-DATE- 19900313 -YEAR- 1990 -DOCUMENT_TYPE- -AUTHOR- -HEADLINE- Castro Speech on Anniversary of Palace Assault -PLACE- CARIBBEAN / Cuba -SOURCE- Havana Radio Rebelde Network -REPORT_NBR- FBIS-LAT-90-050 -REPORT_DATE- 19900314 -HEADER- BRS Assigned Document Number: 000004661 Report Type: Daily Report AFS Number: PA1403023390 Report Number: FBIS-LAT-90-050 Report Date: 14 Mar 90 Report Series: Daily Report Start Page: 1 Report Division: CARIBBEAN End Page: 8 Report Subdivision: Cuba AG File Flag: Classification: UNCLASSIFIED Language: Spanish Document Date: 13 Mar 90 Report Volume: Wednesday Vol VI No 050 Dissemination: City/Source of Document: Havana Radio Rebelde Network Report Name: Latin America Headline: Castro Speech on Anniversary of Palace Assault Author(s): President Fidel Castro Ruz at Jose Marti Revolution Square in Havana--live] Source Line: PA1403023390 Havana Radio Rebelde Network in Spanish 2336 GMT 13 Mar 90 Subslug: [Speech by President Fidel Castro Ruz at Jose Marti Revolution Square in Havana--live] -TEXT- FULL TEXT OF ARTICLE: 1. [Speech by President Fidel Castro Ruz at Jose Marti Revolution Square in Havana--live] 2. [Text] Dear and admired relatives of the combatants who fell on 13 March; dear student comrades. I felt I had to explain something when I saw you jumping and chanting: He who does not jump is a Yankee. I thought to myself, I hope this does not get me into any trouble. [crowd laughs] I began looking over here at my Executive Committee comrades and ministers who are with us while I asked myelf if I could jump like you people. [crowd laughs] I shrugged it off thinking, hopefully, you had forgotten, but I see you are back again and in full force. I was remembering a few weeks ago when I was inaugurating a behavioral disorder school near Samaria or some other municipality around there. The boys were playing basketball, so I approached them to play too. In my days, I was quite good with the ball, shooting from an angle. It was a little rubber ball, not a regulation basketball. No, I am not going to blame the ball, as it was I who was out of shape. I tried to take a shot but it fell short. I tried again until I managed to reach the rim. The boys suggested I shoot closer, but I said: I am not leaving until I get it in. What could have made me say such a thing? I had to be on my way to inaugurate other schools. I tried 10 to 12 times when I heard something snap. [crowd laughs] I could only think of all the schools I still had to inaugurate. I said: I think I shall take your advise; I am going to throw it from here. I finally made the shot. [applause] One tends to forget that one is no longer the university student of the 1940's. One is told one should not try this without first warming up; one should not try sudden jumps without warming up first because one may tear a ligament or who knows what. I was told too late; I had already jumped 10, 12, or 14 times! I had forgotten all my commitments; I was scheduled to inaugurate other schools. If I had known you were here waiting with the watchword: Those who do not jump are Yankees, I would have spent half an hour warming up befome coming here. [applause] By then I had no choice, but I still managed to jump, although it may have not been much. [crowd chants: ``Those who do not jump are Yankees!''] I already jumped three times; the jumps may not have been like Sotomayor's, but I still jumped and proved I am not a Yankee. Can you imagine my being termed a Yankee, here? I do not know who jumped over here. [applause] I do not know if there is a Yankee reporter here and whether he might have jumped as well; maybe he caught on from you. 3. Comrades, after this anecdote, allow me to refer to what has brought us together here at this square. This is the first time in many years because we generally meet on the other side. Comrade Felix said there were 30,000 or 40,000 students here. I do not know if many more joined in along the way, but it seems there are more than 40,000 citizens at this rally. [crowds cheer] Today we commemorate a historic date that is deep within the hearts of all the people and of our students, too. It is the anniversary of the attack on the palace and the death of Jose Antonio Echeverria. 4. It was on a day like this, but somewhat earlier. We remember it well because we had embarked on a long journey toward the eastern part of the Sierra Maestra and we--a small group of fighters--were returning to meet with Che and other comrades. Che had to remain in a given zone because of health problems and a group of fighters was coming from the old Oriente Province as reinforcements for our troops. We were at that moment 12 men who had embarked on a campaign. We were going toward the west and we were at the base of the mountain that was several times our capital, meaning Caracas Mountain. It is not a big mountain. It measures 1,200 or 1,250 meters at the most, but it was very well known by us in difficult times. We were at the base of the mountain where we would make a stop. 5. We had a small radio and when we stopped we turned on the radio and tried to catch the national news. It was a small battery radio. The moment we turned on the radio we heard the Radio Reloj signal--but without the announcer's voice. That was very strange. No one was talking. We immediately realized that something serious was happening--or had happened. We later found out what had happened, of course. We did not hear the first part, when the news was interrupted by Jose Antonio's statement. The radio was on the air but there were no news reports. We waited and waited, but we immediately realized that something important had happened. 