"They are a result, in part, of having confused Marxism-Leninism with
fascism, with absolutism. They are the result of having introduced the
style of absolute monarchies into the contemporary socialist revolutions.
This revolution, fortunately, is a revolution of young men and we hope that
it will always be a revolution of young men. (applause) We hope that all
revolutionaries, as we become biologically old, are capable of
understanding that we are becoming biologically and lamentably old."

Of course, later in the 1990s Castro denied that old age applied to him. In this
speech, Castro was still throwing some relatively radical rhetoric about and
indirectly criticized the Soviet Union.

However, it is also a case where Castro started putting forward his focoist ideas that violence should be occasional. Later revolutionaries tempted to use Castro's ideas
to justify using armed struggle as a bargaining chip and not a means to put down reactionary classes.]
 

-DATE-
19660314
-YEAR-
1966
-DOCUMENT_TYPE-
SPEECH
-AUTHOR-
F. CASTRO
-HEADLINE-
UNIVERSITY SPEECH BLASTS CPR BETRAYAL
-PLACE-
STEPS OF HAVANA UNIVERSITY
-SOURCE-
HAVANA DOMESTIC TV
-REPORT_NBR-
FBIS
-REPORT_DATE-
19660314
-TEXT-
CASTRO UNIVERSITY SPEECH BLASTS CPR BETRAYAL

Havana Domestic Television and Radio Services in Spanish 0317 GMT 14 March
1966--F

(Speech by Prime Minister Fidel Castro from main steps of Havana University
keynoting ceremonies marking ninth anniversary of the assault on the
Presidential Palace--live)

(Text) Comrades of the Central Committee and of the Presidium of this
event, honored guests, comrade professors, and students: (applause) Nine
years have passed since 13 March 1957, but the years have not made the
memory less vivid. For all the people, for all the revolutionary
combatants, for all of us, particularly those who on that date were in the
Sierra Maestra, the memory of that day is absolutely vivid because at that
moment we were just a guerrilla patrol consisting of 12 men and in the
afternoon during a hault we turned in, or better said, we turned on our
small, portable radios which we carried with us with great difficulty, and
we found that some stations were not on the air. A few minutes later we
learned the news about the heroic attack on the Presidential Palace and the
heroic and at the same time very painful death of Jose Antonio Echeverria.
(applause)

We were just 12 guerrillas and we could do very little at that moment to
avenge the death of those comrades. But not many months transpired before
our guerrilla forces grew and they waged one of the first important
battles. Less than two years had passed when we were able to observe the
second anniversary of that heroic death and of that heroic 13 March battle
on these steps of Havana University, where year after year we have come to
render a tribute to rememberance and the most sincere homage to those
comrades.

We were saying that two years had not passed because we fought fiercely,
because every combat action, every battle, whether victorious or not, was a
stimulus to keep on fighting; every sacrifice, whether or not it gave us
immediate fruits, was a moral mandate for the combatants, and a fight
without truce was waged, an indefatigable battle was waged. Who can say
that it was that time not a day was lost, not an hour, not a minute, not
even one second was lost? When one fights with tenacity, sooner or later,
and perhaps sooner than later, success crowns the effort.

Unfortunately, the history of our revolution is not known very well outside
of our country. Nobody has written it. Perhaps in coming years, in far-off
future years, writers emerging from this revolution will write that
history. Perhaps it would be useful today if other countries were to learn
it and thereby could encourage the revolutionary struggle of other
countries. Some outside our country are not aware, aware, or know only in a
sketchy manner, the basic facts of our revolution, why that revolution was
victorious, why it won the victory so suddenly.

It was because a hard fight was waged, because a tireless fight was waged.
Our war was a brief war, yes. This fact of a brief war has served some new
detractors of our revolution--who have perhaps appeared where we least
expected them--and to speak clearly I am going to say that although I am
not specifically going to refer to that matter, some Latin American
visitors who have been in the Chinese People's Republic have heard from the
lips of some of the new detractors of this revolution that it is a shame
that this war of Cuba's did not last for many years, because if it had
lasted for many years, revolutionary awareness would have taken deeper
roots among our people. This argument is, in the first place, a great lie.
It is a great lie because the revolutionary awareness of these people has
never stopped taking root for a single minute (applause) since the
victorious triumph of revolutionary arms.

It is false because with the conclusion of the guerrilla struggle there
began for this entire nation, for this even more revolutionary people, a
more difficult and harder struggle than the guerrilla war for the conquest
of revolutionary power. To deny this is to deny the dead of Giron; to deny
it is to deny the dead who fought against the bandits in the Escambray
Mountains! (applause) To deny this is to deny the blood of workers who were
victims of criminal acts of sabotage, such as that barbarous act of the
ship La Courbre which cost the Cuban workers and even workers of other
nations much blood! (applause) To deny this is to deny, in short, the
imperialist blockade! To deny it is to deny that this nation lived in the
month of October 1962, the most crucial danger which any nation has faced
in present times! (applause) To deny this is to deny imperialism, because
in the struggle against imperialism, which is a thousand times more
powerful than Batista, is where our revolutionary consciousness has been
heightened, has been consolidated, and has deepened! (applause)

What is more, this argument is a profoundly immoral argument because it is
the same as saying: Too bad there weren't more killed so there would be
more consciousness. It is an immoral argument because at heart it signifies
a profound contempt for the blood of the people and the revolutionaries. We
recall that each day of combat cost lives. We recall countless comrades who
fell in the struggle, and each man who fell was a source of the most
profound sorrow for us, and we shall never use the immoral argument that
the more blood the people shed, the more revolutionary they are, because it
is immoral to make such an argument with the people's blood.

We can say: "Let as much of the people's blood be shed as is necessary to
make the revolution. Let the blood of all the people be shed, if it is
necessary, to defend the revolution." (applause) But never say: "We lament
that one more drop of blood was not shed." Particularly one unnecessary
drop of blood because, gentlemen detractors, of our revolutionary forces
won the war quickly, it was because they fought hard. And if the mercenary
army of Batista could not resist the drive of our victorious forces any
longer, it is not our fault. (applause)

We are aware of the valuable lives that successful battles served to save.
We are aware and also satisfied of the blood that was shed, blood that the
revolution has never hesitated to shed when it has been necessary. However,
this is not the occasion today to rely to those new detractors. It is
painful, and it is shameful at the same time, that in the midst of the
battle that our people are obliged to wage against imperialism, against the
principal bulwark of imperialism, we also have to divert our energies to
replying to those who until a short time ago we believed to be sincere and
honorable allies of the people who fight against that imperialism, to those
who until a short time ago we believed to be honorable revolutionaries.
(applause) It is shameful and painful to see how NCNA can now hardly be
distinguished from UPI and AP. (applause)

It is shameful that even the government of that country has not yet made a
reply but in a (?belligerent) tone threatens like a veritable Jupiter and
has limited itself to writing a brief string of insults and saying that it
reserves the right to reply. What fear! What terror! What a fearsome
threat! What an intimidating threat!

And what it has done up to now is something truly shameful, to give
instructions to some leaders in the world so that they can begin to tell a
string of lies and slander our revolution, trying to show that we are some
very dangerous revisionists. To apply such a cliche to this revolution is
the height of absurdity, because human intelligence requires more than that
pap which is not fit for consumption by the ignorant, fit only for herds
who move by conditioned reflexes. (applause)

Arguments must be given to human intelligence. Reasons must be given to it.
And it is shameful proof of the damage that satellitism (satellismo) does
and can do in the world, the fact that some agents--because they are
nothing more than agents of that nation--have committed the stupidity, the
historic mistake of writing slanderous articles against the Cuban
revolution on Chinese orders, just as a small wicked group from Belgium
did, some gentlemen theoreticians on revolutionary war. However, in recent
months when European mercenaries were going to enlist in the ranks of
Tshombe to fight against the Congolese patriots, not one of those wicked
theoreticians on revolutionary war offered to go fight at the side of the
Congolese patriots against the European mercenaries! (applause) Likewise
another group of chorus leaders and rebels from Ceylon, and some others,
some others.

NCNA has dedicated itself to publishing each and every one of those
infamous words against the Cuban revolution in which the arguments are
exactly the same ones used by AP and UPI, and also those used by the worst
elements of Trotskiyism. Now, what error can anyone fail to fall into who
attempts to pass himself off as a revolutionary in these times and who
tells such a string of lies and infamies against this revolution? One must
be blind, absolutely blind, not to understand what the revolutionary fact
of Cuba means in this era. We have to be blind, absolutely blind, not to
understand the importance that the revolutionary fact of Cuba will have in
the years to come in the present world.

But if blindness is painful, more painful yet is it that there are people
in the world who presume to be called revolutionaries but follow the orders
of their masters and go out as vulgar leaders under the baton of the
powerful to attack this revolution which is writing one of the most
brilliant pages of contemporary history just 90 miles away from Yankee
imperialism! (applause)

At least the Chinese bosses of these leaders are blind but are acting on
their own. But the leaders on the payroll of those bosses are not acting on
their own but on behalf of others. Of course, opportunity--since we have to
discuss other matters today--we will publish, we will publish all they have
written against our revolution. (applause) And at the same time we will
reply to them: We are not to blame and no one can blame us for this problem
which has arisen. Because the only alternative, which perhaps may have not
presented itself now but would have presented itself later, is for us to
have remained silent in the faces of what constituted a veritable felony, a
veritable blackmail, a vertitable treachery against proletarian
internationalism, such as (applause) depriving us, in a difficult year, of
almost half of the rice they had sent to us the year before and to do so on
the last month of the year and in one of the years when our nation is
undergoing the worst difficulties. We would have had to decide to remain
silent, not to tell the people a single word, to tolerate blackmail, to put
it simply.

One would have to be very wrong to try to blackmail this nation, to try to
blackmail this revolution; to try to blackmail the leaders of this
revolution. (applause). One would have to be very mistaken to expect us to
keep our mouths shut. It is an error which historically will dearly cost
those responsible because of the way that they went about it, the time that
they did it, the procedure that they used, because even if they were
capable of writing more pages than those written by imperialism against
Cuba in seven years, they cannot crush the overflowing force that this
revolutionary fact and its course signify.

The fact that they tried to take advantage of our special situation, of our
situation under a blockade to attack us, to pressure us in the economic
field, is one of the greatest felonies that may clique of revolutionary
leaders has ever committed, and I do not attempt to deny the historic
merits of those who did this. I do not stupidly and cretinously deny what
that country has accomplished, the historic universal importance of its
revolution. No, because only cretins and stupid people who believe that
others are cretins or stupid resort to those procedures.

We, in addition, in this problem, in this dispute, are not begging any of
our many friends in the world to write some little article, to write a
phrase, a speech, a statement against China. No, in the first place,
because these are not our procedures, and in the second place, because we
do not need them since we have a very solid position and the event that
brought about this problem is a very clear one. We do not need allies to
defend our truth. We especially will not need any allies to defend any
lies.

We help the vary movements--all of them. That is no secret, but we do not
place conditions on any of them. We have friends but we do not have chorus
leaders, and never will we ask any revolutionary movement that we help to
pay us by defending an infamy. And who are the chorus leaders? They are
shoddy revolutionaries, theoreticians of a revolutionary war they will
never carry out, people who have never fired or will ever fire a shot, who
have never nor will ever fire a shot.

These are the chorus leaders used by the leaders of the Chinese People's
Republic to denigrate the Cuban revolution and its revolutionary party
which confronts th principal enemy of the people in a historic battle.

Paper revolutionaries, revolutionaries in theory--I am not going to say
that the Chinese people are not revolutionary. I am not going to deny that
those people and their leadership organizations have fought hard to carry
out their revolution. They have fought hard against the aggressions of the
imperialists. At least those who truly struggle, even though at a certain
time they may be adversaries, deserve some respect. Those who do not
deserve any respect are the others, the salaried ones, the ones who lie for
wages, who are the ones who have been used as instruments to accuse Cuba,
to launch against Cuba a campaign in the imperialist style, in the Goebbels
style, in the fascist style.

