-DATE- 19750720 -YEAR- 1975 -DOCUMENT_TYPE- SPEECH -AUTHOR- F. CASTRO -HEADLINE- FRIENDSHIP RALLY FOR WILLIAMS -PLACE- ISLE OF PINES -SOURCE- HAVANA DOMESTIC SVC -REPORT_NBR- FBIS -REPORT_DATE- 19750624 -TEXT- CASTRO SPEAKS AT FRIENDSHIP RALLY FOR WILLIAMS Havana Domestic Service in Spanish 1647 GMT 20 Jun 75 FL [Speech by Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro at friendship rally at 14 June rural basic secondary school, Isle of Pines, in honor of Trinidad-Tobago Prime Minister Eric Williams--live] [Text] My dear friend Dr Eric Williams, prime minister of Trinidad-Tobago, [applause] dear members of the delegation from the sister Caribbean country, [applause] students, workers and people of Isle of Pines. [applause] Our isle of youths--as it is already beginning to be called while you are building it--today has the immense honor of the visit by Dr Eric Williams. It is the first time in the history of this island that we are visited by a head of state. [applause] And of course, this constitutes a historic event. Our people, all the Cuban people and the people of this island--we are two islands plus the small islands surrounding the big ones--have received Dr Eric Williams and the Trinidad-Tobago delegation with deep affection and respect, as it should be from a neighboring people to a friendly people, a fraternal people, and as it should be to a leader of the stature, feeling, and responsibility of Dr Eric Williams. You must not think that he had the opportunity to make his primary, secondary and university studies with the same facility which we Cubans now have after the triumph of the revolution. He was born and raised in a colonized country and came from a very poor family. He had to forge his own life, struggling very hard under difficult situations, working since he was young and earning one by one all the possibilities for studying at the different levels of intermediate and high schools based on his ability, intelligence and devotion to study. In this way, he attained great achievements and became prominent as an eminent professor, a brilliant history researcher, and lucid writer. All this he placed at the service of his people and fatherland. And he took into the political arena the struggle for independence and became organizer of the movement which carried out the independence in his country. Many of our fraternal Caribbean countries obtained their independence some decades after Cuba obtained its formal independence early in this century. And even as our revolution became victorious in 1959, these countries were not independent. And ever since they became independent, these countries have always been friendly toward our country. We can say, to their honor, that none of them joined the campaign of aggression and the campaign of isolation imposed by the imperialists on our people. And we can say they were among the first to proclaim and demand--and the voice of Dr Eric Williams was prominent among them--an end to the isolation and the blockage of our people. [applause] Some years ago all those English-speaking Caribbean countries jointly, and above the pressures of and to the annoyance of Yankee imperialism, established relations with our country. These relations have been developing magnificently in recent years. Dr Eric Williams not only struggled for the independence of his country, but also for the independence of all these countries in the Caribbean which still lived under colonialism. And he struggled enthusiastically and zealously for the unity of these countries and for their economic integration. It is fair to point out he has been a champion, dynamic defender, and strong fighter for the integration of Caribbean countries, and a zealous defender of the culture, spiritual values, and traditions of these people with whom we have so many things in common. This is not the first time that he visits our country. It is the first time since the triumph of the revolution. But, when he was a professor and historical researcher, as a result of his special interest in all matters concerning Cuba, he visited its universities, libraries and historical places in order to carry out his research work. In the books he has published there are many references to our people, their culture and our fatherland. Presently, in the face of all difficulties he is vigorously defending and working for the economic integration of the Caribbean countries and for the defense of their interests. Like us and the rest of the Caribbean countries, Trinidad is an island. It is not a very large island. If we compare it to Isle of Pines, it is about two and a half times larger than Isle of Pines. But, it has a population of 1,050,000 inhabitants approximately. Thus, it has many more inhabitants, than this island has. It is a territory rich in natural resources. They have very rich oil fields and are currently producing 10 million tons of oil per year. They also have important gas deposits, which constitute the fundamental economic foundation of their development, above all, in connection with the petrochemical industry, oil refineries, production of fertilizers and other developments that are based on these important energy resources. On this, they are basing their development and economic planning. They are not a socialiststate like us. But after Cuba, this is the one having the greatest state participation in national enterprises among Caribbean countries. They, of course, are developing agriculture on the rather small territory that they have. They produce sugar, coffee, cacao, citrus fruits, and are probably producing very good grapefruits. Because the country has beautiful natural resorts, among the different economic programs for development, they