6. The news segment continued and there was a report on the events. That is when we really learned what had happened. It was a brief news report. Later we learned about Jose Antonio's death and the events that had occurred, the loss of revolutionaries' lives that had occurred, and the cases of political opposition leaders who had been assassinated that same day. It was a tremendous moment for us. It affected us greatly. We were then 12 men. That was the size of our operational forces--12 men. We sadly continued our march to the west afterwards. We were going to meet with our comrades, which we did several days later. 7. We knew Jose Antonio very well because he was a happy young man who was very affectionate with everyone. He was modest, very humble. We affectionately called him Little Apple. His skin was pink and the students affectionately gave him that name. We knew him from way back, before the 10 March coup d'etat. We had befriended him because, as a matter of fact, he was everyone's friend. He was nice and honest. He was a student like all of you, but he still was not a student leader. He became a great and important leader of the FEU [Federation of University Students] after 10 March and as a result of his combative, active, and courageous attitude. This made him stand out among the other comrades. 8. Those were the relations we had with and those are the memories we have of Jose Antonio. He certainly stood out, and the FEU stood out in those early struggles against Batista in an university that still was not a revolutionary university. It was possibly not as revolutionary as it had been in the 1930's: the years of struggle against Machado and the early years of the struggle against Batista. It was not an imperialist...[corrects himself] anti-imperialist university. Anti-imperialist feelings had greatly declined at the university in those years. The number of communists was very small. The group of truly progressive and conscious people with ideas about socialism was very small too. 9. However, our students were characterized by their rebellious and struggling spirit, and they defended many causes. Even though they could not be called socialist causes, they were just causes like solidarity with Panamanian students when they were struggling for the return of their canal territory. They were always in solidarity with the Puerto Rican people's struggle, or in solidarity with democracy in Santo Domingo during Trujillo's time. 10. The students generally supported all those causes, and they rejected political schemes and corruption even though they had not acquired the awareness that the students had concerning their struggle in Julio Antonio Mella's time and the years when the struggle against the Machado dictatorship began. However, this marked a new chapter in our country's history. Generally speaking, the workers' and the peasants' children could not go to university. The number of students was very small. Junior colleges were usually found in the provincial capitals. Can you imagine what chance the son of a sugar-mill worker or a farm worker or a peasant had of going to high school or junior college, not to mention university? They had no resources for the trip, books, or registration fees. They barely managed to complete sixth grade. Very few completed sixth grade, particularly in the countryside. Very few completed third or fourth grade. The vast majority of the children had to drop out of school after first, second, or third grade--if they ever went to school. Elementary education barely included 50 percent of our population, so access to universities was achieved by youths who generally came from the middle class or the lower middle class. There was no social status for the workers or peasants. 11. There was also much anticommunism and McCarthyism at the time. An incessant campaign was launched in all the media--press, television, radio, all the magazines, all the newspapers, all the books. That was the daily dose of venom. The period I am talking about is the one which corresponds to the end of World War II and the beginning of the cold war. [Unidentified man shouts: ``That is why we want socialism!''; crowd chants: ``Socialism, socialism, socialism!''] Given that situation, the revolutionaries who were aware of the concept of society and life were very few. Traditionally, the students from colonial times...[changes thought] You may recall the traumatic episode about the execution of the medical students, probably with false charges. 12. According to history, the sad part of that story is that they had not even carried out the action, which was called the pro... [unidentified speaker interrupts, saying: ``Profanation''] the profanation of a reactionary and colonialist journalist's tomb. However, the charges were made and their execution was carried out. This was back in the first years. I believe it was in 1961. The first war of independence in our country had barely begun three years before. That tradition always remained, but the 10 March military coup created the conditions that would lead to a deep social revolution for the first time in our country's history. 13. University students were put to a difficult test and this exerted a tremendous influence on them. The struggle began like our struggle began, except it began a few years earlier, simply as a result of the students' rebellion and protests against injustices, corruption, privileges, etc. We did not have a political theory when we began. Perhaps the most extraordinary thing about those masses of students which fought courageously against the Batista tyranny was their extraordinary merits. They began the struggle for the reasons we have explained even though they had yet to develop a conscience. They continued onward for approximately seven years and led great clashes on the streets against the police and against firemen. They carried out heroic feats like the one on 13 March. They organized guerrilla struggle activities in the mountains. And they participated in the struggle according to the measure of their strength and possibilities, until 1 January. The most admirable thing about that generation of students is that a vast majority of them came from middle class and lower middle class families, yet they continued with the revolution and they continued with socialism. 