“Thank you for coming as a reinforcement in this difficult struggle that we are waging today to save the ideas you fought for so much, to save the Revolution, the homeland and the achievements of socialism, which is the materialization of some of your biggest dreams. We count on you to carry out this enormous feat, to destroy the imperialist plots against Cuba, to resist the blockade and to attain victory. "
Quotes
"The various US administrations with their blockade, their constant harassment and their exclusions have given us the possibility of fighting them in full and of being even joyful to be excluded in exchange for the freedom to speak without compromise in any forum of the world where there are so many fair causes to defend".
“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”.
“(…) But the Cuban Adjustment Act is a death factory that they have established and that must be removed. We will not give in on this point. Our stance is more encompassing still: we will keep on fighting until an end is brought not only to the Cuban Adjustment Act, but also the Torricelli Act, the Helms-Burton Act, the blockade and all the conspiracies against our country, which have now lasted over 40 years. (…)”
"How many lives has the Cuban Adjustment Act cost our people throughout the 33 years it has been in force? How many lives of innocent children, torn from their schools and placed in great danger by mothers and fathers acting irresponsibly or fooled by illusions or by the vicious campaigns and incitement of the overwhelming propaganda originated in a country which, on the other hand, subjects ours to a blockade aimed at destroying our people through hunger and disease?"
"Whoever is elected leader of the empire should not ignore that Cuba demands the total removal of the murderous Cuban Adjustment Act and the criminal pieces of legislation that bear the notorious names of Torricelli and Helms-Burton as well as the genocidal blockade and economic war. It should be noted that those who have authored, promoted and enforced these laws and policies are guilty of the crime of genocide, as defined and condemned by international treaties signed by both the United States and Cuba. Also that, our nation being the aggrieved party, the Cuban courts has jurisdiction over these matters".
"The blockade as a whole and the criminal economic warfare against Cuba must end! The threats, the subversive campaigns, the destabilization plans must end!"
“Cuba is increasingly becoming a country with not only great intellectual and artistic talents but also with many educators, scientists and hundreds of thousands of people capable of producing wealth with their learned minds. This is but a proof of what can be done despite the inherited underdevelopment and the longest economic and financial blockade that any people has ever endured! ”
"The criminal blockade he has promised to tighten will only multiply the honor and glory of our people against which their wicked plans will smash, I assure you".
“ The longstanding blockade, and very particularly the special period and the enormous shortage of resources it entailed, combined with the supposed loss of the teaching vocation among our young people, had left profound and seemingly insurmountable scars on such an extraordinary and decisive revolutionary and social task as education”.
"Nearly 50 years, the longest blockade in history. Thank you, Yankee Empire! You made us grow; you made us reach new heights along the years! You crowned the blood spilt by all of the Cubans who have fought and died here and elsewhere, with the shameful defeat of your cynical blockade, your cynical attempts to destroy us!"
"It will very soon be 50 years since our people started suffering a cruel blockade; thousands of our sons and daughters have died or have been mutilated as a result of the dirty war against Cuba, the only country in the world to which an Adjustment Act has been applied inciting illegal emigration, yet another cause of death for Cuban citizens, including women and children; more than 15 years ago Cuba lost her principal markets and sources of supply for foods, energy, machinery, raw materials and long-term low-interest financing. First the socialist bloc collapsed followed almost immediately by the USSR, dismantled piece by piece. The empire tightened and internationalized the blockade; the proteins and calories (...) diseases such as optical neuritis and others appeared; the shortage of medicines, also a result of the blockade, became an everyday reality. Medicines were allowed to enter only as a charitable act, to demoralize us; these, in their turn, became a source of illegal business and black-market dealings. Inevitably, the “special period” struck. This was the sum total of all the consequences of the aggression and it forced us to take desperate measures whose harmful effects were bolstered by the colossal media machine of the empire. Everyone was awaiting, some with sadness and others with oligarchic glee, the crumbling of the Cuban Revolution".