-DATE- 19840726 -YEAR- 1984 -DOCUMENT_TYPE- SPEECH -AUTHOR- F. CASTRO -HEADLINE- COMMEMORATES MONCADA ASSAULT -PLACE- CIENFUEGOS CEREMONY -SOURCE- HAVANA DOMESTIC SERVICE -REPORT_NBR- FBIS -REPORT_DATE- 19840630 -TEXT- CASTRO SPEECH COMMEMORATES MONCADA ASSAULT FL262308 Havana Domestic Service in Spanish 2206 GMT 26 Jul 84 [President Fidel Castro speech at Cienfuegos ceremony commemorating 31st anniversary of the assault on Moncada Barracks -- live] [Text] Comrade Jerry Rawlings, chairman of the Provisional National Defense Council of the Republic of Ghana [applause], Comrade Tomos Borge, leader of the delegation from Nicaragua [applause], Comrade Axens, chairman of the GDR delegation [applause], distinguished guests [applause], compatriots of Cienfuegos and Cuba [applause]: The history of Cienfuegos is rich in exploits and in struggles for the independence of our country and the revolution. In the first months of the first war for independence in 1968 [as heard], the Cienfuegos patriots rose up in arms. I always recall with admiration an illustrious son of Cienfuegos, an outstanding freedom fighter, Jose Gonzalez Guerra, who is not sufficiently recognized or well known, and who carried out brilliant battles against the Spanish forces in this region until he died heroically in that war of 1968 [as heard]. Cienfuegos' participation in our struggles of 1895 was outstanding. The invading forces of Antonio Maceo and Maximo Gomez crossed this land. [applause] And in this land, with the participation of people from Cienfuegos, they fought some of the most brilliant and most famous battles of our liberating Army: the Battle of Mal Tiempo. [applause] Throughout the period of the colonialized and exploited Republic, the Cienfuegos region actively participated in the labor movement and in the student struggles. I recall in my student years, I visited Cienfuegos concerning a student protest. The Army arrested me and accused me of being an agitator and a subversive and they took me before a summary court in Santa Clara, where I was sentenced. And when we were fighting in the Sierra Maestra under difficult conditions, the heroic uprising of Cienfuegos took place on 5 September 1957. [applause] That event was an extraordinary stimulus for the fighters in the Sierra Maestra and the foundation of the Batista tyranny was shaken. Like 26 July, 5 September did not see the victory, but it prepared and paved the way to victory. [applause] Therefore, when we were marching from the Oriente region to the capital, in the first days of January 1959, we detoured from our route to visit Cienfuegos. [applause] It was 6 January 1959. During the hours of the morning of the 7th, I met with the people of Cienfuegos. It was difficult to imagine then that 25 and a half years later, [applause], we would be meeting to commemorate the anniversary of 26 July and to recount the events of the revolution in this province. [applause] I visited Cienfuegos often after the triumph of the revolution and I closely followed its extraordinary economic and social development. I was always impressed by the enthusiasm, revolutionary spirit, and will to work of the people of Cienfuegos. [applause] At the time of the triumph of the revolution, the economy of Cienfuegos depended fundamentally on the production of sugar. Only a few industries could be counted in this province, and these were mostly handicraft industries. In these 25 years, an entire program has been carried out to industrialize this region. I remember the first industrial plant inaugurated by the revolution, under the initiative of Che [Guevara]. [applause] It was the factory of diesel motors and compressors. It was not a very large factory. Its merit was that of being the first industry built by the revolution in Cienfuegos. The nitrogenized fertilizer factory came afterwards, and this was a great industry, the biggest in Cuba, with a production capacity of more than 400,000 tons per year. Other important factories followed: the cement plant, with a production capacity of 1.65 million tons [no time period given], the biggest in Cuba, built with the cooperation of the GDR [applause]; the irrigation components factory, built with the cooperation of the Republic of Bulgaria [applause]; the electric power industry, consisting of four units with a capacity of more than 400,000 kw; the glucose plant; the flour mill; the animal feed plant; the torula factory; the new 5 September Sugar Mill, with a capaicty of 650,000 arrobas daily [applause]; the cheese and ice cream factory; the (Ciego Montero) mineral water bottling plant -- the products of these last two plants are known for their quality throughout Cuba -- the refrigeration plant for vegetable and meat products; the bulk sugar loading terminal where sugar produced in Central Cuba is loaded on ships [applause]; the industrial fishing combine [applause]: the Gran Panel 4 prefabricated housing plant; the Gran Panel 6 plant; the Yugoslav IMS [expansion unknown] plant. [applause] To these can be added many other industries such as sand-washing plants, rock crushers, tile factories, cement block factories. electrical. substations, and others, all of which total 52 industrial plants built in Cienfuegos Province by the revolution. [applause] Seventeen port works were built; 17 roads; dams; irrigation systems, water treatment plants; 92 agricultural and livestock works; 49 schools including [applause] installations for the medical sciences school [applause] that is now functioning; normal schools; the electronuclear polytechnical [institute]; the public health polytechnical [institute]; the Camilo Cienfuegos Vocational School, [applause] dozens of preuniversity institutes, technological schools, basic secondary schools, and others. This number does not include child care centers and the recently built special schools. Forty-one health related projects have been built which include the modern Cienfuegos City Surgical Hospital-Clinic with 650 beds, the hospitals in the mountains, the polyclinics, and dental clinics, etc.; in all, 1,116,000,000 pesos were invested in economic and social projects which does not include projects undertaken by the Cienfuegos Province People's Government. At present, industrial, economic, and social projects worth 1.2 billion pesos are under construction. [applause] In Cienfuegos, at present there are two huge projects under construction which are very important for our nation. One is the nuclear power plant [applause], which is the first project of this type to be built in our nation and in the Central American and Caribbean areas. [applause] The nuclear power plant will have four reactors, each with 417,000 kw capacity. This means that each reactor will have a capacity greater than the entire Cuban electrical power industry had in 1959 on the triumph of the revolution. [applause] The first two reactors are presently under construction. This colossal project requires millions of cubic meters of rock excavations, hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of concrete, and tens of thousands of tons of steel. The project has been designed and is being built with every safeguard. It has been designed to be shock resistant because, although infrequent, the Cienfuegos area is within Cuba's earthquake region. This nuclear power plant will withstand a large earthquake. It is protected against the possibility -- said to occur or could occur once every 10,000 years -- of a 30-meter high tidal wave that may reach our coast. I do not understand how such a tidal wave could occur, maybe a hurricane, but that would be difficult; or a volcanic eruption on one of the Caribbean islands. The fact of the matter is that scientists say this is a theoretical possibility, and this center is protected against this theoretical possibility. It is protected against the unlikely possibility of an aircraft accident -- a modern jet could crash against one of the reactors. That is, in theory all risks have been anticipated. This of course requires greater quantities of concrete and greater quantities of steel. Some 5,500 construction workers, 168 Soviet advisers [applause]; and the Bulgarian brigade -- whose members gave it my name prior to the revolution's triumph [applause] as a gesture of sympathy of the Bulgarian people sympathy toward our struggles, when victory was very remote -- are working in this project. The Bulgarian brigade is made up of 82 Bulgarian workers in honor of the 82 members of the Granma expeditionary force. [applause] This nuclear power plant requires a new city with 4,500 dwellings, which are currently under construction. When this plant is completed, it will require a very important installation, whose construction will begin: sometime in the future. This is a water accumulator. What is a water accumulator? It is a reservoir, a hydroelectric unit