-DATE- 19890104 -YEAR- 1989 -DOCUMENT_TYPE- SPEECH -AUTHOR- F.CASTRO -HEADLINE- MAIN CEREMONY-30TH ANNIVERSARY OF CUBAN REVOLUT. -PLACE- HAVANA -SOURCE- HAVANA DOMESTIC RADIO -REPORT_NBR- FBIS -REPORT_DATE- 19890110 -TEXT- Castro Speaks at Main Anniversary Celebration FL0501133389 Havana Domestic Radio and Television Services in Spanish 2300 GMT 4 Jan 89 [Speech by President Fidel Castro at the main ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the triumph of the Cuban Revolution at Cuba's permanent Economic and Social Development Exhibit, EXPOCUBA, in Havana--live] [Text] Please sit down; you'll get tired like that. Distinguished guests, compatriots: I don't know what the acoustics are like here for a ceremony that is not large but where many people are seated and where the seats extend a considerable distance to the back. I don't know if the people in the back can hear well. I think they said they could, right? [crowd murmur] This may require a little patience on the part of those participating in this event who are located behind the press. You have made a sort of mural there. One can see a few dozen--or rather, a few hundred--people there [chuckles] but you can see the main platform. We hope you will remain there, in discipline, and that you will not talk a lot among yourselves. First of all, I want to thank the hundreds of hundreds of foreign visitors--although they are inappropriately called foreign visitors and it would be better to call them brothers from other countries--who have come [interrupted by applause] who have come [repeats himself] to our country to participate with us in the commemoration of this historic date and on this happy birthday, which is the 30th anniversary of the revolution. Happy does not mean that everything is done and everything is well. It means that we are happy to mark the 30th anniversary of the revolution and we feel truly grateful for your presence, because our revolution is not only our project; it is also, in large part, a result of international support and cooperation. If this pygmy that is the island of Cuba was able to confront the imperialist giant, one must say that it would not have been possible without the support of socialist countries and the progressive and democratic forces throughout the world. I am not going to make a long and interminable review of the revolution's events, projects, and successes. Instead, it would be better to ask you to excuse us if those of us who speak at a ceremony such as this praise, our own work too much. However, that happens on all birthdays. From children to adolescents, on a child's birthday, you don't stress his faults; instead, you stress his virtues. There may be a few things, some features, that we can mention to our foreign guests in connection with our country's colossal effort. And, we may mention some of the results obtained. I will begin with the topic our enemies start off with. I will speak of health, or rather, education and health. Our enemies say that we have colossal successes in education and health. Some super-renegades, however, dare to question our success in education, health, and sports. Later, I might explain why they talk about this. They do this to deny other things. However, that which is very obvious cannot be denied. Our country does not have many statistics on the past. It has been easy to find data because statistics weren't even kept. A census was conducted in 1953, and that is the year our struggle began. The military dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista had been directing the destiny of our country for about a year by 1953. some of the statistics pertain to that census. For example, it was said that illiteracy was 29 [corrects himself] 23.9 percent. Around 24 percent of the country's population was illiterate,based on the ideas on illiteracy that prevailed at the time. An illiterate person was considered to be someone who could not sign his name. He did not know how to write his name. He did not know how to add. He did not know how to write anything, not even a sentence. Today, in keeping with modern concepts, many of the people who were not included in this illiteracy count are today considered illiterate. That calculation had been kinder because it was based on the lower standards used at the time to determine that the illiteracy rate was around 24 percent. I think that based on contemporary standards used to define illiteracy, we could say that our country was about 60 or 70 percent illiterate. The average level of education was no higher than second grade. In no other part of the world today is a person with a second grade education considered to be literate. Those who knew how to read and write, who finished second or third grade, barely learned how to sign their names. I think that school attendance in 1953 was around 45 [corrects himself] about 45 to 46 percent. That was for elementary school. Attendance in secondary schools was around 8 or 9 percent. Technological education practically did not exist. There were six or seven schools for arts and crafts, as they were called then. In regard to university education, there were between 10,000 and 15,000 university students. Later, during the period of the Batista tyranny, the universities were practically closed. There was 1 basic university and other universities began operating in the eastern provinces. Some efforts were made in Camaguey and Holguin. Concepts such as special schools did not even exist in our country. Schools for children with problems,with difficulties, did not exist. As to child care centers, no one in this country even know what a child care center was. The vast majority of women did not have jobs and the jobs they had were generally very depressing. Speaking of health indexes then, our conservative estimate is that there were more than 60 deaths per every 1,000 live births. This is not a statistic; we know this because of what we had when we began keeping statistics. There were around 60 or 50 deaths per every 1,000 live births but we really don't know how many deaths there were. We say that it was around 50 or 60 deaths for every 1,000 live births. More than 12 mothers died for every 10,000 women. Our country had 6,000 doctors. That was not a small number, but they were almost all concentrated in the capital and many of them were unemployed. It is estimated that life expectancy was less than 60. It would be a lot to say that life expectancy was around 60 years of age. There was no public health system. A large part of the population had no public health service. We could say that in our rural areas where more than half of the population lived, there was no public health service. More than 30 percent of the active population was affected by unemployment or underemployment. Social security barely reached 50 percent of the population and in many cases the pensions were a pittance. All the retirement funds at the triumph of the revolution were truly broke. They had no funds. That was the situation, the major characteristics, of our country. Some changes can be automatically measured, and international organizations are familiar with the reliability of our statistics. Illiteracy today, technically--I say technically--has been reduced to 1.5 percent. People who, because of age or other problems, were not able to learn to read and write account for that figure. What we can say is that illiteracy has been reduced to 2 percent. Today, 100 percent of the children in the country are able to go to school. This is in the entire country, in the city as well as in the countryside. Today, 100 percent of all youths who have graduated from primary school can go to secondary school. This does not mean that 100 percent of them do; this does not mean that 100 percent show up. There are some children who, because of some type of physical or even social reasons, do not go to school. This is why we do not say 100 percent; we say 99 or 98. Mid-level education--as we were saying, it stood at around 8 percent before the revolution--can reach 100 percent of the youths of those ages. In reality, 97 percent go to school. That is, between 12 and 16 to 18 years of age when they begin high school. Unfortunately, there are always cases of early marriages. This is unavoidable. Socialism has not yet been able to find [chuckles] the way to prevent early marriages. It tries to promote sexual education, it teaches prevention, but there are some social factors that make it impossible for 100 percent of children between the ages of 6 and 18--youths, adolescents--to go to school. However, it is not because they are not given the opportunity to go to school. Almost all the country's 14 provinces have universities today. In the area of medicine alone, there are 21 medical schools in our country. Each province has a medical school. Each one of the country's 14 provinces, which correspond to the new political-administrative division, trains its physicians and its specialists. There are around 28,000 students in medical schools. This also includes students who are enrolled in dentistry and in bachelor's degree programs in nursing. Out of the 6,000 physicians--well. I am talking about education and university-level schools and not about medicine. There are hundreds of technical schools and skilled workers in the country. There are around 100,000 regular university-level students and over 200,000--if one includes those who study through various programs, workers who study through tutor programs [estudios dirigidos], nurses who are working on their bachelor's degrees, primary school teachers who are working on their bachelor's degree on special primary school education. Their total accounts for over 200,000 university-level students, although many of them are workers. That is, they are not university graduates who need employment but are studying something related to the job they already have. There are over 1,000 child care centers. Over 100,000 children attend child care centers. It is an ambitious program. Suffice it to say that Havana built 54 child care centers, with room for 210 students each, in 1987. Some 56 child care centers will have been built in 1988 and the first day of January. In 2 years, 110 child care centers were built. There was need for 19,500 slots and approximately 24,000 have been created. Of course, it is somewhat difficult to determine the exact demand. Since no possibilities existed some years ago, perhaps some who needed the service did not ask for it. The country has over 40,000 slots in special education and 40,000 more will be created within the next 3 or 4 years. We will have the total number of slots we need in special education. This is for children who have hearing, sight, social, or certain learning problems. It can also include mental retardation or behavioral problems. In short, there are a number of causes that force society to create those types of special schools. Within 5 years we will meet the needs .... [leaves sentence unfinished] There is a program that began in Havana. All of the special education needs of Havana, with its 2 million residents, will be met in the year 1989. We estimate that all the needs of the rest of Havana City Province, which is also preparing its own program, will be met in 3 to 4 years, at the most. These are truly extraordinary steps that our country has taken in this area. There are lots, lots of different types of schools. There are big exact science schools, pre-university schools in rural areas, different types of technology schools, and sports and science schools. It would be a long list but I said that I wanted to talk only about the major feats. In the area of health, we can say that, for example the infant mortality rate, which in 1987 had been reduced to 13.3 for every 1,000 live births during the first year of life, was to be lowered to 13 in 