Speeches
Racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia are not naturally instinctive reactions of the human beings but rather a social, cultural and political phenomenon born directly of wars, military conquests, slavery and the individual or collective exploitation of the weakest by the most powerful all along the history of human societies.
A lesson can be drawn from that: none of the problems affecting today’s world can be solved with the use of force, there is no global, technological or military power that can guarantee total immunity against such acts, because they can be organized by small groups, difficult to detect, and what is more complicated, carried out by suicidal people. Therefore, the general effort of the international community must be to put an end to a number of conflicts affecting the world, at least in this area. It is indispensable to put an end to world terrorism and build a worldwide awareness against…
In the last few days we have seen the hasty establishment of the basis, the concept, the true purposes, the spirit and the conditions for such a war. No one would be able to affirm that it was not something thought out well in advance, something that was just waiting for its chance to materialize. Those who after the so-called end of the cold war continued a military build-up and the development of the most sophisticated means to kill and exterminate human beings were aware that the large military investments would give them the privilege to impose an absolute and complete dominance over the…
The present situation is so tense that nobody could write a speech hours before delivery and be certain that it is not outdated. I am also running the risk of sounding too optimistic even when I am not. However, it is my duty to say what I think.
History can be unpredictable and move along strange labyrinths. Twenty-five years ago, in this very same square, we bid a final farewell to a small number of caskets. They contained tiny fragments of human remains and personal belongings of some of the 57 Cubans, 11 Guyanese --most of them students on scholarships in Cuba-- and five North Korean cultural officials who were the victims of a brutal and inconceivable act of terrorism. What was particularly moving was the death of almost the entire Cuban juvenile fencing team, both women and men, coming home with every single one of the gold…
The economic crisis is not a consequence of the September 11 attacks and the war against Afghanistan. Such claims could only be made out of total ignorance or an attempt to hide the real cause. The crisis is a consequence of the resounding and irreversible failure of an economic and political conception imposed on the world: neoliberalism and neoliberal globalization.The terrorist attacks and the war did not give rise to the crisis, but they have considerably aggravated it. What had already been rapidly advancing was abruptly and untimely boosted even further. Humanity must now confront three…
It was through the American TV networks and press agencies that we first learned that 30 Cubans, 13 of them children, had perished in a human traffic operation on a fast boat registered in the United States, coming from that country and funded by people living there.
Anxiety was running high. First there was the public news of the uprising on November 30, which was supposed to take place after our arrival, not before it. The fact that it happened in reverse was the result of the irrepressible energy of the combatants in Santiago, and the 48-hour delay in the long and hazardous journey of 1235 miles. Then a man fell overboard into the dark, turbulent seas in the early morning hours of December 2. He could not be left abandoned, even if it meant stealing those extra minutes of life or death from the already scarce time. These circumstances served to…
The dangerous thing about the FTAA is not the points of view of intellectuals, economists and political thinkers, the dangerous thing about the FTAA is that the ordinary people in the countries of our hemisphere do not have enough information about it. Many of them have high levels of illiteracy and there are hundreds of millions of people who do not have the education but only their personal experience to try to understand what the FTAA means theoretically.
Commander in Chief.- I would like to make a comment first of all. I want to say that I have followed these round tables for a long time, and it was at yesterday’s round table that an issue was analyzed with the greatest clarity and precision ever. I regretted very much to hear later that the strong winds that hit Havana yesterday had interrupted electrical power service in many areas of the capital.
Throughout history, we have paid tribute to legendary heroes and women who have filled themselves with glory as paragons of bravery, selflessness and the spirit of sacrifice, inspiring entire generations in their struggles for a better, more humane and more just world. Rarely, however, have we had the privilege of living alongside them.
I can still hear that strange tic tac on Radio Reloj*; no words, just that. From a thousand-meters-high mountain in the heart of the Sierra Maestra, and with only twelve men, we were trying to figure out that mystery. Something very serious was happening! But I was far from thinking that at that very moment a group of heroic compatriots, with Jose Antonio as their leader, were honoring the agreement to fight together to "overthrow the tyranny and to make the Cuban Revolution", which the July 26 Movement and the University Students Federation had signed in Mexico on August 30th, 1956.