Quotes

"(...) it was clear that that the 26th July Movement had the overwhelming support and sympathy of the people (APPLAUSE); it was clear that the 26th July Movement had the almost unanimous support of Cuba's youth"

Speech on his arrival in Havana on 8 January 1959
"The last battles were fought by this generation, beginning eight years ago on a 26 July. Fighting, bleeding, struggling and making sacrifices, the people won power, after paying the very high price of their finest sons."
Speeches and Interventions: Speech delivered at the commemoration of the Eighth Anniversary of the Attacks on the Moncada Barracks, at the Jose Marti Revolution Square, in Havana, on July 26, 1961.
“Eight years ago, on a day like today, that episode we are commemorating, the attack on the Moncada Barracks, occurred. That battle meant a reverse for us. It was not a victory of weapons, but it was a moral victory, a triumph of dignity. The setback was not important, what the revolution had to tolerate in its long advance was not just a setback”.
Speeches and Interventions: Speech delivered at the commemoration of the Eighth Anniversary of the Attacks on the Moncada Barracks, at the Jose Marti Revolution Square, in Havana, on July 26, 1961.
“In the unity of this people lies the strength, in the unity of this people lies its invincibility, and the history of this revolution proves that a united people is invincible. The history of this revolution proves that in unity there is strength! The history of this revolution shows that the worst threat to the success of a revolution and a people is divisionism.”
Speeches and Interventions: Speech delivered at the commemoration of the Eighth Anniversary of the Attacks on the Moncada Barracks, at the Jose Marti Revolution Square, in Havana, on July 26, 1961.
“The 26 of July is a sad date for imperialism; it is a painful date for Yankee imperialists, for the foreign monopolies, for the major landowners, for the great industry and finances magnates, for the big speculators, for the big gamblers, for the big contrabandists; it is a painful, sad date for all those big generals who used to act as if they owned the country; it is a painful, sad date for the politicians; it is a painful, sad date for the big criminals; it is a painful, sad date for all the enemies of the people. And, of course, the Revolution is painful and sad for all those who have seen their privileges vanish with the laws passed by the Revolution; those are the ones that feel worried about the26 of July.”
Speeches and Interventions: Speech delivered at the commemoration of the Eighth Anniversary of the Attacks on the Moncada Barracks, at the Jose Marti Revolution Square, in Havana, on July 26, 1961.
"The final and definite stage of the war for national Independence that our people had been fighting since 1868 started on July 26. Thus for us, workers and farmers, for us, this commemoration in the city of Santiago de Cuba has aroused a deep emotion.”
Speeches and Interventions: Speech at the Rally for the Ninth Anniversary of the 26 of July, in Santiago de Cuba, on July 26, 1962.
“As a matter of fact, only a great people, only a people aware of themselves, only a brave people can move forward and write the page in history that we are writing today. We shall never give up writing this page; we shall continue to write it. The Cubans will continue to write this page!”
Speeches and Interventions: Speech at the Rally for the Ninth Anniversary of the 26 of July, in Santiago de Cuba, on July 26, 1962.
“What a great satisfaction and what emotion we feel today on 26 July to think that in such a dignified way our people are paying homage to the martyrs of the revolution, to the men who fell. What better reward, what better reply, what better fruit than this nation!”
Speeches and Interventions: Speech at the Rally for the Ninth Anniversary of the 26 of July, in Santiago de Cuba, on July 26, 1962.
“United we will carry this cause till the end! Us, and behind us, the youth, and behind the youth, the coming generations! With faith in the people, faith in the future, with the faith of the 26 of July, with the faith Granma and Sierra Maestra gave us, that people has never failed and never will!”
Speeches and Interventions: Speech at the Rally for the Ninth Anniversary of the 26 of July, in Santiago de Cuba, on July 26, 1962.
“The 26th of July has become an historic date in the annals of our country's long and heroic struggle for its freedom. This great honour is certainly not what those of us who attempted to storm this fortress were seeking. No revolutionary fights with an eye on the day when the events stemming from his action will be commemorated with honour. Marti said that duty must be performed simply and naturally. The performance of a duty led us to this action without anyone thinking about the glories and honours of this struggle.”
Speeches and Interventions: Speech delivered at the Central Ceremony for the 20th Anniversary of the Attacks on the Moncada Barracks, in Santiago de Cuba, on July 26, 1973.
“And this was not only the lesson of the 26 of July, it has been the lesson learned throughout our history: from Céspedes, Máximo Gómez and Agramonte, to Martí and Maceo”.
Speeches and Interventions: Speech at the Central Ceremony for the 22nd Anniversary of the Attacks on the Moncada Barracks, in the City of Santa Clara, on July 26, 1975.
“The great lesson of the 26 of July is the importance of the masses in the struggle, the importance of the masses in the revolutionary struggle, and the value of consistency and perseverance in the effort. Not to lose courage in the face of a setback, in the face of any hardship! And this was not only the lesson of the 26 of July, it has been the lesson learned throughout history: from Céspedes, Máximo Gómez and Agramonte, to Martí and Maceo”.
Speeches and Interventions: Speech at the Central Ceremony for the 22nd Anniversary of the Attacks on the Moncada Barracks, in the City of Santa Clara, on July 26, 1975.