1988; we were able to lower it to 12. Our infant mortality in 1988 was 11.9 which is where we are now. We have sustained this progress and it makes us one of the 20 countries with the lowest infant mortality rate in the world. It places us below several developed industrial nations. I think this has been an extraordinary achievement. Some provinces.... [changes thought] One province in the interior of the country, Cienfuegos, has brought down its rate to less than 10. Last year we asked ourselves which would be the first province to reduce its infant mortality rate below 10. Cienfuegos was the first, a province in the interior of the country. It reduced its rate to 8.9 deaths for every 1,000 live births. Another province in the interior, Pinar del Rio, which was called the Cinderella province prior to the revolution because of the number of disasters that occurred there, reduced its rate to 10. isle of Youth lowered its rate to 10.4 and the capital of the republic lowered its rate to 10.6, 10.6 [repeats himself]. The capital's rate was lowered to 10.6. In terms of infant mortality, Havana's is much lower than the rate in Washington, the capital of the empire. Our infant mortality indexes are now similar to those of the United States, the richest nation in the world. It is not the first in low infant mortality rates. Even though the infant mortality rate has come down to 10 in the rich sectors, the white sectors, the black population, the descendants of Latin Americans, the Chicanos, have an infant mortality rate of 15, 17, 20, or more than 20. It's not the same. It is not equal. When we speak of the infant mortality rate in Cuba or of education, we speak equally for all the residents of the country. There are some provinces that are more advanced. A few are less advanced in the matter of infant mortality but all are progressing and the rate is more or less similar. The highest infant mortality rate is 14 and it is coming down. If it's not 14, it's 15 and it's coming down. I think it was Las Tunas Province. Last year, its infant mortality rate was 18. This year its' around 15. It is making progress. All the provinces are making progress. The mortality rate for mothers in 1988 was reduced to 2.6 for every 10,000 deliveries. This is among the lowest rates in the world. This gives you an idea of how safe women, mothers, and families are even though the number of deliveries increased. There is an interesting statistic on tuberculosis. In 1988, the rate was 5.9 for every 100,000, which places us ahead of Canada and the United States, this is significant. The tuberculosis rate in Cuba is below those of Canada and the United States. There is a.... [changes thought] We could talk about this extensively but it would take too long. We could mention what we are doing with rubella, measles, and other types of diseases. Some of these have practically disappeared, such as tetanus. We are eliminating a series of diseases from our society and it is only possible to do this with a good health network. The family doctor program was established. It is a very novel institution. There are over 6,000 family doctors. We will have 20,000 family doctors in a few years. The first family doctors are already being placed in factories, schools, and child care centers. Thus, we are going to have a truly extraordinary network. We are graduating--I believe that we will graduate 3,600 doctors in 1989 and some 4,000 in 1990. In our country today, we graduate more doctors each year than the number that imperialism left us here. Imperialism took 3,000 out of the 6,000 doctors we had. Barely 3,000 doctors were left here. Today we have over 31,000, and in 1989, when the new groups graduate, we will have almost.... [rephrases] we will have around 35,000 doctors. These are doctors who are trained not only academically but also in practice, in the constant participation in the country's medical services. The entire country--urban and rural areas--is covered with medical services. This is exactly what explains these results. We developed medicine in new fields. Our country is already performing heart transplants. Kidney transplants have been performed for a long time. Neurological transplants have begun to be performed. We already have a center dedicated to the development of this activity which has a pretty good outlook. We already have ocular microsurgery. We are developing considerably in a number of fields which are included in what we can call sophisticated medicine. In the social area, unemployment is a practically nonexistent problem. It is not that statistically there might be a number of unemployed people. They exist not because there is a lack of a certain job; we still need manpower in many areas such as agriculture, on the mountains, forestry planting, construction. They exist because of the preference of some youths who look for certain unemployment options [as heard]. It does not mean that there is a lack of jobs for any young person in our country though he may not always get the type of employment he might like the most. Social security covers all workers in the country, 100 percent of the workers. Of course, one of the state's most sacred responsibilities is that related to pensions, retirement, and other social security benefits. Of course, imperialists, reactionaries, and their allies in the entire world attempt to ignore the other advances made by the revolution. For example, the revolution has advanced considerably in the scientific field. We have over 100 scientific institutions. They were practically nonexistent at the triumph of the revolution. Imperialism wants to deny our advances in economic development, agriculture, industry, and construction. How has our country achieved social results without economic development despite of the fact that we have to develop under very difficult conditions? We have had imperialism's blockage for 30 years. What other countries have been subjected to this blockade? There are very few. The empire has done this with furious hatred. It bans the export of medical equipment and even medicine to Cuba. Not even an aspirin can be brought from the United States into our country. It is a merciless blockage. A few socialist countries are subjected to it. I believe the DPRK, Vietnam, and Cuba are subjected to it. This blockage against Cuba is a ferocious one because imperialists pressure their allies everywhere so that they do not trade with Cuba, so that they do not give credits to Cuba, so that they do not transfer technologies to Cuba. Nevertheless, our country's economy has grown at a rate higher than 4 percent per year during these 30 years, under these blockade conditions. Some figures can be given. For instance, the generation of electricity has grown more than 8 times in these 30 years--8 times. This is just one of the examples. Steel production used to be very low in Cuba. It has grown over 16 times. Cement production has grown over 5 times; 700,000 tons were produced and today we produce over 3.5 million tons of cement. We have the ability to produce more. There was no adequate maintenance during certain years but now we intend to increase cement production until we reach no less than 4.6 million tons. This is in line with our economic and social development plans. Production of fertilizers has grown five times. Production of citrus has grown 17 times in our country. Production of eggs has increased eight times. All areas have grown. Nickel production has doubled and continues to grow. All our agricultural production has grown to a greater or lesser degree. Our industrial production, in the light and textile industry, in all areas, have grown several times. Some more and others less. Fishery production has increased 10 times during these revolution years. It would have grown much more if it had not been for an international measure. We supported it even though it did not favor us because it was a just one. It was the 200 miles of economic waters. Had it not been for that measure, which we supported as a Third World country, we would have increased fishery production 25 or 30 times. We already had a fleet and the staff was ready to fish in the ocean. The country has made real, serious efforts in many fields of the economy, not only in the fields of education, health, and sports. The empire tries to deny it all. It suits its purposes to say that we do not prosper, that we do not solve our problems. This is a type of idea, of lie, that many people take as a fact. Many people who speak positively of Cuba say we have had great successes in health and education. They do not talk about other successes of the revolution and think that socialism is a failure. What did the country have to deal with development plans? The country faced development plans with personnel who barely had more than a sixth grade education. All managers, a great number of engineers, university professors, and technicians had left to join their imperialist masters. They went to join the bourgeois and the landowners. There were few agricultural engineers, few veterinarians. Very few were left. A good number of them left the country--engineers, managers, all of them. The country had to begin at zero and face those problems. Often, a sugar mill was managed by a worker who had barely completed the sixth grade. We had to operate in this way during the first years of the revolution. The revolution did not have experience. We could say that it was the first revolutionary process in a Third World country. There was no experience in the construction of socialism in a Third World country. Only Vietnam, which is a Third World country, was before us. It had achieved liberation but not in the entire country, only in part of the country. It had to mainly focus on the liberation struggle. We had the experience of building socialism 90 miles from the United States--actually; a little bit closer because we have a Yankee base in Guantanamo, in the eastern region, and there is no distance between the Yankee base and our territory. We built it with a ferocious blockade on the part of the United States. We made mistakes. We have made many mistakes. There was a certain logic to these mistakes. We made two types. At one stage, we made errors of idealism. At another stage, in an attempt to overcome the errors of idealism, we committed errors of economism and mercantilism. I sometimes use a word that is a bit stronger to describe these errors of profiteering. We are not rectifying those errors. It is very important to rectify them without committing the earlier errors of idealism. We are doing it slowly. A number of results can begin to be seen everywhere. This is not an easy task. No one should think that all these things that have to do with theory, methods, and ways of building socialism are easy in a given country. All countries are different. There are no two countries that are exactly alike. I would say that a revolutionary process cannot be carried out in exactly the same way in any two countries. Our revolution was creative. Our revolution did not lack creative spirit. It really had creative spirit. Other revolutions had taken place before the Cuban revolution. For example, I believe that the way we conducted the agrarian reform was truly creative. What was known historically.... [rephrases] All countries that had begun the construction of socialism distributed the land in small parcels among millions of people. They began to collectivize them little by little later--sometimes faster, more abruptly or less abruptly, sometimes with more political methods, and other times with coercive methods. This never happened in our country. We started by not dividing up the land. We kept the large capitalist enterprises as units, large production units. They were turned into state agricultural enterprises. We exempted from all types of payment