Latin American Network Information Center - LANIC

-DATE-
19910404
-YEAR-
1991
-DOCUMENT_TYPE-
-AUTHOR-
-HEADLINE-
Castro Addresses 3 Apr Communist Youth Rally
-PLACE-
CARIBBEAN / Cuba
-SOURCE-
Havana Radio and Television Networks
-REPORT_NBR-
FBIS-LAT-91-066
-REPORT_DATE-
19910405
-HEADER-
BRS Assigned Document Number:    000005136
Report Type:         Daily Report             AFS Number:     FL0504030091
Report Number:       FBIS-LAT-91-066          Report Date:    05 Apr 91
Report Series:       Daily Report             Start Page:     2
Report Division:     CARIBBEAN                End Page:       5
Report Subdivision:  Cuba                     AG File Flag:   
Classification:      UNCLASSIFIED             Language:       Spanish
Document Date:       04 Apr 91
Report Volume:       Friday Vol VI No 066

Dissemination:  

City/Source of Document:   Havana Radio and Television Networks

Report Name:   Latin America

Headline:   Castro Addresses 3 Apr Communist Youth Rally

Author(s):   Cuban President Fidel Castro during a Union of Young Communists

Affiliation(s):   UJC

Source Line:   FL0504030091 Havana Radio and Television Networks in Spanish
0200 GMT 4 Apr 91

Subslug:   [Speech by Cuban President Fidel Castro during a Union of Young
Communists (UJC) rally at Revolution Square in Havana--live]

-TEXT-
FULL TEXT OF ARTICLE:
1.  [Speech by Cuban President Fidel Castro during a Union of Young Communists
(UJC) rally at Revolution Square in Havana--live]

2.  [Text] Young people, compatriots:

3.  I always say that I am not going to speak and I always end up saying
something. This is what I told the students on 13 March, the FEEM [Federation
of Secondary School Students] comrades in recent days when they announced their
congress. Yesterday I spoke to the young people in the contingents and today we
are saying the same thing: I am not going to speak. This is an event for the
youths.  Robertico [Roberto Robaina, first secretary of the UJC] should speak.
When I came here and saw this huge crowd, however, I understood that it was
impossible for me to escape from the podium.

4.  What should I say today after delivering so many speeches? I do not like to
repeat ideas. I do not like to repeat words. Nevertheless, I believe we need to
reflect a little today. When Robertico explained to me that they were thinking
about announcing the sixth congress here in the square I asked him: Robertico,
are you sure that the square is going to fill up? He said: The square is going
to be full. We came here today and found the square full, and not only full but
crowded with extremely enthusiastic people.  The rally was formed without large
mobilizations. The rally was formed without bringing the participants on buses.
The rally was formed without mobilizing factories toward the square. The square
has been filled with young people. The square has been filled with people
arriving on foot, walking from various sectors of the city. We believe that
this event constitutes a true political feat. This event constitutes proof of
the prestige, the authority, and the influence of our UJC organization.

5.  I believe that this event constitutes an honorable response during
difficult times. We are not living through any other stage. We are not living
through a period of bonanza. We are not living through a normal stage. We are
living through difficult times. We are living in a difficult epoch. We are
living in times of great difficulties. I believe that we are living in an
exceptional time in the history of our fatherland. This event today constitutes
an example that the young people have risen to the level needed in this
exceptional time in the history of Cuba. The ones gathered here are the ones
following those who in 1895 formed the ranks of our liberating army; those who
in 1868 began our struggle for independence; those who in 1895, with the
leadership of [Jose] Marti, continued the battle; those who throughout the life
of the colonized and subjugated republic fought in the streets with [Jose
Antonio] Mella, Trejo, and many young martyrs.

6.  The ones gathered here are like those who fought against the tyranny of
Machado, like the ones who defied the Batista tyranny, like those who swelled
the ranks of our rebel army, like those who, when many of you had not been born
yet, joined the revolutionary militia, joined the rank and file of our armed
forces, and fought in the Bay of Pigs; its 30th anniversary will be marked this
month. The ones gathered here today are followers of those who fought in the
Escambray and are like those who lived through the terrible and difficult
days--but ones of unsurpassable firmness--of the October crisis.  The ones here
are like the ones who accompanied Che [Guevara] in his liberating battles and
at his death.

7.  The ones gathered here are like the ones who wrote extraordinary pages of
internationalism. They are like those and form part of those who for almost 15
years remained in the People's Republic of Angola. They are like the ones who
said in Cuito Cuanavale that that town would never fall into the hands of the
enemy. They are like the ones who advanced toward the southwest, the ones who
defeated the invading forces, the ones who wrote the battlefields' glorious and
unfadable pages.

