-DATE- 19900404 -YEAR- 1990 -DOCUMENT_TYPE- -AUTHOR- -HEADLINE- Castro Addresses Youths at Rally in Havana -PLACE- CARIBBEAN / Cuba -SOURCE- Havana Cubavision Television -REPORT_NBR- FBIS-LAT-90-068 -REPORT_DATE- 19900409 -HEADER- BRS Assigned Document Number: 000006200 Report Type: Daily Report AFS Number: PA0704200890 Report Number: FBIS-LAT-90-068 Report Date: 09 Apr 90 Report Series: Daily Report Start Page: 4 Report Division: CARIBBEAN End Page: 6 Report Subdivision: Cuba AG File Flag: Classification: UNCLASSIFIED Language: Spanish Document Date: 04 Apr 90 Report Volume: Monday Vol VI No 068 Dissemination: City/Source of Document: Havana Cubavision Television Report Name: Latin America Headline: Castro Addresses Youths at Rally in Havana Author(s): President Fidel Castro at youth rally in Maceo Park, Havana; date not given--live or recorded] Source Line: PA0704200890 Havana Cubavision Television in Spanish 0525 GMT 4 Apr 90 Subslug: [Speech by President Fidel Castro at youth rally in Maceo Park, Havana; date not given--live or recorded] -TEXT- FULL TEXT OF ARTICLE: 1. [Speech by President Fidel Castro at youth rally in Maceo Park, Havana; date not given--live or recorded] 2. [Text] Young comrades: I now understand why late this evening I was told that there was a rumor going around that I would be speaking at midnight, tonight. I asked: Where did that rumor come from? If you cannot hear me that is terrible. I asked: Where did that rumor come from? Throughout the afternoon and evening, after you were already here, I had to attend a news conference that lasted approximately two and a half hours--from 1800 to 2100. I then said--if you cannot hear me, then keep quiet--well, I am free now. I felt so free that I almost sat down to eat. When I feel free, I feel like eating. Just imagine what would happen if on a day like today, when I have gone all day without eating, I was to come here with only half my digestion process over and make a speech at midnight and what is more, a pinch-hit [cuarto bate] speech. [applause] 3. Then I got to thinking, Robertico [Roberto Robaina, first secretary of the Union of Young Communists, UJC] told me that you wanted me to say a few words--only a few words, not a speech, would be fine. Robertico already made a speech and he hit a home run with the bases loaded. [applause] We are ahead by so many home runs that we better just touch the ball and send it out to third base. [laughter] 4. Well then, I believe that today is a day of great importance, another day that the youths celebrate with maximum spirit of struggle and fighting. It has been a day of happiness like all other days, and not even the infamous aggression against our sovereignty, through that miserable freak [engendro] of a television station they are attempting to name after Marti--the first of the Cuban anti-imperialists and most prominent anti-Yankee--[applause] has prevented the happiness and enthusiasm of our people and the great happiness of our youth from showing. 5. In the presence of a crowd of youths like you, while attending an event like this, at a moment like this, and at a place like this, even if one does not wish to, one must stop and think; and even if you try not to, you cannot help but be filled with emotion. 6. There are many things that cross one's mind in just minutes. I had just left that news conference--which was later carried on television to all the people and which you obviously did not see because you were here--and still had everything that went on there fresh in my mind. I remember some ideas and concepts that were discussed during the news conference. There were about 200 correspondents present, more than 100 foreign correspondents present; most of the correspondents there were foreign correspondents. I did not know that it was going to be a news conference. 7. The comrades that lead the battle against the tele-aggression had invited foreign reporters to speak to them and to put our point of view across. So, many reporters came--far more than our comrades could have ever imagined. They were told they would be meeting a high-ranking leader; many of them believed they would be meeting me. That left me no other alternative but to accept the invitation the comrades made to take part in that news conference. Several things were discussed there, which will be published. One of the things that was put across there was the theory of whether or not our spirit of resistance is correct, if our decision to resist, our strategy to resist, is correct in the face of that haughty, overconfident, and arrogant enemy, just when the world's revolutionary movement has suffered a great setback--we could even go so far as to call it a disaster. This has caused pessimism among many spirits throughout the world. The theory has emerged just when Cuba is facing a gigantic task--I would say a task that is worthy of the giant we have in front of us--when our people are fully decided on defending the revolution, whatever the price, when our people are decided on making any sacrifice. The theory emerged--this theory has emerged during other historic moments--it did not emerge here, it emerged abroad, among Europeans, even among some Latin American friends. It emerged especially in the brain of the empire and its advisers. It is the anti-hero theory, the anti-resistance theory, the theory of concessions to the empire, the theory of surrender, and the theory of those of the big ditch pact [pacto del zanjon]. 8. There is a great illusion, a false illusion, of believing that revolutionary processes can live or survive by granting concessions. Those in history who have believed that revolutionary ideas can renounce their principles have always been vanquished. Those in history who have believed this, have always been defeated. What happened in East Europe is all too recent. [In Europe] they began by making small concessions, then more and newer concessions; they gave the end of the little finger, then they were asked for another bit, then came the finger, followed by the hand, afterward the arms; later, their heads were snapped off. This is what has really happened to these East European socialist processes. In some of these countries, the most extreme reactionary right-wingers have taken over, so the theory that a revolutionary process is able to survive by granting concessions is the most absurd and mistaken theory that can be conceived. 