those peasants who were already partners, tenant farmers, and those who already had plots of land. We exempted them from paying rent, paying leases, or making any other kind of payment. We made them owners of the land. They became small independent farmers. Through the years, after we boosted state agriculture enterprises, which had the same characteristics of an industry, we began to promote cooperatives slowly, calmly, and with political and economic methods. We began to cooperativize those independent farmers. The process of joining cooperatives has made progress. Eight percent of the land is still in the hands of tens of thousands of independent owners. We do not have to invent independent owners. We do not have to discover them because we know them. They were there from the beginning of the revolution and still are. They will continue to exist as long as they want because we are not going to force anyone to join cooperatives. We avoid this. There is not a single case of an individual who has been forced to join cooperatives. The cooperatives movement is making headway. Eighty percent of the land belongs to state enterprises, 12 percent to cooperatives, and 8 percent to independent farmers. We help them. We cooperate with them. We encourage them to produce. We supply them with technology, credits, everything. We excuse them from paying their loans every time there is a disaster, cyclone, plague, or any of those things. I can say that the majority of the country's agricultural production in all the fundamental areas such as sugarcane, livestock, citrus, rice, meat, milk, eggs is what supplies our country. It is a result, first, of the work of state farms and, second, of cooperatives. State farms and cooperatives supply the vast majority of agricultural produce in the country. Sugarcane is our main agricultural item. Eight percent of our small independent farmers contribute and cooperate but they do not play a fundamental role in Cuban agriculture, in the development of our agriculture. Of course, agriculture gets better and better. It used to have the same problems. We had no agricultural engineers, no economists, no veterinarians. Initially, farms were administered by workers with fifth and sixth grade education. Our agricultural industry exports foodstuffs for 40 million people around the world. It exports foodstuffs for 40 million people with its sugarcane production. It exports calories for 40 million people with its production, such as sugarcane, citrus, and other crops. So, had we not carried out the type of agrarian reform we did, sugarcane production, sugarcane agriculture would have ended. We would have ended up with small farms; self-sufficiency and basic supplies for the population would have not been guaranteed. I believe our revolution was creative, for example, when it carried out the agrarian reform [corrects himself] not the agrarian reform but education, the campaign against illiteracy. It turned into a model. We were the first country to eradicate illiteracy within practically a year by mobilizing hundreds of thousands--mainly students--in that campaign. This is how it started. Then a follow-up campaign was carried out. I repeat, our revolution has been creative in many ways. I would say that some of the things we have done have been done by us alone. Other countries have not done them. We are really proud of some of these things. For example, I believe that the work-study program implemented in our education system is one of a kind in the world. No other country has it. Combining work and study is the result of the implementation of Marx's ideas. It was not only Marx who had the idea. Marti--two great thinkers, two great revolutionaries--also came up with the idea. At a given time, we were determined to put it into practice because we believed in the idea, because we were absolutely convinced that if education became universal, work had to become universal, or else future societies would simply become societies of intellectuals incapable of working with their hands. This can be of the most serious problems that the world can face in the future, especially for those who want to build a just social system, those who want to build socialism. It is terrible, for men to evade manual labor. We decided to make that practice universal. First, through the vacation time agricultural labor program and, later, through rural schools. Therefore, practically all of those under 40 in this country have participated in production with their own hands. It is a generalized norm. I believe that the excellent traits of our youth, those thousands of hours of voluntary work they are capable of giving, the tasks they are capable of carrying out here or anyplace in the world have a lot to do with the education system implemented by the Cuban revolution. It has a lot to do with the work and study system. [applause] We now begin to harvest the fruit. We see it everywhere, every day. No one becomes scared here when he is called to engage in construction, agriculture, or any other kind of task. There are examples that are truly impressive. We have the largest citrus grove in Matanzas Province. It is around 45,000 hectares of fruit. One day it will be 50,000, perhaps 60,000 hectares in this hard and rugged terrain. Not many people lived there. The citrus plan developed was based on the rural schools program, with students participating 3 hours daily. This program does not make anyone dull; one the contrary, it makes the student smarter. It teaches him more about life, to appreciate his schooling better. I wish I had been sent to a school like that! This year's plan has already produced over 400,000 tons of citrus fruit. Over 400,000 tons of citrus fruit this year. Over 100 million pesos in citrus fruit. This system is based on the rural schools. The small rural ;schools are the soul of this plan. I could ask you to search the world for a similar plan--that is, a plan that produces 400,000 tons. To be sure, it began years ago and it is now yielding fruit. This plan is based on the work study program and on the efforts of young people. They are proud of their production and increase it every year. I have no doubt the plan will someday produce 1 million tons of citrus. This plan has become a scientific and educational complex. It entails diverse systems of irrigation, fertilization, and treatment of plants. And the program is moving, moving fast. In the past 2 or 3 years, this plan has made great progress. However, this is not the only program. This program exists in almost all of the country's provinces. The biggest program is on the Isle of Youth. It is one of the basic features of our educational system. This program is unique in the world. We also have volunteer work. In our country, volunteer work has reached levels unheard of anywhere else in the world. Here, we can say calmly, objectively, and realistically, that the masses' participation in solving problems has become a cultural trait of our people. Contributing to society is part of our revolution's way of thinking and ideology. These levels of participation have not been reached anywhere else. These things happen systematically in our country. The idea of minibrigades is another contribution of our revolution. It helps to rationalize the use of materials. The problem of the participation of the masses in the country's social development.... [changes thought] We have to build many children's centers, schools, and polyclinics. First of all, we have to build many houses. We can develop stone, sand, and cement production. We can do many things to produce materials. However, we need a labor force to build all these projects. Often there is not enough manpower for economic and industrial projects. Social development requires a labor force. The concept of minibrigades--which I will not explain to guests here--emerged in or around 1970. It was very promising, but went into decline, precisely because of errors of profiteering, of economism, and because of certain mechanisms that were introduced in our country's development that turned out to be truly negative. I cannot say otherwise. The minibrigade concept has been revived now in a more perfect and stronger form. It is the means to pursue our special social development. It is not the only way, but a fundamental one, especially in Havana. Before the minibrigades were revived, we could not talk of building a child care center, simply because we lacked the labor force to build it. One child care center, gentlemen! One polyclinic! In the year we revived the minibrigade concept in Havana, we built 53 child care centers. The 5-year plan called for five centers. Building them was totally forgotten simply because we lacked manpower, yet 54 child care centers were built in 1 year, including some days into January, approximately 56 centers were built; 110 in 2 years! At the pace we were going without the minibrigades and with old methods, it would have taken well, 100 years, to build a center. The minibrigades were a resounding success in the people's social development; that is, in building homes, child care centers, and schools. Thanks to the minibrigade's work, this year Havana will have 100 percent of the polyclinics it needs. We had them, but some were converted installations. We built them, or we are building--we have finished two of them! We are building others until we reach the 20 polyclinics that the minibrigades will build this year. This year, the minibrigades will build or complete the 24 special schools Havana needs to meet its entire enrollment for special schools. I do not know [chuckles] if our guests know what minibrigades are. It is very simple. We ask the factor: How many meritorious workers do you have? Send 20, 30, 40, 50, or 100 workers. Whether in a socialist or capitalist system, every factory has a surplus of people due to reasons too numerous to list. This happens due to poor planning, paternalism, or an inflated number of workers. We say: Send me 50, and let the other workers do the job. The workers who stay do their job without working extra hours, easily and with little rationalizing. The minibrigade members earn the same wages they did in the factory. There is only one difference. How many hours did he work at his job? They say 44 hours. I want to see what factory really works 44 hours at full capacity. The minibrigade members come here to work 60, 65, or 70 hours. What did they come to do? Build homes for the factor's workers, and to build social projects like children care centers. Not all the work is for the factory's workers. The state makes a contribution. The factory pays the workers' wages, while the state reimburses the factory for the wages it paid. So the minibrigade members earn their factory wages. The state provides materials, land, plans, equipment, everything! The workers.... [changes thought] It is up to the factor to build 50 percent of housing. We will increase that percentage this year. We will raise it to 60 percent [applause] in 1989. There is always something missing because there are people who cannot work in the minibrigades such as mid-level school teachers. It is not easy. Many needs emerge. We need a housing fund. However, the idea of having the factory provide workers is very attractive. The factory rationalizes its work, reduces its expenditures, while the minibrigade members build homes for the factory's workers or do the other social projects I mentioned. This turns out to be a very attractive formula. This movement is quite strong. We have the social minibrigades, which is another idea. We have neighborhood residents build their own homes in run-down areas or where housing is poor. If a housewife joins, we pay her. If a young man not working or studying joins, we pay him. If a worker is not indispensable to his factory, his factory releases him. We