-DATE-
19850117
-YEAR-
1985
-DOCUMENT_TYPE-
SPEECH
-AUTHOR-
F. CASTRO
-HEADLINE-
CASTOR DELIVERS SPEECH AT ECONOMIC MEETING
-PLACE-
HAVANA'S PALACE OF CONVENTIONS
-SOURCE-
HAVANA TELEVISION SVC
-REPORT_NBR-
FBIS
-REPORT_DATE-
19850123
-TEXT-
CASTRO DELIVERS SPEECH AT ECONOMIC MEETING

FL170348 Havana Television Service in Spanish 0130 GMT 17 Jan 85

[Speech by President Fidel Castro at a party meeting on economic
efficiency, held at Havana's Palace of Conventions on 15 January --
recorded]

[Text] Comrades: As Manolo Ortega said, and he said it very well: I am
going to say a few brief words. I believe that in recent days, I have
spoken quite a bit, and I have given quite a lot of work to the newspapers
and television, to the party members, to the students, to the study groups,
[laughter] to the party nucleus, and I do not want to give them more work,
especially in the middle of January, when we have to intensify our efforts
to put into practice everything we have agreed upon.

This activity concerning economic efficiency units, of the budgeted units,
seems to me to have great importance. I recall well that since we agreed
upon a system of management and planning of the economy, I was always very
concerned about the idea of setting up control mechanisms and mechanisms
for efficiency in productive activities, which was very important.
Nevertheless there were hardly any mechanisms that could provide control
and efficiency in savings and budgeted activities. And I thought, we can be
successful in this economic effort, which is related to productive
activities and all that we earn or save on the one hand, we waste, we turn
around and squander on budgeted activities. It is for that reason and in
appreciation of the result of the national meeting on productive
activities, which took place last year, that I proposed, following the same
criteria, that a meeting be organized to deal with budgeted activities, to
analyze, consider, and study what we were doing, how we were doing it, and
what problems we were having, and how we could overcome them. It is for
that reason that this meeting is taking place.

It has been important since that time, but if we take into account the
enormous effort, or should I say the revolution, that has taken place in
the last 2 months, and especially during the month of December regarding
our concepts of how we should work, in what way, in what direction, in
regard to the economy, then this meeting becomes even more important
because it has been held at the opportune time.

That is, this meeting has taken place at the most opportune time. There was
an enormous advance during the year 1984 in the area of defense. During the
year 1985, we must continue to consolidate this advance. But at the same
time, we must put in practice everything we have agreed upon.

Of course, the best fruits of these ideas and of these agreements will be
seen in 1986, especially in things related to the preparation of the
budget. Many of these fruits could be attained this year if we completed
everything in the area of controlling expenses, and overcame many of the
problems that were identified there.

And certainly there is a series of points of reference that have been
placed along the way in this process. Very important. I, unfortunately, was
not able to be present, as I would like to have been, for all of this
national meeting because of a series of obligations during the past few
days. Therefore, I asked Comrade Machadito [Jose Ramon Machado Ventura] to
make the concluding, speech. I promised him that I would say a few words.
They have already sent me some materials and they also sent me some
yesterday about the discussions that went on in the committees.

I propose to reread shortly the papers I have seen and to read the ones I
have not seen. That is, although I think the reports or recommendations as
you call them -- I call them reports -- deal with things we have to put
into practice.

I intend to read them and study them well because at first glance, what can
we do with such a large quantity of material? There is a large quantity of
interesting and important things. Many of them seem repetitious on controls
-- the problems of diet, for example, appears in almost all areas, in
education, in health, in sports, in culture. The lack of norms for
spending, uniform norms, also comes out in almost all the discussions.
Carelessness or deficiencies with equipment in repairs, and so on, and
problems related to expenses for materials, of payrolls and contracts also
are mentioned.

For instance, the well-known Saturday, when we exchange one day for
another. Supposedly we had made advances, by saving transportation and
resources, and it really should be that way. But, apparently many people
believe in and many managers permit a system where one Saturday is free and
the next one almost free. We know that the party made a study of the free
Saturdays and visited many places, production and service centers, and
studied how many people were unjustifiably absent. In this way they could
analyze how many justified absences there were, which were really
justified, without overlooking the number and percent of absences. There
was a great variety of causes for the absences but there were also those
that were working.

When they studied their data, much of it did not have any content, many
were doing something else, or talking about that problem. It was an
interesting study. It was done in a part of Havana in the production and
services sector.

We cannot allow this type of thing. It is a matter of morals, of
revolutionary dignity, of discipline, and the basic concept of meeting our
responsibilities.

It is clear that if this was done on a Thursday there would not be such a
high absence rate, but there would be low productivity, loss of time, and
many other problems which are in no way related to free Saturdays, but have
to do with method, concept, custom, and practice; which I have been
thinking about and which must be dealt with more effectively.

As I said at the end of the National Assembly of People's Government [ANPP]
meeting, although the main stress was on conserving fuels and raw
materials, I also mentioned the problem of human resources. I said it was
not very urgent, that the other problem had priority -- matters of
investment, priorities, and all that we were going to do in this area,
which could be put immediately into practice. But, this area of human
resources was a matter of years. We had to do it, we did not want to leave
anyone without a job. It is not a matter that as of now we go in a
precipitated way to find anyone left over in any place, because I believe
that many people could be found. We are not interested in doing that. I
want to do this over a period of time, to optimize, rationalize, and use
human resources in the proper manner.

You comrades and organs have made several studies and have come out with
some conclusions. For example, there was a large amount of data, supposedly
useful and necessary data, but that was hardly ever used, and when it was
going to be used, it could not be found. The data was looked for throughout
a building and could not be found, even though there were a number of
people involved in this activity.

I am convinced that we underutilize human resources, we waste them, and
this is a basic resource. This is what produces the riches in the country
and performs all the services within it. This resource is perhaps more
important than money. It is more important than materials, because without
work there isn't any money, or materials, or production, or anything.

We have wasted this resource a little. In a certain way this influence came
about when the revolution triumphed because there were large numbers of
unemployed in the country, hundreds of thousands; it was a great pressure.
I remember in the beginning there was great pressure from the people for
employment. Until there came a time when there was a shortage of people in
many activities.

Although there was a lack of workers due to a good measure to workers not
being used in the right way. we had made an error by using incorrect
methods, which we have studied on other occasions. For example, the same
pay was given to a laborer who carried 2 tons as the one who carried 10.
There were always many workers, but not a maximum effort under that salary
system. Many carried more than 10 tons because of dignity or prestige, but
it just takes a small group, even a minority, who are not motivated by that
same interest, enthusiasm, or sense of responsibility, and the result was
that there were not enough men to load and unload the ships. In the same
way, there were not enough tractors, to prepare all the land which needed
tractors. There were not enough trucks or truck drivers. This brought about
large expenses.

