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-DATE19720726 -YEAR1972 -DOCUMENT_TYPESPEECH -AUTHORF. CASTRO -HEADLINE26 JULY CELEBRATION -PLACEHAVANA -SOURCEHAVANA DOMESTIC RADIO -REPORT_NBRFBIS -REPORT_DATE19720727 -TEXTFIDEL CASTRO SPEAKS AT 26 JULY CELEBRATION IN HAVANA Havana Domestic Radio/Television Service in Spanish 2227 GMT 26 July 72 C [Fidel Castro speech at Havana's Plaza de la Revlucion on 26 July marking the 19th anniversary of the assault on the Moncada Barracks--live] [Text] Dear Comrade Nguyen Thi Binh, PRGRSV foreign minister and chairman of the PRGRSV delegation to the Paris Conference, [applause], invited delegations, representatives of the diplomatic corps, comrades of the party central committee, national work heroes, comrades: We shall try to cover as briefly as possible several subjects that must be dealt with today. The last time that we met in this plaza we announced the trip of the Cuban Government and party delegation to many countries of Africa and the socialist camp. We expressed our purpose of strengthening and developing our relations with those countries. During three sessions which lasted a total of 22 hours we delivered a wide-ranging and detailed report on the trip to the party central committee. For two days--for 14 hours--we brief 4,200 cadres of the party, government, organizations, and mass

organizations in the most detailed manner possible so that through the mass organizations they could orient the people. During many public meetings and through the issuance of joint communiques our people received detailed information on the entire trip and became aware of the meaning of the trip and the extraordinary warmth and friendship with which our delegation was received everywhere. In essence, we desire to ratify these impressions of our entire trip, about Guinea, Sekou Toure, [applause], about the great scope and great merits of the Guinean revolutionary process which in November 1970 had to face critical moments due to imperialist aggression, about the Algerian revolutionary process, President Boumedienne and the Algerian people [applause]. We feel that both Guinea and Algeria are called to play important roles in the struggle against the residues of colonialism, neocolonialism and imperialism in Africa. As time passes, these impressions become stronger. These impressions are related to the political history of these countries which have been fighting for independence since the last century and to the effort made in Guinea by the party, the wide-ranging politicization of the masses and their militant and internationalist attitude. In Algeria, this is reflected by the marks left by their heroic struggle against French colonialism, a struggle which cost millions of lives, millions of lives in the most recent struggle, and millions of lives throughout the last century when they heroically resisted colonial conquest. Our delegation found extremely interesting the contact with these countries and their leaders and we feel that our friendly ties have developed extraordinarily. An emotional proof of this is the telegram from President Sekou Toure which has just been read here. The telegram pointed out that 26 July had been declared a holiday in the republic of Guinea. [applause] Our trip to the socialist countries of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union were equally interesting and fruitful. Prior to that we made a visit to an African country--Sierra Leone--which has gained independence and which is fighting to consolidate its independence. At the conclusion of our trip to Africa we began our trip to the socialist countries of Europe. I can tell you we observed in every country visited a common characteristic--an enormous interest in our revolution, extraordinary support and a profound feeling of solidarity. Another common characteristic is the extraordinary progress made in the social, educational, cultural, technological, scientific and economic areas in every country visited. Another eloquent fact is the enormous importance attached by all socialist countries to international cooperation and the extraordinary and generous effort made by the Soviet people, not only in the struggle against fascism which culminated with the liberation of these fraternal nations of the socialist camp but also in the cooperation and support for the reconstruction of their economies. Something very characteristic, very eloquent and we might say very revealing of the type of relations existing between the Soviet Union and the socialist countries of Europe is expressed by the fact that if in the past the search for and control of raw materials started many wars, plunder and conquests, in the case of the socialist countries of Europe these countries benefited from the circumstances that the Soviet Union, being a country with great scientific and industrial development, a country with great natural resources--essential raw materials not available in these countries--provided them with the essential raw materials. Great pipeline, gasline, and electric power line links, as well as rail connections have been built. Through international cooperations all of these factors have contributed to the development of these socialist countries with very strong bases. In this connection, we should not forget that the Soviet Union was destroyed during the war and so were the industries of these countries which virtually had to begin from scratch to undertake a difficult struggle in the area of their security, in the development of their economy, in the