also have a tourist program, such as fishing and other activities. There are many possibilities in different fields for cooperation between our two countries, and it is the aim and interest of the governments of Cuba and Trinidad-Tobago to develop to the fullest these possibilities of economic cooperation and integration. All this effort for integration of the Caribbean countries is, of course, based within the concept of future possibilities of a broader integration of our countries and the Latin American countries. For a very long time the English-speaking Caribbean countries remained relatively apart, without ties with Latin American countries, but these relations have been satisfactorily developed during recent years. But, in our desire to fulfill our duty as a Caribbean country, we will, of course, give the greatest attention to and will show the greatest interest for these possibilities of cooperation and integration between our countries. This place where we are gathered, Dr Eric Williams, this isle, we can say, first of all, that when Cuba became officially independent, the Yankees, who like to intervene everywhere and keep what does not belong to them, kept apart this island, which was previously called Isle of Pines. Later on, after their delayed and nefarious military intervention during our last war of independence, they evidently attempted to colonize this island and keep it to themselves. It was not until 23 years later that the Cuban people was able to exercise full sovereignty over this piece of our national territory. It was a great effort. What a great effort. We were finally able to overcome that act of imperialist piracy and thievery. Currently this piece of our national territory is a true example of progress and development. At the time of the triumph of the revolution there were 11,000 inhabitants on this island. Today, counting residents, people from other parts of Cuba who are working here and students from different provinces--especially from the city of Havana and a large group for Oriente Province [applause], who have distinguished themselves in the studies-- counting all of them, there are 55,000 persons living here, in other words, the population has grown fivefold since the triumph of the revolution. We can say that this island has one of the most complete and integrated educational systems of the country. Suffice to say that 100 percent of the Isle of Pines children of primary school age are in semiboarding schools attending two sessions. The majority of these children, whose mothers do productive work, have their lunch at school. At the time of the triumph of the revolution there were approximately 500 hectares of land planted with citrus fruits on this island, and at the present time we have some 20,000 hectares. There was not a single cubic meter of dammed water at the time of the triumph of the revolution. Now we have more than 200 million cubic meters of damming capacity. Large modern irrigation systems are being developed. There used to be about 60 km of roads. Today we have 750 km of roads and highways on this small piece of our national territory. Electric energy generation capacity before the revolution was 200 kilowatts, and today we have a capacity of 8,000. In other words, electric energy capacity on this island has grown eight times. The first school of this type of basic secondary school was dedicated precisely here less than 4 years ago. Eight days still remain to celebrate the fourth year of that dedication [applause] and we already have 20 schools of this type. And by the end of this year we will have 27 with a capacity of 500 boarding students in each. We aspire to have about 80 schools on this island by 1980. [applause] There is no reason to think we will not succeed on this. There is absolutely no reason to be pessimistic since in a few years we have already built such a high number of schools. And to cite an example of the importance of this development suffice to point out to you that in the past harvest, this school were we are today--the 14 June school in remembrance of the birthdate of [Antonio] Maceo and Che [Guevara] [applause]--this school has already produced 1,700 tons of grapefruit. And it is expected that the current harvest will amount to 2,800 tons. This is equivalent to more than half a million pesos in grapefruit exports. In other words, the revolutionary, Marxist and Marti concept of combining study with productive work is applied here. This not only extraordinarily contributes to the formation of our youths, a solid revolutionary formation, but also makes a considerable contribution to development of our economy. Schools of this type are being built in the entire country under similar plans. And more than 200 are operating throughout the country. One must add to these the teachers schools, polytechnic schools, technological institutes and vocational schools--one of which Dr Eric Williams had the opportunity to visit yesterday. At a specific time we have on this island 40,000 intermediate school students. [applause] They, the intermediate school students, basically are the ones who plant, develop, take care of and maintain the citric fruit fields, and so far we can assert that the results have been splendid in all respects. And these students, for example, propose to attain a promotion rate of no less than 95 percent during this school year. And we know that the basic secondary school students in the Isle of Pines will make their greatest effort to fulfill this commitment they have outlined for themselves. [applause] Other economic installations are being developed on this island, such as packinghouses and industries for processing citric fruits. Also located