“[…] It has been our tradition since our war of liberation; we made the war being generous, respecting our adversary, respecting our enemy. That is a basic fact of our history; if it were not so, we would not have the support of our people…”
Quotes
“There is nothing like the sense of dignity and honor. There is nothing like the sense of patriotism and the pride of men and women of a revolutionary people.”
“The secret of the survival of the Cuban Revolution is the consensus of the people, the support of the people.”
“Some day history will have to analyze why this people has been able to resist, a people which has a higher educational level than any other Third World country, with an educational level even higher than many developed countries (…)”
“Don’t let yourselves be confused by anything, don’t ever let anyone deceive you. This is our hope, that our country never goes backwards, that this Revolution never goes backwards and that all the dignity and glory which we have acquired can never be destroyed. This is our commitment and our pledge to our glorious and heroic comrades who have given their lives for this cause.”
“A tree can fall because it has weak roots but no tree with deep roots can ever be uprooted and we have millions of citizens with deep roots and a people with deep roots”
“Today there are higher ideals. Before we were fighting for our country; today we’re fighting for the world and we’re doing so for two reasons. Firstly, we have acquired an awareness of humanity, so beautifully expressed in Martí’s phrase, "The homeland is humanity". Secondly, because we have acquired these concepts through Martí’s teachings and our political, revolutionary, Marxist, Leninist, socialist education.”
“Every new idea can be a step towards the pinnacle of human progress. We borrowed ideas from philosophers, thinkers and revolutionaries. Our people has contributed new ideas and will continue to do so.”
“What could never be imagined by those who commit big crimes against peoples in the middle of their euphoria over their impunity and ephemeral power, is that the truth, sooner or later, makes its way through. So has it been for those who crucified Christ for conveying a message of love and solidarity to the poor and oppressed of Rome, two thousand years ago, and even for those who kept Nelson Mandela behind bars during 27 years for fighting the hideous Apartheid regime in the middle of the 20th century.”
“An attempt is made at imposing an economic order in which our small and poor countries would have no choice but to become an immense free zone where the capital and industries of the powerful would find cheap labor force, destroy our environment, deplete our resources and multiply their profits without even paying taxes, when these countries no longer receive the modest custom benefits they used to obtain.”
“For 50 years, we have been deceived with the promise of reducing the extensive gap between the poor and the rich countries that has continued to widen every minute of this half century since the war. The so-called reciprocity would be an outrageously arbitrary historical injustice.”
“There is the intention to accord equal treatment to countries which differ greatly in their capabilities and development stages; that is terribly unfair. Our particularly backward and vulnerable economies - a logical consequence of centuries of colonialism, slavery and pillage - would never be able to successfully take part in the world economy in the absence of preferential schemes and of a great contribution in non-repayable foreign resources.”