The necessary men were assigned to ports, and tractors, trucks, and so on.
This was added to a sugarcane productivity increase which, by the way, was
the only area where this form of pay was not applied. There, payment was
based on amount of arrobas cut. But with mechanization, a better
organization and a considerable reduction of the labor force used in
harvest activities become a reality.

For example, if in 1970, 350,000 sugarcane cutters were needed -- this is
how many were needed any year for a 6 million-ton harvest -- and Camaguey
alone needed 70,000 or 80,000 cutters, if I recall correctly, when it was a
province before it became an administrative political organization. Tens of
thousands of workers from the entire country had to go to Camaguey. From
Havana's industries, students, soldiers from the Labor Youth
army...[sentence incomplete] They are getting to the point now that
province can take care of the harvest with its own resources. In other
words, a reduction from 350,000 to less than 80,000 has been effected. It
has almost been reduced, because I say 80,000 but it is a little less. The
amount of sugarcane cutters used in the harvest has been reduced by almost
20 percent.

The mechanization level and productivity attained in that activity is less
than 80,000 for the 8-million-ton sugar harvest.

This had freed almost 270,000 cane cutters. The living and working
conditions of those doing that task had to be improved. Those recording the
highest productivity were used, giving them a higher income, because later
there appeared the branch coefficient [coeficiente ramal] in the sugar
industry, which we created because, logically, that production has a very
important place in the country. These areas were the ones which gave us the
most headaches.

All that in the past was easy, because it organized itself without our
providing transportation, shelter, dining rooms, because the cane cutters
used to take their lunch bag consisting of a piece of bread and guava. They
carried room temperature water, it was not cold. They did not have special
shoes to cut cane which protected them from accidents, or special clothing,
which we have provided in the past few years. At that time none of that
existed.

Now, imagine dining rooms for 350,000 cane cutters as well as
transportation, clothing, and boots for 350,000, and of much better
quality. It freed, as I said, around 270,000 cane cutters who are working
in other areas of agriculture, construction, or industry, That even made it
possible for us to agree to a very old demand of the sugarcane workers,
which is the creation of the fourth brigade. or shift, because when the
harvest began they had no time for rest. They did not have Saturdays nor
Sundays off either, and the harvest lasted longer. It began in November and
ended in May.

That meant using more workers in industries. We did something, we saved
workers from here and eased the working conditions of the sugar industry
workers. There were 10,000 or 12,000, I do not remember the exact amount, a
great amount. A fourth brigade or shift means a fourth more workers. The
number of management workers who worked during the day need not be
increased much.

But they were doing good, in other words, they were facilitating the rest
for all cane workers which they did not have during the harvest.

The work force was increased in that way, the agroindustrial complexes were
created, and a larger work force was available. Everything possible was
done to attain stability in the sugar industry. We are trying to have
workers capable of working all year long on one or another machine, making
repairs, in construction. The capitalism principle is not applied, that is
when the harvest finishes, 60 or 40 percent of the workers are laid off.
Some of the workers are under contract, but it is a percentage which does
not affect the stability of the work force.

When this occurs, when this is worked out like this, the importance of the
industry is taken into consideration by making a good evaluation of that
force, because it can be improved, can improve its evaluation. Something
useful is being done. That work force is not wasted. It is a different
problem than the one I was referring to when I was talking about the waste
of human resources.

There are also other activities which appear to be wastefulness and are not
so. Let me give you some examples in educational activities. At one point
it appeared we had the right amount of teachers. I told the ministry: Now
you should create a reserve of teachers. The objective of that reserve of
teachers was not to have more teachers than needed, not to reduce the work
teachers were doing; it had another objective. It was to allow the
possibility of improving teachers. When the new primary and secondary
schools were built, even at a time coinciding with the demographic
explosion when the number of school-age children increased extraordinarily,
it was necessary to utilize other workers as teachers.

This was due to delays in the training of teachers because of some too
rigid and dogmatic ideas we had. It was my idea, faced with the problem of
the first years of the revolution when there were 10,000 unemployed
teachers, we could not get teachers to go to the mountains and countryside.
We had to train teachers in the countryside and mountains. We made an
effort in that direction. At the beginning, virtually thousands began
training and thousands graduated. We had two schools, the one in Minas del
Frio part of the time, and the one which today is the City of Pioneers. Of
course, before they were smaller but thousands were studying there.

Of course, before it was smaller but there were thousands of students. It
took us a while to achieve the necessary pace; we could not satisfy the
needs of education. It was impossible. It became necessary to give up that
idea, apparently good, which in reality could not solve the problem. When
we realized that, we decided to create the schools for primary
schoolteachers in practically every province.

Many times it happens that something is solved one way. However, no matter
how good the intentions, it is not the adequate way and there are others
available. At the beginning, our situation with the youth was not the same
as 8 or 10 years later. The awareness, the political level as well as the
educational level of the youth, had improved. During the first few years,
there were not many sixth grade graduates. Then we went through the phase
when the graduates from pre-university schools were few. There was a year,
I cannot remember if it was in 1962 or 1963, when the graduates from
preuniversity schools totaled 1,500, perhaps less than 1,000 in a year.

In reality, as a result of initial efforts, the literacy drive, classrooms,
and others continued to produce changes in our youth. The source for
selecting youths to send to teacher training schools was growing. We
applied the formula of schools per province -- it was not a case of just
schools for the Republic's capital, not one or another extreme. Thus, we
were able to solve the problem of the teachers.

But by 1970, only 30 percent of the professors had degrees, and 70 percent
were plain citizens who volunteered to teach because they had a high level
of education, or because they were students, or workers, or members of mass
organizations, or members of the Federation of Cuban Women, or members of
the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution. Every year we used to
recruit students for teacher training schools. They were taught education
methodology, in a short training course, and after that they began
teaching.

Only 30 percent of all professors bad degrees. We continued to advance and
now we have reached the level of 100 percent of primary schoolteachers
having degrees. At the secondary school level, not all professors have
degrees. We continue to train teachers.

Of those who began teaching in the primary schools following the triumph of
the revolution and until very recently, many had a sixth grade education
and they trained for 5 years. I believe it was 5 years training as
teachers. It was a very low level of education of very young people. As
soon as we were able -- thanks to the great number of schools, hundreds of
basic secondary schools that we built -- we selected the teachers from
ninth grade students. The level of education was raised by 3 years.