with turbines to produce electricity. These nuclear power plants are not like the thermoelectric power plants that start and stop at any time, they work around the clock, 24 hours a day all year long. There are times when there is a surplus accumulation of electricity; then the water accumulator's motors pumpt the water to the top when there is excess electricity and, with that same water when there is a peak demand for power, produce electricity. This is an adjunct facility, and will be built in the area of Escambray. In order for you to have an idea of the economic importance [applause] of this industry, suffice to note that each reactor saves 600,000 tons of fuel and, when the four units are completed, 2.4 million tons of fuel will be saved, whose cost at today's price amounts to approximately $500 million. That is the savings in fuel we will have yearly. Tens of engineers and hundreds of medium level technicians have been training for many year to work in this industry. Another giant under construction in Cienfuegos is the new oil refinery [applause] with a capacity for refining 6 million tons a year and, in addition, will produce 200,000 tons of basic lubricants. Some 43,00 Cuban builders and 122 Soviet advisers are working on this project. [applause] A large water purifying plant is also being constructed to avoid putting sewage into the ocean. It is a large and expensive plant. Nevertheless, in this and in many other industries, we must build in such a way as to preserve the purity of our waters and the environment because the success of this great industrial development of Cienfuegos will be measured someday by our ability to keep the waters of this bay clean enough to continue producing the excellent shrimp that are harvested in this bay. [applause] The number of workers on these two projects increases every year, construction workers from every province in the country, especially from the eastern provinces are working. [applause] Approximately 1 year ago, the living conditions for these two brigades improved. They were supplied with work uniforms made of good material and well-designed, and with special work boots. The quality and quantity of their food supplies were increased. They were equipped with many buses for transportation. Well, many of these workers sometimes traveled as far as Oriente in tractor-trailors. A special policy was applied to them and to the Moa construction workers -- a policy of special attention -- because of the effort that these projects require. And the workers have responded to this attention by considerably increasing their production and their productivity. [applause] These two vital projects are being built with credit and cooperation from the Soviet Union. [applause] The investment program includes other new projects, such as the modernization of the port, expansion of the Danuji Factory, and also, for example, the Superior Technical Institute and other economic and social projects. [applause] I should point out that besides the projects heretofore mentioned, new residential areas, thousands of housing units have been built, as have aqueducts, sewers, sports facilities, such as the modern Cienfuegos Stadium, which was built with the cooperation of the masses [applause], hotels for tourism, recreation centers, and so forth. Not only has there been industrial development, there has also been social development. In other countries, in the capitalist countries of the Third World, they invest in factories and they do not build a single house for the workers. They do not build a single recreation center. They do not build a single school. They do not build a single hospital. Therefore, there is economic growth but there is no development. In our socialist concept, unlike in the capitalist concept, special attention is paid to caring for the individual man and to social development, because the economy exists and the economy develops not to enrich private companies but to benefit the people and all the workers of the country. [applause] [crowd shouts: Viva Fidel! Viva!] Prior to the revolution, there were no industrial construction enterprises. When there was a construction job to do -- including building a sugar mill -- U.S. enterprises came to do it. And all these construction jobs in Cienfuegos and in Cuba have been done by Cuban enterprises. [applause] These completed works do not belong to any transnational company or to any private enterprise. They belong to the people [applause], to all the people. And as a consequence of this swift economic and social development, the commercial production of Cienfuegos Province in the first half of 1984 [corrects himself], no in the first half no, in the year 1983, was valued at 614 million pesos. And at the present time, the economic production of the workers of Cienfuegos amounts to approximately 2,000 pesos per inhabitant. [applause] The number of jobs has increased in the last 7 years by 40 percent. The average worker's salary in Cienfuegos is now one of the highest in Cuba. [applause] And the 1975 per capita income of 556 pesos increased in 1983 to 1,050 pesos per capita, for all the inhabitants of Cienfuegos. This includes all of the inhabitants [applause] of Cienfuegos. This year, Cienfuegos has had the biggest sugar harvest in its entire history [applause], totaling 643,800 tons, which is 58 percent more than the biggest sugar harvest ever achieved by the capitalists. [applause] Almost 70 percent of the harvesting is done by machine. And the harvesting was done with 30 percent of the manual cane cutters employed in 1970 [applause]; which gives us an idea of the increase in productivity in our cane harvests. In addition, Cienfuegos was the first province in Cuba to reduce fuel constumption to zero in the production of raw sugar, in 1979-1980. And it has maintained this zero consumption during the past 4 years. It was a pioneer in this movement, which has spread throughout Cuba, and which in just a few years has reduced fuel consumption in the production of raw sugar from one half million tons each year to almost zero. Only a few thousand tons are consumed now in the production of raw sugar. In agriculture, Cienfuegos has several times increased its production of root vegetables green vegetables, citrus fruits, other fruits, and coffee. It has notably increased its production of milk, pork, and poultry. It has several times increased its fish production. We cannot speak of other products such as cement because it was not produced before Fetilizers were not produced. Glucose, torula, etc, were not produced before. The electric power generating capacity of Cienfuegos - and I am not counting electronuclear power -- is now 30 times greater than it was prior to the revolution. In the field of public health, from 14 health institutions or centers that it had prior to the revolution, it now has 68. The number of hospital beds has increased 4.7 times. The number of physicians was only 92 prior to the revolution, most of them in private practice. Public health hardly existed in this province. Today, Cienfuegos has 492 doctors. [applause] Some 44 percent of them are specialists in more than 20 areas, many of which did not exist before the revolution. There are at present 497 students enrolled in medical schools created by the revolution. [applause] And, this number continues to increase. [applause] This means that Cienfuegos today produces its own doctors and specialists. The number of dentists, which was 36, increased to 139. The number of nurses and medical technicians increased from a few dozen, to 2,453 and there are more than 1,200 now studying at the Health Politechnic. This is progress. This is development, both economic and social development. [applause] As a result of excellent work, in the first quarter of 1984 the infant mortality rate was reduced to 11.8 deaths per 1000, which is as low as most developed nations, On the cost of public health, I want to point out that before the revolution, the national budget for public health was 20 million pesos. Today, only in Cienfuegos, the budget is 22 million pesos. [applause) And it only has 3.4 percent of the population. In education, where before the revolution there were 9 middle schools, and 1,900 students enrolled, today there are 64 middle schools with 35,275 students, just in this last school year. [applause] Cienfuegos did not have universities. Today it has four with an enrollment of almost 4,000 students. The number of middle and upper level school students is similar to the number of students in elementary schools. Cienfuegos was the first province to have its workers reach a sixth grade education. [applause] And now, in the fight for the 9th grade, 50 percent of the workers have passed, and the rest are planning to complete their courses by the time the third party congress meets. [applause] Prior