"In a spirit of confessions, I could say that when I finished studying in this university, I thought I was very revolutionary and basically, I was just starting on a much longer path. If at that time I felt that I was a revolutionary or a socialist, if I had absorbed all the ideas that made me who I am, and I could be nothing other than a revolutionary. I assure you today, in all modesty, that I feel ten times, twenty times, even a hundred times more revolutionary than I was then. If at that time I was willing to give up my life, today I am a thousand times more willing to give up my life for the revolution."
Quotes
"(...) been much disorganization in terms of construction and we’ve been inefficient. I feel embarrassed about how long it's taken to construct many works. This sector must make a very serious effort to organize itself, to overcome weaknesses in many areas. We are dealing, no doubt, with some delayed activity; organizations, construction crews and other sectors working on this task should be required to make a more serious effort. Not all problems are easy to solve. One of them has to do with the workforce, it does not suffice. Productivity is low, construction workers and their bosses delude themselves many times. Still, we are hopeful. Construction materials and equipment are being developed; nothing has been neglected in the area of construction. We have sometimes approached our friends in the construction sector and said to them: "If you don’t start making progress, we’ll have to hire foreign construction companies for some works". That’s almost inconceivable; but, again, there were many inconceivable things before. I think we haven't been especially happy in the area of construction in the course of our Revolution and that's been the area where we've faced the most problems (...)"
"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!"
"I have no doubt whatsoever that our people and our Revolution will fight to the very end to defend these ideas and measures, as well as any others that are necessary to safeguard this historic process. Imperialism will never succeed in crushing Cuba. The Battle of Ideas will go forth".
"José Martí, the Apostle of Independence, a genius of the ideas, and of the noblest ideas that can ever be conceived; the National Hero of our homeland, whose ideas inspired the Centennial Generation and today inspire and will continue to inspire all of our people more and more."
"Imperialism will never succeed in crushing Cuba".
“Throughout its lifetime, the Revolution has taught the people, training hundreds of thousands of teachers, doctors, scientists, intellectuals, artists, computer engineers and other professionals with university and post-graduate degrees in dozens of professions. This storehouse of wealth has allowed us to reduce infant mortality to low levels, unthinkable in any Third World country, and to raise life expectancy as well as the average educational level of the population up to the ninth grade.”
“If young people fail, everything will fail. It is my deepest conviction that young Cubans will struggle to prevent this. I have faith in you. ”
"They underestimate the Revolution’s most colossal achievement, its work in education, the massive cultivation of peoples’ talents. They sustain that some must live doing simple and rough work. They underestimate the results and exaggerate the costs of scientific investments. Even worse: they overlook the value of the healthcare services that Cuba provides to the world; actually, with modest resources the Revolution is stripping bare the system imposed by imperialism which is lacking the human personnel to carry it out".
"You accuse Cuban revolutionaries of being torturers. I seriously urge you to find a single one of the more than a thousand prisoners captured during the Bay of Pigs fighting who had been tortured. I was there, not in some protected position at a distant general command post. I personally captured a number of prisoners with the help of some assistants; I walked in front of armed squads who were still lying under cover of the forest’s vegetation, paralyzed by the presence of the Chief of the Revolution. I’m sorry that I have to mention this because it might appear to be boasting, and that is something I honestly detest".
"When the Revolution triumphs in Cuba on January 1st, 1959, almost 15 years after the explosion of the first nuclear weapons, and we proclaim an Agrarian Reform Act based on the principle of national sovereignty, consecrated by the blood of millions of combatants who died in that war, the United States response was a program of illegal deeds and terrorist attacks against the Cuban people, signed by the President of the United States himself, Dwight D. Eisenhower".
"When the invaders landed there, three roads crossed the marsh, some facilities had already been built and others were being built for tourism, even an airport in the vicinity of Giron Beach, the last stronghold of the enemy forces which our combatants took by assault on the evening of April 19, 1961. I have told that story before. We were at the point of recovering it in less than 30 hours. Diversion maneuvers by the U.S. Marines delayed our crushing tank attack in the early morning of the 18th. (...) From our first victorious battle, on January 17, 1957, it became our tradition to look after the enemy’s wounded. The history of our Revolution records that fact".