We had to improve those teachers through different means. The Education
Ministry has developed great plans for teachers. I believe no where in the
world are there programs for teachers as ambitious as the ones we have in
Cuba. That is a certainty. Improvement courses for some who finished sixth
grade, other courses for others, improvement courses for those without
degrees... [rephrases] Many of those teachers having degrees today were
among those who entered the field of education voluntarily, or those who
attended courses in education methodology and later continued to study.

The same effort was made with secondary-level professors. The pedagogic
detachment was made up of ninth-grade students. As soon as we were able to
do it, we replaced them with pre-university students, the 12th grade. Those
replaced by the 12th graders continued to be trained by attending
university courses over a period of years -- we have attended many
graduations of part-time students -- and they returned to teaching after
getting a certificate. After that, they had to study 2 more years. Many
times I ran into the same students twice, in two graduations. When they
finished training as teachers, and later on after completing other studies,
they graduated. All three types of teachers would come together, those who
entered from ninth grade, those who had graduated-and entered from ninth
grade, and those who entered from pre-university school. Those graduations
included three categories.

In my judgment, the most important thing, the most spectacular thing about
this, is the creation of the bachelor's degree for primary education, and
the opportunities given to the teachers to improve themselves.

Among other things, this program allows for 2 years of study and work, and
those who pass the fourth year, because there are 6 years, they are able to
study the fifth and sixth year without working. They can then dedicate full
time to their studies. There are thousands and thousands who are doing
this. I understand that this year the first group will be graduating with
masters degrees in primary education. This is a colossal jump for our
country that 15 years ago had 70 percent of the certified teachers only
graduating from primary school. They bad gone from sixth grade to schools
for teachers. Today, all primary schoolteachers have degrees and we are
starting to graduate the first ones with master's degrees. And, not only
that, but in the course of 15 years, maybe slightly more, all primary
schoolteachers have had degrees in primary school education. Calculate for
yourselves the level of knowledge that can be attained by these teachers
through hard study.

It really is wonderful, but why are we able to do this? Because, we began
to do this with the reserves of teachers. We were not going to let happen
what happened to the capitalists when there was a surplus of teachers.

From one moment to another enrollment would decrease and school buildings
were empty. These buildings must be used as they are used at present. We
must now use these buildings, as they are now being used, to further train
teachers.

But, it was necessary to have a reserve. If we had not had a reserve, we
could not have sent 2,000 teachers to Nicaragua, when they asked us to. I
was recently talking about this with a delegation that was visiting us,
about the topic of teachers in Nicaragua. And, as I told the Nicaraguans,
when did we ever oppose this, about other countries sending teachers? Did
we want to have a monopoly of foreign teachers in Nicaragua, out of a sense
of pride, vanity, or vainglory? No, it was because no one was sending
teachers. Really no one could send teachers, because they did not have any
teachers to send. It is unlikely that nations which do not send teachers to
their own people, to their own countryside and mountainous areas can send
teachers to another country. Only a country that had already fulfilled its
own obligation, that had already sent teachers to every corner, could do
this, Not only could we send teachers everywhere, but trained teachers with
a different type of consciousness. We could send teachers to Nicaragua,
Angola, or any other country. Only a country that was able to provide
teachers for its own people could do this.

The others were not able to do it, But, among the teachers that they did
have, they could have sent certified teachers, with some experience, as
were our teachers. How many could they have sent? They could not send them
to Managua, to live in a costly hotel, but to the mountains. To places
where you had to travel by cart for 3 days, and by boat. To live with a
family, even if the family lived in a single room with domesticated animals
in the house. To eat what the family ate. We even wanted to help teachers,
out of fear that they would have health problems. This was impossible
because of the quantities of milk and food which would be needed. We found
out that it was not the solution to the problems, and we should have known
this. What teacher -- in a house with five children and the children cannot
drink milk for whatever reasons -- would drink milk in that house? It is
inconceivable that one of our teachers would do this, he would immediately
distribute the food.

But, I was mentioning some other countries. How many teachers could these
send? I remember that when we asked for volunteers, 29,000 volunteered to
go. And, when the first teachers were assassinated, I remember that at the
last Cuban Union of Young Communist [UJC] meeting, I received the
signatures of nearly 100,000 teachers who had volunteered. We had as many
as we needed, above all was the spirit of our teachers.

This goes to show once again that a teacher who is able to go to the
mountains does not have to study in the mountains. It is more of a question
of conscience. Our party was able to educate these youths with a
revolutionary and internationalist consciousness. Our teachers not only go
to Baracoa now, but to Angola and to the Most isolated mountains in
Nicaragua, anywhere. It was good to have that reserve of teachers.

Another problem arises also in some areas, such as in physics, chemistry,
and mathematics, which are basic sciences. Our people and youths greatly
enjoy music. That is very good, but they do not like physics, chemistry, or
mathematics, at least they have not shown that they do, and several
requests have been made. We have seen students enter the majors of music,
literature, and history, which we do not scorn or anything, especially
literature and history, but we cannot live just by literature or history
without engineers and technicians, who are so badly needed for a modern
industry, We cannot develop the country's economy without them. The majors
of physics, chemistry, and mathematics are not easy, and are not just
needed in industry but in medicine and biochemistry. We need this. Students
need to know chemistry, physics, and mathematics.

I know several imminent scientists who studied medicine and who said that
physics had greatly helped them, especially in the study of basic sciences.

It is very important that someone be able to develop art and other things,
and not [rephrases] We had that old problem. We must have professors of
physics, chemistry, and mathematics.

The Ministry of Education (?picked) 2,500 teachers, who had graduated, and
gave them the chance to study these subjects.

The ministry told them: It is your job to study any of these subjects in
university. In that way, the reserve of teachers increased by 5,000. There
were teachers already there, recently graduated. The reserve made it
possible to send teachers to Nicaragua, send teachers to Angola, send
teachers to train as professors in important subjects. The reserve is even
good for that.

It does not bother me if the budget increases because we have increased our
teacher reserve by 2,500 or 3,000. This is reflected in the quality of
education. They are never a surplus. They are not wasting time. This is one
example of the useful utilization of human resources. There are those who
are wasting time by doing nothing. But a teacher has to study very hard,
for 8, 10, or 12 hours every day. He is doing something very useful, very
valuable. In just a few years, this will make our country an educational
superpower; that is really being a superpower. These are people who would
go to Nicaragua, or anywhere and do anything if asked to. They go to the
Saliara. They go there to train the people of Western Sahara; there are
Cuban teachers there. They speak Spanish.