14. A foreign visitor may find it strange to see this type of relationship between the revolution and the students. The visitor most probably knows nothing about the seed of our student masses of today. It was planted many years ago, during the early years of the revolution when there was a close relationship between the revolution and the students. It was as close as the one that existed between the revolution and the working class, as close as the relationship between the revolution and the peasants, the revolution and women, the revolution and the people. 15. The fact is we have done the work of the revolution together. It is the common work of all. What the universities are today--we cannot talk about the university but about many universities--is largely the fruit of the work of that generation, of the struggle that Jose Antonio Echeverria began together with other comrades. 16. We can refer today to hundreds of thousands of students. Regular students total well over 100,000. They are approximately 120,000 - 130,000. Together with those in other areas of higher studies, they reach the huge total of 300,000. There are approximately 300,000 students at the higher level. All this is the fruit of a great struggle, of much work, of a great effort of many years that began with the revolution. 17. It began with social justice. It began with the creation of opportunities for all children and all young people of this country. It began with the campaign against illiteracy, for which tens of thousands of adolescents and youths at the preuniversity level mobilized. From the very beginning there was always a strong and immediate response from the students. This happened for the first time in our country's history, too. Maybe only a few countries in the world have throughout their history given such responses to the noble aspirations, lofty feelings, energy, and wishes of the youthful, student masses. 18. The student masses it are themselves a work of the revolution because, out of 15,000 students, only a few attended classes regularly. The revolution produced a mass of 30,000, a mass of 60,000, a mass of 100,000, a mass of 200,000, a mass of 300,000 students. These huge masses were created with the revolution and with socialism. Just as huge are the masses of midlevel students. Just as huge are the masses of secondary school students, of technological school students, of trade school students, etc. Such are the masses of children who make up the primary education system. 19. The students joined the people's militia the first year. The militias were not called Territorial Troops Militia then. Thousands upon thousands joined the militias. They were not numerous at the beginning because even those graduating from the preuniversity level were insufficient to fill our universities. They enrolled in the militias and the Armed Forces by the thousands. Many times, whole contingents of university graduates were used to form the units of antiaircraft rocketry and other weapons requiring qualified personnel. 20. During that era, each time a (?batch) of preuniversity students graduated, they entered the university headlong, even though some of them would have liked to study something else, or to be a teacher, or a member of the Armed Forces, as I said. However, all of them participated from the very beginning in the country's defense. 21. This history, the fruits pointed out in the words repeated here, and that past effort involve a whole tradition. A very close relationship has always existed between the students and the revolution and the leadership of the revolution, and also between the students and the party, without a single crack throughout these more than 30 years. Things are different now. There are now huge masses that are the fruit of all of these years of struggle. 22. There is a very profound awareness today. The aim is not to become a revolutionary simply out of youthful enthusiasm, out of love of liberty, or out of a rebellious spirit. It is much more significant, deep, and strong to become a revolutionary out of a profound conviction, out of a fully developed conscience that allows us to see and distinguish and analyze and evaluate society and world problems. 23. In this struggle we have been the vanguard and the standard-bearers. Our laborers, peasants, and students, who are aware of the great historic task of having to defend this first trench of socialism in the Western Hemisphere, which is 90 miles from the United States, have fulfilled this honorable role for more than 30 years. They have built socialism and harvested its fruits for 30 years. You cannot deny that we have fulfilled our revolutionary duty for 30 years, that we have fulfilled our internationalist duties for 30 years, that we have defended socialism for 30 years. The slogan--fatherland or death--was already applicable on the second year of the revolution because we had to shout it from the very beginning. From the very beginning we were threatened, from the very beginning rebels were promoted in the Cuban mountains and such groups existed in all provinces, from the very beginning there were plans of aggression, and from the very beginning there were threats of invasion, which at a given moment nearly provoked a nuclear war. 24. This gives us an idea of how long the