If we are going to argue basically, we must tell some basic truths and we
must unmask everything that is of fascist type hidden under Marxist
emblems. (applause) Of course this story of revolutionaries, who in spite
of having done good things in their lives have committed great barbarities
later at the end of their lives, is not new. During the past days we have
seen with sorrow the things that men are capable of doing when they
degenerate.

They are a result, in part, of having confused Marxism-Leninism with
fascism, with absolutism. They are the result of having introduced the
style of absolute monarchies into the contemporary socialist revolutions.
This revolution, fortunately, is a revolution of young men and we hope that
it will always be a revolution of young men. (applause) We hope that all
revolutionaries, as we become biologically old, are capable of
understanding that we are becoming biologically and lamentably old.

We hope that the methods of absolute monarchies will never become implanted
in our nation and that the Marxist truth that it is not men but people who
write history will be borne out by events. (applause) Marx, Engels, and
Lenin never allowed themselves to be defied and they never permitted
deification. They were humble until they died, allergic to cults, allergic
to mythology.

Those who are true Marxist-Leninists should imitate the example of Marx,
Engels, and Lenin. They should read the biography of Marx by Mehring. They
should read the biography of the founders of Marxism and it will be seen
that impressively humble men they were because these writers of history did
not see themselves in that light. They saw the working masses and the
people as the writers of history. Those who think that they are
indispensable to their nations, think with the same mentality as those who
think that by assassinating the leaders of the revolution that they will
assassinate the revolution. (applause) The day that anyone of us thinks
that we are indispensable, we would be thinking just as those terrorists
think and we would no longer be Marxist-Leninists. (applause)

The absolute monarchies in spite of all their disadvantages, at least had
the advantage of providing an heir to power. For socialism to accept the
method, the system of absolute monarchies is the worst absurdity because
then the fight among the candidates to become the absolute monarch would
begin.

And what is the good of a party where everything revolves around one man?
For a party to serve for something, a man was effaced, and effaced to such
an extent that not even the names of Marx, Engles, and Lenin are again
mentioned in our country. We revolutionary leaders have the honor of having
established a unique precedent up to the present, that it was a law of the
revolution, one of the first laws of the revolution, establishing the
prohibition against putting the name of any living leader on any street, on
any city, on any town, on any factory, on any farm; prohibiting even the
statues of living leaders; prohibiting something more--official photographs
in administrative offices.

This honor goes to this revolution, and I invite the leaders of the Chinese
Peoples Republic to approve a similar law in their country. (applause) Here
there are no statutes of anyone; there the only statues belong to those who
have given their lives for the cause. Here there are no streets bearing the
name of any of us--neither towns, factories, nor farms--and, nevertheless,
not even the worse enemies--except perhaps these new enemies--are capable
of denying the authority which the revolutionary leaders have over the
people, the confidence which the people have in their revolutionary
leaders, (applause) because the revolutionary leader is necessary as an
instrument of the people, is necessary as an instrument of the revolution,
but in the relation between people and leader, it cannot be a reflex
action; it cannot be the result of a conditioned reflex, but a problem of
conscience, a problem of ideas.

There is no necessary factor; there is no need to see a statue on every
corner nor the name of the leader in every town, everywhere, No! That would
reveal a lack of confidence in the people on the part of the leaders. It
would reveal a very poor opinion of the people and the masses, incapable of
believing because of a problem of awareness or of having confidence because
of a problem of awareness, to create awareness or confidence artificially,
through reflex action.

And as for links with the people, we can say that in no other revolutionary
state in the world could there easily be the very close contact which the
leaders of this revolution have with the people, (applause) the opposite of
the case in other places, where contact with the people is not through
contact with the leaders.

And going back, to conclude (pause) this section, this section, to the idea
I set forth, to the hope I expressed that all us men of this revolution,
when in obedience to biological law we become unable to run this country,
will know enough to leave our post to other men able to do it better. It is
preferable to organize a council of elders, where they are listened to, but
in no way allowed to carry out their whims when dotage has seized upon
them. (applause)

Somebody asked me, said to me: Why do you think that man does those things,
considering the good things he has done in the past? And I said to him:
Have you not read Engle's dialectics of nature? Engels says that with the
passing of the years even the sun will be extinguished. What does it matter
for the brilliance, the lucidity, the light of a mortal to be extinguished
with the years?

It is regrettable, it is sad, I repeat, that with all the problems faced by
the peoples in these times, with all the enemies the peoples have, it
should be necessary to spend energy and time on this distasteful chore, on
these new problems that have arisen. However, perhaps this obeys the laws
of dialectics, development through the struggle of adversaries. And this
must serve to make us develop further our knowledge of the social and
historic realities of the world. This should help us develop our
revolutionary awareness and our training. Preserve us from the ridiculous
belief that we know it all. Preserve us from the ridiculous belief that we
are infallible. Our first duty is to know that we are fallible, that we can
err once and again, rather than being able to say we know it all.

We can say everything; that we are unaware of almost everything. That we
should study; that we should meditate; that we should think and reason; and
we shall enlarge our capacity for understanding. In the midst of all, in
the midst of all this that could be done as encouragement, it is
encouraging that a small country like ours, with a small population like
ours, is in a position to express its own opinions by itself; with the
world in a convulsive state today, in the midst of a history of humanity
full of the satellite system, full of hegemonies, full of subjections,
there is a people capable of thinking for themselves, capable of speaking
to the world with the authority with which our people can speak to it, and
this was shown in the Tricontinental Conference. (applause)

And the delegates of all the countries, the delegates of all the countries
are witnesses to it, of the immense confidence which the revolutionary
organizations have in Cuba, of the confidence placed in Cuba, that is to
say, in the Cuban revolution, as they supported Cuba for the site of the
conference, and it must be said in this connection that something occurred
of which we have not spoken. While the conference was taking place, China
published hardly a word about the conference. Then when the conference
ends, (as heard) they began to write and to transmit over NCNA numerous
articles talking of the great Chinese victory at the Tricontinental
Conference, taking for themselves all the merit, and presenting in a lying
and false manner as a victory for them the results of the conference, when
all who participated in this conference--and the Chinese delegates know
this very well--know that the victory of the conference was a victory for
the revolutionary movements, that it was not a victory of the powerful,
that it was not a victory of the great, but of the little ones, because
perhaps in no other instant, in no other international event, did the voice
of the peoples' interests prevail.

The voice of the interests of the revolutionary movement prevailed. Cuba
cannot say that the victory of the conference is its victory. It is, in
art, its victory. With the effort which made, with the organization which
was attained, for the objective revolutionary line which it maintained, for
the confidence which was put in our delegation by the representatives of
the revolutionary movements. It was a victory in which it took an important
part, but it can never say with presumption that it has been its own
victory. It was a victory of the revolutionary movements. It was not a
victory of the satellite system, but a victory of the independent spirit, a
victory of one's own opinions, of the revolutionary movements, in which we
fulfilled our duty without aspiring to any hegemony. We fulfilled our duty
without proclaiming ourselves the revolutionary center of the world. They
who proclaim themselves such, who feel the need for proclaiming themselves,
such, a need perhaps all the greater the more insignificant they are, the
farther they are from being it.

The peoples are marching more and more toward liberation, against
imperialism. To free themselves from imperialism, the peoples will not fall
into new stupidities. The peoples cannot fall and will not fall under any
form of tutelage in the future, because the world of tomorrow, the world of
socialism, for which the peoples struggle today, cannot be like the world
of today.

The world of the strong and the weak, the world of the big and the small,
the world of those who have vote and veto. No, in the world of tomorrow, as
long as there are frontiers, the most absolute equality must prevail among
the peoples. This principle must prevail above the power of any people, or
the size of any people, and we know that we are struggling for this. The
price is not important.

The difficulties which the country suffers because of its stand not to bow
before anything or anyone are not important, because these sacrifices
consciously, these difficulties consciously are being faced by us for the
world of tomorrow, for the right of peoples in the world of tomorrow to
full independence, to the full freedom of opinions, and after the struggle
against imperialism, since the struggle in today's world against the worst
(?evil) today, is an honor for our fatherland--to struggle from today on
against the evils of tomorrow.

This explains that problem. This explains this dispute. We did not want to
permit, we could not permit aggression in silence. No one can reproach us
for having used excessive language. We limited ourselves to setting forth
before the people the difficulties, without calling names. We did not feel
obliged to use epithets.

Later now, above aggressor, (there is--ed.) the campaign of defamation, but
in the same measure in which an effort is made to slander the revolution,
the confession will be made before the world that the reduction of trade,
the reduction of exports to Cuba by more than 41 million (?pesos), the
reduction of rice exports to almost half that of the previous year, was
carried out for clearly political reasons, while with the greatest
pharisaism of the world, the question was asked: why has Mr. Fidel Castro
said this, at this time? Why does he not argue, trying to make the charge
that very serious conflicts had arisen.

Those in the world who were unaware of these conflicts posed the engenious
question: pharisaical, why? Why did Mr. Fidel Castro declare this instead
of talking? This is perhaps what they hope for, that while they were
closing hands economically toward us, we would be forced to talk, to
tolerate, and to have an idea of the magnitude of the economic aggression.
It is enough to say that if the trade, if the import of the country were
all reduced in like proportion, the situation of the revolution would have
been extraordinarily hard. It is enough to say that the measures of
economic aggression taken against us originated in the domestic market--an
additional difficulty, and it was that purchases of Chinese goods increased
extraordinarily, and stocks were practically exhausted, of cotton, thread,
needles, a tremendous number of articles, as a result of the economic
aggression, because of fear that the aggression would continue. That is,
they created difficulties for us not only in the case of the product they
reduced in quantity, but they also created difficulties for us in the case
of other products.

The government of China is well aware that because of the U.S. ban on
exports to Cuba, many articles--not one, but an indefinite number of
articles--are bought from the former country; it knew that for us any
action of theirs involved a great economic risk, the risk of great
difficulties. Perhaps because of that they believed we would have to accept
it in silence, we would have to knuckle under. They could not fail to know
that after their economic aggression, capitalist countries that trade with
us would try to impose harder conditions on us, because capitalists are
like wolves lying in wait; they know that our situation has become more
difficult because of China's economic aggression, and they naturally try to
reap their profit by establishing harder conditions for our country. And,
naturally, we knew it too.

Nevertheless, we believe we have done our duty, and we will go on doing it.
We know that nothing can make our country knuckle under. We know that
nothing can effect the spirit of our revolution. We know nothing can make a
dent in our people's awareness and determination. We know that we are
interpreting the profound sentiments of honor (applause) of our fellow
citizens, the rebel spirit of our revolutionary people. We know that we are
interpreting that. And it is too bad that there are so many mistaken people
in the world. It is regrettable that there are so many who have underrated
us, beginning with the Yankee imperialists.

How mistaken were those who began the course of aggressions against our
country, supposing that this revolution would topple because of a few
economic measures, a few aggressions. Even years have gone by; we have
fought resolutely, we have worked hard, and the revolution--whether our old
and our new enemies like it--becomes stronger and stronger and ever more
consolidated.

The people are our allies. Someday the people will impose friendship with
Cuba. Someday the North American people themselves will settle accounts
with their imperialist rules. (applause) And someday the Chinese people--I
am not going to say they will settle accounts with their present leaders.
It would be to deny what those leaders have done for this people. As we
previously said, it would be stupid to deny it, but someday the Chinese
people will settle accounts in connection with the errors which their
leaders are committing with regardo tus. They have tried to present to the
Chinese people our charge as an act directed against the Chinese people, an
anti-Chinese act. There is nothing more infamous, nothing more slanderous.
We have done nothing against the Chinese people. We have not taken a single
pound of sugar from the Chinese people. We have not taken a single grain of
produce from the Chinese people.

We have simply defended ourselves against a cowardly and unmentionable
aggression. We do not have a single sentiment of unfriendliness toward that
people, nor can we ever be animated by it. It is not important that so many
million Chinese can be deceived; it is not important that so many million
Chinese can be made to believe the worst things about Cuba; it is not
important historically. No lie can be lasting. Historically, no lie can
last for long, and we know that one day the truth will be known. We know
that one day, regardless of the fact that today that country makes a god of
Mao Tse-tung, one day there will be men capable of seeing objectively, and
they will know how to distinguish errors from right actions. Today we wage
this battle, and we shall wage as many battles as are necessary. (applause)
We shall wait with confidence, because we know that above our defamers and
detractors time will show that we are right.

