-DATE-
19710607
-YEAR-
1971
-DOCUMENT_TYPE-
SPEECH
-AUTHOR-
F. CASTRO
-HEADLINE-
10TH ANNIVERSARY - FOUNDING THE MINISTER INTERIO
-PLACE-
CUBA
-SOURCE-
PRENSA LATINA
-REPORT_NBR-
FBIS
-REPORT_DATE-
19710606
-TEXT-
CASTRO COMMEMORATES MINISTRY OF INTERIOR ANNIVERSARY

Havana PRENSA LATINA in English 0520 GMT 7 Jun 71 C (FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY)

[Text] Havana, 6 Jun (PL)--The Cuban prime minister, Major Fidel Castro,
spoke tonight in a meeting held at the theatre of the workers confederation
in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Ministry of
Interior.

The prime minister emphasized the important role the members of the
Ministry of Interior have played in the last 10 years in eradicating
delinquency, antisocial and counterrevolutionary activities.

He stated that before the revolution, people were hostile to the police
because of a lack of identity between "the function of one and the
interests of the other," but with the triumph of the revolution new
conditions were created which united these interests, both political and
social.

With the triumph of the revolution, he added, the state was no longer an
entity subordinate to the power of an armed force; instead it began to
express the interests of the exploited class, where the masses constitute
the majority that possess arms.

As an example of this process he mentioned the organization of the people's
armed militia and the creation of the Committees for the Defense of the
Revolution, which have been the "core and essential force of the process."

The Cuban prime minister said that every time the counterrevolution has
tried to raise its head in this country, it has been crushed.

An authentic class struggle has taken place in our country, because the
exploiters whose interests were affected began to confront the revolution,
supported by U.S. imperialism with all its resources and ideology, he
added.

Fidel Castro then reviewed all the enemy aggressions that the revolution
had to confront since the early days of 1959.

He stated that the explosion of the French ship "La Coubre" in 1960 was one
of the most characteristic attacks perpetuated by the Central Intelligence
Agency [CIA], since until then other ships loaded with arms had arrived in
the country without any mishap at all.

We also had to confront arson committed in our commercial, industrial and
warehouse centers, as well as other terrorist acts, continued the prime
minister.

Fidel Castro affirmed that in the first few years of its existence, the
revolution had to liquidate uprisings organized by the CIA chiefly in the
Escambray region, in the central part of the country, and to a lesser
degree, in other provinces.

In the Escambray region, CIA-organized bands managed to recruit nearly
1,000 men who received all types of aid almost daily by air and sea,
continued the prime minister in his speech.

He added that these uprisings were accompanied by an infinite number of
plans for attempts against the lives of the revolution's main leaders.

I would say that the leaders of this revolution are alive today thanks to
the tenacious, courageous, intelligent and efficient work of the combatants
of the Ministry of Interior, said Fidel Castro.

The comrades of the Ministry of Interior--continued the Cuban prime
minister--did not experience a single defeat in the sphere of personal
attempts, in spite of the fact that during this entire period they were all
apprentices in this type of job, since we guerrilla fighters had no
experience at all in these matters.

We should remember that during the guerrilla struggle against the tyranny
of Fulgencio Batista, the rebel army was always attacking the enemy, while
in the new post-revolutionary phase, the combatants of the rebel army had
to face a different type of struggle, one in which the enemy avoided direct
confrontation, since its main aim was to survive, added Fidel Castro.

Fidel Castro said that it was possible to fight against a professional army
in the service of the exploiters, if those who fought represented the
interests of the masses, and he gave the example of the Cuban armed
rebellion, led by himself during the decade of the fifties.

But, he said, it was impossible to wage counterrevolution, or an armed
insurrection against a popular army.

In this sense, he emphasized the heroic and almost always anonymous
participation of the members of the Ministry of Interior in the struggle
against counterrevolutionary bandits and attempts, supported from the
exterior, in order to destroy revolutionary power.

"Some men have the merit of having made possible the capture of a complete
series of bands, without a single shot fired," he added.

In another part of his speech, the Cuban leader stressed that the
indestructible strength of the revolution resided in the tight unity among
the armed forces, the Ministry of Interior and the people, grouped in their
mass organizations.

Referring to the ideological struggle, in which members of the Ministry of
Interior also participated, Castro recalled how, in the beginning, the
revolution was attacked from bourgeois, liberal and anticommunist
positions.

He said that today this attack is being carried out from supposedly
leftwing positions because the arguments of the bourgeoisie are too
discredited among the masses.

He stated that the revolution relief on "politically well-educated" masses
among whom none of these lies would take root, but that everybody had to be
ready for a long struggle.