have social minibrigades. In Havana we have 35,000 minibrigade members. Whatever is not solved with.... [changes thought] The problem here is not one of labor but of materials. We are applying an intensive program in the construction materials industry. We have no shortage of labor. We can almost say [chuckles] we have too much. This concept really gives the masses specific and direct participation in solving problems. If there is no labor force, who will build homes? Well, the masses. We must say, this project, this project [repeats himself] was primarily built by minibrigades. Perhaps the most amazing thing [applause] perhaps the most amazing thing [repeats himself] for our visitors, amazing for our visitors [repeats himself] was that the minibrigade members were not professional construction workers. The visitors were amazed. How can these people undertake this sort of job? Without the concept of minibrigades and without the revival of the minibrigade movement, we could not even dream of building this type of project. Before the concept of minibrigades was revived, any person talking of doing this sort of project would have been immediately locked up. There was no labor force to build a child care center! Yet, this year alone, minibrigade members have built over 50 child care centers, many projects, and thousands and thousands of homes, in addition to this huge EXPOCUBA project. They have completed dozens of construction projects, in addition to this truly colossal work. The minibrigades did this. I think this says a lot, or better explains, the concept of mass effort. If we are satisfied with this work, if we have succeeded in building an extraordinarily useful work such as this Permanent Economic and Social Development Exhibit, it is because of the minibrigades. EXPOCUBA has many uses: It serves as a quality control mechanism for products; it brings people's opinion of products to the industries that produce them; and it stimulates the economy because products and services can be exhibited there. A work such as EXPOCUBA was completed because a mass organization that solves important problems appeared. I believe that this is one of the most notable elements of this work. Perhaps this work will give visitors an idea of what the minibrigades are. Our compatriots do not need to know what they are, because they have been hearing about minibrigades for a long time. I believe the contingent of construction workers is another conception typical of our revolution and another unique institution. [applause] I dare to talk about these contingents, because I have already asked you to forgive me for all the positive things I was going to discuss on this birthday, on this day on which we celebrate the birth of our revolution, which was in fact a few days ago. I would also like you to tell me.... [changes thought] I know there are many good things throughout the world and in many revolutionary countries, but I believe there are no workers' group such as the workers' contingents we have organized in Cuba. We created these contingents based on specific principles and on our dedication to work, and we did not begin by building small things. We built a scientific center. The results achieved by the contingents of construction workers are fabulous and we already have thousands of these contingents. We created the first contingent in 1987 within the rectification process and we already have between 10,000 and 15,000 builders in those contingents. We will continue increasing the number of contingents systematically. The first contingent we created, the Blas Roca Contingent, did incredible things. [applause] The important thing is that the idea of contingents of construction workers spread and they are now found in all Cuban provinces. What is a contingent of construction workers? It is a group of workers who put organization and remuneration together. We apply the socialist formula in the remuneration process. Contingent workers get paid in accordance with the amount and quality of work. There are no other mechanisms, because other mechanisms complicated and disturbed the quality of our construction. We sought adequate remuneration principles. The first principle is that those workers do not work for the money they receive. No man would do for money what those contingents do. To pay them in accordance with what they produce is a proof of consideration toward our society, but those are part of [words indistinct] There are no schedules. The 8-hour schedule has been forgotten. Work schedules may be very good things in England, the FRG, or in countries with high productivity and automatic lathes. However, one of the worst things we inherited from the former colonies, and from our colonizers or neocolonizers, is their level of consumption--or aspirations to that level of consumption--and their work schedules, when productivity in those countries is incomparably higher than ours. We have often lacked labor, because sometimes there were not enough hands to build or because some do not prefer that type of activity. However, we did not abolish the 8-hour day. God forbid. They would call us the most backward people in the world. No, no. We invented something much better. We created workers' contingents and they forgot about working hours. We have free Saturdays and working Saturdays. Previously, we used to work until 1200 on Saturdays; then we began working every other Saturday. Contingents forgot about free Saturdays. [applause] All contingents forgot about labor laws in the sense that discipline within the contingents is not set by legislators,the law, judges, Labor Ministry officials, or an administrator. Discipline within those contingents is set by the workers themselves. They criticize and punish, because contingents do not tolerate idlers, absenteeism, or people who are late for work. It is an amazing fact that there is practically no absenteeism in our contingents. Contingents are in charge of their own discipline. n to work rules among the construction workers contingents--this does not mean that things will always be this way. This is a phase, the struggling phase of a Third World country wanting to build socialism and to develop. Of course, if we happen to have too many workers available, that does not bother us. We can then say: Let us work three shifts. The contingents work 12-hour shifts and more often 14- and 15-hour shifts. These contingents are made up of workers with whom you have to fight to get them to leave work. This is a most interesting situation. Historically the problem has been getting people to work, but here we have to keep an eye on the workers to tell them: Do not stay. We already have too many workers. Go home and sleep. They always come up with excuses for working, excuses such as: One day it was raining and I did not work; or: We are falling behind and we want to finish. Contingent workers are the best fed workers in Cuba. Care for the workers is of key importance. The contingent workers get prompt medical attention, and a doctor is readily accessible to them. This is a principle. The contingent construction workers have air conditioning. They have no mosquito problem and they have no heat problem. They have adequate quarters, food, and clothing. In the building of socialism, attention to the people is of key importance. The capitalists, who are neither foolish nor lazy, often invent programs that five the appearance that man is being cared for; however, what the capitalists really want is to exploit man, to make a profit. To assure this, they often afford attention to their workers. In socialism, the system forgot about man because, since work is considered an obligation, the system trusted everything to the workers' sense of duty. We insist that it is of key importance to attend to man so that workers will realize that they receive the respect they deserve and that they are trusted so that they dedicate themselves to work. We trust in these things. If I did not, I would have left the revolution. To carry out the revolution, we had to wage a very difficult struggle in the mountains. There we saw demonstrations of everything a man can be and can do. If we do not believe in the people, then the best thing for us to do is to put our revolutionary card aside and forget the whole thing in order to dedicate ourselves to other activities. If we do not believe in man, the best thing we can do is to forget the socialist label and to invent something--but not socialism because this has been in existence for a long time. Capitalism does not have to worry about any of these things. Capitalism was invented by history. It is the result of laws that emerged spontaneously. Socialism has to emerge as a result of work and programs. It represents the opportunity to program development for the first time. This is an extraordinary privilege. If we trust in man, we can see the miracles man can perform during revolutionary wars to seize power and in the struggle to build socialism. We did not know these things in the past as we know them now. We did not see things clearly. We were not born revolutionaries. We have been learning during the march. Every day we learn something new. A $100,000 bulldozer is worth three bulldozers in the hands of the contingent, and the maintenance the equipment receives is impressive. It is a promising situation. This is a creation of the revolution, one of the most recent creations of the revolution. I believe that the institution of the family doctor, within the conceptual framework of the Cuban primary health care system, is unique in the world. This idea came up some years ago. It was tested and then implemented. It developed and now the most remote mountains in the country's east have family doctors. In the capital, the family doctor services are available to 63 percent of the population. This service will be available in child care centers, in schools, in factories. This institution is having incredibly good results. It is also a creation of the revolution. We could mention other things, I believe that the way the revolution has implemented our idea of a mass organization and a broad and complex mass organization system is unique. I consider our electoral system unique. We have a revolutionary system that is very often questioned, but the way representatives are nominated in each constituency--which is the basis of all the state's power--is unique. It is the people and not the party who nominate the candidates. There are no more than eight candidates and can never be less than two. They are nominated by the masses, the people, without the party having any say in the matter. It is citizens from local neighbors who meet as constituents and nominate the candidates. This does not happen in any other country. We need not feel embarrassed over the shameless slander against our revolution when we have an electoral system that no other country has. We established it this way because this revolution emerged and developed very close to the masses. If the majority of people were counterrevolutionaries, they would only need to nominate other counterrevolutionaries and most of the representatives would then be counterrevolutionaries and would go against the revolution and socialism. We hold two grass roots elections every 5 years, and the representatives can be reelected by the voters. The electoral system established by the Cuban revolution is really unique. We have no need to go elsewhere to learn anything. In fact, we could really say why not come here and learn how a democratic electoral system can be made. [applause] There is something else that is associated with this: I feel that our concept of defense is unique and that our country has developed in a unique way, with the total participation of the masses. Do any other countries have anything like this? I do not deny it--there are