We know that one day the Chinese people will know the real history of this
country, the struggle which is waged today and will be waged tomorrow, the
pages which have been written up to now and which will be written tomorrow,
because we are in the center of events. We are in the midst of a continent
which is in the process of revolution, where the struggle is becoming
increasingly sharper, where the imperialist hatred in increasingly
aggressive, where the voice demanding aggression against Cuba increases day
by day. We know that our people are called to write pages of heroism. We
know that our people are called to receive and face risks with calmness and
with worth dignity. They will know and act with absolute wholeness, and we
know that it an be said that this people disappeared from the face of the
earth before it an be said that this people haltered. (applause)

How could anyone hide this truth from the coming generations? How could
anyone hide this truth from the world of tomorrow? How could anyone deny
this truth to posterity? Those who slander and criticize us are giving
pledges to history, and they will collect, as a heavy burden and not with
impunity, the slanders which they write today against us.

On this 13 March it has been necessary to devote this time to making these
statements, because we find ourselves on this date with various problems. I
have talked of a part of our foreign problems. This problem, naturally, is
not a domestic problem, because despite the millions of handbills that they
have distributed here, they did not succeed in making even a fraction of a
fraction.

As proof that there is revolutionary awareness and soundness, extraordinary
unity among our people, witness the unity that has been forged in the
struggle against external and internal enemies.

We have had a bitter experience these past few days. I am speaking of the
events that led to the trial of the man who had been FEU president and a
major in the revolutionary forces. The essential points of that problem
were discussed amply at the trial. Our opinion of it was set forth in the
letter to the revolutionary court. (applause) It is never pleasant to judge
the same thing twice. It is never pleasant to have to talk about persons
who have already been condemned, not just by the judges, but by public
opinion.

Hence, rather than analyzing that event in itself, and the persons who had
a share in it, I want first of all to talk about how the enemy has tried to
delude himself with respect to this matter and explain the causes of that
tendency toward delusion on the part of our enemy.

As an example, I have here two dispatches demonstrating how the enemy has
tried to rid himself of the tremendous moral blow he received at the trial,
the crushing blow to the illusions that had been nurtured about the plot,
for which they had been able to obtain individuals like the ones who were
tried and who, because of their record in the revolutionary struggle, had
access everywhere; the illusions they harbored about the silencer and the
telescopic sight, and a shot that they could kill the man talking to you
now.

First, from the technical angle, I want to explain to our enemies that it
is not so easy to shoot accurately over a distance of 700 meters with a
telescopic sight. Many things are necessary for that, such as knowing how
to handle a sight, how to adjust one, knowing all the techniques of firing
under the most varied circumstances. When it comes to sights, we have some
experience, since our expeditionary army, our expeditionary force that was
on the Granma, had some 60 telescopic sights.

And we acquired great experience, so that our shooters could hit a plate at
800 meters. And they not only could hit a plate broadside; some
sharpshooters could hit a plate placed sideways. (applause) And those
gentlemen think it is so easy to mount a sight! Furthermore, to hit a man
at 800 meters, a really good shot does not need the sight.

But never mind; we are not going to charge the CIA anything for that
information. We all know we are not troubled by their plans for murder.
They have spent years on that, and every time they are more (?inept),
because they want to make men responsible for revolutions. We are quite
unconcerned because they may kill one after the other, every leader of the
revolution, one after the other, and the revolution continues, and
increasingly more so. (applause)

Someone doubts this? (cries of "No") No one. Who would be capable of
turning back the wheel of history? (cries of "No one") Who could be capable
of turning back the revolutionary process? (cries of "No one") This is a
truth that we all know, but apparently the enemy does not know this.

It is logical. The enemy cannot understand the revolution. The imperialist
enemy has used his best resources against this country, his most qualified
brains, all the gold that he has in abundance, all the means of blockade,
subversion, and aggression. With the hundreth part of what they have done
against our revolution, they have overthrown governments in other
countries, in some case, with the first shots, and in some cases without
firing a shot. Here, they have failed.

When the famous mercenary invasion was launched, before they knew what had
happened, there were no organized mercenaries. During the invasion, they
launched a series of reports: Matanzas is occupied; they advance to Havana;
the militia has rebelled; the army has revolted. The shrill sound of
cockroaches (laughter) dreaming about the lions. Formerly they scorned our
militia and our army. Now they shriek and they intone chants because they
see or believe that the shrieks of mice can influence the ears of lions.

All miraculous and marvelous! A few hours after this one dies, the other is
dead. No one alive. Down with the revolution. The victorious hosts of the
CIA advance with a triumphal air to the capital republic.

At that hour, a deluge of revolutionary lead was raining on the
mercenaries, and those who advanced, victorious and burning with
enthusiasm, were our battalions of combatants, composed of men like hom who
tonight received, (applause) as a vanguard student, the order of Jose
Antonio Echavarria. He is a symbol of the men who that day marched to
fight, but only a part, really, a very small art, of our forces soulc enter
into combat because there were not enough enemies for all of them. As
imperialism has used all its weapons against Cuba and cannot, cannot
succeed, they try to attribute their failures perhaps to the demoniacal
attributions of an individual or some individuals. There is no such
miracle, messrs. imperialists. There is no such magic, messrs,
imperialists. Simply and clearly it is the case of a real revolution in our
country, and it is impossible to destroy the real revolution. (applause)

But what do they do when their plans are uncovered, the plans on which the
pinned such high hopes? Then, stunned by the blow, they begin to concoct
every type of lie. In this case it has occurred to them to concoct the most
ridiculous of all. One of the various dispatches, this one from the UPI on
10 March says: Cuban students staged a demonstration at the University of
Havana against their country's government, threatening Prime Minister Fidel
Castro with death, according to statements made today by travelers coming
from the island. The informants, who arrived on the airlift from Cuba,
added that after the demonstration, which took place last Friday, the
students tried to march on the Presidential Palace but were dispersed by
police. None of the exiles who arrived today was a witness to the incident,
but all those interviewed concurred in saying that there is no doubt that
it took place. One of the Cubans gave a detailed account, based on
information furnished him by a nephew who was at the university . . .

I wonder if the nephew is here? (laughter)

(Castro continued reading): . . . who was at the university, helped
organize the march, and took part in it. There is no doubt of it. This
was--the UPI is already accepting it joyfully as the truth--the first
demonstration against the Castro regime of which news has been received
since the middle of 1962 when the shortage of food led to disorders in
Cardenas and other towns in the interior. The first reports of the student
demonstration were received in this town last night. As the travelers
indicated today, the students were protesting against the trial and
possible execution of Maj. Rolando Cubela, former president of the
University Student Federation, and six other defendants who were in a plot
on Castro's life.

But UPI is not alone. There may have been millions of people throughout the
world who read this lie and are horrified: What a situation exists in Cuba!

Here we have one from AFP. I believe that is FRANCE PRESSE. FRANCE PRESSE
is supposed to be an independent agency. Since France's attitude is
increasingly antagonistic toward the United States, one supposed that
FRANCE PRESSE has its own opinion. But no. That is not the case. In this
case, at least, there is no sign that FRANCE PRESSE has an opinion of its
own, but rather, if APF means France Presse--is that right? Yes. If I am
mistaken, I hope I will be forgiven.

It says: After the trial of the persons involved in a plot on Prime
Minister Fidel Castro's life, with a sentence of 25 years passed on the
principal defendants, and capital punishment commuted for former Major
Rolando Cubelo, observers are awaiting for next Sunday to get a clearer
idea of the reasons for Castro's benevolence. Sunday, 13 March, marks one
more anniversary of the students' attack on Batista's palace. On that date
the Cuban Premier usually delivers a speech to the young people, addressed
chiefly to the students, in praise of the bravery and spirit of sacrifice
of the student action groups that made a daylight attack on the
well-guarded palace of the dictator, and a radio station. That bloody day
came near to being a victorious day. Almost all the assailants met their
death there, with their president, Jose Antonio Echeverria in the fore.
Fidel Castro is not accustomed to sidestepping problems.

Well, that is something!

But it is not absolutely certain that on this occasion he will decide to
take up what has been called "student unrest." That is what FRANCE PRESSE
says, that it is not certain that I will decide to take up what is now
being called "student unrest in Cuba." It has been said that in Havana the
Cubela trial has aroused the university, currently controlled by the
Communist Party. Rumors spread that demonstrations had been foreseen in
case Rolando Cubela were condemned to death. It was also said leaflets had
been confiscated and the police were keeping a close watch on the
university.

In reality, the observers on the scene have not noticed any abnormality in
the daily routine of life. They say this, but so-called student unrest is
being talked about. With all this, Cubela kept a certain popularity, since
he was the last president elected by the students, which is an enormous
lie. Everyone knows elections were held, the current president being
elected. He is national director of communist youth. (applause)

Also elected was the comrade vice president of the FEU (applause). The
fellow says that Cubela was the last spokesman of the frustrated
nationalistic students, since with regard to the political ramifications,
the presence of the CIA (?is indeed true) but is only in detail. What does
this from FRANCE PRESSE mean--that these are only details? (?it was said)
in order to understand better the student frustration, that there was no
extreme left in the university until 1960. There only remains now, all of
the leaders of the revolutionary group, Faure Chomon, presently minister of
transportation. I do not know why Comrade Faure is mentioned, because he
has absolutely nothing to do with this problem.

With Cubela has disappeared the last anticonformist capable of attempting a
coup of any size. (pause) His remorse and his self-criticism do not change
the fundamental part of the problem. The grave things is the idea of the
assassination. It has come from the very ranks of those who were the first
to revolt against the tyranny. From that comes the vacillation and
perplexity of Fidel Castro, who adopted a decision of clemency.

What a coincidence! It is a great perplexity and a great vacillation--so
great as that of 19 April, when after a matter of hours we put out of
action a whole brigade of mercenaries. We recall that on that day the last
prisoners that we took did not fire a single shot. Of course, in that
situation, we (?had one armed squadron on one side) and another on the
coastline route, and a group of mercenaries was on the beach (word
indistinct). They did not fire because they were completely demoralized.

But in reality (?I know) exactly the story of the history of Giron, because
these gentlemen talk of perplexity and vacillation. They are incapable of
understanding this revolution, and they are incapable of understanding the
conduct of the revolutionaries. They are incapable of ever seeing that this
revolution has been excessively rigorous; they are incapable of seeing the
gesture of the revolution in regard to the invasion of the mercenaries
after the victory; they are incapable of understanding that our revolution
is accustomed to winning over its enemies, (applause) and that the
victorious revolution has never lost is (?confidence) and its generosity.
As I explained in my letter to the courts, whenever it has been necessary
the revolution has applied punishment with rigor, and as I also explained,
what is customarily called punishment is not, in the concept of
revolutionary justice, a punishment although it is so called, but a means
of defense of the revolution, that the counterrevolutionary crime is a
transitory crime because it corresponds to an epoch and is the product of
the class struggle, and with the socialist revolution the classes will
disappear and with the classes, their political ideas, including their
crimes. We do not see revolutionary sanctions as a punishment of men but as
a means of defense of the revolution against the exploiting classes and the
instruments of those classes.

The revolution would have to be--supposed to be--full of hatred and
resentment. And the revolution, naturally hates its enemies, the social
system against which it is carried, and the exploiting classes and their
ideas. But it is capable of understanding to what degree men are victims of
that society in which they grew up. We would have no faith in the
revolution, we would have no faith in the revolution, we would have no
faith in human beings, we would have no faith in education were we not
capable of understanding to what degree man is a production of his ear and
the society in which he is born and brought up.

And because we know that this type of man will not exist among the men of
tomorrow, that the socialist society will not produce this kind of man or
this kind of crime, because we demonstrate by every revolutionary action
that we believe this, in the tremendous amount of attention the revolution
has bestowed on education--that is, because we believe in that, and we
believe in tomorrow's new type of citizen; because we believe in a
classless society, because we believe in human beings capable of living in
a communist way, we know that the revolution itself, the new system, and
education will erase from society that kind of deed along with many other
kinds of deeds.

