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Vol. 73/No. 11      March 23, 2009

 
Fidel Castro speeches
published in Greece
 
BY THEODOROS MISAILIDES  
THESSALONIKI, Greece—Some 50 people attended a presentation February 25 of the Greek-language edition of In Defense of Socialism. The meeting was held on the Macedonia University campus here, under the auspices of the chair of the Faculty of Philosophy and Pedagogy of Aristotle University. Macedonia and Aristotle are the two main universities in northern Greece.

The book contains four speeches, given in 1989 by Fidel Castro in the weeks surrounding the 30th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution. In the speeches Castro takes up the main political challenges posed as Cuba’s working people fought to continue advancing along the road opened by the revolution on Jan. 1, 1959. The book was translated from the English edition published by Pathfinder Press in the United States.

Among the speakers at the meeting were José Cala, first secretary of the Cuban embassy in Greece; Harry Papapanagos, a professor in the Balkan, Slavic, and Oriental Studies department of the University of Macedonia; Georgia Mproni, who teaches at Aristotle University; Alexandros Mitsiou, graduate student at Aristotle; and Natasha Terlexis, representing the book’s publisher Diethnes Vima.

During the discussion Stavros Pannas, vice dean of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, asked, “Cuba has taken measures to open its economy to the world market. How is this different from what the Soviet Union did prior to its demise and what China is doing?”

“What openings Cuba has undertaken are controlled, and whatever profits are made are treated as a social product, used for the benefit of the community and not to enrich individuals,” responded Cala. “Right now we have important trade relations with a number of countries, but we are also preparing for the eventuality that we may find ourselves alone.”

Fotis Grigoriades and others from the Greek-Cuban Friendship Association pointed to the need for solidarity with Cuba because “the European Union is also part of the embargo on Cuba. It’s not only the U.S. government.”

Several people asked what will happen in Cuba when Fidel Castro dies. “When we got rid of Batista they said we would never survive,” Cala answered. “When we declared the socialist character of our revolution they called us a Soviet satellite. When the Soviet Union fell they said we would not last two days. But here we are 50 years on. And I invite you all to go to Cuba and talk to people in the streets. You will find people who love what they do, who believe in the future, and who greatly respect Fidel. His contributions will always be a part of our revolutionary process,” he said. Cala encouraged the editorial efforts being made to disseminate Fidel Castro’s works.

Eleven copies of the book were sold at the event.  
 
 
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