to the revolution there was not a single special school for exceptional children. Today there are 13 in this field. In the area of culture, Cienfuegos had a small library, 2 theaters, and 10 movie theaters. Now Cienfuegos has 19 libraries, 9 museums, 25 movie theaters, 42 professional groups of artists, and 1,585 groups of amateurs. [applause] As for sports, six sports were practiced in a few installations. Today, 29 sports are practiced in 303 installations, supervised by 309 physical education and sports technicians. This category did not even exist before the revolution. [applause] It is not surprising that several Cienfuegos athletes have earned national prestige and fame. This is the work of the revolution in Cienfuegos. [applause] Perhaps it seems that there are too many figures, but these figures reflect only a part of this work. We are proud of the work of the revolution in Cienfuegos, and we express our warmest congratulations to comrade Humberto Miguel, [applause] first secretary of the party; [applause] the comrades of the people's government, and the people of Cienfuegos for this work. [applause, crowd shouts: Fidel, Fidel, Fidel!] But Cienfuegos is not only an example of development. It reflects the work of the revolution throughout the country. All of the provincial cities and rural areas have changed. All provinces have vocational schools, technological schools, pedagogical schools, physical education schools, and Camilo Cienfuegos Schools. All provinces have medical schools and university centers, of which there are 42 throughout the country. Some provinces have more than others, while others have begun to build art schools. Here in Cienfuegos, we still don't have an art school. In fact, there are no vocational, preuniversity, and secondary schools in Cienfuegos like those that exist in other cities -- almost all cities have them. Cienfuegos students go to Villa Clara for these schools. When these schools, which are of a specific size, were built, there were six provinces, The schools had already been built. We could only divide those of Santiago and Guantanamo, in order to make two schools of 2,500 students each. By this I want to say that there are many things in other provinces that Cienfuegos doesn't have. It gives us an idea of how we have tried to work to develop the entire country, because capitalism left us with a situation of inequality that was overwhelming. It wasn't just a case of social inequality, but of inequality of regions. There were regions here that were more industrialized than others. There were regions that had no industry or development. There were regions with incomes that were much lower than others, and we still have not been able to overcome that problem completely, despite the fact that we are working very bard to do so. For example, the per capita income in the eastern provinces is lower than that of the western provinces. Therefore, we must make a maximal effort to promote the industrial and agricultural development of those provinces. However, the inheritance of centuries cannot be changed in a few years. Still, in every plan and in every 5-year program an effort is made to develop the most backward provinces. What we can say with satisfaction is that the income and standard of living of these provinces have been increasing every year and have begun to achieve equitable levels. Large industrial projects are being built in practically all of the provinces. However, projects are not always built where one wants to build them. Sometimes the raw material, as is the case with nickel, demands that the plant be built right there where it is. The quarries that provide the raw material for cement require that the plant to built right where they are. There are plants that can be built anywhere, but unfortunately, the important ones demand a port or certain raw materials and thus can't be built in places at whim. However, the revolution worries a lot about at least one area, the social area. All provinces have their complete hospital system. All provinces have a complete educational system. They have their cultural and sports development. As for social development, there are provinces that are much more productive than others. There are provinces that generate more income than others. But the revolution redistributes income among all of the provinces. Now, I see that the Cienfuegos people have a high level of production. I see that they are close to 2,000 pesos per capita. This means that Cienfuegos is already contributing to the development of other provinces in the country. [applause] Another giant industry is being built in Moa. It is the Punta Gorda nickel factory, with a production capacity of 30,000 [unit not specified] per year. It will include a shop, mechanical plants and other related industries. Construction of a second nickel plant with a similar capacity has begun. An 8 million square meter textile plant was inaugurated at this time last year in Santiago de Cuba and it is already in operation. Construction of a new thermoelectric plant has begun in northern Oriente Province and the sugar harvesters plant at Holguin is already producing above its designed capacity. The new bottle industry at Tunas is already making an important contribution to this area of production. In Camaguey, work is proceeding intensely on new mechanical plants, on the mechanical plant, on the new beer factory, and on the Nuevitas thermoelectric plant. The port in that city is already being developed and modernized. Recently, a large citrus complex was inaugurated at Ciego de Avila, and the bagasse pulp and paper factory, a large and very important industry for the country, was begun at Sancti Spiritus. They will soon inaugurate their clinical-surgical hospital, which is similar to that in Cienfuegos. The mechanical industry at Villa Clara is being expanded. A large thermoelectric plant with a capacity of 300,000-odd kilowatts is under construction at Matanzas. Construction of the port for supertankers has begun, and construction of a group of tourist hotels at Varadero, an international airport, and a turnpike will begin during the second half of this year. Construction of the thermoelectric plant is under way in eastern Havana. It will have a capacity of 1.2 million kilowatts and will consume a good deal less fuel than the electric plants that are in downtown Havana, which are fuel guzzlers and a source of pollution. The Antillean steel plant is being expanded considerably. The Ameijeiras Brothers Hospital, which was inaugurated not long ago, has already gained international stature and prestige. Dozens, in fact hundreds of economic and social projects are under construction throughout the country. [applause] We are pressing ahead in the search for minerals. We are stepping up oil exploration. Domestic oil production is being increased. The planting of forests is being stepped up. The record figure of over 140 million plants was reached last year. Our people's work is bearing fruit. During the first semester of 1983 commercial production grew 4.4 percent. It has grown 9.9 percent during this first semester of 1984. [applause] Industry grew 3.8, agriculture 6.4, transportation 7.7, and construction 19.8 percent. [applause] You, the builders of [word indistinct] and the refinery, played an important role in this growth rate of 19.8 percent. Virtually all areas grew. Substantial quantities of fuel and raw materials have been saved. Nationwide, the sugar industry increased its production by approximately a million tons, reaching a production of 8.2 million tons of sugar. This is one of the largest sugar harvests ever achieved in Cuba. [applause] This was done despite the weather problems and the incessant rains throughout the entire harvest, which affected the yield considerably. It was not winter storms like those of 1983, but constant rains, well above the average at that time. Otherwise, our sugar production would have been larger. All of the sugar cane was cut on schedule, but humidity kept us from reaching the expected yield. The tobacco, potato, [word indistinct] and vegetable crops, which were so seriously affected by wind and rain in 1983, have completely recovered and have yielded satisfactory results this year. We have not only grown in the economic field, progress also continues in the social area. Indicators continue to improve in the area of health. Here's one important fact: Infant mortality during the first semester was 14 per 1,000. I understand that the months in spring are a bit more complicated. The continuous... [Castro corrects himself] the rains, the contamination of the water. But if we continue to work -- and Cienfuegos is an example, as it had 11.8 -- it is possible that we might lower last year's rate of 16.8 per 1,000. The number of doctors, if we take the most recent