When we are severe in applying penalties, it is always with the concept
that the penalty is a means of defending society, that the existence of
revolutionary laws, revolutionary courts, and revolutionary penalties is
necessary as an instrument for defending the new society which we want to
create, the new system, as an instrument for the defense of the revolution.
And in this case we have acted as we have always done, and we have taken
into account the attitude of the defendants during the trial. They bluntly
confessed their crime and with their own words condemned their deeds.
Because the principal defendant, at a certain point, served the revolution,
some might think: No; it is necessary to set an example, so nobody else
will do the same thing.

We think: No; the men of this revolution, their commanders, soldiers, their
leading cadres, do not need that kind of example, (applause) and they do
not need it because of the class of men they are and the revolutionary
timber out of which they are made, because, simply, we have full and
absolute confidence in them. Our country does not, in that sense, need
anything to set an example. Cases like this are of themselves so deserving
of repudiation and make such an impression on honorable men and draw such
contempt that no penalty could have the moral effect that those acts
themselves produce. And one must make no mistake. Our enemies are trying to
take this as an example that the revolution cannot depend upon the loyalty
of its men.

Let us not be confused. Let us not be mistaken. As an exception to the
rule, any man, as an individual, may commit the worst fault. However, so
that our enemies do not harbor illusions, they must be informed that the
revolution knows what men are discharging the essential functions here. In
this case, the man responsible for (?one of these) acts was a person whose
traits made it practically impossible for him to occupy any key post. Key
functions in the heart of the revolution are discharged by certain men, not
by virtue of friendship or favortism but on the basis of (one word
indistinct) ability, revolutionary firmness, loyalty to the cause of their
people, and human qualities. Without these qualifications, no man will ever
occupy a key post in the revolution. That system is superior to any other
system because the men of the revolution--the men who lead and defend
it--are not occupying these posts because they are personal friends of mine
or anyone else. Each of them is occupying his post by virtue of
revolutionary policies, by virtue of revolutionary principles, not because
he is anyone's friend, not because of personal ties.

It is logical that bonds of friendship, affection and profound friendship
develop among those holding revolutionary conflictions and a revolutionary
ideology. Under such circumstances we will talk to any individual in any
place. We, the revolutionaries, can talk with anyone face to face without
fear of contamination. However, we revolutionaries will never be able to be
friends of the counterrevolutionaries (applause). We can be merciful with
one mercenary, with a thousand mercenaries, but we will never become
friends of mercenaries. We revolutionaries hold many persons in high
regard, but we would never share our affections with anyone outside the
revolution.

We would never share our affections with anyone who is lukewarm towards the
revolution. We are friends, we are family, to all within the revolution,
but we are nothing to those outside the revolution (applause). The
imperialists have not hesitated with their detestable attempts to bribe,
corrupt and even recruit close relatives as they have done with us, as they
have done with my own family, to utilize them later as repugnant
instruments for hire.

But we revolutionaries see affection and human ties not out of instance but
by virtue of awareness, (applause) and we believe that the most sacred ties
that can be established among men are not due to purely animal instinct but
purely human reason, a truly spiritual relationship, truly honest, truly
moral. All true revolutionaries are our brothers, (applause) and we
revolutionaries have a bigger family than anyone else. All the exploited
are our brothers, all the oppressed are our brothers, anywhere they may be
in this world.

All true revolutionaries are our brothers, and for a revolutionary any
revolutionary will give his life; for a revolutionary, any revolutionary
will sacrifice anything. And we revolutionaries do feel the strength of
ties of affection between human beings, the purest, the most spontaneous,
the most sincere ones. Who were our brothers in the mountains? Who were our
brothers in sacrifice? Who were our brothers in the culminating moments of
the revolution? At the time of Giron? Brothers like this are our brothers.
(applause)

We are tied to those brothers by the bonds of the revolution, truly
eternal, indestructible bonds. And anybody who destroys ties with the
revolution destroys all ties with our affection, our friendship, and our
esteem. Those ties are the ones that unite the men of the revolution, the
revolutionary cadres, that unite the men who never fired at anybody out of
paltry ambition, who never shot at anybody in search of honor or material
advantage, because they who have been capable of taking up arms, fighting,
waging war, killing, if they have not done so, if they do not do it against
the exploiters, if they do not do it to establish justice in the world,
then how could a revolutionary be distinguished from a common criminal?

We have fought. The blood of many comrades has been spilled. The blood of
many enemies was shed, too. But it was all for something. We found
ourselves obliged to kill in order to put an end to crime, murder,
exploitation. We were obliged to fight to free our country from that
terror.

If more than 100 combatants fell in fighting the mercenaries of Giron, if
mercenaries died, if revolutionaries died in that battle, to reach any
settlement with the enemy is to become the accomplice of those who killed
out comrades. To reach any agreement with the enemy is to become the
assassins of those who fought the mercenaries. How can men take this
abysmal jump? Because between the enemies and us there is an abyss. All the
sacrifices that have been made, all the comrades who have fallen, all the
blood shed--and this was not in vain--this was done by the revolution and
for the revolution.

And therefore it is not possible for any link to exist between the
revolutionary and the counterrevolutionary. He who has been a revolutionary
and takes this jump is simply a traitor, and those who do so without having
been revolutionaries explain why they do so because those who have not seem
a comrade fall, riddled by enemy bullets, those who have never felt the
sorrow of so many men riddled by bullets, of so many peasants assassinated,
of so much mourning sowed, do not find it strange to enter into
conversations with agents of the CIA, or with friends of the CIA, or with
the CIA itself, because they cannot feel the vital distances which separate
them from the enemy.

And there are such. Why not? There are such because many did not know the
sacrifices of the revolution. There are many who did not know the risks of
the struggle against tyranny. There are many who never climbed a hill,
there are many who never knew the anguish of the clandestine life. There
are many who did not suffer that terror for different reasons--in some
cases, because they were too young and among these people--among these
people--this is explainable, that they talk with the enemy, that they
converse with the enemy, that they make friends with the enemy, simply
because they have not known the enemy.

They have not felt the claws of the enemy. Therefore, in this revolution,
as every revolution is the revolution of the oppressed, of the exploited,
against the powerful, the rich, who monopolize not only the wealth but also
the culture, many people found the opportunity to be promoted to posts
which they would never have attained without the revolution. We all know
that to be named consul, consul in the capitalist society, the individual
has to spend many years waiting for the opportunity. Many have studied in
the university, getting a graduate degree in diplomatic law, and almost
never--very rarely--found the opportunity to even being named consul. And
when they succeeded in being named consul, they defended it tooth and nail.
With the revolution, they often named not only as consuls but even as
ambassadors, individuals who had never even dreamed of such a thing, who
had never dreamed of such an honor, advanced to positions suddenly, without
any merit other than having a little knowledge. Thus how many little
bourgeois were promoted to important posts in the foreign service, in
foreign trade, posts more than well remunerated--people who have been
unable to resists bribes, people who have been unable to resist the
pressures of the enemy, who, like a real plague, falls on them, because to
do this, the enemy has resources.

Imperialism has more than sufficient millions to maintain this plague of
rascals who in all the ports of the world, in all the cities of the
capitalist world, await the Cuban merchant ships and besiege the diplomatic
and commercial officials in our country. Naturally they are not in these
posts--it must be said with all clarity and frankness without this being a
generality, much less--but we must say with all frankness that many of
these individuals who let themselves be recruited, who have way to bribery
and pressure, never had the least idea of what sacrifice was, of what
struggle was. The fact is that the best men of the revolution stayed in our
armed forces or revolutionary forces.

The best of our revolution stayed in the party. The best men of our
revolution have been engaged in an infinite number of vitally important
tasks. And for that reason our guerrilla combatants, who were humble
workers, most of our peasants and revolutionary officers had to get down to
study when the war was hardly over, and they have spent seven years
studying. Seven years improving themselves in order to be able to carry out
the new functions which the revolution required. In order to be able to
command big combat units, none of these men could serve as an ambassador,
or consul, or as an attache of any kind, or chief of a commercial office.
And if they had been able, it would not have been correct to send them
there because we needed them here in the country, at the head of a combat
unit or at the head of party work, or at the head of an important section
of the administration and of the economy.

I am very far from proclaiming, let it be well understood, that only those
who fought were good. No, because here the struggle began something more
than 10 years ago, and there have been distinct stages--an insurrectional
stage. But when this revolution triumphed, tens of thousands of men and
women, hundreds of thousands of men and women joined the revolution since
they were in the country working and struggling. They joined our military
units and struggled against the mercenaries in Giron or they fought against
the bandits in Escambray, or they fought in unselfish and anonymous work in
a factory or a farm or some production or administrative front. Others have
given unselfish service also outside the country.

For who can deny the merit of that young man, who spent three years
(applause) infiltrating a CIA organization; and like him, countless others,
real anonymous heroes of the revolution whose names never appear in a
newspaper nor can appear there. That is to say, the merit of tens of
thousands, of hundreds of thousands of citizens has been taking shape
throughout this trial.

Alongside the men who fight, alongside the men who work, alongside the tens
of thousands of workers from the city who go to cut cane for the entire
sugar season, streams of people have marched without contributing anything,
without making any sacrifice, without having any revolutionary awareness.
Of course they do not represent our people. Anybody who reads that captain
so-and-so abandoned such-and-such a ship, or this commercial attache or the
other ambassador deserted, and who judges our people by that, would be
making a tremendous mistake, because he would be judging our people by that
weak, vacillating, cowardly, corrupt, conscienceless, unprincipled,
characterless tribe that lets itself be bought for a few paltry pesos.

There were individuals who took part in the revolutionary action, of whom
one wonders: when they were carrying out a revolution, what idea of
revolution did they have? Perhaps when they were placing a bomb or killing
somebody they did so in order to have the opportunity to earn a few paltry
pesos (?from) imperialism. Or they wanted to establish a lumpenocracy here
in this country, that is, a government of the lumpen, or a government of
corruption. Maybe they wanted the country to go on as before.

No. It was necessary to found a republic of labor, a republic of honesty, a
republic of decent men and women where governing did not mean being a
rascal, a crook, for even the word "politics" was corrupted, shorn of
prestige; the word "government" (?was) without prestige. Everybody saw the
administrators as millionaires, thieves, the worst citizens in the country.
And apparently there were some who, when they were initiated into the
activities of the revolutionary struggle, were planning to replace the men
who were in, take the place of the men who were in, live like the men who
were in the government, and do the same or worse than the men who were in
the government. And of course it has not bee done that way.

And all honest men, all honest women, all really hard-working citizens,
really serious citizens, saw with satisfaction that the country, the system
that was being introduced, was radically different from the past. And our
people have been developing a feeling for what is well done and what is
badly done. Let nobody think the people are unaware. The people know very
well those who have been working during these seven years, and they know
very well those who have been playing around during these seven years. The
people know very well who have been studying and improving themselves, and
who have been flitting from party to party, from one drunken stupor to
another.

Naturally, on the other side they could not live as well as they have lived
as useless parasites. How many are they? I can assure you that they are not
more than 50, and that is exaggerating a lot. Those individuals of (two
words in distance) feasts, vices, and parasitism, have been charging the
revolution for seven years for what they did, and while many died while
many have worked to death since the victory of the revolution, there are a
few dozen persons who have spent their time charging the revolution the
price for the little that they did. Some did more, some did less, some did
nothing.

To be sure, very few of them did more than the rest. We could name them
all. But why? There is no reason to name them. In this case, as we said,
what must be eliminated is not the sinner but the sin. Those elements,
parasites of the revolution--with those elements, we are going to settle
accounts, and we are settling accounts (applause). There used to be
gentlemen here who went from restaurant to restaurant and under any
pretext--a labor delegation for example, which would arrive from any
place--they had 2 guests and 25 table companions. They would enter a
restaurant and spend 1,000 pesos during an afternoon, and they would carry
away bottles of this and that.

