You may be victorious or defeated in a few hours, but hear this well, comrades! This movement will triumph anyway. If you are victorious tomorrow, Martí’s aspirations will became true sooner. If not, the gesture will serve to set an example for the Cuban people to take up the flag and keep going forward. The people will support us in the Eastern region and in the entire island. We the Youth of the Centennial of the Apostle, just as in 1868 and in 1895, here in the East we cry out for the first time: FREEDOM OR DEATH!
Speeches
There are few times when the human word would appear to be as limited and deficient as it does today, to express the series of feelings, emotions, and ideas born in the heat of the great display of patriotism we have witnessed this morning, moments of emotions similar to those experienced on other occasions when we have had the chance to meet with large crowds.
The people do not hear news other than the dispatch by the Staff of the Dictatorship. The outrage of censorship is imposed on the press together with the outrage of lies. And those same newspapers and broadcasters, upon which a severe and vigilant inquisitor prevents the publication of any real news, are obliged to inform and issue all that the dictatorship reports. The organs of opinion are snatching the people to turn them into vehicles of oppression. Tyranny constantly tries to deceive the people, as if the mere fact of denying any information, which does not go to the people from official…
The Revolution begins here and now. The Revolution won’t be an easy task. The Revolution will be a tough undertaking and full of dangers, especially during this initial period. What better place to establish the government of the Republic than in this fortress of the Revolution, so that it may be known that this is going to be a government which is firmly backed by the people in the Heroic City and in the foothills of the Sierra Maestra, because Santiago is in the Sierra Maestra. In Santiago de Cuba and in the Sierra Maestra, the Revolution will have its two greatest strengths.
I think this is a turning point in our history: tyranny has been overthrown. The joy is immense. And yet, much remains to be done. We are not deceived into believing that everything will be easy in the future; Maybe in the future everything will be more difficult. To say the truth is the first duty of every revolutionary. To deceive the people, to arouse deceiving delusions, would always bring the worst consequences, and I believe that the people must be alerted against the excess of optimism.
In a certain sense, it was only natural that the Cuban people wanted to show the Rebel Army the affection it showed us. We had been fighting for the people of Cuba for seven years; the people of Cuba looked to us for their liberation, the people of Cuba looked to us for their freedom and, finally, when after long years of sacrifice on their part and on our part, as we were only their leaders in that struggle, when we saw that struggle crowned with victory, it was only logical that the Cubans welcomed us with open arms. However, from Venezuela we have only received favors (APPLAUSE.)…
Esas cosas, en los primeros instantes, en medio de las cortinas de humo y del confusionismo que esos intereses trataron de sembrar, no se veían claramente, pero una vez más esa fe que nosotros tenemos en la inteligencia de nuestro pueblo y en la opinión pública de nuestro país ha sido premiada con el éxito, y en estos momentos puedo decir que, como en ningún otro anteriormente, creemos que el pueblo de Cuba está bien orientado sobre estas cuestiones y firmemente al lado de la Revolución.
Foremost, so that we are not thought of as carried away by emotion, so that it can be clearly seen that there is a people capable of standing with our head held high, with courage, a nation that knows to calmly analyze situations without resorting to lies or pretexts or base on absurd suppositions, but on obvious truths, the first thing we have to do to analyze the facts.
It is obvious that each of you, from where you are sitting, is completely unable to see the vast size of the crowd which has gathered this afternoon. It is a true sea of humanity which stretches into the distance on both sides of the Civic Square.
Although it is said I make long speeches, there is no reason for you to worry. I shall do my best to be brief and state what we see as our duty to say here. I shall also speak slowly to help the interpreters.
Queríamos decirles que nosotros no estábamos muy de acuerdo en que se movilizara el pueblo a nuestro regreso. Nos preocupa el hecho de que constantemente tenemos que estar saliendo, cuando no es el Presidente, es el Ministro de Estado o de Relaciones Exteriores, o el Primer Ministro u otros. Y tenemos que estar asistiendo a eventos de esta naturaleza, y no resulta lógico que cada vez que salgamos y regresemos, sencillamente cumpliendo con nuestro trabajo, porque ese es también nuestro trabajo, pues tenga el pueblo que estarnos haciendo los honores del recibimiento).
La contrarrevolución tiene, en primer término, a los centros de enseñanza, sobre todo, a los altos centros de enseñanza, y, en general, a todos los centros de enseñanza. Y va a esos centros a reclutar sus agentes entre los hijos de familias ricas, entre los hijos de las familias afectadas por las leyes revolucionarias. Y la contrarrevolución no va, precisamente, a la escuelita pública que el Gobierno Revolucionario abre en la entraña de las montañas. ¡A las montañas ni siquiera han ido nunca de visita los contrarrevolucionarios!