“For the first time, in this remote corner of Africa, Cuban and Angolan blood was shed in the struggle to free that troubled land.It was at this point that Cuba, in consultation with President Neto, decided to send Interior Ministry special troops and regular members of the Cuban army by air and sea, as fully-equipped fighting troops to confront the aggression by the forces of apartheid.(...) Then, the campaign started known as Operation Carlota, code name for the most just, lengthy, large scale and successful internationalist campaign undertaken by Cuba. ”.
“We revolutionaries, by our natures, are optimists. But we do not believe in spontaneity: we believe in peace, in détente, in the civilized coexistence among governments, we must attain them with our struggle and with our strength”.
“Peace is just the primary condition so that we can overturn, according to our beliefs, the colossal sources of energy and resources necessary for all of humanity, and not just for one part of it, to be able to live honourably, decently and decorously.”
"Today drugs are one of the most serious problems in this hemisphere and in Europe. In the war against drug trafficking and organized crime, encouraged in the enormous U.S. market, the Latin American countries are now losing almost ten thousand men each year, more than twice the number lost by the United States in the Iraq war. The number grows and the problem is very far from being resolved".
"Fate would have it that Venezuela should be the country to fight the most for the independence of this hemisphere. It began here and you had a legendary precursor like Miranda, who even lead a French army in campaign waging famous battles which, at a point in time, during the French Revolution, prevented an invasion of French territory".
“We look at the entire planet, in hopes it will survive, that the men will find enough intelligence and energy to survive, that mankind will find
enough consciousness and spirit to fight, because only fighting anarchy, fighting the madness of the empire and the system it represents mankind will be able to survive.”
"Cuba is the only country on the planet that cannot be visited by US citizens; but Cuba exists and stands firm, only 90 miles away from the United States, fighting its heroic fight. We, the Cuban revolutionaries, have committed errors, and we shall go on making mistakes, but never shall we make the mistake of being traitors."
“The noble and extraordinary idea of solidarity and internationalism does not exist in the rich, developed, capitalist world. Such ideas can only arise from the heart of a society that struggles for brotherhood among peoples and nations, one that struggles for justice in the world. This has been our conduct so far, and it will continue to be in the future, because we trust our people.”
“It is also said that the West has created a civilization inspired by Christian values. Indeed, this is said of the West that has been responsible for so many wars and so many tragedies for humanity, of so much misery and so much poverty in the world, of so many conquests and so many colonies, of so much under-development which today plagues the Earth.”
“To dream of impossible things is utopia; to fight for goals not only attainable, but indispensable for the survival of the species is realism”.