It is really a crime that when in the streets even empty containers are
collected for economy's sake, there are individuals who spend thousands of
pesos on the dolce vita. Naturally, if the revolution had not been
patient--and I believe this has been a virtue of our revolution, so that
none can accuse it of abusing power, so no one is accused of monopolizing
power, of power excesses--the easiest thing in the world would have been to
settle accounts with some of these corrupt charlatans, a few dozen corrupt
charlatans. In addition they were quite the dandies. I cannot judge them.
It is true that I am a fire-eater. They were taking advantage of the
revolution at a time when the dandies took another life, and the dandies
were crushed by the people, who are the only brave ones (applause). (They
would say--ed.): They cannot touch me because I did this or that. Imagine,
imperialism threatening and its power, and here we had such mistaken
individuals who though they had the right to do whatever they wished
without anyone touching them because they were to be feared.

If the revolution had settled accounts with those fakes, would there be
even a citizen or two, or 10 or 100 who could have said at this date that
the revolution abused its power and that an injustice was being committed
against the unfortunate Tom, Dick, and Harry, who had not done anything,
but were handled roughly and treated hard? Here we have the case of the one
at the trial, who said (?there): I am being dealt with roughly. He had a
telescopic sight in his house, a silencer, an arsenal, a plan, money,
everything. "I am being treated roughly." Some people even became confused
with that. "They are treating poor so-and-so too roughly." As a matter of
fact, nobody has been treated rough here. Here, the most that has been done
is to treat gently, if you will. Let them accused the revolution of having
been too tolerant, and they will be right. If they accuse the revolution of
having been tough with anybody, nobody will be right.

In this case, for how many months had we known--I will not speak about the
pact with Airtime, but many odd things, many strange things, and the matter
of the murder attempt. We had patience for months on end, first, to conduct
a careful investigation, to search out every bit of proof; for us all to
run all those risks during all those months; and, so as not to have to use
violence, to try even to give him a chance to make things right; while the
Tricontinental Conference was going on, to talk for more than three hours
with a person; to name a comrade minister to deal with that persons almost
daily--in what art of the world has that been done? What government in the
world has used such methods?

Because in this world all methods but this one have often been used, even
to running a man down with an automobile because he was becoming too
troublesome. And this revolution, which does not deal anybody a blow or a
slap, does not have to torture anybody, even has the patience to deal with
persons who are intractable for months on end. Still, we are glad that this
is the method used by the revolution. Nothing is easier than to use power,
and nothing easier than to abuse power. Nothing is harder than to remain
calm in power, be patient in power, be tolerant in power. The people all
know the strength the revolution has. In the first place it has the
tremendous strength of public support. It has a formidable army,
magnificent combat units. It has security organizations who integrity,
ability, quality, and men have been revealed to the public at this trial.
(applause) It has a united party, a united leadership. Nothing easier than
to crush 1, or 10, or 100, or 1,000 troublesome individuals.

The revolution has never done that. The revolution has never exceeded
itself by a hair in the use of power. And this produces a feeling of
security in every revolutionary, the assurance that an injustice will never
be committed against him, the assurance that nobody will ever abuse power
to his detriment, because nothing is worth as much as men's security, men's
peace of mind, and men's confidence, and that this power--which does not
belong to me, or to 10, or to 20, or to the Central Committee, or the
party, but belongs to the people, (applause) power which we have the duty
of administering, for we are administrators of the people's power.

We can say with satisfaction that this revolution has not been true to the
law of Saturn, who devoured his own children; this revolution even
struggles to avoid eating anybody that has been its child. Neither its
children, nor its cousins, nor its most remote kin are devoured by this
revolution. It strives to have any man amend his ways, to have any erring
revolutionary make amends. It strives to have the revolutionaries overcome
their shortcomings. It strives to have the revolutionaries improve
themselves. It is patient, it is tolerant.

It tries to help comrades, not destroy them, and that has created a great
atmosphere of security in the heart of the revolution, and a great
atmosphere of confidence. The people know that an excessive use of power
has never occurred, and this has given the people a great feeling of
security, a great feeling of confidence. And our problem with these
individuals must be resolved, simply. There are a few dozen of them. Of
these few dozen some will have to go to prison for common crimes, simply
for embezzlement, improper use of funds.

Others will have to enter military service; others will have to go to
UMAP--military units to help production--and others will have to go to
rehabilitation centers, in accordance with the provisions of the Social
Defense Code (applause). This bitter experience--this painful
experience--has been necessary. As I was saying, that is important is not
to execute three or four while a few other persons continue with their
sweet life and while conditions that make these sins possible prevail.

We have several capitalist embassies here. Some of them like to invite
officials of an evident corruptible nature to soirees, parties, dances,
and, gentlemen, I am not preaching puritanical or godly ideas, but it is
evident that there are some crafty individuals who understand certain human
weaknesses, and have taken to organizing parties to which they invite
certain officials.

During some of these parties jokes are told, even counterrevolutionary
jokes. In one case, a French official--not the ambassador, who aside from
anything else tries to do a good job and has maintained a friendly attitude
toward our country--during a recent party where a few officials and their
wives were present, the French official told a few counterrevolutionary
stories.

During these feasts the telling of off-color stories (audience laughs),
pornographic or obscene stories, or whatever they are called, is a common
occurrence. And we know about it. Those who think that we do not know these
things must be quite foolish. To tell you the truth, unfortunately we hear
everything, even if we do not want to. There is always a decent, dignified
man and there are always people who cooperate with the revolution.
(applause), people no one would imagine. For example, no one knew that
among the infiltration team that came to Cuba 17 times we had one man, and
that we have captured all the arms they brought, the entire network and
everything.

No one knows how we know, but we know, and we know how we know. (audience
laughs) That official would tell counterrevolutionary jokes. How can any
individual--an official of our Foreign Ministry--while scores of thousands
of workers are cutting cane from 0600 to 1800 hours, without light, without
running water, without a bath, without television, without a refrigerator
or an airconditioner, be so weak as to permit a capitalist official to tell
counterrevolutionary jokes and dance and drink until three or four o'clock
in the morning?

No. that is not tolerable. That is what we meant in our letter. We must put
an end to that bland attitude, those contacts with the bourgeois world,
those contacts with the capitalist world, with evident corrupting
intentions. The revolution of the workers and peasants has more meaning
than that. This revolution is represented by such men as the comrade who
today received the Jose Antonio Echevarria meda, not by the charlatans, not
by those who like the sweet life, which is paid for by the sweat and toil
of the workers.

On the basis of that bitter example, let us win the battle without killing
a mosquito, without the blood of a mosquito being shed, without shedding
the blood of a mosquito. (applause). And when there is nothing to do but to
shed the blood of many mosquitoes, or many worms, then let us shed that
blood, because if in defense of the revolution we are willing to have blood
of revolutionaries shed, we will not hesitate to spill the blood of our
enemies when circumstances require it. (applause)

What happens to the people who do those things? They discourage the
workers, demoralize the workers. Not long ago a delegation of ours visited
Spain on a trade mission, young men, with some of the weaknesses; they
spent several months of the sweet life. There in Spain, several enterprises
that like to sell, with the malice of capitalist worms, invited them to
parties. And in the fumes of the parties and the good brandy and good
Spanish drinks, groups of artists came too, to make things still more
jolly; and among the artists were some beautiful girls, talented for
tempting those weak, human officials of ours.

In addition, every other facility was offered them for their amusement.
This is improper for officials, who go over there in the name of the
republic to buy and sell and who are under the obligation to defend with
utmost zeal the republic's money, the currency belonging to our workers and
peasants. (applause)

That is a subtle form of bribery, a subtle form of corruption, because when
the time for talks comes, with what spirit will these officials argue with
the company that has shown them such delicate attentions and made their
lives so sweet? It is proper for the men who represent our people abroad to
behave that way? No. We are not going to execute such people. No. In other
countries they have been shot. But in truth, we must not execute vice,
because many responsibilities are mingled in it. All of us have a share of
responsibility, all of us.

To take cognizance of these vices and eradicate them is what should be
done. Send some of these fops into obligatory military service, (applause)
or send them to work in the fields, whoever they may be and whatever their
names may be. (applause) Privileges in the heart of the revolution? (voices
say "no") Feudal rights in the hearts of this revolution? (crowd noise)
Family names in this revolution? (crowd: no) Well then, let us fight that,
and we will have picked the soundest fruit of this bitter experience.

We have a few gentlemen under arrest. Nothing is going to happen to them;
nobody need have any fear. We are merely investigating a few
irregularities, a bit of immorality, a few faults covered by the penal
code. Corrupt officials in the heart of the revolution? No! We send these
cases to a hospital to be cured; if it is a madman, to an insane asylum.
But let them not be a hindrance. There is much to be done, there is much
work. Dandies in the street? No!

This is the atmosphere of the capital. Such vices exist in the capital. It
is a large city and has the characteristics of a large city. These vices
are not typical of provincial capitals; they are typical of our capital.
What has encouraged them? The fact that they have gone unpunished to a
degree and the record of those who have been genuine representatives of
these vices.

And the hour has arrived--as I said, without killing a single mosquito--to
put an end to all this. We will put an end to them, without violence, of
course. Naturally, in some cases we will question people. conduct
investigations, and carry out certain inquiries.

How will these gentlemen understand this? How will the imperialists
understand this? They think that the results of strength of the revolution
are a product of weakness. The offensive of the imperialists is in full
swing in the world. They are doing whatever they please in many places,
using all resources such as corruption, subversion, and division. However,
all these resources have failed against our revolution. Why? As I was
saying, because here we have carried out a true revolution. The imperialist
enemy changes government, interrupts the revolutionary process in
Indonesia, stages coups d'etat in various countries of Asia, Africa, and
everywhere.

However, here with the revolution which is closest to them, the country
where they had more ideological influence, they have failed outright
against the Cuban revolution. Why? In the first instance, because ours is a
true revolution, a radical revolution, a profound revolution and we have
the arty and a truly revolutionary armed forces, a revolutionary awareness
among the people (applause), a revolutionary doctrine. Where no party, no
revolutionary army, no revolutionary doctrine, no revolutionary people, no
revolutionary leadership exists; in sum, where there is no revolution,
things are easier for imperialism. Imperialism has prospered in all
revolutionary processes where division and hesitation have prevailed, in
short, where no revolution has taken place. But here, a true revolution has
taken place, and here rests the basic difference.

The counterrevolutionaries are encouraged with a little plot like this;
they dream of uprisings and they harbor illusions about what happened
here--in Indonesia and other countries. Yet these are nothing more than
illusions and dreams with which they console themselves about their
setbacks and their misfortunes. We have a revolutionary and armed people,
because our army is our armed people, because our military forces have
revolutionary awareness; we have a revolutionary party, a revolutionary
officers corps, and revolutionary soldiers. All this was created, not apart
from the people, but as a part of the process.

All this was created on the basis of policies and principles and not on
friendships or favoritism. Each unit is led by the most capable, most firm,
most loyal, who are the most revolutionary, the most loyal. They are loyal
to the revolution and not to any individual, not to man or group of men
because our combat strength rests on the force of our armed peasants, of
our armed workers, of our armed students.

What do our enemies think our students are? What concept do they have of
our students? Traditionally the students were revolutionary, even during
other times when this university was attended by the sons of the
bourgeoisie and when really revolutionary awareness--that is, as a state of
mind--had its ups and downs, the university was always a rebel center, a
center full of dignity and civic pride. On many occasions, our students
walked down those stairs--with Jose Antonio Echevarria at the lead--to face
police agents. On many occasions, the angered students took to the streets.

All this gradually created an awareness among the student body. Their
participation in the revolutionary struggle gradually created the moral
basis, their basis for awareness, which later on evolved into the student
body turning into one of the most solid bulwarks of the revolution. The
revolution always has had the students at its base. That which existed at
the end of the first year, has increased more and more each year. Because
what is a student today? The composition of our student body has changed.
More and more our university students come from a humble origin--from a
peasant and worker origin. Who is a student in this country? Practically
everyone is a student in this country today. Students are the almost
million workers who are trying to reach the sixth grade. Students are the
almost 100,000 youths studying under scholarships. This group constitutes
the largest number of students under scholarships in any country of the
world.

