BY FIDEL CASTRO
The following speech was given by Cuban president Fidel Castro at the main ceremony marking the 42nd anniversary of the attack on the Moncada garrison. This celebration of the opening battle of the Cuban revolution was held at Guantánamo's Mariana Grajales Revolution Square on July 26, 1995. The following text in English appeared in the August 9 issue of the weekly Granma International. Subheadings are by the Militant.

Family Members of the Moncada Combatants;

Distinguished Guests;

People of Guantánamo;

Compatriots:

It gives me much pleasure to be with you on the 42nd anniversary of the attack on the Moncada Garrison.

Guantánamo received the honor of being the site of this anniversary event not only in recognition of its outstanding work on many fronts, but especially because of the dignified and efficient manner in which its people confronted the series of natural disasters that affected this province.

By chance we are also celebrating in Guantánamo the centenary anniversary of Martí's and Gómez's landing in Playitas, and that of Maceo, with Crombet and other patriots in Duaba.(1) This year we have also commemorated the centennial of José Martí's death in combat in Dos Ríos.

This moment evokes many emotions and memories. However, the principal one to bear in mind is that our struggle for independence was initiated 127 years ago, that is to say, our battles for sovereignty, liberty, justice and the dignity of our small but patriotic and heroic nation. Cuba lies at the very gates of a powerful and expansionist nation which has never ceased to extend its frontiers, first at the expense of the indigenous peoples, who occupied a great part of the United States' current territory and who were virtually exterminated; and then at the expense of the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean. Few countries in the world have had to face a more colossal challenge and risk than that met by Cuba, the ripe apple that by its own weight would have to fall into the hands of the growing empire.

Even then there were people who thought that the task was an impossible one, but there were also others who have never resigned themselves to the idea of renouncing their independence, their culture, and their national identity. Thanks to those outstanding precursors, today we are speaking in Spanish here, and not in English.

Efforts of many generations
The efforts and sacrifices of entire generations of Cubans did not succeed in making their revolutionary dreams of justice and full independence a reality. However, they sowed the seeds and prepared the ground. We could not continue being a foreign power's colony, we could not continue to be the United States' obedient servants, we could not continue to be a country of landless campesinos [peasants], of children without schools, of sick people without doctors. A country of exploited workers, of blacks without rights, women who faced discrimination, young people without any future, a workforce without employment, of humiliated citizens; a country whose laws were daily mocked, where corruption was rampant, and whose national anthem and flag lacked any meaning. Forced evictions, abhorrent crimes - this was the caricature of a republic that the U.S. intervention made of our nation.

Any person plundering public funds, corrupt politicians, or those responsible for atrocious crimes of repression had a safe haven in the United States, especially if they acted in the name of that country's economic interests or anticommunist ideology.

All this occurred and has continued to occur in recent years in numerous countries in our hemisphere. Who initiated the Latin American repressive forces into crime, torture, mass disappearances, death squads, clandestine cemeteries, and other abhorrent practices?

The July 26 armed uprising in 1953 was carried out against everything that happened in Cuba under Batista, that consummate servant of U.S. interests and reactionary ideology.

The Revolution, which was launched with the attack on the Moncada and was continued in prison, with the Granma landing, the Sierra Maestra, the underground struggles, in the cities, mountains and plains, led us to the victory of January 1, 1959. We were in charge of our own future for the first time in history.

The Moncada program was rigorously fulfilled within a relatively short space of time. Secular privileges and inequalities were swept away. It was not a socialist program, but it contained the basic elements for future advances in that direction. If we, the principal leaders, had socialist ideas and convictions, or more precisely, Marxist-Leninist ideas, as we have said many times, the Cuban Revolution was not as yet a socialist one.

However, this process was rapidly accelerated as a consequence of the aggressive policy adopted by the U.S. government. The first Agrarian Reform Law had barely been approved in May 1959 when that country's administration decided to liquidate the Revolution by employing mercenary forces in a similar style to that used against the government of Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala in 1954, when he also decided to carry out an agrarian reform. Prior to this point, the U.S. government had applied heavy economic aggression against our country. Via a process of U.S. government measures and Cuban responses, within a brief period of time the majority of U.S. companies in Cuba were nationalized. These measures were followed by the nationalization of the principal private Cuban companies, whose proprietors, as a general rule, made common cause with U.S. policy.

Socialist character of the revolution
In this way, the day after the treacherous bombing of our air bases, and on the eve of the April 16, 1961, Bay of Pigs invasion, in front of tens of thousands of armed militia members, the socialist character of the Revolution was proclaimed. In the Sierra Maestra we fought for the Moncada program; in the Bay of Pigs battle our heroic people shed their blood for socialism, in full view of a powerful U.S. naval squadron a few miles off our coasts, ready to intervene.