8.  The ones gathered here are like those who have known how to hold high the
banner of the revolution, who have known how to maintain the security and
independence of the fatherland. They are the ones or are like the ones who are
now carrying out labor feats in the construction and agriculture contingents or
in the factories by creating, innovating because of the material difficulties
we are suffering today. They are the ones or are like the ones who in any
field, such as culture and art, create and enrich the spiritual life of our
people. They are the ones or are like the ones who at the research centers are
surprising friends and enemies with their extraordinary achievements.

9.  If I am going to say something about this generation of young people, of
this generation of students, it is that at perhaps the most difficult time in
the history of the Cuban revolution, at the most difficult time in the history
of our fatherland, at the most difficult time for the international
revolutionary movement, at the most difficult time for socialism, when
imperialists are in good shape, when capitalists are having a good time, when
triumphalism reigns everywhere, when many of those who said they were defending
the socialist ideas collapsed, when there is talk now of a market economy
although many do not even know what a market economy is, when many do not even
want to hear the word socialism, when we are not only the only socialist
country in the Western hemisphere but we are the only socialist country in a
good part of the world, when some believe that we are living during the time of
the swan song of socialism, our people, our laborers, our workers, our youth,
and our students are upholding revolutionary and socialist ideas higher than
ever and with higher morale than ever. [applause]

10.  Others collapsed, and some said the Cuban revolution would collapse in a
matter of days and weeks. Almost two years have gone by since the first
collapses and here is the Cuban revolution, more solid and invincible than
ever. [applause] Many people wonder why the revolution is so strong, why there
is a close tie between the party and the people, why there is a close tie
between socialism and the young people, why there is a close tie between the
revolution and the young people, between the revolution and the students. How
much the enemy would have given to lead the people astray, to lead our workers
astray, to lead our young people and our students astray!

11.  The reason is very simple, quite simple. It is because this revolution is
the revolution of our people. It is because this revolution is the revolution
of our young people. It is because this revolution is the revolution of our
students.  We are the same thing, and we cannot ever stop being the same thing.

12.  This is why in recent days we set forth an idea for each citizen, each
combatant, each young person, each student. We exhorted them to think that they
are the revolution, they are the nation, they are the nation's honor and
dignity, they are the nation's [word indistinct]. This is because the
revolution has never betrayed its banners. The revolution has never betrayed
its ideals.  The revolution has never betrayed its principles. That is the
secret of this unity, this total identification of the revolution with the
people, and especially the young people and students.

13.  We should add some additional elements to this idea.  We have just lived
through the experience of the Persian Gulf war. We have just seen the use of
sophisticated weapons, the most modern weaponry used by the imperialists
against a Third World country. As I have already said, the leaders of that
country made enormous mistakes. It is not necessary to repeat this. That
problem could have, however, been solved without war. Imperialism wanted to
impose war. It wanted to use its new weapons. It wanted to implant terror in
the world. It wanted to show that it was boss, and it acted [words indistinct].

14.  Just today the UN Security Council approved one more resolution, a
monstrous resolution [word indistinct] that violates the agreements of the
Security Council itself, that violates the very principles of the United
Nations, because in fact, the UN Security Council has become a tool of
imperialist policy. As is natural, Cuba is one country that said no, as it has
done so many times in the Security Council. It said no to this resolution, as
it said no to the war decreed for 15 January. We knew this problem could be
solved without war. We have witnessed the phenomenon of an organization that
was created for peace authorizing war, and authorizing war by the most powerful
imperialist country on earth.

15.  This is why Cuba said no. Two other countries abstained. We have been
consistent to the end in our behavior at the United Nations, although we did
not hesitate to condemn the invasion of Kuwait, the annexation of Kuwait, the
taking of hostages, and all those things that in our opinion are immoral and
incompatible with international law. We have maintained at this forum an
unprecedented attitude of honesty, dignity, and a spirit of consistency. We are
living through a very important page, as I said, of history.

16.  We witnessed that war. Everything we knew was going to occur in that war
did occur. We even warned the Iraqi leaders. Imperialism had no interest in
peace, because it wanted to try out its weapons. It wanted to sow terror in the
world. It wanted to scare the whole world. I do not know how many people were
scared, but I do know that none of us were scared. I know that Cuban
revolutionaries were not scared.

17.  So I told the students on 13 March that none of us are the revolution. I
am not the revolution. The members of the Politburo are not the revolution. The
UJC leadership is not the revolution. The leaders are not the revolution.  The
people are the revolution. Each one of you is the revolution. I meant, and I
hope that many people have understood me, what today I am saying more clearly:
Any of us may disappear because of natural death or in war.

