“The struggle of our people for independence did not start that day, that day resumed the heroic struggle started in 1868 by Cespedes and carried forward by that exceptional man whose centenary was being celebrated that year, the man that was the mastermind of the attack on the Moncada: José Martí.”
“Rectification means looking for something new; 26 July 1953 was rectification. We struggled to erase old things, to open new paths, to make a revolution, to create a new life; that is rectification today. Rectification has a meaning, a truly broad meaning. I am happy and very encouraged by what I am seeing. I am pleased with the results I am seeing, despite the fact that I know we can still do much more. We have much more ahead.”
“If we had followed the plans of others, we would not be meeting here today. There would not have been a 26 July. There would not have been a socialist revolution in this hemisphere. There still would not have been a socialist revolution in this hemisphere. According to conventional theory, this revolution could not have come about. That was the theory. Let this be understood very well: That was the theory. That is what the books said. That is what the manuals said.”
“This is the same country, and this is the same people of Cespedes and of Marti. This is the country, the same country, the same people of Agramonte and Maximo Gomez. This is the same country and people of the Bronze Titan, Antonio Maceo. This is the same country and same people of Yara and of Bayamo, of the protest from Baragua. This is the same country and same people of Moncada, the Bay of Pigs and Internationalism, we all now have a greater revolutionary awareness than ever before in our history. This people and this country will know how to be consistent with their glorious history!”
“On seeing it today, on seeing the place of honour where we have planted our flag, I felt so happy that I saw in that minute all the sacrifices we have made and all the sacrifices we will have to make from now on.”
"The final and definite stage of the war for national Independence that our people had been fighting since 1868 started on July 26. Thus for us, workers and farmers, for us, this commemoration in the city of Santiago de Cuba has aroused a deep emotion.”
"The last battles were fought by this generation, beginning eight years ago on a 26 July. Fighting, bleeding, struggling and making sacrifices, the people won power, after paying the very high price of their finest sons."
“Eight years ago, on a day like today, that episode we are commemorating, the attack on the Moncada Barracks, occurred. That battle meant a reverse for us. It was not a victory of weapons, but it was a moral victory, a triumph of dignity. The setback was not important, what the revolution had to tolerate in its long advance was not just a setback”.
"Forty-five years have passed since the assault on the Moncada. Our country had been struggling for its independence and its rights for more than a century. Maceo, Gómez and other fighters struggled from 1868 until 1898. They suffered the humiliation of not being able to hoist their flag in this heroic city, of not even being able to enter it after 30 years of a self-sacrificing, admirable and heroic struggle. But the day came when those flags were hoisted and their ideas triumphed, ideas which were ever-changing and which never stopped evolving into something better.
"Our generation has fulfilled its duty after having struggled without respite for 45 years, from that July 26, 1953 onwards, maintaining a steadfast position of principles, with the same ideas that inspired us that day."