September 2, 2002

"At the same time, education has always been, from the very moment of the triumph of the Revolution, and will always be, one of the fundamental objectives in our epic struggle for a truly just, free and humane society. The experience we have gained and the results we have achieved more than fully justify this decision. What began with a literacy campaign in a nation where the immense majority of the population was totally and functionally illiterate --where less than 10% of adolescents and adults had a sixth-grade education, and political consciousness was stunted by the limitations entailed by the mind-numbing system of economic exploitation, lies and alienation imposed on our people– is now being transformed into the most extraordinary case of educational and cultural development ever known by any society in all of history."