political and ideological field, with the imperialist countries. It is likewise evident that throughout these years the imperialists did not cease trying to sabotage, to subvert and to promote counter-revolution in the socialist countries of Europe. It is also evident that a great ideological battle has been fought, a battle in which the imperialists resorted to every means, to all weapons. To a certain extent socialist Europe has been a field of political and ideological battle, in which socialist ideas and reactionary ideas of imperialism came face to face. Although there is no doubt that this has been a long struggle and will continue to be a long struggle and although there is no doubt that at given moments the subversive action of the imperialists attained partial successes, the growing strength of the socialist community and the consolidation of Marxist-Leninist ideas of socialism and the advance of all socialist countries visited cannot be questioned. We concluded by visiting the Soviet Union. Our statements in that country--several speeches--have been published. We were impressed by many things during our visit to the Soviet Union--in the first place, by the enormous scientific and technological progress which has been made in that country, the great progress in the social field, the transformation of its cities, and the great progress in the educational and cultural field in general. But what impressed us most of all in the Soviet people--as we have stated publicly--is the fact that the best revolutionary traditions are maintained. The spirit of 1917 is maintained; the Marxist-Leninist ideas are maintained as vigorously as ever. [applause] It is an undisputable fact that imperialist ideology, propaganda, imperialist finagling, have not been able to penetrate anywhere. The Soviet people have acquired in addition to a great technical education and overall cultivation extraordinary political cultivation. But in the Soviet people that political cultivation is not just the result of the education of the masses, although the education of the masses plays an extremely important and decisive role. The Soviet Union was the first socialist country. It had the first victorious social revolution. Under the leadership of Lenin and of a Marxist party during the special conditions of World War II [as heard], it achieved the unity of the workers and peasants. It took over power in the middle of the imperialist war, amidst extreme poverty and great ruin caused by that war; it began the social revolution and for many years it had to confront a counterrevolution civil war and intervention by the imperialist countries. Therefore, to the imperialist war was added the destruction of the civil war and of intervention. Under these conditions, completely beleaguered, the Soviet people had to initiate economic development. They are achieving that economic development through efforts no less heroic than the efforts of the revolution and the efforts of the struggle against intervention. By means of the 5-year plans, they are managing to develop their industry, meaning to develop their technology, their science and their economy. It was these circumstances which permitted the Soviet people to confront the fascist aggression. As is known, throughout Europe, the bourgeois governments barely resisted fascism. The bourgeois governments collapsed before the attach of the fascist hordes. There was heroism in all countries; heroism by the people. There was heroism, which is certainly admirable, not by the governments but by the peoples. We have the case of the people of Poland, whose soldiers fought the German tanks with cavalry--the result of the sell-out, irresponsible, and reactionary policy of the bourgeois governments of Europe. It was the USSR which bore the main brunt of the fascist war. Because of this, the Soviet people were again put to an extraordinary test. Most of

their industries were destroyed--those which could not be moved east in a matter of weeks. Unprecedented feats were achieved not only on the battlefields but also in the field of military production. Factories were rebuilt in a matter of 20, 25, or 30 days in the middle of the war amidst shortages of fuel and food. The Soviet people made an extraordinary effort which cost not only gigantic destruction but also the loss of 20 million human beings. Millions of soldiers died on the battlefields, millions of men, women and children were murdered by the fascists in the occupied areas of the Soviet Union. After than war there was the imperialist alliance again, the need to rebuild the country and to support the reconstruction of the socialist bloc, while surrounded by military bases, amidst the cold war, and vis-a-vis a power which at that moment had a monopoly of nuclear weapons. That forced the Soviet people to once again make extraordinary and selfless efforts to reconstruct the country, to develop it means of defense, to make progress in the field of science and to manage to catch up to imperialism's military might at a time when the economy of the imperialist countries was far more developed. I am making this historical reference simply to point out something which we said while in the Soviet union with complete sincerity--that the Soviet people bear within themselves, and reflect, their own history. There is no doubt that in the current events and still more in the future mankind will recognize how great a service the people of the Soviet Union have performed. Our country is one of the many examples. Unfortunately, there is still considerable residue from the imperialist and reactionary propaganda in the world. There is also a residue from the confusion. We must not forget that for more than 50 years, imperialist propaganda was focused against socialism, against communism, against the first socialist state. There are many people in the world who devote themselves to writing