18.  Since we are talking about war, the one in which the imperialists used
their sophisticated weapons, I want to say that a politburo may disappear. I
ask you: If the Politburo were to disappear, would the revolution disappear?
[Crowd answers: No!] A command post may disappear. The general staff of an army
or armed forces may disappear in a war. Would this mean that the soldiers would
stop fighting? [Crowd answers: No!] Any command post, any chiefs of staff, any
division, any leader or group of leaders may disappear in a war.

19.  What cannot disappear is the revolution. When a nation is imbued with
these ideas, when a nation is persuaded about these ideas, a nation is
invincible, and there are no weapons--however sophisticated they may be--that
can defeat it. These principles are inculcated in everyone's soul, each man and
woman, each compatriot, each soldier, each militia member, each worker, each
young person, each student. The revolution is invincible. The revolution is
invincible. [repeats] [applause]

20.  It is not necessary, in a country, when the people [words indistinct]
politically and ideologically of the people these concepts, since we have said
fatherland or death, and we have to be consistent with this idea, which was not
born with us. It was born with our first liberators, and it has been the
essence of our nation's patriotic spirit, a spirit of struggle and heroism
throughout history. The imperialists must fear a people like this, for good
reason. I recalled on 13 March how this people [words indistinct] spirit when
we were left all alone, absolutely alone, a few of us, with our guns. What we
want is this in your revolutionary awareness, in your patriotic spirit.
[applause]

21.  It is clear that there are battles that may be even more difficult than
military battles. Imperialism dreams that perhaps it will not even have to
invade the country. It dreams that the difficulties that are arising--and even
more difficult problems may arise--from the collapse of the socialist bloc, or
from the problems in the USSR, a country that today is striving to maintain its
integrity as a great multinational state, a country that today is striving to
stabilize itself, and a country that certainly has great problems
....[rephrases] Imperialism dreams that the consequences of these situations
will bring such problems as to make it impossible for the revolution to endure.

22.  Imperialists dreams that these problems will bring capitalism to Cuba
again. They dream that the land will again become private property. They dream
that the factories will become private property. They dream that the means of
production will become private property.  They dream that perhaps our capital
and our cities will be filled once again with brothels, gambling dens, casinos,
children without shoes, and beggars.

23.  Perhaps they dream that here a nation can become accustomed to hundreds of
thousands or millions of unemployed people. They think this can again be a
country with illiteracy, without schools, without technological schools,
without the health system that today is considered one of the best in the
world. They dream of the absurd, crazy idea that the country could return to
the past, to that past of injustice, inequality, racial and sexual
discrimination. They dream of women again becoming a kind of property within
society.

24.  They dream of these absurd things, which perhaps the vast majority of you
did not experience, but you understand it, you sense it. You see it in the rest
of the capitalist world. They try to seduce people with their absurd consumer
societies. There they have accumulated wealth stripped over the course of
centuries from the Third World. Capitalism has not created anything but luxury
and unheard-of waste of the earth's natural resources, to create extremely rich
societies where of course not everyone is rich. There are many without homes
and there are beggars. There are many calamities.

25.  What capitalism has brought the world during centuries of colonization and
neocolonialism and exploitation is 4 billion human beings who live in poverty
[as heard], 4 billion human beings, and every day 40,000 children die, 40,000
children who could have been saved. The worst atrocities, the worst
humiliations, the worst injustices, the worst abuses, unhappiness, suffering,
are what capitalism has brought the world. I do not know what capitalist
experience some countries had, or what socialist experience some countries had;
they were not exactly Third World countries.

26.  A Third World country like Cuba experienced all that. A country like ours
experienced centuries of colonialism, decades of Yankee domination. They
committed all kinds of abuses in this country. They even went so far as to
climb up on the sacred statue of Jose Marti in Parque Central, in an act that
was one more expression of insolence and arrogance, when they did not have the
power they have today. A country like this one, which experienced all those
horrors, will never resign itself to that past. A nation like this one, which
has known freedom, which has known independence for the first time in history,
which has known dignity and national honor for the first time in history, will
never return to capitalism. It will never go back to being an imperialist
possession and colony. [applause]

27.  This is what you are expressing on a day like today at this rally, this
idea that there will be no return to the past, this idea that the Yankees will
never go back to being the owners of this sacred nation. [applause] That is why
we must be willing to face all the difficulties, face all the sacrifices. No
one would be capable of imagining the efforts the party is making so that our
people will suffer as little as possible from the consequences of this special
period, so that there will be enough food, so that there will be enough
medicine, so that there will be enough of the essential things.

28.  The country is making great efforts every day, every hour, every minute.
You cannot imagine the difficulties we have to face, and how the country has
set about facing these difficulties without putting anyone out on the street,
without any citizen being left without income, without any child being left
without a school, without any sick person being left without a doctor. I am
absolutely certain that no other country in the world would have been able to
face the difficulties as we are facing them. We must be prepared to face even
greater difficulties.