other countries. We, however, believe that we have the right concept, our way of organizing the defense system with the participation of all the people--workers, students, men, and women. Millions of people take an active part in our defense system. There are some capitalist countries that question democracy in Cuba. There can be no democracy better than a democracy where the workers, the peasants, the students hold the arms. [applause] To all the Western countries that question democracy in Cuba, I say: Go ahead and give the arms to the workers, to the peasants, to the students, and let us see if you can start hurling tear gas canisters to put down a strike, or at any organization that struggles for peace [applause], or at students. We would see if these countries could send out the police, covered with shields and all that equipment that makes them look like astronauts. We would see if these countries could attack the masses with dogs every time there is a strike or a peaceful demonstration or a people's struggle. I think the litmus test for democracy is to arm the people. [applause] When defense becomes the task of the people and arms become the prerogative of all the people, then there is democracy. Meanwhile, there are specialized police teams and armies to put down the people when the people show discontent over the abuses and injustice of a bourgeois system. It is the same in a Third World country as in a developed capitalist country. We see this constantly on television newscasts from the United States and Europe--Europe brags so much about their democratic systems. We see how the people are run down by specialists in repression and brutality, something that has never ever been seen in our country in the 30 years of our revolution. These are not the typical characteristics of our revolution. I would venture to say--and I would feel sorry if someone were hurt by this--that the levels of massive internationalist awareness that our country has achieved have not been attained by any other country. [applause] We see proof of this every day, and it is not only seen in statistics. Over 300,000 fellow countrymen have participated in the FAR's internationalist missions in Angola. [applause] This figure does not include the civilians who have also participated in cooperation programs aboard. Currently, there are 50,000 fellow countrymen in Angola. There is something even more important: If 50,000 more fighters were needed, our country would be capable of sending them there. [applause] Another proof of this is the fact that when 2,000 teachers were needed in Nicaragua. 30,000 teachers volunteered to go. When the counterrevolution murdered some Cuban teachers. 100,000 teachers--practically all primary school teachers--offered to go replace them. [applause] During the earthquake in Peru, over 100,000 people donated blood throughout the entire country in 10 days. [applause] Following the earthquake in Armenia, over 30,000 Cubans from Havana--not including those in the entire country--donated blood. [applause] I saw in the spirit of Havana residents the willingness to donate blood hundreds of thousands of times if necessary. They tried to be well organized so not a single drop of blood would be wasted and so the blood would be well processed. I am sure the period to make blood donations has a limit, but we could have easily had 50,000 or 60,000 blood donations in Havana, which is equivalent to 200,000 or 250,000 blood donations in the entire country. You can tell they have spirit. Normally it takes a year to make 400,000 or 500,000 blood donations, but our people are capable of doing that in a month. If only there were some way to collect it, to store it, and to process it, it could be done. It is an extraordinary proof of our internationalism. I saw it every day when I visited that blood bank. We saw that one of the problems was getting included in the list of blood donors. They said: Hey, count me in. Hey, I want to be included in the list. Hey, we want to go to Nicaragua, we want to go to Armenia. Every time we have a group of workers, we see this. They all want to have the honor of helping out in Bluefields or in Armenia. I believe our people's internationalist spirit has reached high levels, and we can feel proud of that. Was it like that before? Could you find someone in a bourgeois society wanting to travel to Bluefields or to Armenia or even to help out in Angola or any other country? This is inconceivable in a bourgeois society, where man is alienated and where ethical and moral values do not count at all. Those values are the most common thing among our workers and youths. I believe the spirit of cooperation our people have expressed toward several Third World countries has not been expressed by any other Third World country. A Third World country like Cuba, which is a developing country, has reached high levels of international cooperation. Our doctors, builders, and teachers are in dozens of countries as the result of our spirit of cooperation. We have the highest number of foreign students per capita. There are over 18,000 foreign students on the Isle of Youth. I believe the experience of those students is also a unique and extraordinary experience that unites our people with the rest of the world. Our spirit of cooperation characterizes the creation and spirit of our revolution, of which we feel very proud and which we must trust. We must maintain our creative spirit, and we must continue with this noble work of building socialism in our country. By the way, I almost forgot about EXPOCUBA. [crowd laughs] We not only forgot about EXPOCUBA but also about our botanical garden. We had agreed we would also inaugurate our botanical garden today. In fact, we are not located in the middle of those two works: the botanical garden here on one side and EXPOCUBA on the other. The botanical garden took many years to build. It took us 20 years to build, because obviously to have a botanical garden we had to plant very small trees, many of them from seeds. Sometimes, we got impatient and wondered whether we could transplant animals--no, not animals. I mean trees. [crowd laughs] Animals are for the zoo, which is not far from here. We are also building a big zoo. Anyway, the technicians said we could not transplant big trees, because trees that are born from seeds are stronger, but there are still a few transplanted trees, especially certain types of palm trees here, because we had no choice. We worked for 20 years on this 600-hectare botanical garden. I believe it is an extraordinary scientific center. This garden is the work of our university students. It was assigned to the University of Havana, and especially to the Biology School. This botanical garden is a reality today. The construction of this garden began 20 years ago. It has been in use for some time, so we had to inaugurate it someday, and I think today is the day. EXPOCUBA is on one side and the botanical garden on the other. The main facilities are up, but in this type of center one always has to be building or adding something. There are always new needs, but the botanical garden is already as much of a reality as EXPOCUBA. The only exception is that trees here are already green while trees there eventually will turn green, because the green areas in EXPOCUBA were just planted, and it will take a while for them to turn green. We decided to inaugurate these two works on the revolution's 30th anniversary. We must mention the cooperation of a German scientist, a true disciple of Humboldt, Professor (Bise), who helped us with the project of the botanical garden. Unfortunately, 4 years ago while working in Cuba, he was killed in a car accident. He, however, bequeathed us many of his ideas for this garden. We have talked about EXPOCUBA here today. The comrade director of EXPOCUBA brought very interesting data here today, and the comrade responsible for the construction itself also brought information. We already said EXPOCUBA is the result of the work of our minibrigades. If there is anything that has not been said about EXPOCUBA, it is that from the construction viewpoint, this work is a real lesson. The practical methods used, the savings of materials, and the use of a certain light steel represent a building method that can help us build things that must be built quickly, because the construction techniques used here can be used to build stores and supermarkets. In Santiago de Cuba there is a plan for the application of this technology on a train terminal that should be completed before the beginning of the fourth congress. Many problems can be solved as a result of this construction technology and our experience. Usually industrial plants with steel structures have 60 kg of steel per square meter. These structures have 20 kg. We have to say that the planners, the designers, the technicians--all Cubans--who performed this work have earned much respect from their performances. This is my opinion. They were able to produce structures that are both functional and beautiful. They were told what was wanted, and they grasped and brought about the realization of the idea. They enhanced the idea and they have achieved truly impressive results. Th work done by the planners of the project--the architects, engineers, and designers--must be pointed out. Something else that must be pointed out is the spirit of cooperation among the workers: More than 100 heads of families who have jobs with other enterprises worked for EXPOCUBA as well. There is the support also of other organizations that felt they had a commitment here, knowing that they would have a pavilion in the plant and that they would be able to show thei products. They also contributed in an extraordinary way. A few days ago, I met with workers who built EXPOCUBA, and I told them that I had visited the center on several occasions but had never really seen EXPOCUBA until a day when, going past the building. I noticed how enormous this work is. I believe this has been a great achievement, an achievement that will be very useful. The experience we have gained will be very important for our economy. This experience will have an impact on the economy, not only through expositions but also because of the knowledge gained in the construction of EXPOCUBA. This center was built in record time. It took less than 24 months between the time the idea was conceived and explained to a group of comrades who were assigned the task of making the idea tangible and the moment when work was completed. The planners were on the job from the moment the project was initiated. Land removal work began only 20 months ago, with few resources and with a not-too-large labor force. The big push began about 1 year ago, in December 1987. The workers performed the feat of finishing just a few hours ago. We could say that EXPOCUBA was finished this morning. [applause] I came here 5 days ago and there were sidewalks and stairs to be built. The essential work is finished. Whenever visitors came here, they wondered if this work was going to be finished on time. I remember that one day, when I was about to ask if this center was going to be completed by 1 January, a construction worker, Comrade Avelino, told me: We wrote a poem entitled Yes, It Will Be Finished, and we recite it to everybody who comes here harassing us with questions about whether or not this work is going to be finished. [applause] I was lucky I was told about the poem before I asked if they were going to finish on time or not. I, of course, had confidence that the work was going to be finished on time. I know what man can do when he sets his mind to something. The work hours here were 14, 15, and more hours a day. On not a few occasions, the workers worked two shifts, one after th other, working for 24 and even 30 straight hours. Volunteer work is the work carried