Thousands and thousands of university students are studying under
scholarships which are granted to them so they may devote all their time to
studies. Students are the 16,500 workers and youths from the workers
technological institutes, workers and youths who are not only students but
also part of our combat units for the defense of the school city. Students
are the 4,500 workers who are a part of the defense of our capital--but not
only in our capital--4,500 workers are studying in the Camilo Cienfuegos
School City and they form a combat division of the Eastern Army. (applause)

Students are the pupils of the military centers of technological and
university instruction, such as the Arvaro Reynoso and the Hermanos Gomez.
In summary, many of our auxiliary arms are operated by students. Students
are the 7,000 plus students who are taking teaching courses in Tope de
Collante. Students are the thousands and thousands of persons who are
beginning their studies in Las Minas del Frio. The country in sown with
students; the country is sown with schools. Not all of them are students.
Many of them discharge important functions.

Thousands and thousands of our students work as teachers while thousands
and thousands of our student youths are more than young students, they are
complete personalities, that is developed personalities. They are
personalities with impressive responsibility, fulfillers of duty,
outstanding workers. It is a pleasure to see how a generation like this
develops. So many of these youths have developed in the revolution. They
are the fruits of our revolution. Student demonstrations? Yes, what a great
student demonstration this one is tonight! (applause) Our students are not
the students of the capitalist nations, victims of injustices, of
aggressions with which they pay for their youthful patriotic ardor. No. Our
students are a fundamental part of the fatherland. They are a part of the
armed forces of the revolution. Our students are a big part, they are
members of our revolutionary fighting units. From the university come the
technicians which operate our bases of anti-air rockets. (applause) The
university youth is one of the pillars just like all the student youths.
One of the pillars of the revolution, one of the solid and unmovable
pillars of the revolution.

How ridiculous, how presumptious are our enemies. What liars. How can they
spread their news throughout the world? How can they invent these lies? It
is because it is very hard for them to face the truth. It is hard for them
to reconcile themselves to this force based on the unity of the people,
based on the ideology of the people, based on the revolutionary conscience
of the people, directed by its party and defended by the whole nation. How
different from what happens in other nations.

The imperialists have wanted to change the so-called Chilean experience
into an experience to rival Cuba. Eduardo Frei, Christian Democratic
President of Chile, was presented to the Latin American nations--his party
and his doctrine--as an example of what they called a bloodless revolution.
What reports do we get from Chile? In the first place, when a few days ago
an answer from the government of Cuba was produced (?along with) the
statements of the representatives of 18 Latin American nations in the
United Nations against the Tricontinental Conference, among which was
Chile, at the same time there was a delegation of Chilean parliamentarians
visiting Cuba. The delegation was in our country. We could not but clearly
answer the letter presented by the representatives of those 18 nations to
the Security Council of the United Nations. We did not feel obliged to keep
our mouth shut.

The delegation of Chilean parliamentarians was made of up parliamentarians
from the traditional parties, the bourgeoisie parties, from the Christian
Democratic party, and in addition, a deputy of the leftist party--which
makes up part of the FRAP, that is, the Socialist Party. They did not come
to Cuba as communists or anything of the sort, neither did they come to a
nation of Christian Democrats. They were visiting our country knowing that
their positions were different from our and to see and discuss Cuba. In
this regard they were received with all attention and courtesy and we were
ready at all times to discuss our ideas and our views and to listen to
their views.

While the delegation was here, our letter to U Thant was produced. Some of
the members of that delegation of the Radical Party--the Liberal Party, I
think, and a part of the Christian Democrats--were offended. They felt that
we referred to them and returned to Chile because Cuba's delegation,
according to them, wounded the dignity of Chile.

The socialist delegates, of course, like a socialist delegation and two
Christian Democrat deputies interpreted thins as they should be interpreted
and decided to remain in Cuba. The invitation to come to Cuba, the visit to
Cuba, did not involve any compromise on Cuba's part to remain quiet in the
face of a letter relating to the Tricontinental Conference signed, among
others, by the representative of the government of Chile. Two Christian
Democrat deputies remained in the nation.

Does this mean that they became communists? No. But they did not try to
find a convenient excuse like the others to boast with pseudo-patriotism.
Rather they elected to remain in the country until the end of their tour.
In this situation, the Christian Democratic Party sent a wire ordering the
two deputies to return. But at the same time another Christian Democrat
deputy, Hurtado, sent a wire telling them not t return and supporting the
decision of these two deputies to remain in Cuba. As a result of all this,
a disciplinary court expelled Deputy Hurtado. It could be that they may
have to expel a few more Christian Democratic deputies. I do not know what
they will do with deputies Videla and Jaramillo, who were the ones who
completed their tour.

All this shows that within Christian Democracy in Chile in addition to old
astute politicians who are reactionary bourgeoisie to the core there are
young elements that in good faith believed in the possibilities of
Christian Democracy, that in good faith believed in the possibility of
carrying out reforms under existing conditions. The mere visit to Cuba was
changed into an excuse for the reactionaries within that party to
strengthen their positions and strike at what could be considered the left
within the Christian Democracy.

We have not been using this, we have not been fomenting division, in other
words we have not taken any opportunist position. The events which took
place happened independent from anybody's will. We talked with these
deputies. We explained to them that in order to make a revolution it is
necessary to face imperialism in the first place. To make a revolution even
though not a socialist, but a democratic bourgeois revolution, a
nationalist revolution, they must face imperialism. They must face the
oligarchy. I told them besides, that I did not believe that in Chile's
position a revolution of this kind could be made and that under Chile's
condition, if a revolution was to be made, it would necessarily have to be
a socialist revolution.

Why? Because an underdeveloped and deeply indebted country like Chile, a
country in which great masses of the population live in the worst
conditions, must necessarily strike at the interests of imperialism--the
oligarchy, the great industry, the export-import business, and the bank--if
it wanted to bring something, give something to the peasant and labor
masses of the country. Moreover, in order to wage a struggle against the
ologarchy and imperialism, it was necessary to have the support of the
labor and peasant masses and these masses would not support any bourgeois
revolution because they were not disposed to collaborate with the interests
of an exploiting class.

I told them that I was not judging the nature of the Chilean revolution
because it nationalized or did not nationalize the cooper industry, that
the nationalization steps could be taken sooner or later, and that what
defined a revolution was really a willingness to change the social
structure for the benefit of the exploited classes.

I told them that this could only be done to the detriment of the exploiting
classes, that the policy they were pursuing in the matter of copper was not
going to determine whether or not it was a revolution, because at times
there are governments that nationalize a foreign enterprise but are not
waging a revolution, and that the moment in which they nationalized or did
not nationalize copper was not going to be the definite one but rather that
the nature of that revolution would have to be judged by all its acts, all
its policy in relation to each one of the classes, and whether they were
willing or not to wage a revolution to the advantage of the workers, the
peasants, and the exploited.

They said that they were going to carry out a land reform and set a limit
of 80 hectares. I told them that if you wage a revolution of 80 hectares,
you will have to fight against the oligarchy and you will not be able to
fight the oligarchy without the support of the peasants and workers. He
recalled that our land reform set a minimum limit of more than 300 hectares
and everybody knows the resistance that the landowners gave to our land
reform, how they at once began to conspire.

I also asked them if they indemnified landowners, what financial means
would they have to help the peasants, what financial means would they use
to bring technology to the fields? Finally, all these problems of a general
nature define a revolution. These problems show that in the condition of
our countries, it is not possible to wage an antioligarchic and
anti-imperialist revolution without the support of the workers and the
peasants and without that revolution turning towards socialism whether or
not copper is nationalized, because the imperialists have many interests in
any country of Latin America, because the nationalization of copper could
be delayed or not, because after all when a country posses wealth such as
copper or imperialism, to impose its conditions on imperialism, while a
country like ours only had sugar.

The ownership of copper give Chile certain advantages to impose it s
conditions on imperialism. We do not have to say that if we were the
Chileans, the first thing that we would have done would be to nationalize
copper. But we mean to say that this would not have to be a dogma and that
this would not necessarily decide if the revolution in Chile would take
place or not.

What is really taking place in Chile? Is it true that a revolution is
taking place? Is the Chilean Government ready to face imperialism, the
ologarchy, the big industrial, banking, and commercial bourgeoisie for the
benefit of the workers, peasants and the small bourgeosie? No. The first
great falsehood which these attempts run into is the belief in the
possibility of reconciling the interests of the classes, to believe that a
revolution can be waged or that a revolution can be talked about with a
spirit of reconciliation of classes, to believe that the interests of
imperialism can be reconciled with the interests of the nation, to believe
that the interests of the oligarchy and the interests of the peasants can
be reconciled, to believe that the interests of the big bourgeosie and the
interests of the workers can be reconciled, and this is a very old idea.
These problems have been discussed for more than a century.

What has happened in reality? The workers are against the Christian
Democratic Government. They are against the Christian Democratic government
because they will never be ready to make sacrifices to benefit the
bourgeosie, for the benefit of the rich.

A government an ask the workers for sacrifices when it wages a revolution
for the workers, when it changes the social structure for the benefit of
the workers. But no government will ever be able to tell the workers that
they make sacrifices for the benefit of the bourgeoisie, for the benefit of
the rich. No government can tell the workers that they must not demand
increases in salaries in order to develop the industry or private property
of the capitalists, or the private property of the bourgeoisie. A
revolutionary socialist government can only ask the workers for a sacrifice
to develop an economy for the workers and the peasants--to develop a
socialist economy.

The Chilean Government has met tenacious resistance from the working miners
of Chile. It has met tenacious resistance from the workers in general,
because the government of Chile asks for a sacrifice from the workers to
develop an economy to benefit the owning classes, for the benefit of
industrial capital, of commercial capital, of banking capital, and for the
benefit of the imperialist interests. As a result of this, there has been a
constant clash between the Chilean workers and the Chilean Government.
However, as Frei becomes deflated like a balloon, as Frei faces the social
contradictions, he cannot think of anything else but to blame the
Tricontinental Conference for his problems. And because of a strike by
Chilean workers in one of the big copper mines he hurled the troops against
the workers, killing 8 of them and wounding 55.

When this happens, what does Frei do? According to AP, "President Eduardo
Frei tonight charged before the nation that plans were hatched at the
Havana Tricontinental Conference to create the trade union and political
uneasiness that has convulsed Chile during the past few weeks." Speaking
with dramatic force on radio and television a few hours after a mob--the
workers and people are always a "mob" to the AP and UPI--composed composed
of 1,000 persons had attacked the soldiers and carabineers at the large El
Salvador copper mine belonging to the Anaconda Company and a shooting
occurred that resulted in the death of at least six persons, Frei said: "At
the recent Havana Conference, it was stated publicly that the guerrillas in
Chile had a different character and that they would act by carrying out
work stoppages, strikes, occupation of rural property and estates,
collective mobilization, and revolutionary violence."

To tell you the truth, I always thought that Frei is a representative of
Chilean bourgeoisie, that his government is a bourgeois government. I have
never believed that Frei would make any kind of revolution. You will
remember that we spoke about this when the Christian Democrats won in
Chile.

However, I thought that Frei would try to set up a different style of
bourgeois government. I believed that Frei was at least a man with
bourgeois morals, that he was at least a man with Christian morals, and if
not a revolutionary he still would have bourgeois government of a type that
differed from the bourgeois and oligarchic governments in the rest of the
continent, retaining some bourgeois morals. When I see Frei trying to
justify his problems in Chile and trying to justify his massacre of the
workers by resorting to the vulgar expedient of blaming the Tricontinental
Conference for his problems, I feel very sorry for that man, I feel very
sorry when I see the bourgeois Frei become a victim of his contradictions,
a victim of the social conditions, and a victim of his bourgeois
illusions--a man who has to have recourse to this, the expedient of blaming
the Tricontinental Conference.

