what it says about agrarian reform, what it says about how Yankee firms have intervened and have pressured politically in Latin American countries, imposed conditions. So we have here a picture of the Alliance for Progress that should not be wasted, and which should be read and studied by our people. Well, we are not dogmatic. We not only study Marxist or revolutionary documents. We can even study one of these documents because it is an outlined confession of what had been said, of all that the Cuban revolution had been saying regarding the incredible lie, and regarding the false type of remedy that was used in the face of the revolution, and about which they are disillusioned, defrauded, desperate, and at the point of ruining the whole comedy, which has turned out to be humiliating for Latin American peoples and even for the very partners in the venture. For this reason, we will not use this time for this subject. It is better for you to read it in the press. And, of course, what a contrast! What a difference! For our country the solution has been hard revolution. This does not mean, however, that we are now without problems, out of danger. It would be an error to believe such a thing. We have many more facilities, much more strength, and much more experience, but we still need to work very hard and we must face difficulties and danger. In the economic field we must make even greater efforts. As an example, recently we have been consuming more and more alcohol as fuel in our country. There are less and less coal makers. This is logical. Those people who had been living in deplorable conditions along the coast have been getting other jobs. More coal expense. And it must be said that the revolutionary government, therefore, is responsible for not having foreseen this problem or for not having taken proper action. But what do we get from all this? The country presently consumes 600,000 tons of molasses to make alcohol for fuel and 600,000 tons of corn to make charcoal for cooking. Alcohol is the worst kind of fuel. It can be a fuel or it could be converted into something else. Let me explain: If we used 600,000 tons of molasses in one of the old centrals to produce 125,000 to 140,000 tons of alcohol that is to be used for fuel, the cattle would suffer during the dry season, for we still do not have the conditions nor the means to adequately feed the cattle and irrigate pastures, and the cattle get thin. But that 600,000 tons of molasses could be used to produce 125,00s0 tons of beef on the hoof. This means that we are converting a product that has a high energy yield and is very nutritious for cattle into fuel for cooking. This is a problem which cannot yet be overcome, but this year we plant to substitute 125,000 tons of kerosene for 125,000 tons of alcohol. Kerosene is one-sixth as expensive as alcohol. Also, we will gradually replace the alcohol-burning kitchen stoves with those that burn kerosene. This means that in 1970 we will have not only [word indistinct] molasses--increased by the 10-million ton harvest--but also 600,000 tons more of molasses to feed the cattle, and if there is a surplus we will export it. However, the fact that we are going to attain more wealth does not relieve us of the possibility of continually using things better. All steps are being taken to acquire equipment because we cannot suddenly say we are gong to stop producing alcohol. It is painful to say this, but it assuredly is our fault, the fault of those responsible for foreseeing these situations, though it had been a custom in a society like this which is constantly growing. Under capitalism, alcohol was a business, and it was even used for gasoline. The fact is, however, that while molasses sells at 20 to 22 pesos, foreign exchange that is, and almost 4 and a half tons have to be used to produce 1 ton of alcohol, a ton of alcohol brings 100 pesos worth of foreign exchange and kerosene only 20 pesos. Obviously, for a time that was a poor business under capitalism. There was no one to give the molasses to, no one to purchase the meat that was produced. And it was actually a business to commit such a foolish action. But there are other things which affect the economy. We have the sugar-consumption problem. We see consumption increasing more and more. But what is occurring? Consumption per capita is higher than in any other country in the world. This is logical; we are sugar producers. Frequently sugar has offset the deficit of other products. But what happens? Why, many persons feed sugar to hogs, they feed chickens, cows with sugar. And the result is that 200,000 tons more are being used. Now, what is this year's solution? Those 41,000 caballerias which were planted in 12 months are really the sugarcane that would have been cut this year, but cannot be cut because it is planted; the 41,000 and the other cane which for some reason or other was lost and had to be replanted [as heard]. This means we had to provide for about 45,000 hectares, the land already planted and that which is pending. All the new cane, the best cane is already planted or being planted. This undoubtedly effects this year's harvest production. And yet the 1969 harvest is of major importance to our economy, to keep acquiring equipment, to meet our commitments, and to maintain the growth pace. We are not yet in 1970. Then there will be hard sugar, since we will be cutting magnificent cane, a large quantity of new cane. But this is not the case this year. Everyone has their eyes on the 1970 harvest, but attention must be given to this year's harvest. We must work hard, never neglecting the cutting of the shoots and cutting it at the right time so we can turn to planting the buds next spring, and for the 1970 harvest. Good, it is just that at this time when the price has risen--for there is an agreement, an agreement in which Cuba played an important part in concluding--a good price. In fact, for us to waste 200,000 tons of sugar means a loss of 15 million in foreign exchange. Let me tell you what you can buy with 15 million: in 3 years--for much equipment is bought over a period of year, but I am going to say only 3 years--one can buy 1,800 bulldozers of 180 horsepower. This is virtually more than all we can have working today in the DAP. One can buy 3,000 trucks of 10-ton capacity. Despite all the brigades we have working on roads, how many