out after working the regular 8 hours, and the work done on Saturday or Sunday. It is amazing, I remember that one day they introduced me to Comrade Avelino, and they told me he was going to put in I don't know how many hours of voluntary work. And he succeeded. How many hours did he work? How many? [Someone says: "3,500"] He put in 3,500 hours of volunteer work. Every time I went there, I found him working. Sometimes his eyes were red from working so much. It is the type of thing one would not want workers to do, but who can forbid them from doing that? Who can stop them? No one told workers to do that. No one encouraged them or asked them to do that. They themselves said: We will put in a few thousand hours of voluntary work. I sometimes came at night or early in the morning and saw Avelino there with his sometimes red eyes, and I wondered how he could do it. He is here today. He is the first one to receive a diploma for having put in 3,500 hours of volunteer work, and he looks younger than ever. [applause] While the diplomas were being distributed, I was impressed when some people came and told me: I am already on the list of those who are going to Bluefields. Others told me they were not on the list yet but wanted to be on it. [Castro pounds the podium] I told them not everybody can go to Bluefields and Armenia. Regarding Armenia, the Soviets still have to decid whether they will use foreign volunteer builders. We agreed to help Nicaragua rebuild Bluefields. I believe in a few weeks our volunteers will be working there. Of course, not everyone can go to Bluefields or Armenia. When I spoke about our people's spirit of internationalism. I should have said that 300,000 Cuban builders offered to go to Armenia. That is another truly impressive figure. [applause] Of course, we cannot send 300,000 or 30,000 or even 10,000 volunteers. We will make a partly symbolic and partly real contribution. We will probably send 1,000 or 2,000 or perhaps even 3,000 men. We are waiting for the Soviets to make a decision, but the important thing is that 300,000 men offered to go to Armenia. If something must be said about EXPOCUBA, it is that if visitors tour the entire complex--they would have to walk several kilometers to do that, by the way--and if someone tells them Cuba spent $50 million on imported parts from the capitalist world, they would think it is logical and normal for Cuba to have done that. In this work, however--in which each cent has been accounted for, in which the money spent to buy raw material for painting, or photographic and electrical material, or motors or special lights we do not have, was accounted for--we did not even spend $5.6 million in convertible foreign exchange. And we are talking about the dollar, which is worth practically nothing these days. It is truly unbelievable when we see this work. Experts are carefully calculating the cost of all the socialist material we used. They are not calculating the cost of the finished product, but the cost of the material to the enterprises. In othe words, we are calculating the cost of raw material, mainly steel, from socialist countries, primarily from the USSR. We thought that material would not cost more than 7 or 8 million rubles. If anyone were told this work cost $150 million, they would not question that figure. I am sure this work in the United States would cost no less than $150 million, without taking into account the land, which increases the cost of construction projects there. This work cost approximately 30 million pesos. If we take into account that it was built by minibrigade members, we could subtract the cost of salaries. In other words, this work did not require a single extra centavo for salaries. Of course, some organizations helped out, but they did not hire new employees for the project. I believe the convertible currency spent can be recovered in less than 3 years. We believe that the upcoming international fairs scheduled to be held in Havana should be held in this national exposition center. If this were done, the convertible currency spent would be recovered in a short time. I really believe the workers have made a worthy contribution on this 30th anniversary. I know I have talked long enough, but I have a few things I cannot leave out today. They are matters of international interest. It is very difficult to not associate, to not associate [repeats himself] this 30th anniversary with the peace agreements on southwest Africa. I spoke on 5 December on the factors tat gave rise to the last effort our country undertook in Angola, the critical situation that had been created, and the need to rescue that situation. I explained that to you, and I should not repeat myself. You, my fellow countrymen, may also recall how we said that any peace agreement should be based on principles, otherwise there would be no peace agreement. We clearly stated, following certain demands made by the South African racists, that no agreement would be signed if these demands had to be met. We said that if necessary, we would be willing to remain there 10, 15, 20, or more years. We acted on this in extensive coordination with the Angolan Government. In the end, the final obstacles were overcome, and the peace agreements, with which you are familiar, were signed. I also believe that it was an extraordinary victory of our people's internationalist spirit. This is not the time to defend the things that were done, however. That is a historic work, and some day it should be written down with every detail. The important thing now is the fact that the agreements were reached and that they have been signed at the United Nations. Now a very important part of this process is the application of Resolution 435 decreed by the United Nations more than 10 years ago. This is a fundamental question, because it is associated with the matter of Namibia's independence, for which SWAPO [South-West African People's Organization] combatants have fought many years and have sacrificed tens of thousands of lives. Now the conditions need to be created so that elections can take place in an independent Namibia that needs to decide its destiny. We are basing this on the premise of the huge support that the fighters for Namibia's independence must enjoy among their people. Nevertheless, some obstacles have arisen. On this topic, so as to not leave anything to improvisation and to say everything with precision and clarity. I have brought a few pages that I want to red to you. It is necessary that our people and international opinion are clearly familiar with the difficulties that arose in the attempts... [corrects himself] due to certain attempts to modify Security Council Resolution 435. The idea to make these modifications came from the United States, which is a permanent member of that council. Early in the quadripartite negotiations, our delegation stated that it was necessary that the UN Security council act as guarantor of the agreements to be reached and that the United Nations act as guarantor of compliance with those agreements. Following the signing of tripartite agreements between Angola, Cuba, and South Africa and of the bilateral agreement between Angola and Cuba, the group of Nonaligned Movement countries that currently form part of the Security Council presented a draft resolution that the United Nations act as guarantor of the agreements. This draft resolution was presented in addition to another resolution that the Security Council has to approve, on that has to do with the steps that must be adopted now to comply with the original resolution that ruled on the Namibia independence process. Resolution 435, which was approved more than 10 years ago, in September 1978. As you know, the Security Council is composed of 15 members, 5 of which are permanent members. The other 10 positions are rotated among other countries elected to the council. Simultaneously with the proposal made by a group of Third World countries that includes seven nonaligned countries and Brazil, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council--the United States, the Soviet Union, France, China, and the United Kingdom--presented another proposal to the council. This proposal refers to the agreements but also includes points that are modifications to the plan on the implementation of Resolution 435. Because of this, this proposal was rejected by the nonaligned countries in the Security Council. This group is composed of Yugoslavia, Nepal, Senegal, Algeria, Colombia, Ethiopia, and Malaysia. The essence of the five permanent members' proposal is that it is necessary to reduce the costs of the Namibia independence process. The proposal argues that the costs were estimated 10 years ago and that right now, in addition to the inflationary situation in the international economy that increases costs, the United Nations is going through financial difficulties. It also is being argued that the signing of the agreements has created favorable conditions that permit cost reductions that would result from sending fewer international forces than what was originally estimated in Resolution 435. It must be stated that the approval of either of these proposals represents a key point in the process started by the quadripartite negotiations. This is because an approval would be a mandate from the UN Security Council to the UN secretary general to begin Namibia's decolonization and to lead that country to independence. Cuba shares the concern of the Nonaligned Movement countries in the Security Council, because financial considerations must take into account, first of all, the political consequences that such consideration may have. It is fitting to recall that Resolution 435 of 1978 has become the essential element that defines how Namibia will achieve independence. This resolution is the product of an agreement by Western countries, including the United States, so it cannot be accused of being biased in favor of SWAPO or of not taking into consideration the demands made at that time by South Africa, with which the resolution was discussed in detail when it was being drafted more than a decade ago. Following a period during which the resolution was ignored by the South African Government, the possibility of a real implementation of the resolution has emerged now, thanks to a peace process to which Angola and Cuba have made important contributions. The international forces that should arrive in Namibia have a fundamental role in the stages scheduled for the process leading to independence. These forces must oversee the cease-fire, the withdrawal of the South African and SWAPO troops to specific areas, the supervision of the South African troops' withdrawal, and the prevention of infiltration through the Namibian borders. They must also oversee the dismantling of the local troops created by South Africa over 7 decades of colonial domination. The civilian component of the UN group providing assistance during the transitional period in Namibia must also play a fundamental role in monitoring over 400 voting tables estimated for the elections in a territory of over 800,000 square km. These calculations made 10 years ago had taken into account the Namibian population at that time, which has since increased by 50 percent. Therefore, the number of voters has also increased, and they will decide who rules the country after the South African withdrawal. In 1978 it was estimated that seven UN battalions would be required for all these tasks. Those battalions must oversee the withdrawal of over 100,000 South African soldiers, more than twice the number of soldiers 10 years ago. The troops of the Territorial Army--natives dependent on South Africa--are estimated to be over 20,000, and the police--also controlled by South Africa--today number over 8,000 men, which exceeds several times the estimate when Resolution 