The historic circumstances in which our struggle took place demonstrate that it could not be described as revolutionary if it had not been an anti-imperialist and, moreover, socialist struggle. Only socialism was able to so closely unite the great popular masses to carry out the great moral, political, economic and social battle which lay ahead of us, as well as preparing us to act in the military terrain if the country was invaded. It was essential to win total justice, as Martí said to Juan Gualberto Gómez. Only socialism as a political, economic and social regime could provide total justice. [Applause]

The world in which this long struggle has been waged for over 36 years - this is not the moment to detail its extraordinary history - was not designed by us; it was already shaped on January 1, 1959. But nobody should have the slightest doubt that whether the USSR and the socialist bloc had existed or not, we would have attacked the Moncada Garrison, we would have landed in the Granma, we would have achieved the January 1 Revolution, and we would have fought at the Bay of Pigs.

When Maceo led the Baraguá protest, when Martí landed in Playitas, when the mambí independence fighters carried out their glorious westward march, when Cuba fought alone against 300,000 Spanish soldiers, the USSR and the socialist camp did not exist. We didn't even have any contact or relations with those countries; that only occurred after our victory.

Defense of social conquests
The historical coincidence of the emergence of the Cuban Revolution and the existence of the USSR and the socialist camp was a chance event, albeit an extraordinarily useful one when our little country was mercilessly blockaded in the economic field, and militarily harassed and threatened by the United States. For anyone who still harbors the slightest doubt over what I have just said, one undeniable fact is sufficient. When the socialist camp and the USSR disappeared, our people, in spite of abruptly losing 70 percent of their imported goods and all military cooperation, didn't hesitate for a second, but went ahead to defend, at all cost, their independence, their exceptional social conquests, their glorious history, their ideals, their revolution and the fruit of the blood shed by their children within and outside Cuba. [Applause]

Many people who were incapable of perceiving the courage of this people believed that the Revolution would collapse in a matter of days or weeks, and here we are not only resisting, but little by little once more beginning to gain ground. [Applause]

Compatriots:

Let us not forget, even for a second, the effort and sacrifice that special period has signified for our people. It is also very hard and difficult for the Revolution to continue to wage the struggle while having to daily attend to the problems and needs of 11 million people. How to ensure that no child goes without milk, that the sick do not lack the medical care they need, that there are minimum levels of food, electricity, water, domestic fuel, transportation, and the many other products and services required by the population!

Dealing with the problems of a guerrilla army in the mountains is not the same as attending to the needs of an entire nation while huge efforts are being made by our enemies to maintain the blockade and place obstacles in the way of everything.

But what we are doing today has never been in vain, nor will it ever be.

It is a historically unprecedented feat that not one single school, hospital, senior citizens' home, or children's day-care center has been closed.

The infant mortality rate is now lower than at the beginning of special period, and there are many more doctors; the country's security and defense capacities have been strengthened; advances have been made in scientific research, and in the cultural and sports fields; our agricultural and industrial sectors are functioning; orderly work is going ahead in all areas and some of the fruits of this are already becoming apparent. Oil, nickel, electricity, steel, and cement production are on the increase, as well as root and garden vegetables and other items. The gross domestic product saw a two percent increase in the first six months of 1995, a modest figure, but worth noting. It would have been higher without decreased production in the sugarcane industry, where special efforts are now being made which cannot fail to produce positive results in the near future.

Within the space of less than a year, the excess of liquid cash circulating among the population was reduced by almost 2.7 million pesos. The peso is regaining value: one year ago, the street exchange value was over 130 pesos to the dollar; today it stands at barely 35. So progress is being made in organizing the country's internal finances. But this requires an increasingly strict fulfillment of the policy that has been outlined, which as yet has not been fully implemented, and at no time should we fall into the temptation of putting new pesos into circulation. As the excess of surplus cash in circulation diminishes, the task of further reducing it becomes more difficult, although this is still essential. The benefits can be seen in an increased interest in work and the greater need to earn a wage.

Tax collection must be carried out more rigorously.
However, the lack of hard currency to pay for required imports constitutes a serious problem for our economy. This is the principal obstacle confronting us today. Some financing is being made available at elevated costs. On occasions, a price increase in one single item, such as fuel, foodstuffs, or powdered milk leads to a considerable deficit. This is a reality to take into account.

Recently, a series of measures have been implemented, in line with a set of changes and points of view within the economic sphere.

Some of these measures are wide-reaching and radical, with a view to improving the work being carried out in this sphere, particularly in order to adapt our economy to the realities of today's world. Other countries such as China and Vietnam have been doing this for some time, but does this maybe signify the renunciation of our socialist ideals and our Marxist-Leninist convictions? Quite the contrary.