labels. They no longer do it directly against socialism or against Marxism, or against communism. They use more subtle means and devote themselves to spreading lies and calumnies about the Soviet people, about the Soviet Union. We have had occasion to see this during some of our trips. We recalled this when we visited Chile and when we toured other places. There is still a swarm of people in the service of the reactionaries who devote themselves to sowing lies about the socialist bloc and the USSR. We remember the headlines and the writings of the oligarchic and bourgeois press. We had the opportunity to publicly argue with some of those people, but in our opinion, the truth of the matter is that history, with its overwhelming force, will take care of crushing and throwing on the trash heap all the calumnies which have been written against the revolutionary movement, against socialism, against communism and against the USSR. We say this because during our visit to the socialist bloc and the Soviet Union, the eternal intriguers did not fail to appear, writing their trash against the Cuban Revolution. They never stopped making the handy claim, the ridiculous claim, that Cuba is a satellite of the Soviet Union. This is a phrase which imperialism's quill-drivers have been using in connection with the revolutionaries for about 50 years. It must be stated that the idea of satellites only fits in with imperialism and its accomplices throughout the world--because there is a basic difference in the concept of the world, of life, of history. Some people are guided by internationalist principles--the revolutionaries. The imperialists are guided by the principles of individualism, of egotism, of wars of conquest, of oppression, of the plunder of countries' natural resources, of the exploitation of the sweat of other peoples. That is the history of capitalism. That is the history of imperialism.

The imperialists need satellites in order to plunder them, to exploit them, to establish their monopolies there, to increase their income and profits. The imperialists need puppets in those countries to support imperialism, to support colonialism, to support neocolonialism. The imperialists need absolutes. Relations between the imperialist powers and the rest of the world are based on domination, exploitation and imposition. What a difference from relations among socialist countries; what a difference from relations between Cuba and the USSR. Who can tell Cuba about these experiences; who can tell our people, who lived here, who knew the past; who can tell our fathers who lived here, who lived that past; who, better than our people, can know what the relations in the past were? The Platt Amendment, Guantanamo base, the coaling stations, the control over Cuba's best and most fertile lands, the control over public services, over power service industries, over telephone services, over banks, over mines, over the docks, over transportation lines, over foreign trade--and what constitutes an important part of foreign trade--over the most productive industries. Who cannot remember those liens at 6, 7 and 8 percent annual interest? Who cannot remember the interventions in various countries--Haiti, the Dominican Republic and others--to assure the payment of their debts and taxes? Who cannot remember the Yankee ambassador's relations with Cuba's governments? Who cannot remember the scorn for our people, the scorn for Cuba's Governments, which, furthermore, were governments in the service of U.S. interests? Who cannot remember the Yankee's arrogance, their pride, their oppression, their impulsive nature, the sailor who desecrated Marti's statue, the crews from their destroyers drunk in Havana streets? Who will be able to forget those prostitute-chasing, drunken, insolent sailors? Who will be able to forget those crimes? Who will be able to forget that in our country the Yankees imposed prostitution on 100,000 women? Who will be able to forget the gambling of all kinds, the roulette, the vices in the midst of misery and poverty which the imperialists imposed on us? It is fitting that it be known that unfortunately in many Latin American countries and in many countries throughout the world, this situation prevails, in addition to a host of other misfortunes, which include unemployment, beggary, illiteracy, outrageous infant mortality rates, and the lack of medical aid. But above all there exists something which cannot be measured either in steel, or cement, or material goods. It is that terrible lack of dignity, that terrible lack of rights for men, who see themselves turned into vile entities, into vile tools for exploitation as our people found themselves. There is something which above all redeems the revolution and socialism, and that is man's dignity, man's honor. [applause] Perhaps what most hurts imperialists and their leaders is the fact that this small country--here on the doorstep of the United States, in this Yankee mare nostrum in the Caribbean area--has been able to overcome all this misfortune, has been able to sustain itself [applause]. They will not forgive the Cuban Revolution for this, nor will they forgive the USSR for the support it gave us [applause]. The USSR did not give us its support in order to take over Cuban mines, to take over Cuban lands, to exploit our people, to introduce vice, prostitution, gambling, beggary, ignorance. It did not give us its support to exploit our workers, to harvest the fruits of the sweat of our bodies, to intervene here, or to invade this country. The USSR did not give us its support in order to exploit anyone. It gave us its support out of a political conviction, our of a revolutionary principle, out of internationalist principles.