435 was issued. On the other hand, the argument that the agreement allows a reduction in the number of troops at the Angolan border is also far from reality, because this zone has never been regarded as a factor endangering the Namibian independence process. It has always been estimated that the area that would required strict vigilance during the elections and the formation of an independent government is the Namibian border with South Africa, the country that has taken over this territory. There is a danger during this sensitive transition period: possible actions by paramilitary groups that South Africa may organize with the members of the so-called Namibian Territorial Forces, which contributed to the colonization of their nation. It is a fact that the presence of the international troops sent by the United Nations are the only guarantee for holding elections and that for years the South African regime has been preparing conditions that will favor the groups supporting its colonial or neocolonial interests. It is impossible to try to ignore the important role these international, military, and civilian troops will play in the process prior to independence, in the creation of the favorable psychological atmosphere, and in building confidence among a population colonized in the most brutal manner for 7 decades. We do not oppose, should it be possible, a reduction in the costs for the implementation of Resolution 435, which should not mea a modification of its fundamental purposes. There can be no reductions if they affect what the UN troops should represent during the process to oversee the following: the South African Army's withdrawal, the dissolution of the puppet army, the reduction of the police forces and control over them, the protection of the population, the return of over 80,000 Namibian refugees, the preservation of an atmosphere that will allow fair elections, the formation of a government, and an agreement on independence. This is what is being discussed now in New York: If the letter and spirit of the agreement for Namibia's independence or the Namibian people's right to freely determine who will rule them are endangered under the pretext of reducing costs. Cuba has spoken out clearly on this delicate matter to the governments of the USSR, PRC, France, and UK. We also explained our position to U.S. representatives in New York during the last round of negotiations. The United States is the main sponsor of these reductions, which come under the guise of cost reductions. We feel that what is now being discussed is not just one more agreement, resolution, text, or new pronouncement. What at stake is much more important; something for which thousands of Namibian fighters have given their lives. Angola's support also contributed to the Namibian people's liberation struggle. Our people's children have also she their blood during over 13 years of confrontation against South African arrogance in Angola. What is now at sake is whether UN mechanisms are capable of carrying out the legitimate will of the Namibian people; of guaranteeing the international community's nearly unanimous ambitions for the peace process in southwestern Africa. This matter cannot be dealt with only from the financial angle. The United States, co-sponsor of Resolution 435, knows ve well that any reduction in international troops favors South Africa. Cuba will maintain its position of principle in this current struggle, the same way it did during the long months of negotiations with South Africa and the United States. Our country is not a member of the Security Council, but it is intimately involved in the Namibian independence struggle, in strict compliance with Resolution 435. In addition, Cuba is also identified with the stance of the Nonaligned Movement, clearly expressed by seven of its members at the UN Security Council. We also believe that during these times when at least in certain areas, there seems to be an opening for prospects for a negotiated settlement--which of course can only be possible following the peoples' stubborn fight--there is a need to preserve as never before, the United Nation's prestige and authority. Here, we all have a responsibility, especially the Security Council's permanent members. This is basically what it is all about. That is very important, lest the efforts of Namibians and other peoples for so many years become frustrated. There is a new event surrounding this dispute: It is the first time in the history of the United Nations that the criteria and viewpoints of the Security Council's permanent members are at odds--strongly influenced by the United States--against the criteria of the Third World countries, in this case represented by the countries of the Nonaligned Movement, over a very important topic involving the people of the Third World. It has to do with the fight against apartheid, with wiping away the last traces of colonialism, and with the sovereignty of a country like Namibia. This exceptional, unusual event in which this controversy takes place could bring under discussion--and I say this with full responsibility because I am very concerned about what is happening over this problem--the question of democratization in the United Nations. Sometimes there are things tat are so sacred, because of habit and custom, that they seem untouchable. The time has apparently come to discuss this problem. Otherwise, we could not even think of developing new concepts of international relations. We have the right to ask ourselves: What kind of democracy exists in the United Nations if what remains of the old British empire, the UK, which colonized a large part of the world in every ocean for centuries and which has 50 million inhabitants, has the right to veto the resolutions of the Security Council? However, a country such as India, for example, with 750 million inhabitants--15 times the population of the UK--and a former British colony, does not have such a privilege. We could mention other countries with great economic and industrial power in the world or with great authority or prestige in the United nations that do not have such a privilege. Third World countries with 4 billion inhabitants can see that their most sacred interests, aspirations, and hopes are dashed simply by the veto of any one of the five permanent members of the Security Council. Over 40 years have passed since World War II. We live in a totally different world that must also be ruled by different norms. Today we are faced with the reality that 4 billion human beings living in countries that were once colonies, once exploited, and once enslaved have no similar rights. I think this matter is very important and is worth considering. We have a duty to mention it here at this time. There are new aspects of this controversy that has emerged at the UN Security Council, and I believe it is a problem that our nation and especially international public opinion must follow closely. We have exhausted all means, contacts and arguments with the members of the UN Security Council. Apparently, as of now, the desired results have not been achieved. There may be other ways to cut expenses. We can ask for the cooperation of African countries. I am sure many African countries would be willing to cooperate with a minimum of expense to maintain the number of troops that are needed in Namibia. There are many ways to cut expenses. We agree with that goal and that idea. Too bad we cannot be there, although we sent seven battalions and did not charge one single cent. [applause] We however, cannot be there, because we are part of that conflict. There are nevertheless, countries like Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and many other African countries that would have gladly offered their cooperation at little cost, because they would not have high transportation expenses or other types of expenses. It is not so difficult to put together seven battalions, but at the beginning they were thinking of reducing the number of battalions from seven to three. That was truly troubling. Now, however, we are facing that problem. We have the duty to explain the facts, because each party must assume its corresponding responsibilities. If South Africa comes up with the idea of somehow thwarting Namibia's right to independence by using methods such as fraud, terror, coercion, or by establishing a puppet government in that country.... [changes thought] We hope the problem will be solved and we hope the permanent members of the UN Security Council will not make a display of arrogance and prepotency and that fair reasonable solution that will be discussed with Nonaligned Movement and Third World representative to the UN Security Council will be sought. Cuba worked very seriously during the negotiations hoping all those things will be solved. We will take the necessary steps for the strict fulfillment of the agreement signed in New York before the UN Security Council. It is our responsibility to withdraw 3,000 soldiers within the period from the day of the signing of the agreement until 1 April 1989, when UN Resolution 435 goes into effect. We have 3 full months to compete that withdrawal. That is our commitment, which is an initial gesture. Cuba and Angola asked the United Nations to verify the withdrawal of our forces within the aforementioned period. On 10 January, the withdrawal of these 3,000 men will begin. [applause] We hope the first Cuban internationalist combatants to leave Angola will arrive in the country around 11 January. [applause] This will be a net withdrawal. All details were discussed, because the period for the progressive and total withdrawal of our forces will be the 27 months after 1 April. During that period, we will have to rotate our personnel. The case of these 3,000 men is a net withdrawal of troops, and as far as we are concerned, we are determined to strictly fulfill the agreements and we hope the other parties will do so as well. There is another aspect of our international policy, which I would like to briefly refer to. As you know, on 5 December, at the ceremony to commemorate the landing of "Granma" and to deliver the flag that represented tat the capital's defense forces are ready, in front of hundreds of thousands of fighters we analyzed concepts involving defense and the need to remain alert and ready to defend the country. I think we should state something very clearly and sincerely: We completely support the Soviet Union's peace policy. It is good to clarify this because many times in Western countries, the imperialist and capitalist press does nothing more than incite and incite, and try to develop contradictions between Cuba and the USSR or stress contradictions or exaggerate the contradictions that there may be, which do exist in some matters and which have no reason to become a source of friction in relations with the Soviet Union. I think we should go on the principle of absolute respect for the roads that each country follows or considers convenient to following the method o socialist construction. But there should not be the slightest doubt that we completely support the Soviet Union's peace policy. [applause] We not only support it, we highly appreciate it. We are aware of the importance of avoiding the risks of a nuclear war. We are aware of the importance of stopping the arms race. We are aware of the need for a policy of peace and detente to prevail in the world. This is vital to Third World countries. Billions of human beings are suffering tremendously the consequences of the poverty and underdevelopment that colonialism left behind. As we said on 5 December, every 3 days 120,000 children, who could have been saved, die. this is like dropping an atomic bomb every 3 days. For countries saturated with debts, countries that are being mercilessly exploited by unfair trade mechanisms, for