graduates into account, already surpasses 20,500. [applause] And 5,500 students have been selected to enter the School of Medical Sciences for the next school term that begins in September. [applause] A development program is being prepared for each of the country's specialties. Work is also underway on the preparation of new programs for the School of Medicine, based on the experience gained in the world's best universities, and we are firmly on the way to becoming a medical power. [applause] A similar situation exists in the field of education. Results are better each year, and demands are greater. More students remain in school, and the results are greater and better. I spoke about this at length on Children's Day, but to give an idea of the progress achieved in these years I would like to mention that while, for example, in 1961 -- after the revolution -- only 1,500 students graduated from preuniversity this year 43,000 students did. [applause] While 20 years ago some 11,000 students graduated from basic secondary studies, [through 9th grade], this year 170,000 students did. [applause] The number of students who have graduated from college during the revolution, including the most recent class, has climbed to the figure of 190,000. The quality of teaching has improved and must continue to improve, in college and at all other levels. This is fundamental; it is basic. We cannot feel satisfied, there is still a world of things to be done, a large gap to be filled. I think that it will be fundamental, since we have secured these achievements and advanced up to here, to continue over the long term, and we should pay a lot of attention to teaching and to the use of computer techniques. To do this we must prepare our teachers; we have to begin at the universities. Otherwise, we won't be able to run anything in the future, not without the use of computers. You must be asking yourselves where I got all of this data. Yes, I have brought data, but I have had to ask for it; I have had to request information from many companeros and organizations. Today it is possible to keep every figure updated, every fact in every field, everything. It is hard to imagine how much work each organization could be saved in its respective field, and how much of the work I assign to them I myself could be saved from doing. [applause] How many doctors we have, how many specialists, where each is located, which ones have the most experience in each field, the engineers, the architects; they now number hundreds of thousands, millions. Then there is the party, its members, the mass organizations, their members any factory. Industrial development makes it necessary for us to gain access to these techniques ambitiously. We must also learn to manufacture that equipment. It is tremendously important in all areas. We must perfect our methods of economic management and conduct. This is a developing science. We must acquire this kind of knowledge; we must acquire this technique and perfect it. Managing is not easy. A small store or craft industry is not the same as a brigade comprising 4,500 workers, or a gigantic construction site like this one, which uses hundreds of materials and thousands of parts. How is this controlled, how is it run, how is it managed? Both machinery and technology are required. This seems to me to be a very important aspect, which we must develop in the future. The development of research is another vital issue, as well as the application of the advances in science and technology. I think that these are things of capital importance, not only for our country but for all socialist countries, because socialism is new and must compete with and struggle against that old fox, capitalism, which is centuries old. [applause] They do not have the opportunities that we have because of the nature of our system: the chance to obtain the support of the people, the masses, everything. But they do have the experience, and they have not neglected their science and technology. For instance, they have not neglected computer science. And they are experienced at organizing, conducting, and managing. This is something we must know, lest we imagine that because our cause is more just and our system superior and more humane in all areas, we possess all knowledge and all experience. No. We have made great progress since the time when we had that high percentage of illiterates and semi-illiterates. They are already struggling to complete sixth grade and ninth grade. It is undoubtedly an advance, but we started far behind and we must gain ground, just as we have done up until now, for I am convinced that anything we set out to do we can do. [applause] Who would ever have thought that we were going to have a medical school in each province. Who would ever have thought that we were going to have graduating classes from secondary and preuniversity schools and from technological institutes. But we must continue to advance. It is not enough. We must do much more, and we can propose it. To have said this when the workers' highest school level was the second grade would have been useless. To have said this when there were only a few university students would have been useless. Now, we have 222,000 workers enrolled in regular courses and supervised courses. We now have 16,000 university professors. We used to have 1,000. More than 1,000 of them have scientific degrees. We need more of these scientists. We need more of these professors with scientific degrees. We need more of these professors who control areas that are fundamental in today's world. We must improve our teaching techniques. We must promote further knowledge, if we want to be up to this era and if we want to be up to the challenge posed between socialism and capitalism. We must continue to perfect our methods of running the economy. We have advanced a lot in that area. We must continue to advance in these areas. This matter of education is essential. It is very important. We must not rest on our laurels. We must not grow used to figures from one year to another. We must know how much we have improved in quality each year. This is not criticism of our Education Ministry, which deserves congratulations for the tenacious and efficient work it is doing and for its achievements. [applause] Rather, this is a harangue, an exhortation, and an encouraging word for teachers to work a great deal more. Back to my discussion of the country's advances, I want to say that we are advancing in the area of research centers -- we have more than 100 -- and in the area of enterprises that build projects. All necessary attention must be given to their development. We have been working in these areas in the past few years. They are very important. Fortunately, many industrial projects are being built here. Many construction projects are built here. Our technicians build them. There are thousands of them. There are thousands of workers at enterprises that build projects. There are thousands of workers at the research centers. These are organizations, I repeat, that must receive all necessary attention, one by one. They are decisive. As for other areas, well, what can we say about sports? We have won medals. We have advanced. Who can doubt it? But we must also make an effort. We cannot rest on our laurels; taking into account the advantage provided in athletic development schools, the installations created for athletic purposes and the thousands of physical education teachers at the medium and university level we have trained, we must set out to achieve new advances in sports in coming years. We have also made great advances in the area of culture, but we must plan to make greater efforts. The revolution has not been able to dedicate all of the resources to build, for example, an art school -- a vocational school and a professional school in this area -- in each province. There are things that we would like to have and that we need but that we cannot obtain right away. However, this is another important area in which we must advance. We are making progress in recreation. The camping areas have been a success. They have been increasing. With modest resources, they are developing and they are providing the opportunity for a greater number of people to visit them during their vacations. The country has advanced. And these achievements that we are mentioning have the additional merit of having been obtained at a time of profound world economic crisis and at a time when the price of sugar has dropped to .044 cents, unfortunately, compared to an average of 0858 cents in 1983. It is now .044. I want our compatriots to think about what it means to have a price of .044 cents. It is equivalent to half a cent, which was the price in 1932, amid the worst world economic crisis ever and the lowest prices generally. It was the worst era of hunger ever