Speeches
I ask for your indulgence since I will not be able to accompany you any longer. A special situation created by my participation in this Summit obligates me to immediately return to my country. The leader of the Cuban delegation will then be comrade Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada, Speaker of the National Assembly of People’s Power, and a restless combatant in defense of the rights of the Third World peoples. I entrust him with the prerogatives corresponding to me as a Head of State attending this conference.
The existing world economic order constitutes a system of plundering and exploitation like no other in history. Thus, the peoples believe less and less in statements and promises.The prestige of the international financial institutions rates less than zero.The world economy is today a huge casino. Recent analyses indicate that for every dollar that goes into trade, over one hundred end up in speculative operations completely disconnected from the real economy.
So much suffering! And, so much satisfaction! Despite what I said to you about the economic crisis, the sugar prices, which are dreadful, and the nickel prices which are only just above the cost, or the blow sustained by tourism due to the terrorist attack of September 11 in New York against the American people and its political aftermath which brought the world great tension and many problems, the kind to which you and I have been familiar with for some time now.
Our battle of ideas is not merely about principles, theories, knowledge, culture, arguments, replies and counter-replies; not merely about destroying lies and sowing the seeds of truth; it is about concrete actions and realizations. Even in the Special Period, under the blockade and under the hostility and threats of the most powerful empire the world has ever known, our people are designing and building the most just and human society ever seen. We are fully aware of this. The youth, the students and our splendid children are in the vanguard of this marvelous campaign and for this reason our…
I was reluctant to expose the evidence of what developed in Monterrey, which obligated me to leave the same day I addressed the Summit, because Mr. Castañeda had dragged President Vicente Fox in his shameless adventure, and I could not disclose the evidence without implications for the Mexican Head of State.
Mr. Castañeda in Washington had hatched the recent conspiracy against Cuba in Geneva. The Checkian government was already weary of its costly and discrediting role of mercenary.
We were condemned in Geneva by those who believe that this sea of people gathered here, which can be seen from every corner of the globe, has been deprived of its human rights. I am certain that not one of those Latin American countries that promoted, co-sponsored or supported this project could gather even 5 % of the number here in their respective capitals.
We were condemned in Geneva by those who believe that this sea of people gathered here, which can be seen from every corner of the globe, has been deprived of its human rights. I am certain that not one of those Latin American countries that promoted, co-sponsored or supported this project could gather even 5 % of the number here in their respective capitals.
Hardly three days ago, someone only too well known to us, Assistant Secretary of State Otto Reich was caught out in an embarrassing lie when he said that four Cuban planes had landed in the Venezuelan capital on April 12, and that nobody knew "what they were doing there, what they were carrying, we don’t know". Apparently, it was the beginning of an anti-Cuba campaign or a vendetta due to the amazing failure of the fascist coup he set in motion, or both.
More than once, during our brief encounters abroad, I had expressed my wishes for you to visit Cuba. Today those sincere wishes are a reality. For a period of time we coincided in holding responsibilities as leaders of our respective countries; you, as the leader of a huge and powerful nation; I, in a small island, just 90 miles away from your country.
I saw a program that read, "Finally, the keynote speech is introduced." That is what they usually say in these public ceremonies, the open forums and so on. But I would say that in any case, if I were to say something, it would be the closing remarks, since the keynote speech was given by President Carter. Just to explain this thing about former president and president, it is a matter of courtesy. In the United States, in friendly and informal settings, anyone who has been a President, even if he no longer is, continues to be called President, and that is the friendly manner in which we are…
We are men and women of ideas and not a community of bigots. In Cuba we have never cultivated hatred against the American people or blamed them for the aggressions perpetrated by the governments of that country. That would have run contrary to our political doctrines and our internationalist conscience, both well-proven throughout many years, and increasingly rooted in our ideas.
On May 20, the day of the shameful show in Miami, it was ironic to listen to Mr. W. Bush claim strongly for independence and freedom, not for Puerto Rico but for Cuba; and to talk much about democracy, not for Florida but for Cuba. Mr. W. made a special point of defending private property, as if it did not exist in Cuba.