If they are told to go to other countries, they study the language, be it
French, English, or any other language. There are crash language courses. I
do not mean that our teachers with bachelor's degrees in primary education
are able to teach in only Spanish-speaking countries. They can do it in
other countries too, it is not impossible. Teachers with great background
knowledge, 6 years of training, are capable of going anywhere. Can we ask
for more?

In reality, are there many having this type of teacher? No, this is a very
special situation. That is not wasted money, or anything like it. Those
human resources are not poorly used, but used in the best way possible. We
will also have the same situation with physicians sometime in the future.

As soon as we have a certain number of physicians, I believe it will be
somewhere around 65,000, perhaps we will need 10,000 more to give them an
opportunity to train, to take refresher courses after 7 years of work. We
take into consideration that this is a science that is rapidly developing,
extremely rapidly. We transform that group, those human resources into
better quality. That type of increase in the health sector does not bother
us. Besides, we need the improvement because at times we are asked to
supply 200, 500, or 800 physicians. There have been times when we have had
to supply them and had to ask the rest of the physicians to work harder.

That is nothing. It is a demonstration of the plans, it does not mean we
are bogged down, but rather we have improved in quality. We are going to
graduate, it is necessary to repeat it, I tell many visitors...[sentence
incomplete] All eyes are directed toward us. We had 6,000 and now we have
20,500. That has been the result of 15 years; 20,500. Well, let me tell you
that in the next 15 years we will have 50,000. That figure astonished many
people. They hear about the community doctor, the family doctor, the doctor
in the school, the doctor in the factory. They ask: How many physicians per
inhabitant? Last year we had 250 or so. That was in 1983, in 1983 we had
one for every 486 inhabitants. In 1985 -- 2,400 or 2,500 graduate, which
are important figures -- there will be one for every 445 [inhabitants].

The numbers mean nothing, it is the concept. In reality, it does not mean
anything, because it does not tell what type of medical care is provided.
Each of our citizens amounts to three citizens, because the citizen has a
doctor in the factory for any kind of problem.

[Unreadable text] has a doctor right there, the worker feels safer. If that
worker is at home, his family is at home, they also have the doctor there.
But this is not a doctor they have to visit to receive attention, the
doctor comes to the house. If it is a problem of depression, of diabetes,
or a cardiac nature, then the doctor knows he has to go see him. They get
accustomed to this service. This is totally new in medical care. It is new,
nothing like this exists any where else; it is totally new.

It is something like a health guardian. All families everywhere have
welcomed the service. Youngsters admire the services they receive. In
recent days we invited the who director to visit Cuba, and he talked with
the doctors. He was really impressed by the doctors' qualifications, their
work. This is something that was of great concern to families, the
increasingly growing distance between the doctor and the citizen.

Many people in CEMA member countries have shown great interest and have
asked Cuba to chair all activities dealing with medical services in the
community.

The WHO has shown great interest. There is relatively little experience in
this area, and there are more than 230 young doctors. There will be 500
doctors studying this specialty next year, but there are now doctors in the
mountainous reasons, almost 30 doctors in one area. We must see what
happens, because the situation is not the same. If a person lives in a
place which requires him to travel 4 hours and so many kilometers to reach
a clinic then that doctor has a different set of functions, because a
clinic around here might be 10 blocks away. Urgent cases can be resolved
there as far as prescribing medicine is concerned. There is nothing like
that in some places. Supposedly, the person who lives in a mountainous area
must then go to the clinic for a checkup. There was nothing else to do.
That is why we have had such great pressures on this. [as heard]

With a minimum of 140, they cannot (?build) a clinic, a miracle has
occurred. [as heard] They may give him an injection, but at least the
doctor is there, and this greatly increases the sense of security.

There are now doctors in cooperatives, schools, and in the factories,
because that is the concept. The citizen should receive care wherever he
may be. If the person is at a camping area, he should have a doctor there.
If he is at a hotel taking a vacation, he should have a doctor there too.
If he is on a boat or ship traveling to Japan, he will then have someone
there who knows about medicine. That is to say, our citizens can count on a
doctor, because this has to be multiplied. [as heard] Children are at
schools, doctors are then needed there too. Or, the child is at home, where
a doctor is also needed. Wherever the citizen happens to be, then a doctor
is needed at that place. The thing is not to have some 250 or 300 doctors,
but to have those who study medicine ready to care for the citizens, to
preserve and look after the citizens health, wherever the person may be.

That is really a very revolutionary concept, which can only happen in a
socialist country. I am sure that the socialist countries will apply this,
because they want to apply it.

A government in a capitalist country to apply this concept [word
indistinct], but not because of that. I know cases of industrialized
countries where the minister [in government] only several months in office,
after proposing several small reforms, has already created egoism and
tremendous competition among the doctors. This should not happen. Our
doctors also go anywhere. It's not that those 3,000 or 21,500 go, against
3,000 or 6,000, but that there is also a tremendous change in the quality
of the doctors. We see excellent possibilities in this, if we have a
reserve of 10,000 doctors in the year 2002, or 2003, or perhaps before. I
am talking about 50,000 doctors, and these figures are very conservative.

Some 5,000 students might enroll but they are superior students. The group
reflects a better selection of students, more disciplined, with a greater
effort put into their training with higher expectations held for them, and
taking more rigorous exams without the problem of books, and the result is
that quality has increased, in spite of more rigorous exams. There is now
greater dedication in preparing students at the preuniversities and finding
out about their expectations, and the problems they might find when they
enter one of these fields. It is a very large leap. The logical outcome is
that quality will increase. All this has been calculated, using somewhat
conservative figures,. and quality has ensued.

Before, 1,000 students would enroll and 500 would graduate. We had 4,000
medical students, and 2,000 graduated. It was a natural selection. We must
make this selection before this stage to see if the students have the
vocation, experience, attitude, and quality. If we create a program of this
type, and I repeat, with a reserve of doctors in order for the other ones
to study, our economic and human resources will not be badly invested,
which is excellent.

We are now going to do what I said about using human resources in a useful,
rational, and optimum way. Right now we have the reverse of this. Many of
those who were in the program, perhaps half of those doctors, are women.
They go to work in those places with one nurse. When we have 40,000 persons
working in that activity, 30,000 will be women. We are not taking them away
from mining or the merchant marines, but from the work force. What we
should be doing is increasing the number of working women, to participate
in production and services, because we have a real force in the women --
not in Havana, but in other provinces. A force which we should be training,
except for a greater proportion of women in this activity. [as heard]

Another interesting fact is that 60 percent of university students are
women. Women now hold first place in the country's technical force, a
sector which includes a large number of nurses, teachers, and all of those
types of work. This is a good use of human and budget resources, but this
takes time. The people will have to be transferred.