29.  Yes, and we must say to the imperialists: Get rid of those illusions, get
rid of those dreams, because if we have the courage to die and give our blood,
we will also have the courage to suffer whatever sufferings are necessary to
save the revolution. [applause] We will have the courage to endure whatever
shortages are necessary to save the revolution. Capitalism has nothing to offer
to our revolutionary dreams. Imperialism has nothing to offer them.

30.  You can already see what is happening to those countries that at one time
called themselves socialist: millions of unemployed people, inequality,
injustice. They were offered marvels. They thought that by the next day they
would be living better than in Paris. What they have found is the other side of
the coin. Capitalism and imperialism have nothing to offer to the people but
humiliation, inequality, exploitation, and the law of the jungle. We do not
want inequality, we do not want exploitation, we do not want the law of the
jungle. We want men to be brothers, not wolves. [applause]

31.  This is why our spirit of struggle, our spirit of sacrifice, and our
heroism have to be complete. Today we still have many things and we are making
great efforts to prepare ourselves for a time when we may be lacking more
things. If there is less fuel, what will we do? We are domesticating hundreds
of thousands of oxen in case it is necessary to plow the soil and prepare the
soil with oxen if we cannot use tractors. We are distributing hundreds of
thousands of bicycles, and if we have time we will distribute millions, in case
it is necessary for everyone who can to go to work by bicycle. [applause]

32.  That is, we are preparing for greater difficulties. That is why we must
apply this principle of ``I am the nation; I am the revolution; I am the
country's dignity; I am the country's honor; I am the country's army'' to all
concepts because we are carrying a very great responsibility on our shoulders.
We have a very important page of history to write. This page can only be
written with the will to struggle and the will to overcome.

33.  The most just ideas in the history of humanity are on our banners today.
The most dignified position that anyone can take at this time in the world is
our position. The difficult times will pass. Truth will open a way. The people
will fight. The billions of human beings who are living worse and worse every
day will become more and more aware and will fight more and more. Today the
people are our fundamental allies. Journalists have come here at times to ask
us if we are alone. I explain to them that we have not had so much sympathy
among the people, we have not had so much admiration from people, because this
very small country has resisted the Yankee embargo. It has resisted the Yankee
threat.

34.  When there were not yet problems in the USSR, and when the socialist bloc
in Europe still existed, this had a great deal of merit. But for this country
to exist, for this revolution to maintain itself when the socialist bloc in
Europe has collapsed and the USSR has enormous problems, this really does
constitute an unsurpassable page in the history of humanity. This really is a
revolutionary nation. This really is a courageous nation.  [applause] The Latin
American nations, the world's nations, admire this courage. They admire this
bravery.  They admire this heroism. They admire the greatness of the Cuban
nation.

35.  Now we really are telling the world what Cubans are. For a long time they
slandered us. They said we were not even independent. They said we were a
satellite of the USSR. Today they can verify very clearly that we are
satellites of principles. We are satellites of ideas. We are satellites of an
ideal, which is like a sun of justice we revolve around and will always revolve
around. History has given us the opportunity to show how independent we are.
History has given us the right to proclaim that today we are the most
independent country on earth.

36.  If you do not believe that, look at what is happening in the United
Nations. What are the great and small powers doing about the manipulations
carried out there by the imperialist U.S. Government? Look at how there is one
country that knows how to say no, one country that says no and will say no to
the empire. This is one of the most glorious actions that has ever been done.

37.  This is why when some journalist asked me if we were alone, I answered:
Yes, we are alone, but at the top.  [applause] I congratulate the UJC for its
call for the congress, and I congratulate the UJC on its 29th anniversary. I
congratulate the Pioneers, these children for whom we have to preserve
socialism, these children for whom we have to preserve the revolution and the
nation, [applause] so that they do not walk around without shoes, so that they
are not left without schools, hospitals, or doctors, so that they are not left
without teachers or books, so that they will not be beggars, so that they will
not be prostitutes.

38.  We have to think about these children every day and every night, this
treasure of the nation for which we must be willing to give our last drop of
blood. [applause] We congratulate our extraordinary young people, a product of
the nation and the revolution. We congratulate our students for this event,
this rally, this proof they are providing the world about what our people are
and what our revolution is, for this proof that we have a people and youth with
which to defend the revolution down to our last breath, with which to defend it
until victory.  [applause]

39.  We congratulate the UJC leadership for this initiative, for their
brilliant work. We congratulate Robertico for the excellent role he has played
as a youth leader, for his brilliant speech, for his concepts and ideas, and
for the firmness and optimism of his words. [applause] Although he did not say
it, to conclude with that beautiful farewell by Che [Guevara], I will say it
for him and for myself: Socialism or death, fatherland or death, we will win!
Always towards victory! [applause]
-END-


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