struggle of the peoples can last--the struggle of our people to achieve their independence and liberty against mighty foreign powers. This struggle for liberty was first waged against the might of one of the great military powers of the time; namely, Spain, and then against the might of the United States, whose ambition has always been to seize Cuba. 25. The United States had hoped to seize Cuba as it had seized Puerto Rico. It had hoped to seize Cuba as one picks a ripe fruit and as it did through the neocolonial republic--by exploiting natural resources, because all large industries and services were owned by Yankee concerns. And although we had this beautiful flag, a coat of arms, and our national anthem, we were never really independent until 1 January 1959. [applause] 26. As I recall listening to Jose Antonio speaking 33 years ago, I think that today we are involved in the same struggle, but this struggle is even more difficult. I think that the greatest struggle in our country's history--which began with our struggle against Spain, continued with our attempts to prevent our annexation by the United States, continued with our struggle against pro-Yankee neocolonialist governments, and continued with our struggle against Batista--is today, when we are facing the empire, the earth's most powerful country in economic and military terms. We are facing an arrogant and overconfident imperialism that is more arrogant and overconfident than ever, an imperialism that has threatened us and is threatening us today with special boldness out of the belief that the collapse of socialism, which has worried them so much for decades, has arrived. 27. They believe that the time to get back at the revolution has arrived. They are euphoric. Perhaps they imagine [20-second break in reception] ...the student leadership's plenary meeting and the people's activities and struggle. If they saw that--and with as many satellites as they have, I cannot understand why they cannot see or understand anything--they would realize that things are simply different over here. [applause] 28. They should realize--and they do realize this in general terms--that an aggression against our country would exact an enormous price from them. They realize it and have admitted it. They have even said that the cost would be high. They are hoping that the process will weaken to make their plan easier to fulfill. They are hoping to divide the people to make their task easier. 29. They are hoping to isolate us. They have said that the empire has only one enemy today. Against whom are they aiming all their attacks and efforts? Against Cuba. They are aiming all their arsenal of resources and propapaganda against nothing else but Cuba. They believe that they will demoralize us or weaken our combative spirit with that. They believe that the developments, on which we have commented on other occasions, will create an unbearable economic crisis. 30. They realize that the revolution is strong and enjoys popular support. However, they are underestimating our people and our nation. They have no reason to do that, because when our nation was nonexistent, when our nation was being born during the heroic struggle that lasted 10 years, it wrote an unprecedented page in our history and struggled amid the most difficult conditions. Even when the nation was a small part of society; when the officials, soldiers, foreigners and their relatives, and many still-confused people were a majority over that segment of Cuban society during the second half of the past century; the nation was built by that handful of patriots who were able to fight for 10 years under an absolute blockade. 31. It was very difficult to receive a ship with weapons and ammunition under such conditions. Cubans virtually fought with the weapons and ammunition seized from the enemy in combat or with machetes, those simple work tools. Armed with courage, the Cubans and those teams of fighters composed of slaves, former slaves, descendents of slaves, very humble peasants, and mestizos, showed an unequaled capacity for fighting. 32. Therefore, they have no historical reason to underestimate us because this was repeated throughout the past during the second war of independence, throughout our history, and throughout our own struggles that repeated our history. This has been demostrated these 30 years because we have faced 30 years of hostilities, blockades, and threats. We have been threatened for a long time now. One president after another has threatened us. We were threatened during both Reagan administrations. We organized and prepared ourselves to defend the revolution with our own effort, blood, and skin. 33. Imperialism has no reason based on our past history to underestimate our people. During a recent women's congress I said that this is a special time, the most special time in our history. 34. If Jose Antonio and his fellow students, the weaponless students of that era, had to confront their pursuers, the police, the forces that served imperialism which repressed our people and that generation of students, the future of our current population--which has almost doubled since that era--is truly unparalleled and unprecedented. An honor that none of us ever imagined has befallen our current population--we are confronting the empire, fiercely defending our independence, the flag of the revolution, and the flag of socialism. [applause] 35. This is an exceptional hour of struggle and pledges for all of us, and a time of heavy work for all of us. 36. Tomorrow I must make a trip. I know the general public does not like me to travel, but it is my duty to do so. We have to go to Brazil to attend the change of government and we have to go tomorrow. Sometimes I make trips more or less discreetly to not facilitate the enemy's work. We must not facilitate the empire's efforts to isolate us. 37. Many Latin American leaders have requested meetings and interviews with me. There is even a great deal of concern over Cuba among political leaders of good faith because they are aware of the imperialists' aggressiveness, because of the recent experience in Panama, because they know about the Yankees' triumphalist spirit, and because they are aware of the possible economic difficulties we may have to face. I must talk to them, and not only talk, but develop Cuba's economic and political relations with different Latin American countries. 