I said on the 29th, at the ANPP meeting, that instead of having some man or
woman doing nothing, it would be better if that person was doing something
in the community, working for the health of the population as a doctor, but
that is not achieved from one day to another. One does not go and take
someone out of an office or some other activities where he is superfluous
and send him out to be a doctor.

The problem is a little more urgent in the capital, where it has been shown
that we lack strength. I am sure we would not lack it if we rationalized
resources. After this project, perhaps, we should not begin with Cralima
Province, although it should not be permitted the luxury of remaining
indifferent to the problem.

But logically, in the capital of the Republic, it is more necessary because
there are activities which are affected by the lack of personnel -- all the
construction projects and many others. Also in the capital of the Republic,
for example, the defense requirements are greater. And resources in that
area -- more work, more service -- will be noticeable, human
resources...[sentence incomplete]

It is necessary to rationalize, of course, first, and to optimize, the use
of human resources, to conserve them. This understood, it is necessary to
dig in and stop that problem from continuing. This is an old problem, of
course, and as we have said, we came from being a country with high
unemployment, in which only the sugar harvest was organized and people had
to run here and there to work. All this brought problems, because the
factories where management knew that they had to mobilize volunteers for
the sugar harvest and for other purposes and tried to guarantee themselves
extra personnel. They would say: I need 10 plus 20 percent.

The other one would say: Because I have so many women working and so many
problems, I need 10 and some extra in view of health problems. Children are
also subjected to discrimination.

For example, the factory administrator tells a woman: I need a man for this
job. It is necessary to struggle with this problem. There is freedom to
enter into contractual agreements; there can be freedom to make contracts
but what cannot be free is the consciousness of a revolutionary cadre, of a
party member or an administrator. I know that although there is freedom to
make contracts, other circumstances being equal, the administrator does not
have the moral freedom to say: I prefer a man just because he is a man.

Besides the institution of laws, the role of the party must be considered,
as the conscience of society. The struggle for all of this...[sentence
incomplete]

The people were seeking a prescription. This also helped, the
underutilization of human resources. [as heard] It was a reserve that was
being conserved. When the micro-brigades came into being, this reserve was
discovered. Immediately micro-brigade members appeared. This, along with
plus-work [one-worker is pulled out of a job to work on a special project
and the remaining workers do his regular work for him]... [rephrases) Yes,
I know of industries that have done it with plus-work and they built like
crazy.

They have been awarded the status of Socialist Vanguard in metallurgy. But
many rationalized very little and they created their brigades. Others
rationalized a little and did not use plus-work. The ones who did practice
plus-work were those of the brigade. I recall that they worked 10 hours or
12 with plus-work.

This situation influenced other managers but it also exerted an influence
on superficiality, the lack of controls, the lack of economic awareness,
the absence of an economic system to assist the controls -- all this was
influenced. Our spirit of solidarity with the others also exerted
influence. But it is necessary to make good use [of resources]

One should not practice solidarity with something that is bad, which
affects society and affects the country's economy. Our duty is to practice
solidarity to help others so that by so doing, we are helping the country
and society. Anything else is giving money away as charity. If I need 5 and
ask for 10, what purpose is it for? Whom does it benefit? It is like
charity and it gives rise to wrongdoing because those five are going to
work less.

It is counter-productive. There has also been some of that. The reduction
of productivity has been Common. It is a substantial fact throughout the
revolution.

During the capitalist period the canecutters and the cart drivers, and all
those people got up every morning and worked 12, 14, or even 15 hours.
After the revolution, they could not work under these unrealistic
conditions. With the liberation and the triumph of the revolution, the
first thing the people wanted to do was to rid themselves of the
terrible... [sentence incomplete] The economists said that this was not
appropriate. They said productivity and work levels in a less developed
country mean that it could have the same budget or work schedule as a
developed capitalist country.

Well, this is understood. It is very difficult, The people who are
victorious have their own victory but they do not yet have knowledge. It is
idealistic, it is an illusion to believe that a people can win one day and
take power and that the people will have consciousness the same day.

It would be a wonder if we could have had the knowledge and the experience
then that we have today. But we have not wasted these 26 years. This is a
very different people with much more knowledge, who can understand many
more things that the people before the revolution. I do not believe there
is a revolution anywhere in the world that wins a victory one day and
maintains the conditions that existed under capitalism.

Also if the revolution does its duty, it must teach the children because
they are the future. When a revolution such as the one in Cuba occurs,
suddenly no one has to pay for schooling, it is free. No one has to pay for
hospitals. Medical care is assured. Money begins to have a lower value
because over there [in the United States] everything is money.

In Nicaragua I talked about the value of the peso compared to the dollar.
In Madrid, a dollar probably has more value than a peso, because the peso
has no purchasing power. In Cuba, the peso has much more purchasing power
than the dollar in New York. I cited the example of the bus fares, there
perhaps you can buy two fares, here 20 fares. Many others can be cited, as
the square meter in rents, how many dollars do you need for one square
meter? or 50 square meters? It is perhaps $6 per square meter, bow much
money do you need for 50 square meters? If one is a member of a
micro-brigade with the 6 percent, chief of the group, I do not know,
perhaps 15 pesos for the square meter.

In that case our peso is worth 20 times more than the dollar. If one does
to a stadium, how does the peso compare to the dollar? The peso is
infinitely more valuable than the dollar, because it is not needed to enter
the stadium and in New York it costs $10, or $15 to enter a stadium. If one
goes to Hermanos Ameijeiras [hospital] can you imagine an Hermanos
Amijeiras in New York for surgery, or eye surgery, to solve an important
problem? We have many hospitals here, but I am citing this one which is
known internationally. How does the peso compare to the dollar in this
case?

If one goes to the university, a student on scholarship in the United
States, a 1-year scholarship could cost $6,000, $7,000 or $8,000. To tell
the truth in many cases the children receive free milk and everything in
Cuba. What a child buys in essential nourishment with a peso, cannot be
purchased in New York with a dollar.

In other words, the purchasing power of money grows so much here that it
becomes infinite. Education does not cost. Money becomes so powerful that
it becomes inefficient. In simple words, many vital problems are solved
here. I remember that in the old days, the peasant families used to have
three hens, or four, and one pig as a reserve. Those were the things he
would sell when there was a need for medicine or a doctor's appointment. He
would abstain from eating that. Because of that, all these things would
make their way to the market.

