“A nuclear world war almost broke out because of the empire’s stubbornness and it is still stubborn. They just never learn that it is impossible to destroy this Revolution defended by this people, (APPLAUSE) and not only because of the physical strength of our fighters but because of their moral forces, because of their willingness to win or die, because of their willingness to defend an historic, revolutionary process which has given us all that we have today.”
“We don´t have to apologize to anybody. We have been fully aware of what we have been doing and, specially, very sure we have the right to do it”.
“No revolutionary government that comes to power wants to have international conflicts. What it wants is devoting itself to the solution of its own problems; what it wants is implementing a platform, as do governments really interested in the progress of their countries”.
“Let us fight against egoism, vanity and the sterile ambition for glory which are serpents devouring human souls; let us be the bearers of ideas and conscience, ever onward and upward, together with our glorious forefathers.”
“The feats that our country is already capable of in the field of medicine, the enormous human capital it has developed: no other country in the world has these things. We have professionals willing to travel anywhere in the world, no matter how tough the conditions are there, and this is something no one else has.”
“Cuba will not be intimidated!, Cuba will not recede!, the Revolution will not stop!, the Revolution will continue its unshakable path! That is our promise, not to those who died, because to die for the homeland is to live, but to the comrades who will always remain in our memories. They will always remain, not in the memory of a man, or men, but in the only memory that can never be erased: the memory in the heart of a people.”
“Whatever our deeds could have been, no matter how meritorious they may seem, we must start by placing ourselves in an honest standpoint of not assuming we have comprehended everything that is to be learned, of not assuming that our points of view are infallible, and that all those who do not think exactly the same way are mistaken.”
“The Revolution gave the people the property of their own country. What the Revolution eradicated was the property of the basic means of production, of the financial institutions and of other crucial services which were in the hands of those who plundered and exploited the people --and made fortunes on the workers’ sweat-- or that only served the rich and the privileged, leaving the poor and the black people out”.
“And what does the Cuban Revolution teach? That revolution is possible, that the peoples can make it; that in the contemporary world there are no forces capable of preventing the liberation movement of the peoples.”.
"From day one of the revolutionary victory our country has never set obstacles to the legal emigration of Cuban citizens to the United States or to any other country. At the time of the triumph of the Revolution many people in Cuba, like in the rest of the Caribbean and Latin America, who endured poverty and underdevelopment, wanted to migrate to seek for better paid jobs and better living conditions than they could find in their countries subjected to centuries of exploitation and plundering. Until 1959, an extremely limited number of visas were issued to Cubans.