38. Many leaders will be gathering in Brazil, the largest country in Latin America, with a population of almost 150 million inhabitants, an area of almost 8 million square km, and huge resources. It is a country that has developed diplomatic relations with Cuba which have gone extremely well, and our economic relations are developing and broadening. The volume of products we purchase from Brazil is increasingly greater, and the value of the Cuban products Brazil purchases is constantly increasing. Cuba is making rapid progress in new areas and, of course, its economic importance is considerable. Even more important at this time, however, is the development of Cuba's economic relations with Brazil. More important than ever before is the Latin American people's struggle against common problems such as the debt, unequal exchange--the sacking of which we are victims--the flight of capital, and the draining of financial resources which this impoverished hemisphere must send to the developed countries. Tens of thousands of millions of dollars yearly. Our countries need these resources to develop, but they are victims of systematic prospecting. 39. Of course, these countries have widely differing political ideologies. The Latin American countries are not socialist countries, but they are our neighbors and we share the same culture and language, similar histories, and similar suffering as exploited nations. Within these countries, of course, there are huge social differences and the burden of suffering is not equally distributed. 40. But, beginning with these common interests, there is a broad field with which to work, independent of political ideologies. I believe this trip has political importance. This trip also has moral importance. We must show the imperialists we have no fear. We have to show the imperialist we fear no risks. It has been proven that people have great admiration for Cuba. It has been shown that the masses have affection toward Cuba as a rule and as a principle. This was shown not long ago during the trip to Venezuela--a place where imperialist propaganda struck hard for a very, very long time through the use of reporters, intellectuals, and students. But the people were very much above it all. There was a downpour of propaganda that lasted entire decades. Direct contact with the people is necessary, and if not directly with the masses, through the press, radio, and television. We must clearly show the empire everyone's attitude, especially everyone's combative attitude. [applause] 41. There is much confusion in the world today. Some even express their condolences to us. They want to accompany us during these hard times, and some say so in good faith. I already know in my heart that advice is something we shall be receiving plenty of. The people I speak to are people who know how to be respectful, leaders who act in good faith. Of course, it is one thing to have a normal situation in a country and something else to have to go through a revolutionary period. There is a difference between the men who receive their education normally and those of us who have received our education through a revolutionary process. We know very well what a revolution is. It is not just anything that may be termed a revolution. [applause] We know what a revolution is and what the revolution's laws are like; we know what counterrevolutions are like and the laws that govern counterrevolutions, when in fact there have been revolutions and counterrevolutions. 42. Because of the mistakes committed years after the French Revolution, a counterrevolutionary wave came. The Bolshevik Revolution was much the same, and others in other countries where counterrevolutions did not get under way but rather, a great counterrevolutionary wave began. After fascism, after the war that fascism began, when at last victory was attained and the people hoped to live in peace, then came the cold war. Right now we are witnessing a great counterrevolutionary wave. This wave worries many people a great deal. The main worry of many Latin American leaders is what would happen to Latin America if this trench was to fall. There has not been a better business deal in all of Latin America's history than the Cuban revolution. The rest of the Latin American people won the lottery--once a popular saying, because we no longer have a lottery-- without even buying a ticket. They did not even have to buy a ticket and still managed to win the first prize. What was the first prize? Our U.S. sugar quota of several million tons--a market that had grown over many years--was distributed among the Latin American countries. After the Cuban revolution and following the Bay of Pigs mercenary invasion that was defeated by our people, the Alliance for Progress emerged, which meant billions. Beginning with the Cuban revolution, the imperialists who had looked down on the Latin American people started to take them more into account, regarding them with a little more consideration and respect. 