The agrarian reform was enacted, no rent payments needed, or the hospital,
or other things, now the peasant eats all three hens. [laughter] The pig
does not get to the market. These are realities. That is the revolution.
Are we going to lot someone die because he or she has no money? Or in the
case of a problem to save that person's eyesight because if we have to send
him or her to another country, it would probably cost 10,000 pesos. Are we
going to let that person go blind? Can you imagine a revolution that would
let that happen? It would go against all principles of a revolution. I am
certain of that.

We are correct in education, health, and other things. The same is the case
with the agrarian reform, including the reduction of rents. This was a
great battle, and the people joined us, a nation which did not want to hear
about socialism. What is wrong with that?

That was bad, because it was what one could read in the DIARIO DE LA
MARINA. MUNDO [old Cuban newspapers prior to revolution] press, radio,
television, movie theaters every day. They were crazy.

I used to say if socialism agrees that the agrarian reform, rent law,
electricity tariff -- we reduced it -- are correct... [sentence incomplete]
The electricity tariff used to stimulate consumption. Now it is linear. In
the old days those who used 50 kw had to pay a lot, an,d everything above
the 50 kw was still more expensive, the expense was stimulated. You
understood what I said, did you not? The more you used, the more you paid.
If you did not understand it, you could not explain it.

We enacted those measures then, laws needed by the people to struggle
against their historic exploiters. The people's struggle against foreign
exploitation; the people's struggle against the corporation, against
humiliation, against lack of protection. For the first time in history, the
people agreed to struggle. That is why revolutions are so strong. The
state, government, everything is at the service of the people, of the
oppressed, of the poor. I have always said that the revolution is very
strong. It cannot fail. If things are done the way they should be done, the
revolutions are invincible. But if they make 10 million mistakes and do not
correct them -- mistakes can be made so long as they are corrected as
rapidly as possible -- what is bad is making them and not correcting them.

For that reason, the revolutions are tremendously strong, they break all
chains. The chains can be broken, but the consciousness is not forged. It
is very difficult, it takes steps. At the time not much thought was given
to the economy. The revolutions know how to end exploitation, dictatorship
which is a tool of exploitation, and then struggle and survive.

I said that money began to have a value for the people. Even that, those
who worked 14 hours because the son was dying, or that he might die because
of lack of medicines. A cart driver would say: I am starving, but if I die,
what would my retirement be? How much was the pension of a cart driver? I
knew many at the time the revolution triumphed that used to get 6 pesos a
month, can that be called a pension? It was a retirement out of this world,
it was sending him away from earth, can you imagine 6 pesos? Have found
many pensions amounting to 6 pesos. These were increased to 60. The people
saved some money. This was a tremendous encouragement for people to work.
Money ceased to be a,necessity for many reasons. To work so many hours has
to be a necessity. To work so many hours ceased to be a necessity so that
the person could survive.

Capitalism has always functioned with its little reserve, or big reserve.
We observe that each one of them does, the capitalists, industrialists,
invent here or there, but capitalism cannot work without the reserve. It
could not work without that pressure, without those needs, without that
total dependence on salary for everything. That exploiting system forces
people to work. It is not only the police who force, but a number of strong
pressures.

So, it needs that reserve to compete, so that the people be disciplined, so
that they may appreciate work. But there is no competition, there is a job
here, there, or anywhere. Another element for stability that disappears.
But those are the problems of socialism, it influences in one way or
another.

These are situations we have to overcome. Needless to say, we are
socialists. This is ways the case. [He asks someone to approach and
continues talking] We have enjoyed the first years but it is also possible
in recent times, especially these times.

Also, that heritage brings the heritage, the new situation, and other
factors. provokes a total economic carelessness. I talked about this at the
National Assembly.

I need so many of schools, or so many other things. I am going to repeat
this so you will not think I am against schools, 10, 15, 20 million more,
whatever. I need aqueducts, sewers, streets repaired, sidewalks, lights...
People say they need more, to send money. How can this be? Around 500 years
without sewers, that had to be solved. The people's government was elected
there. The elected district delegate reports but he is also forced to
report. Look at this hole! The hole is not right, but there is no sewer
there. He goes to the Assembly and the Assembly requests -- is there a
need? Yes.

I am reviewing the expense records of community services. It is amazing.
Between 1981 and 1983 -- you saw them also, didn't you? Did you not notice
by any chance I read it very fast so I do not know if I am mistaken -- but
I think it said they grew at a 25 percent annual rate. What a rate! I ask
myself if the economy grew at that rate. The community expenses, all the
holes, all the streets, all the sewers are there, pressuring for more
money. Bring more money because I am going to solve this problem. I am a
faithful servant of the community which has elected me and has made me
responsible.

I am not against that. No, let him fight for his community to the end. He
can try to solve all the problems in one way or another. But I want him to
understand that if he does not get everything he asked for just because he
asked for it... [sentence incomplete] Until now, what has happened?
Everyone asked and all will continue to do it. Money, here it goes. And a
budget was made, it was believed the budget controlled a little. When there
was no budget and after the budget, it was almost the same. The only thing
we did not know was how much was spent. We did not know it before. The
budget was established during that phase and it was a great thing. We knew
how much each spent.

But that did not have an impact on saving what was being spent because he
kept asking for more, and he kept receiving. The budget was no restriction.
Maybe a little, a little shame, embarrassment, look it is a lot of money.
The budget may have had a little influence. But the old mentality I
explained continued.

There was a divorce between what I need and what I produce, No one may ask
for just anything. As I said, how much did the sugar production increase?
And such exports? How many more resources? Because you cannot invest what
you do not have.

I have already explained this enough, what were the factors. I already
explained the miracle, the miracle of doing that. The miracle of Alladin's
lamp, do you not understand? Do you know what Alladin's lamp is? [laughter]
Everyone knows. It is a little lamp that you ask for everything, without
limits.

That metality was a reality among our cadres and everybody. We should be
aware of that. It needs to be overcome as part of a phase. I consider it as
something which passed. I consider it passed because I am sure you and we
and all of us are going to apply this policy that has been proposed. The
only wise, intelligence, revolutionary thing which can be done.

You have discussed many ideas and proposals. I think it is right. We have
to continue deepening. We have to apply all these criteria. I already
explained how 650 million had been requested above what had been spent.
There is a foreign press report which figured the growth above the approved
budget.

[Unreadable text] reality, if we compare the proposal to what was spent, it
was 650 million over what was spent in 1984, above the 1984 approved
budget. What was spent was more than what was approved. It was 650 over
what was approved. So the analysis of the revolution, we have already
explained, amounted to 240.