known in our country. It coincided with the era in which Machado was the head of government. It is called the Machadazo. This is the equivalent to the current price of sugar. What would our country's situation be without the revolution, without the socialist system, without equitable distribution, without the economic ties that our country has established with the socialist community? [applause] What would it be like, [applause] if we bear in mind all that the guaranteed fair prices for our exports, the fair prices of imports, the long-term development credits, and facilities of all sorts mean to us? What would become of our country with 10 million inhabitants and with world sugar prices at the 1932 level? Obviously, this brings difficulties, but under what contrasting conditions when we compare our country's panorama to that of the rest of the world! So when the imperialists say that if we want to live in peace we must break our ties with the socialist community, we say that those ties will never be broken, never. [applause] And not only because its a matter of principle, which comes first, and a matter of elementary gratitude, but because those ties have been fundamental to our economic and social development for all of these years. They are crucial to our future development. We are working and have made a great deal of progress on the draft of our next 5-year plan. We have made also great progress m the draft of our prospective plan until the year 2000. We have the fundamental ideas about the fields we will develop in those years; about our social and economic development; about what our industry, agriculture, mining, transportation systems will be like; and about how many hospitals and schools, etc., we will have. When we discuss cooperation plans with the socialist countries, our cadres, ministries, and planning offices show much more experience than before. This experience must be put to good use. That is why we try to do things better all the time, and make fewer excuses if we don't do them right. However, what is happening, for example, in the Third World or in Latin America? What is their situation like? Well, Latin America's economy declined by 3.3 percent in 1983. It declined. Its growth rate had also dropped in 1982. Latin America's imports dropped 20 percent in 1982, and an additional 29 percent in 1983. That is, they dropped over 40 percent in 2 years. Just imagine what restrictions this means to the economy of these countries, and the consequences: the deprivation, the misery. And the international credit organizations, controlled by imperialism, are demanding more deprivation, more unemployment, fewer expenditures on schools and hospitals, and fewer subsidies on foodstuffs. This has given rise to serious problems. Our neighbor, Santo Domingo, has experienced social unrest in recent months. It was a consequence of the measures demanded by the IMF. Their devalued their currency and doubled or tripled prices. This constituted such a harsh blow to the people's economy that there was practically an explosion, an insurrection by the masses, over 50 were killed. Some say that there were more than 100, who were murdered. When something like this happens, they send soldiers and the police into the streets to fire on the people. This is the capitalist system, the capitalist and imperialist method. Not a word is said. They slaughtered dozens of people there! The news monopolies barely said a word. They remained quiet about the consequences of these IMF measures. That is why many Latin American Governments have risen against the IMF. They are being forced to negotiate with this fund. The fund establishes conditions for granting loans and for making resources available during these crisis situations. That is why the IMF has developed such a bad reputation. That is why all of the Third World countries have complained and protested over the conditions it imposes. However, one must imagine what this 40 percent restriction on imports in 2 years really means. Some 40 percent of the active labor force in the Latin American countries -- which already had substantial unemployment problems as it was -- is either unemployed or underemployed. We already know about their health and sanitary situation, etc., and about their slums, poverty, infant mortality rate, and so forth. So, what is the cause of this crisis? Trade is inequitable. They have to pay increasingly higher prices for the products they import arid must sell their products at lower and lower prices. The developed capitalist countries impose these conditions on the Third World. Their high salaries and technology, etc., must be paid for through each item that comes from there. Less and less is purchased with the proceeds of sales. The protective measures adopted by the industrialized countries hinder the Third World countries' trade. The huge foreign debt, the extremely high interest rates, the exploitation by the transnational companies and foreign capital, and the flight of capital -- not to mention organizational and administrative factors, as well as corruption, in many cases -- must be added to the international economic crisis. I am talking about Latin America as a whole, some countries more than others. For instance, what happened in 1981, 1982, and 1983; what happened in these years of crisis? If one adds the figures for these 3 years for Latin America as a whole, and if one considers that they grew a little in 1981, declined in 1982 and again in 1983, then in those 3 years, production and the economy declined by 3.2 percent throughout all of Latin America. This was the situation during this 3-year period. During those same 3 years, the growth rate of the United States, which rose slightly in 1981, declined in 1982 and rose again in 1983. As a whole, over that 3 year period, growth totaled 3.5 percent, if I am not mistaken; I think it was 3.5. For its part, Western Europe, all of the capitalist West European countries combined, grew by only 1.3 percent in 1981, 1982, and 1983. During those same years, 1981. 1982, and 1983, Cuba's total social product grew by 21 percent. It grew during each of these years. [applause] It grew by 21 percent in these 3 years. [applause] This is the reality; these are the figures. They may close their eyes, shout, kick, or distort the facts -- since there are a number of specialists analyzing the Cuban economy. Well, they deny all of this, all of this -- the figures, the facts, what you are seeing with your own eyes here in Cienfuegos, to mention just one example. [applause] This is how it is. [applause] This is true thanks to our relations with the socialist bloc, and despite the crisis currently affecting us. Naturally, receiving 4 cents per pound of sugar is not the same as receiving 15 cents for that part of the sugar that we export to the international market. That is the situation. Latin America owes $350 billion. Each percentage point that the interest rate climbs represents an additional $2 billion to $3 billion that must be paid due to a simple change in the interest rate, because many of the loans granted by the banks were given at variable, not fixed, interest rates. The ECLA, which is a UN organization for Latin America, says that this Latin American crisis is the worst in the last 50 years. I do not think it could have been any worse 50 years ago, because back then, these countries did not owe what they owe today: $350 billion. We think that this is a crisis in the economic and social system that has been imposed on Latin America by imperialism. This is really what it is. What can they promise for the future? What can they promise? [applause] Sometimes they talk about democracy; imperialism talks about democracy -- what the hell kind of democracy? [laughter] The democracy of the starving, of the exploited, of the sick, of the ignorant. The democracy of nations where women must become prostitutes in order to live, where children must beg, where gambling and drugs are constantly on the rise, where so-called representative democratic governments emerge that are like shooting stars. They do not resolve anything; they cannot resolve any problem. Then there are the right-wing military dictatorships. They kill, torture, murder, and cause people to disappear. Imperialism taught them all of this, the techniques of torture, how to make people disappear, how to create terror. Imperialism taught them. They talk about democracy when they really mean capitalism, when they really mean control of the monopolies and exploitation of the peoples by these monopolies. That is what they offer. That is what they call democracy: systems of hunger, poverty, and underdevelopment; in addition to exploitation through loans, exploitation through the transnational companies, exploitation through unequal trade. That is what they call democracy. What does it