43. The independence of the Latin American people and of politicians grew after the Cuban revolution. Those people know and the politicians--except for the most recalcitrant reactionaries--know from instinct that if this trench fell, that if this trench fell, the independence of the remaining Latin American nations would be reduced practically to nil. The United States would be issuing orders in Washington. Even second-level officials would be issuing orders and nothing but orders. Anyone who is familiar with imperialist arrogance, anyone familiar with the U.S. scorn for our people, knows what it would mean for the rest of the Latin American people if the United States was able to crush the Cuban revolution. 44. Latin Americans would not be treated as political leaders, presidents, or heads of government. They would be treated like mayors, but with less respect than the U.S. Presidency shows toward a U.S. mayor. It would treat the Latin American political leaders with less respect than it shows for its own mayors and would give them more orders from Washington than it gives to its own mayors. This is felt instinctively or consciously by many people in Latin America. Of course, the advice they [the people in Latin America] will give us is that we must behave well, that we must play the role of good children, that we must make concessions. They think--out of good faith--that revolutions are saved by making concessions to the enemy. No revolution that makes concessions will ever be saved. Anywhere! [applause] Just see how fast the parties that make concessions to the imperialist enemy crumble. Whoever makes concessions to the imperialists is not a revolutionary. [applause] 45. That is the road to undoing because, I say this again, the revolution has its laws and the counterrevolution has its own laws. The history of this country shows that the revolution was possible, that the revolution has continued, and that the revolution will be capable of defending itself because it has never made a single concession to the enemy. [applause] 46. [Text] We know how to defend revolutions, and we know who defends them. We know the psychology of the defenders of revolutions, and we know very well that only the courage, firmness, and the most strict adhesion and loyalty to principles make revolutions capable of defending themselves. [applause] Why do we admire Maceo? Because of his extraordinary firmness, the honorable defense of his principles, and his intransigence. I cannot blame others for ignoring the history of our country, but we know the history of our country and we had the privilege of receiving that legacy from our founding fathers--Maceo and Marti. Marti was the man who most extolled that extraordinary gesture of Baragua. Examples like this have seldom been seen in our history. 47. That is why I ask you, students, comrades in arms, dear and inseparable comrades of our workers and peasants: What should we tell those who ask us to make concessions? [crowd shouts: ``No!''] Never. [applause] Never. [applause] That is what we should tell them. Do not fear for us, because we are capable of defending ourselves. [applause] Fear not for us, because we are capable of defending...[changes thought] of making the world tremble with our courage and heroism. [applause; indistinct chanting] Fear not for us, because we are not only capable of resisting and fighting against imperialism, but we are also capable of forcing it, sooner or later, to abandon our sacred land. [applause; [crowd chants: ``We are born to win and not to be defeated!''] Do not fear for us, because we are not only capable of defending ourselves, we are also capable of winning. [applause] 48. That is how we are preparing ourselves. Felipe asked reporters who published what occurred here...[changes thought] I do not know if they will even be able to. First, to be frank, I do not know if they wish to. I admit that some may want to do it, or may want to be objective. Second, I do not know if they can be objective. Third, I do not know what opportunity they will have to be objective. There are some who even come here to get some basic information, to gather information so they will be able to write against the revolution, but we can always harbor the hope that there will be honest people in the world. 49. Anyway, if they write about it, that is positive. They will be doing their fellow citizens a favor. They can help save some of the lives...[corrects himself] a sizable number of the lives that would be lost in any adventure against Cuba. [applause] They will be rendering a service to their own people. They should know about this. You are not a handful of enthusiastic, impulsive youths. They must know that you are all organized, that you are all prepared, and that 100,000 students represent 100,000 soldiers defending the revolution, weapons in hand-- 100,000 soldiers. [applause] I am talking about regular students, men and women, healthy and strong, who are healthier and stronger than they ever have been in our country's history. 50. They must defend this...[corrects himself] They must know this, just as they must know [Castro chuckles] that things are now different here, that revolutions did not occur here by mere chance, and that no one waged them for us, no one gave them to us, and no one exported them. [applause] We waged them ourselves. Just like fathers create their children...