We want to express our repudiation and indignation towards that group of
miserable people who internationally have tried to describe the
self-critical declaration made by a Cuban writer who had fallen into
counterrevolutionary positions as a product of physical torture, said the
maximum Cuban leader. [The prime minister was referring to a group of
European and Latin American intellectuals who recently published two
declarations in Paris, regarding the self-criticism of the Cuban poet,
Heberto Padilla].

We consider that the statement that even one of our citizens has been
subjected to physical torture as one of the biggest and most infamous
calumnies ever raised against the revolution, he added.

The combatants of the Ministry of Interior inherited from the rebel army,
the honorable and noble tradition of not resorting to physical
violence--ever, continued Fidel Castro.

We can proudly proclaim that our victories over the enemy have been
victories of intelligence, of the political and moral capacities of our
combatants.

Then Castro added that because of their permanent stand on the side of
right and morality, the combatants of the Ministry of Interior have
achieved sensational victories over the enemy.

The Cuban prime minister stated that the revolution had severe laws which
were applied by revolutionary courts that meted out sentences without
resorting to lies, hypocrisy, or cowardice of any type, but that the
revolution has never assassinated anyone, nor will it ever resort to this
procedure.

He also said that the struggle against the counterrevolution "would be long
and last for many years" and for this reason it was necessary to always
keep "on the alert" and for the people to "keep their eyes peeled always."

Further on, he affirmed that the struggle against the counterrevolution has
occupied a good deal of the efforts of the Ministry of Interior combatants
in recent years, but that in forthcoming years special attention would also
have to be given to the struggle against common crimes and antisocial
activities.

Next, he said that just because the revolution existed and was "most just
and most humane," we could not say that Cuban society is exempt from a
series of social faults inherited from the past.

The prime minister stated that the fight against common crime would not
fall exclusively to the officers of public order, but that it would be
everybody's battle.

He announced the adoption of a series of temporary measures, until final
legislation is drawn up, to protect workers and their families from the
inconveniences, damages and results of delinquency and antisocial
activities.

He said that it was necessary to unify the different judicial departments,
saying that crime is a matter of concern to every organ of justice, in
order to gain maximum efficiency in the administration of justice.

Referring to the officers of domestic order, Fidel Castro said that they
constitute an optimum human and social base to attain our purpose.

Our policemen are the antithesis of the policemen of the past. That is why
the people get indignant today when any lumpen element insults or tries to
attack a policeman, added the Cuban prime minister in his speech
celebrating the 10th anniversary of the creation of the Ministry of
Interior.

Fidel Castro stated that criminal activities still persisted in Cuba, and
that the revolution could not fold its arms. These activities had to be
repressed "in society's self-defense."

Further on, he said that the government had before it the arduous task of
rehabilitating the delinquent, a task in which some success has been
obtained, positive and necessary, but not altogether complete because of a
lack of material resources and experience.

He stated that the rehabilitation of the delinquent had to consist of
complete reeducation and adaptation to live according to the interests of
the collective.

He also stated that the revolution had to prevent, represses and re-educate
the delinquent -- three tasks that were the responsibility of the people,
where the officer of public order was only the most technically trained
element.

The Cuban prime minister said that the Ministry of Interior would increase
its techniques and its support among the masses in the next few years with
a view to economizing on personnel. The manpower thus saved would be sent
to work in production and social services.

Then he referred to problems of concern to the people because of their
effect on the security of the family, such as traffic accidents and common
crimes which make an attempt against physical integrity.

Regarding traffic accidents, he said that new measures had to be taken with
the participation of the population, not in a passive but an active way.

Fidel Castro read the statistics for traffic accidents in the country which
revealed a tendency to increase.

He said that the main causes of these accidents were violations of traffic
laws, and enumerated different infractions.

The Cuban prime minister came out in favor of more severe measures for the
violators of traffic laws.

He also mentioned the survival of some crimes, such as physical assault,
mainly in recreation centers.

The prime minister revealed that modern re-education centers were being
planned on a scientific basis for juvenile delinquents.

"Capitalist legality must be destroyed and socialist legality must be
established," he said later on and emphasized the fact that revolutionaries
must play the double role of destroying laws on one hand and defending the
law on the other.

He added that there was an obvious need for the people to know the laws and
their application, a matter that was of no consequence before but which now
interests everybody.

Moreover, he stated that the new society needed a scientific application of
the law, one which would clearly establish the role of the jurists as
advisers and applicators of the law.

Speaking to the members of the Ministry of Interior who filled the theatre
of the Cuban Workers Confederation, the prime minister, Fidel Castro, told
them that theirs was a very honorable social task in the next decade.

The people trust in you, he added, as the basic instruments which protect
their lives, their tranquility and their happiness.

The revolution is confident that you will know how to merit this trust, how
to fulfill your duty gloriously, Fidel Castro said concluding his speech
commemorating the 10th anniversary of the creation of the Ministry of
Interior.
-END-