here is the most important kaolin quarry. This is the raw material we use in manufacturing bathroom accessories and for many other industrial goods. This industry was established after the revolution and will be extensively developed in the coming 5-year period. Transportation for the island is improving. Two modern passenger transport were recently acquired for the movement of personnel, especially students, between the island of Cuba and the Isle of Youths. There is also an important plan for social constructions, primarily for housing. Geologists are continuing their search to see if we can find more things. We are not yet completely convinced whether or not there is oil. This will have to be studied carefully. But they do say that there are some quantities of gold. Not enough, of course, to think we will become rich with the gold on this island, but in enough quantities to justify exploitation of the deposits in the future. The country has made big investments in this region. But we do not have the least doubt that this region will revert to the fatherland the investments that have been made in recent years, and it will make an important contribution to the development of the national economy. The island also has beautiful natural areas which will be developed in the future. In the past this island was known primarily because of a so-called model prison. But you can imagine what sort of model prison it must have been, when at one time the management in that prison murdered more than 500 prisoners during its period in that prison under the infamous Mr. (Castell). And the prison in the past was a site of terror. Many of the people who lived on this island worked in connection with that prison. If we continue to mention figures, it would be a never-ending proposition to enumerate how many teachers there were prior to the revolution, how many we have now, how many physicians there were prior to the revolution, how many we have now. In all fields there has been a marked changed, such as the living conditions and perspectives of this place. Very few times it is possible to see a dream become a reality. But we can say that isle of pines is a dream come true for the revolution, what Isle of Pines used to be and what the isle of youth is today, who knows what it will be tomorrow. Yesterday's Isle of Pines if tomorrow's Isle of Youth. When I asked what the Isle of Youth would be tomorrow, that is yesterday's Isle of Pines, I said it because the isle's name is Isle of Pines. But our aim is to change it to Isle of Youth. In reality our youth is the one building this island. There is no doubt that they are gaining the right to have it called so. But we are maintaining this as a goal, an objective to be achieved by the youngsters with their own effort. They are making this possible. [applause] That is why in many instances it is referred to as Isle of Youth, even though it has not been officially baptized. We are sorry that due to the short visit of the delegation of Trinidad-Tobago they will not be able to visit many other places of our country, but at least we would like them to have this contact, this tour which will make it possible for our brothers of Trinidad-Tobago to have an idea of what the Cuban people have been doing during recent years despite the economic blockage and imperialist harassment. We are sure that new generations are being formed now which have a technical and political training superior to that of previous generations. This region is a true example of that change. We do not now have a model prison of any other kind of prison on this island. Now we have an exemplary island, an example of economic and social development, an example of the work of our youth and the spirit of our youth and a brilliant example of the educational revolution that has taken place in Cuba during recent years. In making this brief summary, it is necessary to take into consideration the extraordinary effort of our mass organizations and the excellent work of our party in achieving the successes that have been attained. We must point out the effort of the PCC committee, its politburo and its dynamic leader Comrade Arturo Lince. [applause] They have tirelessly worked with true enthusiasm, revolutionary vocation and fervor, day and night. We know how much love they have given to their work, with how much love they have shown to us today the fruit of their efforts. These feelings of friendship, hospitality and solidarity that you Dr Eric Williams and your delegation have found in this region is the same love shown you yesterday in Alamar, the Lenin School and the same love that you will find everywhere. They are the fruit of those fraternal feelings, those feelings of unity and identity, those feelings of international solidarity that have grown in the hearts of our people inspired by the revolution. We can assure you from this place of fruitful and victorious work of the Cuban people, from this place full of youngsters, of devoted workers, that your fatherland, Trinidad-Tobago, and all the fraternal Caribbean countries will always have the solidarity, respect and the most profound friendship of our people, [applause] that we are very pleased and honored by your visit and that these ties of friendship and cooperation between our peoples will develop, and that our people are happy and proud of being able to work increasingly closer with the fraternal Caribbean peoples and with the fraternal Latin American peoples. [applause] Long live the friendship between Cuba and Trinidad-Tobago! Long live the friendship between Cuba and the Caribbean peoples! Long live the friendship between the Cuban and Latin American peoples! Fatherland or death, we shall win! -END-