[interrupted by indistinct chanting and applause] ...no one can take them away from us either. [applause] It is a legitimate work of the revolution and the people will know how to defend it, just as parents defend their children like fiends. [applause] 51. We know that this will not be carried out without a struggle. We know the enemy's plans, and we know its friends here--those whom they approach, those whom they address, those whom they ask. We even know about those who harbor illusions. There are some who harbor illusions. [laughter] They believe the socialist constitution can be dismantled, that the revolution can be dismantled, that everything can be dismantled in a matter of hours or days. There are some of those hiding around. The time to unmask them will come. The time will come for those who think: Others--meaning others who did not have what we have going on here--have fallen like a house of cards. They believe that this is also a house of cards, that it was built with cards, and that a small wind will destroy it just like that. [crowd laughs and applauds] 52. We are prepared for the entire struggle, inside and outside the country. They are working on our weak points. There are sly individuals in certain institutions, but not in the state institutions. I do not want to advance any information on this. Let us wait. They have their plans. Once in a while they show the hairy ear [laughter] of the counterrevolution. 53. The empire has increased its propaganda. According to the news, they are again ready to begin the transmission of a television station that, through triple infamy we could say, they intend to call TV Marti. 54. They cannot even imagine how much they offend the hearts and feelings of our people. They know it violates international law. They know it violates the sovereignty of our country. Rumors are circulating that perhaps on 18 March, perhaps on 16 or 17 March, they will try to begin broadcasting. They might even try to take advantage of my absence to begin their transmissions. However, what we want to show [applause; crowd chants slogans] is that this is not a matter of men. This is not a matter of individuals. This is a matter of ideas. This is a matter of convictions, values, and people. No one here is so crazy as to imagine, even for a second, that he is going to be eternal or that he can be eternal. There is someone here who is eternal and immortal--the people. [applause] The people are eternal. [applause] Only ideas, the ideals of our fatherland are immortal and eternal. If they change, it is to improve. If they change, it is to become more beautiful and profound. If they change, it is to shift toward greater and more noble human ambition. No one....[changes thought] We must be very clear about this idea. Men play their role because they have experience. Men have a role because of that and nothing else. A leader is nothing without the people. [applause] And it is good for the imperialists to know this. [crowd chants: ``Fidel, my friend, the people are with you!''] 55. The imperialists have blamed me many times for the people's fighting spirit and their capacity to resist. 56. I am sorry to disappoint them or tell them they are going to be very disappointed, judging by the estimates they make considering age, health, and years. But we revolutionaries do not see the revolution's task as personal business or as a personal chore. We feel like soldiers of the revolution, like any of you. Perhaps they imagine that personal ambitions make us revolutionaries stay in our trench. Alas, if this were the only problem. However, there are other problems, because revolutionaries never give up fighting, never give up our duty, never give up the revolution. [applause] No one can say how long one may be useful; that is determined by nature and age. Tomorrow, I may not be able to jump with you while saying: He who does not jump is a Yankee; then I better start thinking of something else to do, but never stop being a revolutionary. [applause] As long as the heart beats, the brain is able to think--not just in any way, but as a soldier of the revolution--we shall be close to the revolution as long as we are able to move a finger. [applause; crowd chants] 57. I feel like talking about these things among you students on how we see them and what we think of them. Someone said this revolution will not collapse. Not only will it not collapse, but it is rising. It is rising! [applause] From every test, every test, we are stronger. From every test, we are more revolutionary. From every combat we are better. From these tests that history wants us to pass, a stronger and more prestigious revolution will emerge. A stronger, more invincible people will emerge--an example even more invincible than we, ourselves. 58. I believe it has been a privilege for those of us who were in class with you, next to you, to have received a credential to Congress, which Raul and I received today. Really a great honor. I do not have to repeat this very much for you to believe me. It is an honor greatly above any of our merits. I asked myself if there was any cause that could justify us receiving this credential? We, who left the university classrooms so many years ago to attend the university of life; everyday, at all hours; the exceptional university a revolutionary process can be, allowing us to study for so many years the revolution's experiences, and to have been able to study for so many years in a revolution. 59. If there is one thing one could use to try to justify this, it would be the fact that we think today the same way we thought when we were like you, when we were in the university classrooms like you. [applause] We are still the same. We still feel the same way. One can say about our ideas that they are more seasoned, and about our emotions that they bear the weight of many years spent in the revolution. We have not changed, however. 