“…the country will have much more but it will never be a consumer society.  It will be a society of knowledge, of culture, of the most extraordinary human development imaginable, development in art, culture, science [...] with a breadth of liberty that no one will be able to dismantle.  We know this already, we don’t need to proclaim it, but it is worth remembering.“

“Our revolutionary and truly socialist conception is perfectly compatible with the idea of foreign investment and the utmost possibilities, guarantees and security for those who invest in our country”.

“With a pitiless blockade lasting for almost 60 years, and those who have died in mercenary attacks on Cuban ships and ports, an airliner full of passengers exploded in mid-flight, mercenary invasions, multiple acts of violence and force? Nobody could be so naive as to think that this noble and self-sacrificing people would renounce glory and their rights, and the spiritual richness they have earned with the development of education, science and culture”.

 
"Nothing is as devastating as the damage and destruction left behind by a hurricane. Hundreds of thousands of compatriots mobilize and work very hard during the passing of the hurricane and afterwards during the recovery stage.  Reserves are reduced or depleted.  Today, more than ever, the damages caused on food supplies are costly and significant.  But this is our country; this is our rightful place in this planet, and we have to develop and defend it".

“(…) NAM has again become an effective force in the international arena. Today, NAM is more necessary than ever. If in the past, when there was a struggle between two superpowers, we fought to occupy a worthy place in the world, today we should fight off the risk of unipolar hegemonism and work for the only viable, endurable and acceptable way to survive, that is, for a multilateral world to prevail where peace, freedom, development and progress can be realized by all”.

“To begin with, I will say that neither in the first or the second half of this century nor at any other time in history has a country done or achieved as much in sports as Cuba in an extremely short period of time. And it is a small Third World country, one that is additionally subjected to an economic blockade by the wealthiest and mightiest nation on Earth as well as to a thousand different forms of harassment and aggression”.

“Sports require discipline, and they teach children and young people a great deal about discipline, resistance, stability, perseverance and courage. They help build character and promote better health and physical and mental development”.

"We will establish, with the utmost urgency, a modern and efficient doping control laboratory that will cooperate with the countries of the region that require it.

“Nobody could be so naive as to think that this noble and self-sacrificing people would renounce glory and their rights, and the spiritual richness they have earned with the development of education, science and culture”.

“Developed capitalism, modern imperialism and neoliberal globalization, as systems of world exploitation, have been imposed on the world, as has the basic lack of the principles of justice demanded for centuries by thinkers and philosophers for all human beings, yet still very far from being a reality on Earth”.