resolve? What have they resolved? Naturally, it is much better for any country to have one of these so-called representative democratic governments than a repressive and bloody regime. But the system does not resolve anything. I have said it and now I repeat it: The system does not resolve anything; the system cannot resolve anything. [applause] Imperialism speaks boastfully about these democratic regimes, which launch their horses, troops, policemen, and persecutors to massacre the people when they can no longer withstand hunger. What is the future that is offered in terms of economic development, employment, education, health, and culture? What are the opportunities offered to these peoples for tomorrow's world. Today we were talking here about the fact that the ninth grade is not enough, that one must continue to study and prepare. This is the question that needs to be answered: What are they offering to the peoples, what solutions, because at the present rate, in another 100 years they will be farther behind than they are today in comparison to the developed countries, much farther. They will be much worse off than they are at present. Our peoples cannot waste a second. They must work hard for the future. They must prepare for the future, just as we have done these past 25 years. We cannot waste a minute. We have used every one of them and yet we can see that it wasn't enough. We see that there is still much to be done, so that these people have enough. What will the Latin American masses say? What can imperialism offer them? What do the demagogues offer them? This is the question that must be answered. This is what we must ask imperialism. What does the democracy you talk about mean? Because we have experienced another kind of freedom and democracy. [shouts, applause] What is happening in the world today? What is occurring in this economic and social sphere? [applause] The United States came out of World War II intact, not a single square kilometer of U.S. territory saw the war. The war was fought in the fields off Europe and Asia, and primarily on Soviet territory. A lot of destruction was produced in that country. Thousands of towns were destroyed. There were tens of millions of victims. The world came out destroyed by the war, yet the U.S. economy grew during the war. It came out as the world's predominant economic and financial power. Its transnationals expanded and developed throughout the world, and now they are powerful institutions that control technology, markets, and financial resources. International financial institutions like the IMF and the World Bank were organized in line with the interests of the United States, and remained under its absolute control. The dollar became the universal currency. It circulated everywhere. If we could make the peso circulate everywhere, our foreign exchange problem would be solved. This is what they did to solve it. They solved it because of their predominance in the economic and financial spheres. They used to have tens of millions in gold reserves. It was thought that $35 could be exchanged for 1 ounce of gold. But they kept printing more money until they could no longer back their dollars with gold and then they gave up the gold standard. Using these advantages, the United States is trying to reactivate its economy and to pull itself out of the crisis at the expense of the rest of the world. In this way, the United States is not only raising taxes and establishing all kinds of limitations on products that compete with its industries, but is taking huge financial resources from the world by raising interest rates. These interest rates are not only the result of a deliberate government policy but are in part the consequences of the huge U.S. fiscal deficits in recent years. With these high interest rates it is attracting more money. It is not only charging more money for the money lent, but it is drawing in resources that flow out of the Third World and the other capitalist countries that are U.S. allies. In this way, the U.S. economy, which has been stagnant in the past few years, in 1981... [changes thought] in 1982 it went down, in 1983 it went up by 3.4 percent. In the first 6 months of 1984 it increased by more than 8 percent. Meanwhile, the Latin American economy decreased by 3.3 percent in 1983, as I said. It will not increase, but will probably remain negative in 1984. Its growth will probably be negative. Western Europe grew by only 1 percent in 1983. it is a ridiculous figure, which hardly makes up for population growth. All of western Europe is growing by 1.25 percent in 1984. This is the reason for the unemployment situation in Europe. More than 30 million people are jobless in the capitalist countries. Yet the United States takes resources from all of these countries. It is limiting their prospects of growth. It is making it difficult for its own allies to pull out of the crisis. There are many economists who feel that this growth of the U.S. economy is temporary, or that the groundwork for it is very fragile and the resources that are being used to pull out of the crisis will seriously jeopardize the future of the U.S. economy. But despite the growth in 1982 and 1983, the United States still has more than 8 million unemployed. Sixteen percent of the youth are employed in the United States, and 44 percent of the black youth are jobless. This is the situation. Something else must be added. We were saying that the interest rates were related to budget deficits. Large deficits have been occurring. But what are these resources invested in? What is done with the money that causes these deficits? Is it being used to develop the economy? Or is it being used in scientific research to create new industrial technology-and to develop work productivity? Is it being invested in particular research projects to cure certain illnesses that plague mankind, improve health, prolong life, improve the environment, or protect nature? No. Are investments being made in hospitals, schools, from helping the elderly and the children, and in protecting the poor? No. Investments are being made in an arms buildup with the unquestionable intention and idea of breaking the balance of forces existing in the world, and establishing the military supremacy of the United states not only in the nuclear sphere but also with regard to conventional weapons. This is how old battleships are reactivated and modernized, just like the one used to bomb Lebanon. Every day battleships are being reactivated, modernized, and armed. Rapid deployment forces with the ability to intervene anywhere in the world in a matter of days or hours are being created. New weapons systems which are increasingly dangerous and fatal are being developed. There is talk about space weapons and even about star wars. In 1983, the U.S. military budget was $238 billion. It will grow in the next year. They approved a $238 billion budget and calculated a revenue deficit of $195 billion. It might be more. Some think that it will be more. In other words, the deficit is equivalent to what they are investing in weapons and military expenses. Thus, in recent years the world economy has experienced two large calamities that are a result of U.S. military adventures and its warmongering policy. This is a reality. The first calaminy was the Vietnam war. It cost hundreds of millions of pesos; however, it was not financed through taxes. Taxes are too unpopular and this war was increasing ly unpopular. How were the expenses of the Vietnam war financed? They were financed by printing money. I already mentioned that the dollar had become an international currency. They spread these bills throughout the world. They made purchases and traded with these dollars which were later devalued giving way to a tremendous wave of inflation. This was one of the main causes for inflation seriously affecting the world economy. It can be said that what was done in the wake of the Vietnam war was a large-scale swindle. The United States printed bills and financed the war with bills that were later devaluated. And now, through the mechanism of interest rates and the budget deficits, money is being taken away from the rest of the world. They are forcing the world economy -- I am excluding socialist countries, of course -- to pay for and finance the U.S. arms race. This is a reality. It is a reality known to governments which say nothing. It is known to the European governments. They scream and protest under their breath. Once in a while they say something at meetings, but they can't do anything. This policy has not only affected Latin America and the Third World but also the capitalist countries of Europe. As a result of this, we not only have a serious economic crisis but also a political crisis in the world. There is a situation of increasing tensions and great dangers of