9. As I told the reporters, only the brave, only those who struggle, and only those who resist, win. [applause] We were thinking of this when we arrived here. We thought of our youth. The [reporters] asked that if resisting was not tantamount to collective suicide. I replied that we preferred death to slavery. [applause] I replied that we preferred death to not being free. Only in freedom, honor, dignity, and in the high goals humans can set for themselves can there be true happiness and fortune. I thought and meditated: This is our youth and they are merry and happy. As someone said, these youths are cultured and have strong political awareness; they have strong revolutionary awareness. [applause] What we want for these youths is a destiny of honor, dignity, happiness, and liberty. What we want for all of them is the best of all possible worlds. We want their security. For mankind, we want the most that one can wish for. We do not want for these youths capitalist corruption, selfishness, vices, or that hateful world we have left behind. We do not want to be a dependent country again. We do not want to be a country of owners again. We do not want to be a people with masters again. We do not want to go down so dishonorably. That is why we have told those who sincerely worry about our future that we prefer death to slavery. We shall not resign for any reason or circumstance whatsoever, amid any difficulty, from the path that we have chosen. Do not fear for us. 10. This reminds me of the time the Batista troops launched their last offensive on the Sierra Maestra. The enemy chief, who had 10,000 soldiers fighting against 300 of us, sent a message saying that he regretted what was going to happen because we were very brave--he meant us--and that it would be a loss for the fatherland. He suggested talks. We thanked him. We said: Thank you. We are willing to talk, but after the offensive. If you enter the Sierra Maestra, break our lines, defeat every soldier you encounter, and exterminate every single one of us, but do not cry over our deaths, because we will have written one of the most glorious pages in history. Even the children of the soldiers fighting against us today will look up with pride at the peaks and mountains of the Sierra Maestra. [applause] We were convinced, very convinced of our victory. However, we did not speak with arrogance. We did not say: We are going to defeat you. All we did was tell them that we would not talk before the offensive; we told them we would talk after the offensive and that was what we did. We talked while we returned hundreds and hundreds of prisoners who had been taken by those 300 people who defeated the tyranny's 10,000 soldiers. I am not saying that the enemy is suggesting talks, but if the imperialist enemy was to suggest talks with threats, we would give them the very same answer. I was not talking about the enemy, but about those who feel sorry for us because of our honorable situation. 11. In these difficult times, when part of the socialist world has crumbled, when the enemy feels brave, triumphant, arrogant, and more aggressive than ever, now that we, and only we, can defend the banners of socialism in our fatherland [applause], now that we are living the most glorious moment of all our history--and that is saying a lot when we are talking about a history as rich as ours--we tell those who feel sorry for us: Have no fear, we prefer death to slavery. We would prefer to die than to surrender. The truth is that in one way or another they are suggesting a surrender. He who grants concessions, he who allows the violation of the basic principles of a revolution, he who takes that path, will end with the Zanjon Pact. He who takes that path, capitulates. Young comrades, I do believe what I said earlier: There can only be happiness with dignity; there can only be happiness with freedom. A slave does not smile, a slave has no honor, a slave has no dignty, a slave has no respect. If there is anything a slave deserves, it is pity. 12. When I saw you today, when I saw your happiness this evening during this event, I was thinking how straight and fair our line is and how there must be happiness and love if there is to be a smile. If there is to be a smile, it can only be in freedom and dignity. I told myself: I am sure that none of these youths here would ever choose the path of capitulation, the path of slavery. I thought: How many symbols do we have here tonight. We have the symbol of a healthy youth, the symbol of fighting youth, the symbol of an unsurpassable youth; an exceptional moment in the history of our fatherland, a moment of struggle, a moment of firmness, a moment of decision. And Maceo's symbol is in our midst. The highest symbol of national dignity, the highest symbol of courage and honor in our wars of independence, the symbol of the most glorious feat in our history, the Baragua protest. [applause] 13. That is why here, standing before Maceo's statue, I ask: What path will we follow? The path of slavery [people shout ``no''] or the path of freedom? The path of capitulation or resistance? [crowd shouts: ``resistance''] Young comrades loved by the revolutionary fatherland, what path will you choose? The Zanjon or Baragua? [applause] 14. I have nothing more to say. Let us continue to enjoy this anniversary with happiness because our country will be an eternal Baragua. [applause] An eternal Baragua means an eternal revolution, eternal freedom. Even though we say fatherland or death, we also say we will win! To choose the path of resistance means that we will not only be capable of resisting, but also of winning. [applause] We are simply--and you know and feel this-- undefeatable. A people and a revolution that have youth like you, are undefeatable. [applause] For this reason, standing here before Antonio Maceo's statue, let us say that we will be capable of following his example, that we know that we are capable of resisting and defeating, that we are capable of fulfilling our heroic and glorious slogans: Socialism or death! Fatherland or death! We will win! [applause] -END-