Cubans are still waiting for roads to be opened, some of which will have to wait for years? How much happiness the possession of such equipment could bring. Yet, in a self-defeating way we waste national wealth with which we could purchase 1,800 bulldozers or 3,000 10-ton trucks, more than we already have in this vast program. Or we could purchase a huge fertilizer plant like the one in Cienfuegos, which is costing us some 40 odd million. In previous years sugar was very cheap--it was worth 1.25 or 1.30 [centavos]. But not this year. It stands at 3 centavos. It is only right to bring up the interests of all the people. It is necessary to avoid this waste of sugar. We have saved fuel, why then can we not save sugar? Some persons do not realize the harm they are doing. If necessary this year, we should adopt measures of saving or let us limit consumption to a reasonable limit. We have talked with peasants [applause] and they agree, [applause] then the best thing would be even to set a reasonable limit, even more than the people consume, this year. Let us say a larger quantity in the countryside and less in the cities, which in any case would be the actual amount, even a little more than is actually used, and save those 200,000 tons of sugar. [applause] If you agree [shouts, applause] say 6 pounds [applause] in the capital, 6 pounds per capita in the rural areas, monthly. [applause] Let us see. [applause] Can you do with 6 pounds here? [shouts, applause] Are you agreeable that that will be enough? Do you go along with the idea? Could we make it more in the interior, in Camaguey, Las Villas, and Oriente? Then we could save over 10 million in foreign exchange in a year during which we will also begin enjoying the fruits of the development of the economy. [applause] If you want, this measure will go into effect tomorrow. [applause] Anyway, as I was saying, we have an increase, and as soon as we decide on the deliveries of the imported rice or ascertain the amounts of this year's harvest, we can raise the amounts. Naturally in 1970 we shall see. In other words, other products will be increased. I believe that the people will have to consolidate the efforts that have been made in this country. After having come this far in 10 years we cannot let the fruits of victory slip from our hands. Though we must become more rational in using these resources, this does not mean that anything can keep us from moving forward more and more rapidly. There are many more machines to be bought, farming must be mechanized. During the next 10 years this country must make tremendous investments in construction. We must now equip the construction front, after the DAP. It must be supplied all the mechanical hoists and equipment it needs to build with and to use all the cement we are going to produce. We must solve social needs, family needs. We must keep developing this country. We are going to have more, soon, fortunately. But we must have more and simultaneously invest more, both things, to raise the country's income, but continuing to develop. We still have to emerge from underdevelopment. We have not emerged yet; we are on that path, but we will have not emerged. We must grasp this, and by the same token we must be aware of the tasks ahead. We have mentioned risks. We know, for example, about the perils which have been threatening us from the United States, new individuals. There is a new tenant in the White House: Mr. Nixon. Mr. Nixon has distinguished himself by several things, among others, by speaking always in threatening and very aggressive terms about Cuba, saying that the blockade will be intensified, and so forth. Mr. Nixon and Mr. Eisenhower began the economic aggression against Cuba. They organized the mercenaries for the invasion of Giron and they began the blockade. Hence the threatening, virulent language of Mr. Nixon cannot intimidate us. They did not intimidate us 10 years ago when we were practically unarmed. They cannot remotely impress us now. We are now incomparably stronger than then. Gentlemen, to talk of blockades at this time when we are already on the eve of seeing the blockade torn to pieces [Castro does not finish sentence] because Kennedy had to live through the said experience of Giron. Mr. Nixon will face the equally and perhaps more bitter experience of seeing this country emerge from underdevelopment, achieving an increase in agricultural production not achieved by any other country. Truly we should like to imagine what the imperialists will say in 1970. We are impatient to see what they will say now, what (?kind of) argument, what trick, what story they are going to talk about when faced with these facts. Mr. Nixon will face the bitter experience of seeing the blockade torn to shreds yet he talks of an intensification of the blockade. This gentleman lives a few years behind the times, something like 15 or 20 years behind. He talks about pressure on the countries which trade with Cuba at this time, pressure on countries with which the Yankee monopoly competes, countries in which Cuba has consolidated its credit, because it is one of the few countries which pays punctually, with interest and all. Because our slogan is that it is better to go hungry than to fail to pay a single debt because it would affect the credit of this country, [applause] credit with which we have purchased much of this machinery, part of this machinery. Now we shall begin to see the fruits. If we examine what we invested in all this we can realize that it would not have been worthwhile for us to have spent what we had for what we needed; it would have been a drop of water in the desert and we would have solved nothing during these years or in the future. Actually this country is going to do incredible things with relatively little, basing itself on technology and this machinery. At this point, for them to think that the blockade is going to succeed will cause some people to smile. We must pay for the purchases we have made. To think that the countries which have sold us much and want to sell us more are going to come and join in Mr. Nixon's blockades simply makes one feel like laughing. Thus the language of force is not intimidating us because we have been cured of it [applause] The blockade now moves us to laughter, and not from delight. That is the actual fact, but we must bear in mind that that is necessary