60. For that reason, I can accept the decision and the honor you have bestowed on me, of naming me a delegate. It is a great honor to me. I will be there, as I have been in all congresses. However, I will be in this one more enthusiastically than I have been in others, in tune with the times, in tune with the times, as befits your attitude at this difficult time. You are giving a tremendous lesson to the imperialists. You are telling them: Forget about attacking Cuba [desmayen eso]. [laughter in crowd; applause] [words indistinct] 61. At a time when the imperialists are dreaming of opening cracks, and when they are dreaming of dividing the people, how bitter, how hard, how sad, how traumatic your attitude must be to them! What an example! What a lesson! I assure you that you are waging the first battles, that you are winning the first battles, to the same degree that you are shattering the imperialists' illusions and to the same degree that you are providing those shows of unity and adherence to socialist ideas and to the objectives of the revolution. 62. I do not have much more to add, except for some news. Many comrades would have liked to accompany me on this trip. However, I have told all of them to stay at their posts. That is what is important. We have chosen a small delegation. There is always an official delegation, but we do not set the number. It is determined by the hosts. Thus, the official delegation will include Comrade Lazo, the new eastern titan, [applause] and Comrade Escalona, president of the National Assembly of the People's Government. [applause] 63. The delegation includes other comrades whose cooperation is necessary. I have said that I want to take some symbols of the revolution and of the work of the revolution. I especially invited nine comrades. We will be spending the same amount of fuel in the same plane, anyway. [laughter] In addition, we can share the food. There is so much work to do on such occasions that one does not have time to eat or sleep. That is the way it is. 64. However, I wanted to invite a worker who has responsibilities and is a symbol of our process of rectifications. I invited Comrade Palmero, chief of the Blas Roca Contingent. [applause] I wanted to invite a young--a very young-- man who did not have as many responsibilities as Robaina [head of Union of Young Communists]. [shouts] No, Robaina will not be going. [shouts] How do you know that? [applause, shouts] I invited Felipe [Felipe Perez Roque, vice president of the University Student Federation National Council] to represent you. [applause] 65. I invited Felipe to represent you. [applause] I wanted to take two scientists, so I invited two comrades who headed the team that discovered the antimeningococcus vaccine. [applause] It is a vaccine that is being used in Brazil. These comrades are comrade Conchita and Comrade Sierra. [applause] 66. I also wanted to take two representatives of our intellectuals. I invited Comrade Abel Prieto, president of the National Union of Cuban Writers and Artists. [applause] I invited the president of an institution with great international prestige, that is, the House of the Americas. [applause] He is--I usually link him with Don Quixote de la Mancha because of his looks--Comrade Retamar [Roberto Fernandez]. [applause] I am already taking six. I invited two athletes. One of them jumps higher than you do. [applause] He is Comrade Sotomayor. I am inviting a comrade who can get here from the stairs very fast. She is my namesake Ana Fidelia. [laughter, applause] 67. However, I also said, this group is not complete yet. Something is lacking here. I do not know if you will guess. The group needed something that would symbolize this moment, the spirit of our people at this moment, that would symbolize our people's courage and heroism. [crowd shouts: ``The international volunteers!''] 68. No, I mean this moment, right now. Something more exact, the international volunteers have represented our people and will always represent them. [crowd shouts] 69. I can see you are guessing. I mean the captain of the ship, the Hermann. [applause] And thus, without saying anything, they are the symbols of the work of the revolution. They are not all of the symbols, but a few of them. They will be able to talk there. Reporters can ask them questions. These comrades will be able to speak there. The scientists can give lectures. Palmero can explain what the contingents are. Felipe can explain why students are so revolutionary in this country. [applause] In sum, I will feel very good accompanied by these symbols. 70. However, I can also tell you that the other day I said a word when I was talking to some students. I cannot remember what I was talking about and Felipe said you are in our hearts. I told him: It is very difficult to be in your hearts. I did not mean to say that it was difficult to be in the hearts of people so noble, patriotic, and revolutionary. I meant to say that it is difficult to be in your hearts because it is a great commitment. One feels obliged to give everything to the end. Now, someone [words indistinct] I am accompanied by your hearts. I am accompanied by the hearts of our students, [applause] workers, peasants, international fighters, soldiers, officers, and party militants. That which one always carries--a tremendous and insurmountable force--that which one feels: that one is not the person traveling, but he who represents something, he who represents you. That gives us energy. It gives us strength, permanent enthusiasm, and encouragement. It makes us work days and nights without any rest when we have to fulfill a mission of this type which, on this ocassion, better accompanied than ever, we are sure we will fulfill better than ever. We will reach the ears of friends and foes to tell them: Socialism or death! Fatherland or death, we will win! [applause] 71. I forgot to tell the newsmen something about what Felipe mentioned. Perhaps there will be some fools who will say: We saw the oppressed masses. [laughter] You are the masses oppressed by the magnitude of this rally. [applause] -END-