As true Marxist-Leninists we have to take this course of action, with all the courage and realism demanded by the circumstances. However, this does not imply, as some people seem to think, a return to capitalism, and much less a crazy and unchecked rush in that direction. The incredible disasters that have taken place in the countries of the former Soviet Union, in spite of its vast resources in energy and raw materials, as well as foreign aid, in contrast to the impressive successes in China and Vietnam, are a clear indication of what should and should not be done if we wish to save the Revolution and socialism. [Applause]

And this is discounting the fact that none of those countries are being blockaded by the United States. Cuba, on the other hand, is blockaded to the hilt, with rage and fury. The whole economic arsenal of the hegemonic empire is currently focused on us. For this reason only our socialism, our serenity, and the level-headedness with which we have tackled our problems have made the miracle of our resistance possible.

Capitalism brings damaging effects
The unquestionable capitalist elements introduced into our country have been accompanied by the damaging and alienating effects of that system. The phenomenon of bribery and corruption, unheard of during the 30 years of trade with the Soviet Union, can be appreciated in an incipient and growing form in our economic relations with capitalism.

It should be said, in all fairness, that we have relations with many responsible capitalists, who behave in an appropriate manner; others are using the universal capitalist practices of bribery and corruption, in a discreet or blatant manner.

There are also people who have let themselves be carried away by an avidity for hard currency, to the point of selling their souls.

Large-scale tourism, the decriminalization of the possession of hard currency, the institutions trading in that currency, measures which were unavoidable, have their inevitable cost.

The style and behavior of some people reveal the pleasure they take in the entrepreneurial role. Others want to set up their own enterprises or small businesses at any cost to operate in hard currency in their work centers or institutions, more often than not with a view to misspending it, violating the carefully established norms in this area. The Party and the government will have to wage a colossal battle against such tendencies before they develop into a cancer devouring our ethics and revolutionary spirit. We have to take an inexorable stance against those persons who violate our most sacred principles. The blood of so many Cubans was not shed to let in such shameful conduct at the nation's most critical moment. [Applause]

The battle we have to fight is a hard one, but the firm determination in our souls must be harder.

Two strategies against revolution
The enemy's undertaking to destroy us is without respite. There are two strategies: one coming from the extreme right elements in U.S. politics who dream of strangling us with an even tighter blockade, if that were possible, and of sweeping us off the face of the earth by whatever means necessary. They are the ones who promote legislation such as the Helms-Burton bill, well-known by our people who have examined it closely, and other draconian measures. They are the ones who would like to destroy us from outside.

The other strategy is championed by those who want to penetrate our nation, to weaken us, to create all kinds of counterrevolutionary organizations and to destabilize the country regardless of the consequences. They have developed a whole theory and a program designed to this end. These persons want to exert their influence through wide-ranging interchanges with diverse sectors they believe they can influence, by granting generous scholarships, by dazzling us with their million-dollar institutions, their technology, their social research centers. They do not allow U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba, to get to know the island and to have a holiday here, but they are prepared to send sociologists, philosophers, historians, Cuba specialists, English professors, and other academics to our universities to "enlighten" us. These people yes, but the last thing in the world they will do is to send professors of cybernetics, computer science, or spheres of technology which have no relation to ideology and who could be of some use to the country. That is to say, the so-called "track two" of the Torricelli Act. Those are the ones who would like to destroy us from within.

There are many courageous and noble U.S. citizens in all spheres, businesspeople included, who are not involved in either of these two strategies.

Meanwhile, within U.S. territory - and this is very serious - and without any attempt at discretion, acts of terrorism against the Cuban population and in vital areas of the economy are being actively planned and set in operation, including, once again, frenetically planned attempts on the lives of the Revolution's leaders. The main center for such activities is the so-called Cuban American National Foundation. It is absolutely inconceivable that the CIA and FBI are not aware of such plans, given that presumably they have infiltrated those organizations, many of whose members have had relations with them.

Now that our country has been opened up to tourism and there is a possibility of travel between Cuba and the United States, the execution of such plans is facilitated, and the introduction of a variety of channels to achieve such ends makes them more feasible.

Our security corps is on the alert in the context of such activities, and is working to prevent their occurrence.

These words are not spoken without proof. We are giving a timely warning and hope that no one will later regret the rigor with which the revolutionary laws sanction these crimes, nor try to appeal to the Revolution's generosity. [Shouts and applause]

To this can be added the emission of more than one thousand hours per week of radio broadcasts inciting sabotage, actions against the economy, and the assassination of political leaders.

It is absolutely shameful that, in the wake of the brutal crime that took place in Oklahoma, acts of terrorism against Cuba are being organized and put into action from the United States.

What I have said up to this point gives you some idea of how arduous our struggle is and will be. You should also take into account that the United States is in its electoral process and the extreme right elements, which now have majority control in Congress, are aspiring not only to erase the social measures dating back to the Roosevelt era, but also to form the next U.S. government, with all the consequences this could have for the world as a whole.

