"(...) it was clear that that the 26th July Movement had the overwhelming support and sympathy of the people (APPLAUSE); it was clear that the 26th July Movement had the almost unanimous support of Cuba's youth"
Quotes
“It is not the will of one man or a group of men that has been executed; it is the will of an entire people what has been executed!”
“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.”
"And our people is one of those peoples that never hesitates in the face of sacrifice, it is one of the peoples that has never hesitated in the face of the price it has to pay for its dignity and its freedom; a people that has never hesitated, and never will, in the face of what it has to pay for its happiness.”
"But it was not always like this and, in contrast, the memories of that first 26 also came to our minds, that afternoon in which everything was sorrow and pain, in which the death of our comrades and the pain of a defeat that forced our Homeland to wait weighed in our minds whose limits we did not imagine at that time.”
"And so, that 26 of July was just a minute for us, when the fight seemed to end, when the effort to be in the battle for the liberation of our people seemed to end, it was not the end, but the beginning.”
"That 26 of July was the culmination of the effort of a group of young men full of ideals who threw themselves into that uneven and difficult fight."
"(...) 26 of July and Sierra Maestra; those are two names that will weigh deeply on the heart of each of us.”
"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”.
“In the unity of this people lies the strength, in the unity of this people lies its invincibility, and the history of this revolution proves that a united people is invincible. The history of this revolution proves that in unity there is strength! The history of this revolution shows that the worst threat to the success of a revolution and a people is divisionism.”
“The 26 of July is a sad date for imperialism; it is a painful date for Yankee imperialists, for the foreign monopolies, for the major landowners, for the great industry and finances magnates, for the big speculators, for the big gamblers, for the big contrabandists; it is a painful, sad date for all those big generals who used to act as if they owned the country; it is a painful, sad date for the politicians; it is a painful, sad date for the big criminals; it is a painful, sad date for all the enemies of the people. And, of course, the Revolution is painful and sad for all those who have seen their privileges vanish with the laws passed by the Revolution; those are the ones that feel worried about the26 of July.”