When the presidents of the people's government came here and saw this plan
which had been elaborated, they were surprised. They believed, as perhaps
many people did, that they could not even fill one more hole with the
amount of resources they had, after already filling up a lot of holes with
what they were spending. This means that nothing was taken away from them
that was already spent in 1984, and 240 million more was given to all of
them. Of course this expense is unavoidable if we are to graduate 2,400
doctors in September, this will give us some 5 million more per year, not
in 3 months -- perhaps around 1 million in one month, but not all at once.

If some teachers graduate, some activities must necessarily grow, some 240
million more is extraordinary. Already there was so much spending that if
nothing more was given them, nothing would be resolved. They continued
resolving many problems because they were already being resolved. If the
expense grew by 25 percent, nobody was telling them that they would then
receive 20 percent less, but it was maintained and there was an increase if
this was necessary. I am sure that by 1986 we can do much better. Now we
start to get more out of the work, much more. The economic plan will be
much better because some things are already predetermined and set. With
conscious care, as I said, we will begin to get more work out of the
people, but we must put more into it. So that if they are 10 workers, this
number must not be increased to 11. And, if there is a change in the work
status and there could be a savings on the personnel list, we must then
save. Nobody will be dismissed, but there will be a type of movement. As I
have said, everyone appreciates not having unemployment. Everyone knows
that if he is not employed in one area he will be in another. Therefore, a
certain movement, which is not good, because an excessive movement of
personnel does not help the economy. When I expect a personnel list, I will
reduce it. [as heard]

We must give more study to this because we can invent many things. I
invented some, but not all of them. Of course there have been many
inventors, I am mainly making note of the errors, but there were many
inventors.

I do not know where the philosophy of suppressing multi-work came from, it
is a genius invention. I have not seen it under capitalism, or in the works
of Marx, Lenin, or Engels, or anywhere. That must have come from some new
philosopher. Maybe we should make a study of where it came from as well as
the idea to sustain it. I don't know. Maybe unemployment was behind this.
Maybe the person who did the study found so much unemployment that no labor
union wanted a multi-work idea. Maybe multi-work completely failed under
capitalistic conditions. I am not saying that it did, I am simply
speculating.

Now try to imagine the work content. That is the problem. How can one fit
each job with its content in a exact mathematical manner? Not even
Capablanco playing chess could do that. [laughter]

Several things have happened to me on various occasions, such as the great
battle. I don't know if I have told that one publicly, but in private I
have told that story many times, at parties. It's about the new hospital in
Cienfuegos. I visited it when it was under construction, almost completed,
and being inaugurated. There must be a comrade out there, because later
they brought him to the director and we discussed the personnel list in a
gentlemanly and amicable manner. I have discussed the problem of
[Unreadable text] rational use of resources for 26 years now, and the
personnel lists were inflated.

This has been discussed everywhere. They [the workers] would say that
Machadito has been helping me a little on this problem recently, for
example, at the pioneers city or at such and such a school or such and such
a worksite. He also has alot to do with many activities such as secretary
of various groups and mass organizations which take up a lot of time. I
have always been convinced that this is bad, because our human resources do
not call for this. What must be done is invent things which will lead to
the correct and useful utilization of these human resources. The other side
of this brings about vices of all kinds, such as over spending, people not
carrying about economic matters, not- budgeting, working less, disparaging
people, and talking too much, this is in certain areas.

It is more difficult to do this in certain areas. I have seen workers at
the Antillean Steelworks and other places working under those conditions.
The machinest working with machines and the wall builder next to his
plaster, with machines everywhere, and here this is very difficult to do.
But, there are other activities which are not of that type, and they are
the ones which run more risk of these things happening. The lathe does not
allow this to happen, but the typewriter can, perfectly well, without any
catastrophy happening. It could even mean a material savings. [Castro and
audience laugh] If I take into account the amount of paper.

To continue, in that eternal battle I asked, both the director and I made a
solemn promise, better said he made it, because I just believed in the
promise, of 900 workers, (?600) beds, a large hospital, very efficient, and
built in a rationalized manner. It is not like the Calixto Garcia with one
building here and another one over there, but is a monolith-like hospital
in block style.

Some time went by, and I said, well, let's go see the hospital, to see how
it turned out. I asked how many workers the Cienfuegos hospital had, 2
years had passed by then, and they told me that the Cienfuegos hospital was
large, and that it had some 1,200 workers. I said that was a betrayal.
[laughter] What has the Cienfuegos hospital done to me? That is not right.

They wanted to bring the comrade out, who they liked a lot. No, I said, I
oppose that change. We must see what has taken place there. I then went to
the state committee -- or what is the name of your ministry, they changed
the name, it is now called the state committee of labor and social security
-- we changed the name, they said. It is not a bad ministry and it does
have a competent director. But, what happened? You have spent many years,
at least several years.

At least several years training specialists, efficiency experts -- when I
hear about an efficiency expert school I say, how wonderful. And I say,
they may be the ones to save us, the ones to help us find out what a
factory, a hospital needs. Then I say, choose the better skilled and more
competent ones and send them to Cienfuegos. Let's see what happened with
that hospital that [words indistinct]. And with great enthusiasm the
efficiency experts went there. They worked, I do not know if it was for a
week, 10 or 15 days. They studied each thing, each window, each square
meter, each mosaic, what the kitchen had, everything that had to be done
there. It is the most complete and comprehensive efficiency project ever
done. I was waiting anxiously [laughter] and hopeful [laughter] for the
results of that project. I contacted the minister of labor and asked him
for the results. No, guess what? They need more workers. [Castro and
audience laugh] We have to increase the payroll. That was the conclusion of
all the specialists. When the Hermanos Ameijeiras was going to be
inaugurated, I was wondering, what the Hermanos Ameijeiras payroll was. It
was enormous, I do not know how much. That was during the time of the
efficiency project. I said even the Hermanos Ameijeiras will benefit from
this magnificent efficiency project we are going to do there.

Since the first thing they asked for was 3,000 or I do not how much, well,
it would not be the work of efficiency experts and I said this is it, and
later we will send the efficiency experts [Castro chuckles] to say. [Castro
and audience laugh] course, I did not ask for their cooperation. [Castro
and audience laugh]

Now we need the cooperation of philosophers. Any time we will have to ask
the philosophy faculty to make a selection within the party, the party
school, of the most brilliant professors, so they can explain this to us in
the light of Marxism-Leninism. [Castro and audience laugh] In reality, we
have to search. I believe that among many other things the non-existence of
multi-tasks results in multiplicity. Has heard -- presumably refers to lack
of workers with multi-occupational skills] When there are so many different
jobs, we do not use one worker who could perform three different tasks,
even paying him more. It is worthwhile to associate multi-tasks with more
pay. A coefficient for multitasks, a high branch coefficient [coeficiente
ramal] to reward that man who is going to help us save resources. If he
does a good job there, he helps us make the factory or the hospital more
efficient. It also helps us make the experts from the ministry of labor
more efficient [Castro and audience laugh] and have fewer positions because
when we increase efficiency there will be a surplus of positions. Maybe we
will send them to take a course so they will learn more. It is possible we
have invented things which will have an effect on those people. [Castro
makes a clapping sound] Yes, sir. But it is also a pace...because if over a
period of time, you have had more than you need.... [sentence incomplete]
The intensity of the pace of work at the textile mill is set by the
machine, the spinning machine, in many activities, but there are areas
where work is not done. We could have gotten used to a much slower pace.