Frei said that he was going to wage a bloodless revolution and what he is
really doing in Chile is not carrying out a bloodless revolution but
shedding blood without a revolution, (light applause) killing workers,
slaughtering workers. They waged a big campaign against the execution wall;
they waged a big campaign against the laws and sanctions that the
revolutionaries are forced to carryout, to use against the class enemies.
Yet, they massacre the workers, they deprive the workers of their lives on
the basis of nonexistent laws; they murder the workers; they kill the
workers; they eliminate the workers without previous existing laws and
without trials. This fact, and even more so than the facts, this statement
of Eduardo Frei, unmasks him from head to foot. It supports, it has
supported the points of view that we discussed with the Christian
Democratic deputies.

Frei, in defense of the interests of the bourgeoisie and imperialism, began
to kill workers. He began to massacre the workers. He began to turn the
weight of the law, not of the law but of repression, against the workers.
We did not believe that a revolution would be waged in Chile by peaceful
means. But we did not believe either that armed struggle would be the order
of the day in Chile. We believed that as long as there were some rights in
a country, certain constitutional institutions, certain rights, that when
all the means were not closed as they are in the majority of the nations of
Latin America, the revolutionary armed struggle is not the order of the
day. That is shy we did not believe, we have never believed that in the
conditions of the last years, this guerrilla warfare could be considered as
a logical tactic.

We do believe that in Chile in the long run, the controversies of classes,
the struggle of the people against imperialism, against the ologarchy and
the bourgeoisie will sooner or later take the rath of the armed struggle.
These deeds, the policy of murdering the workers--this and not the
Tricontinental Conference--the policy of murdering workers in defense of
the interests of imperialism, oligarchy and the bourgeoisie is what sooner
or later will lead the Chilean workers to the conviction that in Chile,
like many other countries of Latin America, the only way to win
revolutionary power will be by the armed struggle.

It is the deeds, not the Tricontinental Conference. The Tricontinental
Conference points the path, the Tricontinental Conference lays down the
thesis. But it is completely false, it is absolutely slanderous, to say
that in the Tricontinental Conference a concrete, determined plan was
organized or agreed upon on relation to Chile. This is a lie. This is a
calamity. And let it be known that we do not care if we are accused of
whatever they want to accuse us of. Let it be know that we do not care if
they want to blame us. I make this statement in consideration of the
historical truth.

We know that imperialism blames Cuba. We know that the oligarchs blame
Cuba. We know that they will blame Cuba more each time and we do not care.
We do not have anything to be afraid of. We do not fear. We are ready now
and we will be more ready each time that, as a result of all these
accusations, they want to attack our nation. We cannot be deceived. We
should not be dreamers. As the revolutionary struggle develops in Latin
America as a result of imperialist exploitation and controversies, our
country will run more and more risks of being attacked.

But nothing could be more untruthful, more false, than this declaration of
Frei. This unmasks Frei. This masks the oligarchy, the reactionary elements
which control the Christian Democracy. This will serve to convince all
those elements, all those well-meaning elements that at one time could
possibly believe that in Chile the Christian Democracy, that is the
Christian Democratic Party of Eduardo Frei could produce any type of
revolution in Chile. Frei is a reactionary. Frei has shown with this deed
that he is not an individual with will power or with a firm hand but a
coward who abuses power and who hurts the troops against the soldiers (as
received--presumably "workers").

Frei has proven to be a liar. Frei has proven to be a common politician who
tries to justify his bloody acts by blaming the Tricontinental Conference.
Frei is unmasking himself. Frei is showing the Chilean people and the world
what kind of revolution he is going to wage, and what kind of government he
is going to have--not a bloodless revolution but a policy of bloodshed
without revolution. Bloodshed without revolution is Frei's policy,
bloodshed without revolution is Frei's government, bloodshed without
revolution is the policy of the Alliance for Progress.

We, here, send our message of solidarity to the brave Chilean miners who
are defending their rights with their blood (applause) and to have the
brave Chilean miners who are being slaughtered by the Frei government
(applause) and to the Chilean Labor Confederation--the fighting Chilean
Labor Confederation. We who have not been promoting strikes, we who have
not been carrying out concrete plans of subversion, rebellion, or anything
else of the kind, do offer in exchange the aid of the Cuban people to the
windows and children of the miners murdered at the El Salvador mine.
(applause) When the imperialists fire on the workers--the imperialists and
their followers--they sow mourning among the families and also sow misery
and hunger because the bourgeois state has never given aid to the children
of its victims and it never has given help to the widows of its victims.
However, the workers are not alone in their battle. The children and the
wives of the murdered workers are not alone. They have first of all the
support and solidarity of the other Chilean workers and they have the
support and solidarity with the striking workers--not a solidarity based on
words but one based on facts, our solidarity with the victims. And, from
here, on this 13 March, we send the victims and the organized workers of
Chile this offer of solidarity of the Cuban people in the face of the
massacre and crime committed in Chile.

However, this is not the only country where these incidents occur. What a
difference between them and Cuba! While the Chilean revolution--strong,
firm, and invincible--can be capable of acting with (?confidence) and of
not abusing the use of its power even in the case of very serious crimes
and of treason as in the recent trial, what is the picture in Latin
America? It is a massacre, and murder. A few weeks ago, a heroic former
priest, a heroic priest, who was expelled from his post by the olagarchic
reaction, by the very Catholic oligarchy, was killed while fighting for the
liberation of his country: the Catholic Priest Camilo Torres. (applause).
He was a man loved by the Colombian people, capable of awakening faith and
capable of awakening enthusiasm in the Colombian masses. He was a man loyal
to his nation who takes the weapons in his hands and dies at the hands of
the antiguerrilla troops trained by the Pentagon.

The cables from Santo Domingo almost daily carry news of murdered students
and murdered workers. The cables from Venezuela bring us news of the
communist leader, Lobera, murdered by the repressive forces and whose body,
like the victims of Ventura in Havana, appeared on the edge of a lake in
Venezuela. And they say, the government of Leoni, the cynical government of
Leoni, simply that there were disagreements between the revolutionaries,
that the victim disagreed with the revolutionaries and that as a result of
this (does not complete sentence--ed.) They say even more, that the victim
had been in Cuba, that he had revealed his viewpoint and that after this he
had been killed by the revolutionaries. This is a typical thing with the
gangsters. This is a typical thing with lackey governments--to murder the
revolutionaries and on top of murdering them to defame them and after
defaming them to blame the revolutionaries.

We have news from Venezuela, from Guatemala during the last few days
reporting that several communist leaders were arrested and shot. Massacres,
shootings, murders, that is what is happening in all parts as a sequel to
imperialist domination. Massacres in Chile, massacres in Santo Domingo,
murders in Venezuela, murders in Guatemala, a priest killed in Colombia
because he jointed the guerrillas, these deeds are like a barometer. These
deeds are the index of the state of revolutionary fervor and conscience
which is developed more and more in Latin America.

Our country knows through experience that by massacring and killing the
imperialists will not become stronger. By massacring and killing they
became weaker in our country. By massacring and killing they became weaker
in our country. By massacring and murdering they could not stop the victory
of the revolution. The fact is that simultaneously Cuba was subjected to
the most savage repression. The murder of revolutionaries in five
nations--in Santo Domingo, Guatemala, Venezuela, Colombia, and Chile--shows
the despair of the imperialists and their lackeys, the fear of the
imperialists and their lackeys. It shows that as they feel more insecure,
they become more aggressive, they become more ferocious and that they will
make the nations of Latin America the victims of their aggressions. And our
own nation is the one which they will not be able to forgive, the one they
will not be able to forgive for having become the standard-bearer of the
revolution, the one to carry through the first socialist revolution in this
continent 90 miles from their shores (applause). They will never be able to
forgive our people their revolutionary firmness, their fortitude, their
unity, they capacity for resistance against all of their plans.

That is why we should work in all fields, without rest or quarters, we
should never forget that we should prepare ourselves. We should also never
cease being on the alert. We should develop our defense more each day. We
should develop more each day our combative capacity. This is something we
should tell the youths, this is something we should tell the people, that
we are on the threshold of an historic era in this continent. We are on the
threshold of deep revolutionary crisis in this continent. The years are
approaching when the peoples of Latin America will fight their last and
glorious battle for their freedom against Yankee imperialism. As this
happens, the hatred of imperialism for Cuba will increase. As this happens,
the voices that will advise aggression against our country will be
increasing. It is our duty, our obligation to be ready. The weaker they
think we are, the more the imperialists will be encouraged to attack us.
The stronger they think we are the more the imperialists will meditate
before attacking us.

We have a revolutionary people. We have had seven years in which to form
our political cadres, our military cadres. We have formidable armaments. We
have one of the best-armed armies in the world. We have sufficient arms to
fight as long as necessary against any kind of aggression they may hurl
against us. However, one must be blind not to see how the chatter of those
who advise in invasion of Cuba, of those who advise an aggression of Cuba
is increasing. We cannot remain deaf to this reality. We must get ready and
always more ready so that if they attack us, if they want to destroy the
work of our revolution, the work we are doing in our schools, the work we
are doing in our fields and cities, the imperialists will have to pay very
dearly for their aggression. We are completely sure of one thing, that is,
that our people cannot be defeated in any way. (applause) Only by
eliminating this country from the map of the world can they destroy the
revolution. (light applause) We have magnificent arms to fight in fields
and cities, and to wage any type of war--conventional or not. Let us learn
to use those weapons. Let us learn how to get the most out of them in
combat and we shall see that there is nothing capable of destroying the
revolution--neither planes, nor tanks, nor marines, nor infantry.

Let us get ready to wage any type of battle and every kind of battle
against imperialism, as circumstances may dictate. The possibility of their
attacking us will decrease in proportion to our preparation. If they attack
us, it will be too bad for the imperialists because they will have to face
in the long run not Cuba alone but also an entire continent. By the law of
history, this continent will become free, not by the will of anyone in
particular but because of the inexorable consequence of the historical
process. This has been our lot to be here, a few miles from the
imperialists. We belong to the first country that has waged a revolution
and they will not forgive us for it. We have resisted, we have destroyed
all their plans; they have not been able to penetrate our country. They
have not been able to hurt us at all. They have failed and the imperialists
will not forgive us for it. The more powerless they become, the more their
hatred for us and the more their aggressive spirit against Cuba grows. We
are in the circumstances when we approach the decisive years, the years
when we must not fail to work for a single minute and make the greatest
effort in developing our economy. We must get ready to resist the greatest
dangers.

At the present time we are engaged in our harvest. Our workers have been
making a great effort. Yesterday they reached the second million tons of
sugar. We must produce the third million this month or rather, at the
beginning of next month, on 3 April, and the fourth million on 25 April,
and the fifth million between 15 and and 20 May--and from 14 to 20 May all
that is produced over the fifth million.

Notwithstanding the fact that we have undergone the greatest drought of all
time, it is incredible that we will scarcely register a drop in our cane
sugar production. We will not attain last year's figure this year but,
counter to what our enemies thought, we will have a good harvest, we will
have a high sugar production figure. And this, if possible, is an even
greater victory than last year because had it not been for the splendid
work, the drought would have caused a disaster. You know how despite the
drought, vegetable, fruit, and legume production increased considerably.

Despite the drought, the sugar harvest will have a satisfactory volume, but
in order to fulfill these goals it will be necessary to continue the effort
being exerted; and effort in which the university students are doing their
part by the thousands.

This spring 100,000 youths will work on the farms for 42 days as part of
their training program; (applause) in order to increase our agricultural
production, in order to attain the biggest sugar harvest in our nation's
history next year, in order to increase our agricultural production even
more.

We can say that next year, or this year, the coffee crop will be
considerably previous (corrects himself) considerably "higher" than last
year's and barring any interruption we think that no later than two years
from now all coffee rationing will have ceased (Castro pauses a few seconds
and an indistinct conversation ensues in the background--ed.) O.K., all
coffee rationing will have ceased. This year the coffee crop has been one
of the smallest. Last year the crop . . . (Castro does not complete
sentence--ed.) The next harvest will be almost 50 percent higher, that is,
coffee production.

