Speeches
In Geneva, I quoted an estimate that I think has been very much below the real amount, but I mentioned the figure of 30 million million dollars in military spending in the 50-year existence of the WHO. It's very possible that that spending is 35 or 40 million million. Go and see, if you use a computer and make a comparison of what was spent with the current value of the dollar, to know just how much has been invested in the military domain and in the capacity to create and use such sophisticated and powerful instruments of death, which only the superprivileged who had the possibility of…
Economists of the people, and today to be economists of the people—I repeat—they must be political economists ; and politicians must be politicians with a minimum of economic knowledge and if it is possible with a maximum of knowledge in that field, that today is really the basis on which the fate of humanity depends, the basis on which our struggles are being carried out. And the politicians who do not understand, or do not want to understand, or who do not strive to know economics, are not worthy of exercising the duty they exercise as such politicians.
Santiago de Cuba has received more than the flag, which is the honor of having been chosen as the site to commemorate this 45th anniversary of the July 26 attack on the Moncada Garrison, and although it is true that Santiago de Cuba has been outstanding throughout the Revolution, before it was chosen every five years to host this ceremony, in its own right, out of tradition. But that tradition changed when the principle was established that a city had to earn the right to host the July 26 celebration.
They were working constantly for that recognition and got very close to it in the last few…
In one year, Cuba eradicated illiteracy. It then continued with its program to upgrade education. Presently, we have no illiterates. Now, our people’s level of schooling is higher than the 10th grade. Now, Cuba has 600,000 university-graduate professionals. In our country today, despite poverty, the blockade and the special period, there are schools for all children and hospitals and doctors to care for every patient. That is the country some try to isolate! Those are the people enduring a blockade!
I must try - although I do not always succeed - to be brief (Laughter) but after such beautiful songs, such excellent dances, such friendly words offering me the key to the city, and then the warm and generous speech of our brother Patterson, considering the time and the hour, I should reduce by about four-fifths the things I would like to say here. (From the crowd someone shouts "All night!") (Laughter.)
Globalization is inevitable. It would be useless to oppose a law of history, but this one presently unfolding can, from an equally historical perspective, be transformed; and it should definitely be transformed, otherwise our species would not be able to survive. Perhaps, it is already late but it would be better not to wait until it is too late.
If in many parts of the world the representatives of that blockaded Cuba, slandered through the most sophisticated media, have friends and find so many ordinary men and women who understand their struggle, who understand their cause and express their solidarity with it, is it not that perhaps a lot more difficult than to dream of a better future, of a more just world and of a global, universal society which is truly humane?
The Non-Aligned Movement - the people’s organization that has put up the strongest fight, provided most support and resolutely defended the interests, the just causes and the struggles for national liberation in the Third World, all along the cold war - has not yet seen the last of itself; it will never do.
The US stock markets are already shaking. As you are aware, they have just experienced a black Monday. I don’t know why they call it black (Applause); in fact, it has been a white Monday (Applause). When and how panic will break out is unclear. Can anyone be certain at this stage that a collapse like the 1929 crash will not repeat itself? Neither Rubin, nor Greenspan, nor Camdessus nor anyone else could. Uncertainty is haunting everyone, including the most outstanding economic analysts. Only that there is a huge difference between now and then. In 1929, the speculative operations did not…
Victory is not achieved only with arms. It's also achieved many times without arms. And I don't practice the philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, but history has shown that many and great battles have been won fundamentally with ideas (Applause and exclamations). That's why I always say that the first thing is the idea; the second, to struggle for ideas; and the third is to triumph with sweat and blood, if necessary, for those ideas.
I think we have just won a second victory with the excellent development and the results of this Congress, with the hurricane or without the hurricane, even under the hurricane or pursued by the hurricane (Laughter), which got here right behind us, although without very strong winds but with enough rain to really soak the Karl Marx Theater, where we would have had 4,000 to 5,000 guests today if flood water had not seeped in affecting the electrical services. Our people were able to re-establish the service in 24 hours but a certain danger remained associated with electricity. That is why we…
I will try to be as concise as possible, speaking, if need be, telegram like. First of all, I would like to say in all frankness, as I always do, that in my opinion this has been an extremely fruitful meeting. I would go so far as to say that never before had so much been done, in such a short time, for our aspirations of integration, unity and development.