to fight hard, work hard, and keep preparing. Perhaps it is worthwhile to consider that our country's merit lies in the fact that it has been accomplishing all this while there is a need to use large resources for defense. Because of an actual need we must keep building military constructions, military installations, and military fortifications, with a huge number of comrades on constant service in the armed forces, for the defense of the country and the revolution. This has demanded much of our effort and it will continue to demand it. For we cannot let our guard down. We cannot be neglectful. We must keep strengthening ourselves, not only economically but militarily. [applause] This is [word indistinct] will also continue working in those fields, since it is more worthy for the country, with these obligations burdening it, to be able to successfully face and surmount the problems of underdevelopment. Thus, next time, with more effort, more experience, more resources, we shall still have to continue struggling hard. Imperialism has also received very serious lessons, very serious blows, such as the historic blows which the heroic people of Vietnam have dealt it. [applause] And the people of Vietnam have shown the imperialists that they are not omnipotent. Against them the Yankee imperialists have lost their teeth and claws, and they are going to find themselves forced to abandon the adventure which in part they are already abandoning. They are definitively now seeking how in the devil to do it. They are in the position of one who cannot leave and cannot stay. There are definitely in crisis, a historic defeat. They will have to withdraw from Vietnam, and in the long run the heroic, incredible forces of that people will end with victory, and they are already ending in victory! [applause] The brother people of Vietnam, who have done so much for the revolutionary peoples of the world with their blood and their sacrifices, count on our solidarity and our total support [applause], the people of Vietnam, the comrades of the party of North Vietnam, the glorious Comrade Ho Chi Minh [applause], and the comrades of the South Vietnam Liberation Front. [applause] Our country has been able today to express optimism and joy over the successes attained, for the magnificent prospects of the future, but, nevertheless, these expressions would not be entirely just, this satisfaction of ours would not be honest if we attributed it all to ourselves alone. It must be said at this moment in which we glimpse success for our country, in which we see a magnificent future shining, how much it has meant to us to have the solidarity of the socialist camp, and especially that of the Soviet Union. [applause] We have had on some occasions differing opinions and have express them with all honor, but at the same time this same honor obligates us to point out that the aid was decisive for this country in those difficult years. The time when our production was declining in the first years, [applause] food was sent to Cuba; at the time when the threats were great, arms were sent to our country. You can guess that those arms are worth more than all the equipment we are using in our development, for arms are very costly, and we received them free! [applause] It must also be said that we on occasions did not have the products--poor crops--and we could not make the pertinent deliveries in connection with imports and on many occasions these were less than the quantities that we should have delivered. However, this did not affect the imports by Cuba, a situation which naturally, in the coming years, cannot occur as a result of our effort. This even helped us to do something that I was saying: to meet our obligations with the countries, the other countries with which we did not have the same kind of relations; it helped us to maintain our credit, to obtain the other types of equipment that we could not buy in the socialist camp in short, in all justice we must say that this aid was decisive for us. And in comparing the situation of Latin America, the Alliance for Progress, which already the imperialists themselves confess in explaining the reason for Cuba's successes [Castro does not complete sentence] let it be known that this has been the (?result) in the first place of a revolution, a legitimate revolution, a correct idea of how to make that revolution, of how to mobilize its forces, how to exploit its natural resources, which will permit us to have a tremendous specialization; about the use of the resources, which will permit us to have a tremendous specialization; and about the use of the resources of the country--extraordinary successes. A prerequisite or indispensable requisite is that the people have become aware of the economic objective, have become aware of the duty to work. These factors were decisive; decisive was the decision of a people to defend their revolution at any price and to carry it forward. [applause] This, and the international solidarity and the economic cooperation with our country, blocked by the imperialists, gave the result today that will be a surprise to our enemies and the pride of the world revolutionary movement, because Cuba's triumphs will not be the triumphs of Cuba but the triumphs of the revolutionary movement, an example for the underdeveloped peoples of the world, [applause] a solution and a path for those who suffer hunger, misery, underdevelopment, and exploitation. It is necessary for us to know and understand the determining factors, and at the same time we express our joy over these successes. We express at the same time our profound gratitude to those who have helped us. We have now only to name this year--this year--we already know the name of next year--the year of the 10 million. [applause] But before the 10 million, an effort must be made. Every year many people think of a name and I think generally another name comes up. Someone has to propose some. [shouts of "the effort?" "The heroic effort?" Someone shouts "the heroic people"]. Look at this coincidence. I was thinking about something similar. We could not say heroic because the effort has been heroic this year, which has also passed. I would say the decisive effort. What do you think about that? I you agree with this name, we christen this year 1969 as a year of the decisive effort! Fatherland or death, we shall win! -END-