A total of 60,000 tons of fertilizer will be applied to the coffee
plantations in our country's mountains. Hence this year we will attain
nearly a million quintals of coffee of which 50,000 will be used to buy
fertilizer and the rest will be available to the nation's consumers. The
utilization of 60,000 tons of fertilizer this year will mean an even higher
increase in next year's coffee crop and it is perfect feasible that by 1970
we will have attained 2 million quintals of coffee.

There is enormous enthusiasm among the Oriente peasants. They have been
feverishly cleaning, pruning, fertilizing, and caring for the coffee
plants; they have been replanting and planting new seedlings. As was to be
expected, the peasants have responded to the plan with indescribable
enthusiasm and the results of these steps will not be long in coming.

We have also been considering that in view of the hydraulic construction
plan in effect in Oriente Province, for example, the Paso Malo dam, the
Mate dam, and the other hydraulic works under construction in
Oriente--among other things to prevent floods such as caused by Hurricane
Flora--will allow us to irrigate thousands upon thousands of caballerias of
land. The construction of a new cane mill has been planned for this area.
But besides the new sugar central, in order to fulfill our sugar goals, we
can irrigate thousands upon thousands of caballerias of land. We have
assigned six engineers and we are going to assign 100 students from the
soil institute to turn them into expert rice cultivation technicians.

Therefore, when we have that dam water available we will be able to produce
most of the rice we consume in our country on the basis of two crops a year
and high yields. From now on we are going to prepare the technical
personnel. We are going to assign 100 youths from the soil institutes and
several engineers to develop the technology. To resolve this problem right
now we would practically have to abandon our sugar plans, part of our sugar
plans, but within 3 or 4 years we will also be able to resolve this problem
with our own agricultural (resources--ed.)

This is particularly (necessary--ed.) since we have noticed that the
Chinese Embassy has requested a number of permits to take out trunks, to
take out luggage, to take out packages, to take out automobiles, and we
assume that their plan is to provoke a break with our country. It was
demonstrated by the fact that after the warning we made at the end of the
year with regard to the massive propaganda they were carrying out in the
style of a Yankee embassy, the completely ignored this and they continued
in a provocative manner to carry out their activities with the pretext that
they simply felt like doing it.

In other words, in my opinion they have been trying to create a problem; to
provoke a break. It's superfluous to say that should such activities
continue we will do to them what we did to the American Embassy--in other
words, limit the number of Chinese officials here to equal the number of
Cuban officials in Peking. (applause)

However, we have noted by their actions that their policy is to provoke a
termination of relations and we really have no assurances that they will
not continue on the path of economic aggression. We have no assurances that
after this year's experience; we have no assurances that we can count on
what the CPR will send us this year when we see a government striking out
recklessly on the path of economic aggression. We think anything is
possible. They are capable of depriving themselves of our sugar, of
depriving the Chinese people of our sugar so long as they commit aggression
on our country.

That is why we must prepare ourselves. It isn't that we think that rice is
an essential staple, it's just a custom. We believe that in the future rice
consumption ought to be regulated by market prices and that a large part of
the rice we consume should be produced by us. We cannot do this now but we
can propose to do so within the next four years. Anyway this will not
always be our country's situation.

The imperialist blockade will not be eternal. Some day the imperialists
will be defeated by the people; their blockades will disappear; some day
the Chinese blockade will also disappear and we will be able to trade our
products for more rice if we want to.

But we must also take into account that since the cost of products is not
determined by their nutritional value but according to the work it costs to
produce them we can import almost two tons of wheat for what it costs to
import one ton of rice or wheat flour. It would be suitable to increase the
consumption of flour products, of foods prepared on the basis of wheat. In
this way, by trading our sugar for foodstuffs we could obtain more
foodstuffs per ton of exported sugar without, however, quitting our rice
consumption habit. We would say (renounce our rice consumption habit--ed.)
if it was possible ever to resolve the problem, but we believe that with
our technology, with our agriculture, in a span of no more than four years,
without quitting our vegetable, fruit, and legume-production plans for our
national consumption, we will also be able, without the employment of
technology, with the hydraulic projects in the works, to have available in
Oriente Province an extensive area which could be cultivated mechanically,
which could be fertilized and fumigated by air; great tracts of land with
two crops a year to resolve our rice needs, providing that a price-control
regulation could reduce the consumption of rice and increases the
consumption of wheat.

Therefore, we will even resolve this problem too. At present we are
suffering, as I was telling you, from the consequences of the Chinese
policy. Cotton and other products have run out because of the fear caused
to consumers. It has created problems for us. It is true that we receive a
variety of products from the CPR. It is also true that rice was not the
only product involved; Chinese exports of textiles were also affected to
the tune of several million square meters, as well as other products.

It is true that the suppression by the CPR of all trade with us would cause
problems and difficulties and we ought to be willing to face them but this
is not all. Does anyone believe that if the imperialists mount a total
blockade against this country, block the arrival of even a single ship, the
revolution would be crushed? (crowd shouts: no!) The people would be
conquered? (crowd: no!) We must even be ready to face total blockade
conditions; to resist it as long as necessary; to become if need be, an
agricultural-livestock raising people for however many years it takes; to
cultivate the land with teams of oxen; but to resist! (applause)

When a people know they are capable of such resistance they feel secure.
When a people know they are capable of this they feel worthy of
independence; they feel worthy of aspiring to freedom as a people, no
matter the size of their enemies; no matter the felonies of those who ought
to have been their friends.

They have the right to aspire; to hold their head high; to be free. A
people not already to do so should not have the right to aspire to be a
free people. We know that in such circumstances (a total blockade of
Cuba--ed.) the people's valor would increase as in all difficult times; as
in all decisive times.

We are reminded of the October crisis. What valor! What firmness! What a
calm decision by the people! We know the people rise to the occasion of
difficulties. We know the people rise to the occasion of critical times.
And we know that no matter how hard the trial we will not be defeated. That
no blockade, no matter how large, could defeat us. That in such a case, the
fuel (as heard) for tanks and artillery guns, and the savings in ammunition
for our enemies and the solution of our problems will come from what we
have available in our country. It is certain that under no circumstances
will we starve to death. It is certain that under no circumstances can they
defeat us.

The nation will face the coming years calmly, valiantly, no matter the
risk; no matter how difficult they are as a result of our enemies' action!
We will resist firmly; we will resist victoriously! Just as the heroic
people of Vietnam are resisting imperialist aggression! (applause) They are
facing up to the criminal imperialist war and they are facing up to the
modern air forces of the Yankees. They are fighting and dying every day. It
should not be so. It should not be possible for a small socialist nation to
be bombed with impunity by mass formations of imperialist aircraft.

You know what our thinking is. You know that Vietnam should have become a
cemetery for Yankee planes. That in a conventional fight, the forces of the
socialist camp are absolutely superior to that of the imperialist camp in
the correlation of forces.

We believe that when the attack against Vietnam began, a halt should have
been called to the schism within the socialist camp. We believe the
position should have been: we have our differences, we have many things to
discuss, but in the face of the fierce aggression against our brother
Vietnamese people, let us call a halt; let us give them all the support of
our antiaircraft weapons, of our air forces--the only argument which the
peoples of the world can understand.

In the face of this problem, in the face of the certain fact of the
criminal and merciless attack by Yankee imperialism against the people of
Vietnam, the position should have been: let us halt this verbal war and let
us leave it for later, if you like, but when it comes to real war, to the
bombing of our Vietnamese brothers, let us join forces and in a defensive
war over the skies of Vietnam, defending the sovereignty of Vietnam, let us
destroy all the Yankee planes. The socialist camp has sufficient mans to
turn North Vietnam into a cemetery for Yankee planes! (applause)

It is not necessary to perform an offensive act. It is not necessary to
carry out any aggressive act. It is enough to give Vietnam all the
conventional armament necessary for the antiaircraft struggle, all the
aircraft necessary, and with all this technology, all the personnel
necessary. The socialist camp possesses means to sweep the Yankee pirate
aircraft from the skies of North Vietnam (applause).

We admire the heroism of the Vietnamese people, how they confront the
aggressor aircraft with their weapons, their rifles, their men and women.
However, we can never be in agreement, and we will never understand why it
is possible, there in southeast Asia, to carry out that type of barbarous
warfare against a small country of the socialist camp such as Vietnam. And
if the imperialist air offensive is defeated in North Vietnam, the people
of South Vietnam will not be long in expelling the imperialist soldiers
from their fatherland!

The imperialist tactic is clear: the massive use of aircraft against North
Vietnam, the massive use of troops and conventional fighting means and in
addition inhuman means such as chemical warfare against the South
Vietnamese movement. And that theory that if this generation does not win
the succeeding one will is not understood by anyone. No, that is saying to
fight in Vietnam to the last Vietnamese. In any case we believe that the
correct thing would be to say: "Fight in any country of the socialist camp
to the last socialist soldier." (applause)

The imperialists attack Vietnam. I do not hide that they threaten to attack
China. Now the truth is that the imperialists fear a clash with China. They
know that the Chinese people can mobilize tens of millions of soldiers and
they fear a clash with masses of Chinese troops. The imperialists fear
conventional warfare with China and they fear an atomic war with the USSR.
The case of the imperialists with Cuba is different. they know that we
cannot mobilize millions of soldiers, that we do not have atomic weapons.
That is why there is always some shameless person in the United States
advising an invasion of Cuba.

Nobody advises an invasion of China, nobody. Nobody advises the invasion of
the USSR. All advise an invasion of Cuba. That is why, that is why (repeats
for empahsis) I say that all the imperialists fear a class with China, they
fear a clash with the USSR. They feint, they threaten, but basically what
they want is to continue to bomb North Vietnam freely. We understand that
regardless of which country is attacked, if Vietnam is attacked, if China
is attacked, whatever our differences may be with the government and
leaders of that country, our opinion is that in case of an aggression all
the socialist camp must give China its support if it is attacked.
(applause)

That is our position of principles. The same thing goes if any European
socialist country is attacked. The same if the Soviet Union is attacked. We
believe that the true policy of principles is the policy of support of an
attacked socialist country faced with imperialist aggressions and that the
theory that if this generation does not win the war, the coming one will,
is a defeatist theory.

It is an inhuman theory and it is a cowardly theory. The Marxist-Lenninist,
internationalist principle is to be prepared to fight, not to the last
citizen of the attacked country, but to the last citizen of the socialist
camp. We who are so far away here, and so alone, who do not have any
borders with a socialist country, to show they will not be able to send
anything across any border in case of an attack, who will be attacked if
any great conflict in any country of the world takes place, do not
facilitate in proclaiming that this is our position and that this is our
policy of principles.

And it is not that we want that everybody fight for us if we are attacked
because we, if the time comes to defend this land, will not go around
asking who is going to help us. We will not go around asking how many are
going to fight with us. Even if we were to be left absolutely alone in that
struggle, we will fight to the last breath, to the last drop of our blood!
(applause) When we began this struggle we did not ask for anybody's
permission. When we began this struggle we had nothing but our own forces!

We have carried out our revolution at a decisive point in history. We have
carried out our revolution at a point when internationalist sentiments and
bonds among peoples have reached their highest levels. However, in spite of
that, if we have to fight by ourselves, we will fight. When the time comes
to defend the sovereignty of this country (applause, cheering), the soil of
this country, the flag of this country, as on the first day when we began
the struggle, we will not ask how many will fight with us, we will not
count the number of our soldiers nor will we count the number of the enemy
soldiers. We will only know that our duty is to fight, that our duty is to
die if necessary to the last revolutionary! (continuous applause)

And that comrade students, on a day like today, which is a day of homage to
heroism, is what I wish to express here so that we can say on a day like
today that we speak very sincerely and very seriously when we say:
Fatherland or Death, We will Win! (shouting applause).

CORRECTIONS TO CASTRO UNIVERSITY SPEECH

In the article entitled "Castro University Speech Blasts CPR Betrayal"
published in the 14 March DAILY REPORT, page HHHH 5, paragraph 5, line 1,
beginning "for a . . ." should read:  What does a party serve for if one
man is worshiped and worshiped to such an extent that ...

P*ge HHHH 6, paragraph 6, line 4, . . . could be done as encouragement
. . . should read: could be discouraging . . .
-END-

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