Compatriots:
We have to be prepared for all these possibilities. The blockade conditions under which we are obliged to resist and advance demand a superhuman effort, an immutable steadfastness and absolute integrity on the part of everyone.

In normal times, when resources were fully available and during a period of substantial egalitarianism, many people grew accustomed to receiving everything and contributing very little. A critical analysis will remind us of inflated rosters in the areas of production and services, absenteeism under any pretext, the four or five hours' working day in several agricultural enterprises, the excess expenditure in fuel and raw materials, and the misuse of agricultural machinery and transportation. We cannot permit any of these luxuries today.

In the recent period, great effort has gone into demanding much more of the Party and state cadres. There have been widespread replacements, and a great commitment has been shown by everyone; however, we can still observe errors, weaknesses, irresponsibility, and incompetence.

Rebirth of revolutionary spirit
As at no other time in our history, today we demand of our workers and our cadres the maximum of patriotism, moral values, and dignity. Alongside cases and examples that are disheartening, are a growing number of men and women who demonstrate a behavior worthy of the times in which we live. A rebirth of revolutionary spirit is apparent throughout the country. It is moving to observe men and women working in the fields or factories in tennis shoes or even barefoot. This should serve as an example to all those who are comfortably off or who do not have enough confidence in the virtues of their people.

Our compatriots' exceptional humanity and political qualities were made evident during our latest elections, a clear message to the world of what Cuba is and a solid confirmation of how a people with a high cultural level and a solid political awareness acted. Our enemies had constructed grand illusions of seeing the Revolution weakened and debilitated by the harsh realities of special period.

These elections were so distinctive in terms of what happens almost everywhere else! And so distinct from what happens in the United States! Even though the option to vote or not is absolutely open, there was a turnout of 97.1 percent. Even assuming there was not one single voting error and that no blank ballot was the result of disagreement with the choice of candidate and that both were expressions of discontent or opposition, void or spoiled ballots totaled only 11.2 percent, barely 0.6 percent more than in 1992. Clearly, a visible deterioration or a relative manifestation of discouragement was to be expected, given the harsh conditions which have befallen our thousand times heroic people, but this did not happen. Another Bay of Pigs moral victory over those who are trying to bring us to our knees! [Applause]

People of Guantánamo:

I have said very little about you and as I don't want to talk too extensively, I have to be brief. The statistics reflecting Guantánamo province's work would be interminable. I am going to give no more than two examples, just to offer the United States an example of social development. [Applause] Guantánamo, Cuba's poorest province, with a doctor for every 271 inhabitants, has more doctors per capita than the United States [applause], and with an infant mortality rate of 9.2 percent, it has less infant mortality than that country's capital. [Applause]

I warmly congratulate you for having gained the position of being the site of the main celebrations for July 26. [Applause]

To the women of Cuba, to whom this commemoration is dedicated, to speak of you I would have to begin this speech again. I just wonder if there is any part of the world where 62 percent of the technical work force is made up of women [Applause] and if what we have achieved up until now would have been possible without you. [Shouts of "No!" and applause]

I congratulate you equally for the selflessness and sacrifice which have made you worthy of this just honor! [Applause]

Soldiers of the heroic Border Brigade, I congratulate you for having received the Major General José Maceo combat glory flag! [Applause] You have written an indelible page of courage in the history of the Revolution and have given a supreme example of generosity in the face of danger and in saving the lives of people who had renounced their nation. [Shouts and applause]

I equally congratulate the Party and People's Power of Guantánamo [applause], and I congratulate the people of Guantánamo. [Applause]

I ask you to excuse me for omitting many other things I could say to you, due to time considerations.

In 1995, I am also going to complete fifty years of having initiated a long and intense political and revolutionary struggle [prolonged applause] which, among other things, has allowed me the great privilege of being here with you. It is no longer necessary to make the long speeches of the early years of the Revolution.

There is only one thing which I wish to add. The Revolution will never renounce its principles [prolonged applause]; it will never renounce the conquests which it brought to our people; it will never renounce its ideals and objectives and it will never be forced to its knees before the United States. [Applause] Our sovereignty will not be surrendered, nor is it negotiable! [Applause]

The right to construct the social, economic and political regime chosen by our people will not be deposed in the face of anything or anyone! [Applause] The Revolution cannot be destroyed from within or from without. [Applause] If we have to fight for a hundred years more, we will fight! [Applause] Those of us who have had the privilege of experiencing liberty, dignity and justice, will never resign ourselves to living without them. [Applause]

Socialism or death!

Patria o muerte! [Homeland or death!]

Venceremos! [We will win!]

[Ovation]

(1) José Martí, Máximo Gómez, Antonio Maceo, and

Flor Crombet were leaders of the war for Cuba's

independence from Spain in the late 1800s.  
 
 
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