war. Who is to blame? It is not the socialist countries. Why would the socialist countries be blamed for this situation? The socialist countries cannot be interested in the arms race and the production of weapons because the socialist system does not need this. It has too many economic and social needs. The socialist system needs resources to invest in its social and economic development because we ourselves admit the needs we still have. We need houses and other things which we haven't been able to obtain. Socialist countries are not interested in the arms race. The large monopolies that produce weapons in the western capitalist world are interested in this. They obtain the greatest profit. As a matter of fact, one of the means resorted to in order to fight unemployment in those countries is to step up their weapons production. The socialist countries are in no way to blame for this situation. The Soviet Union itself, in all of its pronouncements and all of the speeches delivered by its leaders, has referred to this problem, to the need to hold talks, and the need to avoid an arms race. However, tension is mounting. The tension is mounting; it has mounted considerably due to the installation of strategic nuclear missiles along the socialist bloc's border. Tension in the Middle East is on the rise, as it is in Central America. There is tension in southern Africa as well. The USSR has very clearly proposed the immediate opening of talks in September to discuss the issue of space weapons. In an effort to avoid the unleashing of an uncontrollable arms race during these.years, at this stage, it has proposed, a meeting in September to discuss this problem very specifically. It has expressed its willingness to resume nuclear arms talks as soon as the NATO measures that led to the suspension of the negotiations in the first place are ceased. The Soviets have clearly stated that these measures must be revised and rectified, but they have also expressed their willingness for discussions. In Central America, the Salvadoran revolutionaries have expressed their willingness to seek a negotiated political solution to the Salvadoran problem. They have announced this and have reiterated it. In Nicaragua, the FSLN has expressed its willingness to discuss and work in search of a negotiated political solution. It is already making contacts and has engaged in preliminary talks with the United States. In the case of Cuba, there is a new development: Jackson's visit to our country. As a result of Jackson's visit -- he was very well received in our country because it is very hard to fool our people, as they can easily identify and can very easily distinguish between a demagogic politician, a fake, and a serious man, a man of convictions, an honest and brave man, and this is what they saw in Jackson, this is what I myself saw. His speech at the Democratic Convention in Los Angeles was in accordance with his peaceful stance. And I was saying that as a result of Jackson's visit to our country, and based on a bipartisan consensus in the United States, talks began between the representatives of the Cuban and U.S. Governments in New York on matters of immigration and other issues in this regard which interest both countries. We, on our part, are willing to continue these talks seriously and with the seriousness, maturity, courage, and responsibility which characterize our revolution. [applause] Those who know Cuba, know our party, know our people and also know that we are serious people. We do not go around lying and playing tricks. [shouts, applause] Jackson brought a message of peace representing important sectors of the American people. He was not representing the government. We cannot say that he represented American society, but he did represent an important sector. He represented a spirit of peace, a constructive spirit opposed to the arms race and if favor of reducing the dangers of war and of finding political solutions in Central America. He brought a peaceful message and we are sensitive to that kind of action. No one will ever obtain anything from our country by force. Our country can be approached through peaceful efforts. Talks can be held with our country. We will not turn down any effort. In other words, any effort that might alleviate tensions in our area and international tensions will be worthy of our most serious consideration, any effort tending to decrease the dangers of the madness of war. We are even willing to cooperate with any effort in the search for a political solution to the independence of Namibia, which is an important problem in South Africa, on the basis of UN resolution 435. We are aware of our responsibilities toward our own people and the rest of humankind. That is our duty both as socialists and revolutionaries. In today's world there are two diametrically different political and social systems: the capitalist system and the socialist system. Neither one can impose social change on the other without being destroyed in the effort. The idea of imposing social change on another country by force was never a part of the socialist view. Despite what ignorant, scheming, and slanderous people might say, Lenin -- who was a realistic man, a man of profound convictions, a man of peace -- was the first to proclaim the need for peaceful coexistence among different social systems as an unavoidable principle. By contrast, historic reality demonstrates that the idea of crushing revolutions by force was always a part of the philosophy and views of imperialism and all reactionary systems throughout history. [applause] This was demonstrated by the French revolution. France was invaded by all of the neighboring states, which opposed the idea of establishing a republic and the idea of a bourgeois democracy, on behalf of the divine power of the kings. It was demonstrated by the revolution of October 1917 in the old empire of the Czars, the first socialist revolution which was invaded and intervened by numerous capitalist powers, and again by fascism during World War II with the messianic idea of destroying socialism. It was demonstrated by the Chinese revolution and the efforts made by imperialism and the western countries to prevent the Chinese revolution and support Chiang Kai-shek's regime, a feudal regime. It was demonstrated again by the Vietnamese revolution and the efforts made by imperialism to crush it. It was also demonstrated in Cuba, in Guatemala with Arbenz' revolution, in Santo Domingo with Caamano's revolution, and in Grenada with Bishop's revolution. It is being demonstrated at present [applause] in Nicaragua with the Sandinist revolution and the efforts being made to crush it by force. [applause] It is being demonstrated by the Salvadoran revolutionary movement and the efforts currently underway to crush these people's revolutionary movement through intervention and the use of all of the economic supplies and weapons available in order to drown the Salvadoran revolution in blood, while rejecting any possibility of a negotiated political solution. In its day, the English colonialists tried to crush the U.S. revolution for independence. This is what history teaches. However, those who believe that the socialist community can be submitted into surrender and capitulation are mistaken. Those who believe that any revolutionary people, any truly revolutionary movement can be forced to capitulate and surrender are mistaken. Our country has lived through the experience of these years. From the outset of our revolution, we have been subject to blockades, threats and aggressions, etc., sabotage, and counterrevolutionary bands. We cannot forget that on several occasions attempts have been made to kill the revolutionary leaders, thus violating the most elemental norms of international law and morality. Due to a law, due to this law of history, everything has been and will be useless. It is not easy for a small country like ours to confront such a powerful and aggressive neighbor. However, neither is it easy for the powerful neighbor to fight against a small but brave, intelligent, honorable, and united people like ours. [applause] This senseless policy must cease. [lengthy applause, shouts, slogans] This senseless policy must cease. This is the view already held by many conscientious Americans. The danger to our country must not be underestimated. This is why we have had to make enormous efforts to bolster our defense through these years, especially in recent years, when the imperialist aggressiveness and threats against our country have been stepped up. Does this mean that we are, warmongers? We are not warmongers; we cannot be. Is it that we wish to invest resources in weapons, and the energy of thousands of young, capable and competent companeros to this effort? No, we have so many other things in which to invest our energies and our