Maybe what I am going to say will not be welcome but some other genius must
have invented the morning and afternoon snacks. [laughter] Brilliant! He
did not take into count the elevators, stairs, the enormous multitude.
Because all that is expensive, do not think only the human resource is used
up, or economic resources. If we have twice as many workers we need twice
as much transportation, and twice as much food at the workers' cafeterias,
larger dining rooms, any way you look at it, it is really expensive. But
the snack story is known by everyone. I am not proposing anything, I am
just trying to create a little awareness on this. A lot has been talked
about but it has never been said [as heard]. We do not want to take
anything away from anyone. It is not the intention of the revolution to
bring extremes. Maybe on that, the efficiency experts cannot help us but
maybe dieticians and doctors could be saying that is bad for your health.
How many times are you going to eat in a day? They tell me, it is because
they do not eat breakfast, that is why they take the morning snack. Well,
why don't they take it before they start work? That is an idea.

But really, breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner is too much for your
health. I am telling you sincerely. [laughter] And for
esthetics...incredible. Well, it is not the cost of the snacks. It has
nothing to do with that, if there is more bread or less bread. It would be
good to save resources and to save health as well. It would be very good.
It is not the cost. And another thing. Everything gets disorganized. It is
necessary to stop everything. We all do it. In the National Assembly, when
we are meeting, after 2 hours, a recess. I agree, there is tension.
Everyone takes a break and there is disorder. But someone invented the
snack break. We should look for a historian to find out the first time and
place and who was the first person who invented the break, in order to
verify historically his contribution to Marxism-Leninsm and to the
socialist revolution. [laughter]

All this is reality and in the measure that we are capable of meditating
and discussing These topics, I believe we have made great advances. I
believe that you and the members of the party from the grass-roots level
have been analyzing everything because you better than anyone can see this
reality, to guard it and to struggle for it.

To struggle for the country and the revolution is to struggle against
irresponsibility, against superficiality, against waste, against things
that inhibit the future of our society and of our people, things that
assault our honor as revolutionaries.

One cannot be a revolutionary and be indifferent to all this. This can be
explained by a diverse body of factors which has been contributing to all
this and we should struggle each time we become aware of a problem and we
will feel better. We will feel more satisfied. We will feel prouder of our
revolution because we will know that we have accomplished it because we
believe in mankind.

The capitalists have a blind faith in selfishness, in competition, in the
struggle to the death, in the law of the jungle; socialism is based on
confidence in man, in his moral capacity, in his spirit of solidarity, in
his great potential virtue. It has been demonstrated that this is so, that
it is worthwhile to have faith in man, by the things that our people have
done.

It has been said: Go anywhere to see if capitalism produces teachers like
our teachers. [Words indistinct] the admiration of everyone. Ask yourself
if capitalism could produce those teachers, that spirit. And those doctors,
I say doctors. And those construction workers, engineers and technicians.
And those soldiers that our country has produced by the hundreds of
thousands. We could say by the millions. Go and look for them there in any
capitalist society in Latin America. If you want to measure a society,
measure it by them. If you believe that socialism is oppression, examine it
by examining them. Let them come and look at these so-called oppressed
people under socialism, and at what they are capable of doing.

With all that gloomy history that they want to tell about socialism and
communism, what does one society produce and what does the other produce?
Ok, let's measure. We will write down the numbers. Let them measure our
society against any other system that man has created. It can be
demonstrated that the law of the jungle does not produce these virtues. The
law of the jungle does not produce these doctors, teachers and soldiers. It
does not produce these tens of thousands of vanguards, who are not just the
ones who do things outside, they go to Moa, Cienfuegos. They are the ones
who, if there is a goal to be met, suspend their vacations, suspend their
Saturdays and Sundays, and suspend everything. They work 10, 12, or 14
hours a day, when it is necessary. Then it is not necessary, no one wants
to make an effort for the pleasure of it. These are the millionaire
brigades in the sugar harvest.

The law of the jungle does not produce these men or these virtues. And that
is a true, objective, historical fact that the revolution has produced
this. The law of the jungle does not produce patriots, who are ready to die
for their country. It does not mobilize millions of men and women who are
bravely ready and determined to die a thousand times before renouncing a
principle, a moral idea, or their dignity; before renouncing the marvelous
things of the revolution. The law of the jungle does not produce
internationalists or patriots. It has been objectively and irrefutably
demonstrated that the revolution, that socialism produces patriots. And it
produces internationalists. These are not theories, they are facts. They
are not things that will be seen in the future. They are being seen now. We
have obtained all this. We have achieved it.

What can we not achieve? What can the revolution not achieve? Our party and
our people have won many battles. Did we or did we not win the battle
against these irresponsibilities? Against these things? Against these
defects when we discover them?

The revolution can make mistakes but cannot be aware of mistakes, of
incorrect things deficiencies, and not overcome them. We have to be aware
of what it means that no one, neither the party, nor the union, nor mass
organizations know how much the work unit spends.

It should be the pride of workers. This is how we are using it, how we are
doing it. it was not shown there. How it was, how it will be, or the plans
were not known. Everyone should participate in that battle, in that task.
What we are not capable of asking for, we cannot receive from our workers
and people. Because if there is inability, it is not in the people. It is
in ourselves who have not understood or seen. We have not been sufficiently
capable, have not been able to foresee and be intelligent. We have not been
able to lead properly our workers who rely on us, on the party, on the
party leadership, and on the government's leadership.

I was talking about Alladin's lamp, of cadres, all asking with enthusiasm,
but there is another Alladin's lamp and that one belongs to the revolution,
which has accomplished every goal. The revolution has always received what
it has asked from the workers and people. Let us talk with all workers.

I know the assessments were critical and self-critical in all this process.
In other words, we have already begun to gain consciousness. Let us
continue the struggle. Let us get going. Let us begin to wage this other
battle.

I am absolutely convinced that we will win it.

Thank you comrades. [applause]

-END-