Speeches
Actually, I was very moved to receive that first gold medal won by Cuba at the Pan American Games in Winnipeg. Perhaps somebody took it because I do not see it here. (LAUGHTER) I will give it back to the athletes who won it but it shall keep us company during this rally. This first gold medal is full of merit because never before had we seen such abusive and trickery actions in a Pan American sport competition. The whole purpose was to harass Cuba, to displace Cuba from the second position in order to benefit the host country and to discredit our sport.
As you know, in June of 1989, our country was enmeshed in the bitter legal proceedings of Case No. 1, resulting from several comrades’ irresponsible and inconceivable behavior. Some of them showed records of unquestionable revolutionary merits and achievements. Nonetheless, they placed at risk not only the prestige and the enormous moral authority acquired over decades of heroic struggle by institutions as vital for the Revolution as the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of Interior, but also the very security of the country. This was an unprecedented occurrence. The media covered…
In Cienfuegos, after devoting a few minutes to the subject of the Pan American Games, I spoke about two fundamental issues: the claim filed against the U.S. government for human damages and the fight against international drug trafficking. Today, here in Matanzas, I must address a matter of paramount importance: the illegal migration from Cuba promoted throughout forty years by the United States.
We dream of a better world, a world with more justice, a world that is truly more humane and for which it is our duty to struggle. Your future and that of your children will be the future this world is capable of building. This world is threatened by a huge number of dangers, everywhere, but this does not give anyone the right to lose faith in humankind, to lose faith in a better fate for humankind.
This is a small event in terms of the number of people present but it is of great significance. It is not so because you wanted to honor me on my birthday but because you are giving me the opportunity to thank you for this friendly, fraternal and affectionate gesture.
On August 9, upon the completion of the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg, the Cuban government, through the National Institute of Sports, Recreation and Physical Education (INDER), announced that it would undertake an in-depth investigation into the doping charges raised against two members of the Cuban national weightlifting team, who were penalized and stripped of the gold medals they had won.
An Olympic athlete is not a lowly instrument used to gain international prestige, an object to be bought and sold on the market, a commodity to be used and then thrown into the garbage. Athletes are, first and foremost, human beings, with mothers and fathers, spouses and children, brothers, sisters, friends and fans as well as pride in the recognition they have earned through their efforts and extraordinary merit. They have honor, above all, honor.
Die Proklamation der Nationalversammlung und ihre juristischen Konsequenzen, die Anklagen und Erklärungen der kubanischen Delegation bei den Vereinten Nationen, die Schlachten aus Anlaß der Aggressionen gegen Kuba im Bereich des internationalen Sports, unser Sieg in Winnipeg trotz dieser Aggressionen, die mutigen Positionen unseres Landes zum völkermörderischen Krieg gegen Jugoslawien, das Wachstum unserer Wirtschaft im Jahr 1999 im Gegensatz zu der schweren Rezession in fast allen Ländern unserer Region, die anwachsende Bewegung gegen die Blockade in den Vereinigten Staaten und die…
As a way of settling a debt with the members of the Journalists Union of Cuba and the Federation of Latin American Journalists, I am sending Granma this speech delivered in an intimate, almost confidential climate in the Aula Magna of the University of Havana on November 12, 1999, after carefully revising some of the more delicate passages. I take full responsibility for everything expressed in it.
This is not a government led by corrupted people, by cowards or lackeys, nor is this a nation of illiterate, divided and uneducated people that are welcoming you today. We are here with you tonight because the inspirational example of Martí, who was together with Bolívar the greatest integrationist of the peoples he called Our Americas, has led us in struggle and victory. We have proved that Ibero-Americans are not inferior to anyone, neither in their talents nor their courage.
At this school everyone is free to profess their religion of choice, whatever that may be. The school uses is own transportation to take the students to the temples or cults of their choosing every week. Efficient hospitals in the neighboring capital city are responsible for providing first class health care to the students. Their diet is reasonably good and, to the extent possible, adapted to their habits. They have their own University Students Organization. They exchange information and share in cultural functions. Their national songs, dances and customs are nourishing the cultural…
would rather speak from here (meaning his chairman seat) because it seems to me that you can hear me better, at least, I do hear myself better from here. However, I have asked everybody else to speak from the podium, therefore, I must oblige. I will speak from the podium, too.