“Later, in my necessary retreat, I was able to recover the full command of my mind as well as the possibility for much reading and meditation. I had enough physical strength to write for many hours, which I shared with the corresponding rehabilitation and recovery programs. Basic common sense indicated that such activity was within my reach. On the other hand, when referring to my health I was extremely careful to avoid raising expectations since I felt that an adverse ending would bring traumatic news to our people in the midst of the battle. Thus, my first duty was to prepare our people both politically and psychologically for my absence after so many years of struggle. I kept saying that my recovery “was not without risks.”
Quotes
"Today, with everything at risk, we have not been transformed into belligerent people. We are determined supporters of that unity among peoples which Marti named Our America".
"Radio Marti, Television Marti and other sophisticated and aggressive media insult the name of our Apostle of Independence. They are trying with these to humiliate the Cuban people and destroy its resistance.
A flood of speeches and lies are being waged against Cuba. McCain, Bush’s candidate to the presidency of the empire, speaks; Bush himself speaks. Against whom? Against Marti. On whose behalf? Marti’s".
"In his speech, Obama portrays the Cuban revolution as anti-democratic and lacking in respect for freedom and human rights. It is the exact same argument which, almost without exception, U.S. administrations have used again and again to justify their crimes against our country. The blockade, in and of itself, is an act of genocide. I don’t want to see U.S. children inculcated with those shameful values. An armed revolution in our country might not have been needed without the military interventions, Platt Amendment and economic colonialism visited upon Cuba. The revolution was the result of imperial domination. We cannot be accused of having imposed it upon the country. The true changes could have and ought to have been brought about in the United States. Its own workers, more than a century ago, voiced the demand for an eight-hour work shift, which stemmed from the development of productive forces".
“We will make use of computers, not to create weapons of mass destruction and exterminate people but to convey knowledge to other peoples. From the economic point of view, the development of the intelligence and conscience of our fellow citizens, made possible by the Revolution, allow us not only to aid those in most need at no cost to us, but also to export specialized services, including healthcare services, to countries that have more resources than our own. In this field, the United States will never be able to compete with Cuba.”
“There can be no better tribute to those fallen in action, those who perished later without ever abandoning their principles and those who keep on fighting. They are the symbol of a whole generation who put up a fight and it is only fair that our people rejoice in their memory.”
“Our country does not practice chauvinism or commercialize sports, which are as sacred as the people’s education and health. What it practices, rather, is solidarity. Years ago, it created a Physical Education and Sports Trainers School, with capacity for more than 1,500 students from the Third World”.
“The deepest convictions, which have successfully resisted the trials of time and the upheavals of life, can not be acquired on a single day. Before that, it is necessary to surmount many trends that we all bear in our inner self.”
We should be more rational than ever and fight wastage, vagrancy and complacency. We should be absolutely honest avoiding demagoguery or compromising with weakness or opportunism. The revolutionary militants should set an example. They should give and receive confidence. They should give everything for the people, even their lives if need be.
“It is necessary that young revolutionary internationalists, with deep feelings and willing to act, put on record for history the actions carried out by the Cuban people.”
"Our people should learn from every such event about the consequences of climate change and the ecologic unbalance, which are some of the many problems humanity is facing".
"Venezuela has the potential to become a model of socialist development with the resources formerly extracted by the multinationals from its rich nature and the efforts of it manual and intellectual workers. No foreign power shall determine its future. The people are the masters of their destiny and they march on to attain the highest levels of education, culture, health and full employment."