efforts. Do we want a war? No, we do not want a war. We will wage a war only if a war is imposed upon us. Then, we will wage a war. We are revolutionaries of firm convictions and our ideas and convictions cannot be renounced. [applause] Since certain things are sacred -- independence, the country's sovereignty, its revolutionary principles, its political and social systems cannot be renounced -- whoever seeks to destroy them will have to fight us. [applause] We are not threatening anyone. We cannot threaten anyone. It is really laughable when you hear some spokesmen of imperialism say that El Salvador is a threat to the United States, that Nicaragua is a threat to the United States, that Cuba is a threat to the United States. That is laughable. That is materially impossible from a military standpoint. One entire effort is devoted to the defense of our country. I repeat, and I say this very clearly, whoever seeks to destroy these values will have to fight them and us. [applause] We will know how to defend ourselves, and the price that must be paid will be very high, yet in the end, the objective will not be achieved. We do not overestimate or underestimate our strength and, just as we are prepared to fight and die, we are not afraid to participate in talks or discussions. [applause] Some ideologists of U.S. imperialism believe that we need this conflict because it unites the people and supports the spirit of the revolution. This is ridiculous; this is absurd. It is precisely the revolution, its achievements, and its material, moral, and cultural role that has united the people and has been an inexhaustible source of encouragement. We do not need the danger of a war to unite and maintain our enthusiasm, since the revolution is beautiful and attractive enough to deserve up to the last atom of our energy and enthusiasm. [applause] We talk seriously and think seriously. I repeat: We cannot underestimate the dangers, but, we do not overestimate or underestimate our strength. In the face of aggression, threats, and our experience, we have strengthened ourselves. Today we are much stronger than 3 years ago and this is a fact. [applause] Our Armed Forces have realized an extraordinary effort in these last years to increase the troops' fighting capacity, prepare our forces and increase our firepower, and assimilate new weapons. The territorial militia troops were created and in a short time...[interrupted by applause] and in a short time we trained half a million fighters and armed half a million fighters -- both men and women. Last year, on 26 July, we said that due to pressures and threats we would organize, prepare, and arm another 1/2 million fighters. Today, I can say that this goal has been achieved. [applause] It has been achieved. [applause] We have an additional 1/2 million fighters and the weapons for these fighters. [applause] Tens of thousands of groups have been prepared and are still being prepared. We have a total of approximately 1.2 million men and women in our territorial militias, including the reserves forces. [applause] This increases the power of our Armed Forces and its reserves. Ideas and concepts regarding the defense of our country and the struggle of all of the people have been studied and developed. Every inch of our national territory has been studied. The plans and ideas of what must be done have been prepared. Every province and municipality knows what it must do. Plans have been prepared regarding what must be done in case of each of the various types of aggression that might be carried out against our country and we continue to prepare ourselves. We are working on the construction of fortifications, 18,000 men and 3,500 machines are working to prepare our defense throughout the country -- 18,000 men working permanently. In addition, we are using 15 percent of the country's premixed concrete [hormigon prefabricado], this is only to give you an idea. [applause] The members of the party, state, and people's organizations have received courses and continue to systematically prepare themselves to fulfill their tasks in case of an aggression. Perhaps, the imperialists will be happy to learn that we must make these efforts and use our resources for this, since it could affect our social and economic development. True, it would be better to use these forces, machines, cement, and steel in other activities. However, the figures I gave you and the success achieved in Cienfuegos and throughout the country prove our people's capacity to fulfill their tasks and meet their obligations. Despite this, as I pointed out, we have experienced great success and we are in a privileged position regarding Latin America. The party and the people have fulfilled their duty. The Sixth and Eighth Plenums of the the Central Committee and the measures issued by the Executive Committee have promoted all activities. Thus, we have been able to have both production and defense. This will allow you to understand the reason for our strength; above all, our enemies should understand this regarding the mass forces and the political forces we have developed. Today our country's Armed Forces are experienced and inured to war preparations. Our country also has a party with 482,000 militants and aspirants. [applause] The [communist] youth have 588,000 militants. [applause] There are 2,666,000 workers who are members of the Central Organization of Cuban Trade Unions, CTC. [applause] The Federation of Cuban Women, FMC, has 2,692,000 members. [applause] The National Association of Small Farmers, ANAP, has 201,000 peasant members. [applause] The Committee for the Defense of the Revolution, CDR has 6,100,000 members. [applause] Half a million students... [starts sentence again, apparently correcting himself] Four hundred fifty thousand senior high school and university students are members of Federation of Mid-Level School Students, FEEM, and Federation of University Students, FEU. [applause] There are 1,889,000 pioneer's [members of the Organization of Jose Marti Pioneers] [applause] Our people are organized. This represents a great strength. Only a socialist revolution, where all the means of production belong to the people, where all the social service centers belong to the people and can be put at the disposal of development or at the disposal of defense efforts, only a socialist revolution having the full support of the people and fully identified and united with the people, is capable of creating the defensive potential our country has today. [applause] This should not be underestimated. We have a political culture and a revolutionary awareness that we did not have before. Everything that I have just mentioned did not exist before the revolution. It did not exist when we were struggling for liberation. This has been developed with the revolution. We have a profound internationalist awareness. Hundreds of thousands of our fellow countrymen have fulfilled internationalist missions. These are not just words. They are our combatants, our doctors, our construction workers, our teachers. There is no task, there is no mission that our people cannot accomplish regardless of how difficult the task might be. This is the spirit with which our people have been educated and with which they have been forged. [applause] We have very sacred things to be defended: our work, what we have done, our future. We have a life that is very different from the life of other people of this hemisphere who still live in the past -- in what for us is past but for them is current. Who can make us return to the past? We have things that are more valuable and sacred than our own lives because the revolution -- the dignity and justice that it has brought us -- is our life. [applause] On a day like today we must remember those who died to make our present possible. We remember those who fell in Moncada and Bayamo. We remember those who fell on 5 September [year not given], those.who fell fighting the bandits in Escambray and in the sands of Giron [applause], those who sacrificed themselves, anonymously on some occasions, struggling against enemy agents. We remember those who have gloriously and heroically died on internationalist missions. [applause] And remembering this, I dare say that those who have fallen would be proud of the extraordinary transformation that has taken place in our fatherland. They would be proud of this impressive and undestructible work because it has not only been done with the material wealth and assets we have created, but also with the awareness and values that have grown in the mind and heart of an entire nation. [applause] They would be proud of the work of the revolution and we are sure that we know how to keep it moving forward and that we know how to defend it with our last breath, with our last drop of blood. Fatherland or death! We will win! -END-