countries that urgently need a new economic order, peace is an indispensable premise. Without peace it will be impossible for them to face problems. They would have no hope of resolving the debt problem, of erasing the debt, in a let us say negotiated way. There are other ways of erasing the debt. Without peace, without a climate of detente, if the arms race does not stop, those countries would have no hope of having resources for development. The resources used in the arms race alone would be sufficient to produce development in those countries. The appearance of Comrade Gorbachev at the United Nations has much historic and strategic importance. He took the banners of the Third World and he waved them as his own. Those are the banners for which we have been struggling for many years. He spoke about the debt. We have said that the debt should be erased, that it should be erased from the world. Comrade Gorbachev said there should be a 100-year moratorium. For practical purposes, postponing debt payments for 100 years and erasing the debt are the same thing. [applause] Linking the objectives of disarmament and development with the need for a new international economic order is a very serious and very basic matter. We fully agree and also decisively support USSR policies on this issue. Who could oppose a policy of peace? Well now, regardless of the major strides made--because Soviet policies have managed to create a new international climate--these policies have categorically and unquestionably proven who the enemies of peace are! Who the enemies of detente are! They are not the socialist countries or the Soviet Union. I think this fact has been unquestionably demonstrated, as never before. However, I warned we were running a risk, and that a very important matter still remains to be defined: How imperialists interpret peace. What do imperialists regard as peace? What do imperialists understand peaceful coexistence to be? We voiced our fear that the imperialists could apply their peculiar concept of peace--as they have done so often before--and could regard peace as peace among the superpowers, while reserving to themselves the right to oppress, exploit, threaten, and attack Third World countries. One day that country could be Nicaragua. Another day it could be Cuba. Another day, any other country, as they have been doing all these years. The imperialists regard peace as the right to apply their policy of being the world's policemen. We said this was a very important, very fundamental matter that still remains to be decided. And it must be decided in a clear and categorical manner. Not even 30 days have passed since those words were uttered, and here we have an example. Several days ago, the United States raised a big scandal about an alleged chemical weapons factory in Libya. The President of the United States openly spoke about the possibility of launching an air attack on such a factory. There is even a squadron [as heard] moving towar the Mediterranean after his threatening attack was made. There is a hysteria campaign under way in the United States to create the conditions for this attack. The Libyans have said they have no such factory and they don't propose to construct a chemical weapons factor. What they are doing, they say, is constructing a pharmaceutical plant. However, I don't think that explanation was necessary. We cannot favor chemical weapons from the earth. The question here is whether the United States has the right to decide who manufacturers chemical weapons, to decide that they will attach and bomb a country that manufactures chemical weapons. [applause] The United States has the largest arsenal of chemical weapons. It has a powerful arsenal of chemical weapons in addition to its nuclear weapons, and the United States feels it has the right to manufacture and accumulate chemical weapons. Why does the United States feel that it can deny this right to any other country? Is there an international agreement somewhere in the world on the suppression of chemical weapons and the prohibition of their production? If the Libyans were constructing a factory to manufacture chemical weapons, what right does the United States have to bomb that country? What right does it have to bomb that factory? It intends to apply the law of the jungle in the world, the law of the strongest. Is that the U.S. interpretation of peace and detente? How can any Third World country feel at ease under those circumstances? And now a U.S. squadron is moving into the Mediterranean, and U.S. television has even explained the type of techniques the Pentagon would use. Those techniques avoid endangering planes and avoid overflights, so they would launch cruise missiles from a submarine stationed somewhere in the Mediterranean. In other words, modern technology will be at the service of warmongering policies and aggressiveness, and will threaten the world and its peoples. The technology will be at the service of the war against Third World countries. It is something shameful, embarrassing, and truly infuriating. They continue to freely discuss the type of technology they will use and they maintain their threats. We are facing facts that justify our asking: What does imperialism understand as peace? We want peace and we must struggle for it, but peace for all peoples. We want the kind of peace to which all the peoples of the world are entitled. [sustained applause] [crowd shouts: "Fidel, be sure to hit the Yankees hard"] We want peace with respect, rights, independence, and security for all the peoples of the world. That is the kind of peace for which we must all struggle. That is what the international community demands. I believe that now, more than ever, there must be a very alert international awareness. I could talk a lot about those topics. We could, for example, say that in a special way imperialist propaganda and disinformation organizations are concentrating on Cuba very much at present. They are treating Cuba brutally. The Western powers would like to tell us what to do. I do not know why we have the strange privilege of having them worry whether we do or fail to do this of that, or whether we imitate something, or whether we copy or fail to copy something else. They have turned this into something related to our people's essential rights, and have made it a topic of almos daily discussion. We are not scared by that, of course, and we do not get discouraged. On the contrary, we are highly honored, because we never thought we were so important. The truth is we do not want to alarm people and we do not know what we have done to keep so many people awake at night. What I can assure you of here, as I assured you in Santiago de Cuba on 1 January, is that the revolution will not change. I believe the secret of this revolution is having been loyal to its principles from the beginning to have been loyal to those principles during the last 30 years and to be willing to be loyal for another 30 or 100 years. [applause] I believe that is the most significant heritage we can bequeath to future generations: The basic idea that one must be loyal to principles. There is only one way to survive such difficult conditions as the ones that Cuba has experienced the last 30 years: by being loyal to principles, by not being intimidated by anything, and by not allowing anyone or anything to change the pure and straight line of the revolution. [applause] That is what we can offer our friends in the world. Cuba will continue being loyal and faithful to those principles, and we feel we have the duty to say it here, because, as I said at the beginning of my speech, the revolution is not our work, but everybody's work. In Santiago de Cuba, I said the revolution did not result solely from our struggle against Batista; it is the fruit borne of more than 100 years of our people's struggle, the struggles of several generations, which began the moment our country started thinking as a nation. The same can be said about our socialist revolution. It is not the fruit of our effort alone; it is also the fruit of centuries of struggle, of the working classes' efforts beginning in the past century, of the Paris Commune--even though it did not attain victory--of the October Revolution, and of the struggles of many peoples to create a world free of slavery of man's exploitation by man--a world in which justice truly exists. Socialist revolution does not take place in an isolated world; it has a place in today's world, where there are still big tragedies, where there is still an empire as powerful as the United States. Today imperialism still exists; today there is still a group of industrialized capitalist nations that are powerful and affluent, which impose their rule on a large part of the world. This revolution is the fruit of all of this. This revolution is the fruit of international cooperation, of cooperation with all the socialist nations, especially the USSR. [applause] I will never forget the support we received at decisive moments. I will never forget the economic cooperation and the fair trade rules established between the most highly developed socialist countries and Cuba, and between the USSR and Cuba. The capitalists do not tire of daily repeating that thi cooperation is aid; that it is a way of subsidizing the Cuban Revolution. Third World countries have struggled for decades for fair trade rules, and by virtue of this struggle we have not become victims of the brutal phenomenon of unequal trade, through which the developed capitalist nations sell their products at increasingly higher prices, while purchasing our exports at increasingly lower prices. This is not the type of relationship we have with the socialist countries and the USSR; with them we have fair trade, as should exist between developed and developing countries, which is even fairer within a socialist community. The imperialists describe this as a subsidy, as everyone can see daily on all the cable stations. The fact is that our sugar is bought at a different price and not at the rate paid at the garbage dump of sugar at the world market, and where--for all practical purposes--there is no sugar trade. I will never forget that it was possible to establish this type of relationship between the socialist countries and Cuba and the USSR and Cuba, which has meant a great deal to us in our effort to develop in the great battles waged, and the great successes achieved in many cases. We do not think, not even for a minute that this is the result of our effort alone. Quite the contrary. We think our people must keep making greater and greater and more and more efficient efforts. We keep saying, as we say today, that our people must turn every year into three or even four years. I believe we are moving forward along this path. But we do not forget what we have received from the world and from other peoples, the moral and political support and the solidarity we have received from all corners of the world from Latin America, Africa, Asia. We cannot forget the support we have received from the progressive, democratic, and revolutionary forces throughout the world, and even from capitalist countries, were we have many friends who have not let themselves be deceived by the abusive large-scale propaganda against our revolution. We have not yet expressed the most important and essential part of our thoughts. This is why, at today's event and at this moment when we commemorate the 30th anniversary, we want to express our gratitude to all of you have have joined with us to commemorate this anniversary. We want to express our thanks to your peoples and all that you represent, the just causes and the noble ideas for which you stand. We want to thank the hundreds of guests who are here, and the people they represent, in the name of our people. Fatherland or death, we will win! [applause] -END-