We visited numerous Soviet industries. Some such as the atomic energy plants, the airplane factories and the electronic factories are extremely modern. But we visited other factories which do not have such modern equipment, where iron must be forged and where men must work with ovens, with smelting furnaces, with hammers. This is hard work. And we saw thousands of Soviet workers in the factory where Cuban combines are produced. Thousands of men and women were working very hard there. How hard the So people work, how intensely, how perseveringly, and in what a disciplined manner. When the Soviets have helped Cuba, when they have sent us free weapons--as all arms they have sent to Cuba have been--and when they have given us credit for industrial development to build thermoelectric plants, or to aid mechanical industries, or fertilizer industries; or when in difficult years they have supplied our country with all the resources and essential goods necessary--even when we have had severe droughts or difficulties which prevented us from sending equal aid to Cuban products; when the Soviets helped us build a hospital such as the Olguin Hospital, or when they have made countless efforts on behalf of our people, each ruble came from the sweat of Soviet workers, [applause] from the efforts of men and women who work arduously throughout that country. The Soviet people do not have investments in any foreign country. The Soviet state is not the owner of any mine, of any petroleum well, of any industry anywhere in the world. What it has, what it owns, what it lends, what it gives in aid, it does from what it derives from the Soviet Union's natural resources and from the sweat of its own people. [applause] The imperialists and the capitalists sometimes grant loans, but they grant these loans at extremely high interest rates. Capitalist credits are granted for 10 years--assuming they lend for 10 years--because they did not even grant loans to us for 10 years. the Americans, the Yankee imperialists, have always intervened to prevent Cuba from obtaining long-term loans. But when a capitalist country grants long-term credit, at the end of 10 years it has recovered twice the amount of money it lent, and the credit must be paid through unequal exchange: we buy dearly and sell cheaply, be it coffee, cacao, sugar, minerals, whatever. And what do they lend? They lend what they plunder from other countries. Yes, Yankee imperialists have granted some credits in Latin America. They did so after the Cuban Revolution, but before that they did nothing. They were inspired by fear of the revolution and by a counterrevolutionary spirit. What and how much did they lend? Perhaps for every $3 dollars they beat out of the Latin American peoples, they lent $1. And this was done on the basis of all kinds of concessions and privileges. Economic relations between Cuba and the Soviet Union have been the most generous and the most revolutionary which could exist between two countries. The imperialists themselves, in their desire to discredit the Cuban Revolution--although sometimes they do not know whom to discredit, sometimes they try to discredit the USSR when it is convenient and other times they try to discredit Cuban when that is convenient--have mentioned the billion rubles which the Soviet Union spends daily in Cuba. They add this and that and the only thing the barefaced imperialists do not take into account is that this country of eight million inhabitants has had to arm itself to the teeth in order to defend itself from the threats and aggression of the imperialist country which is the richest and strongest, from a military viewpoint, and most powerful. [applause] What the barefaced imperialists do not say is this country has had to spend much more than 1 million pesos a day and is spending much more than 1 million pesos a day only because it needs to defend itself from the

imperialists. Only in the defense area does Cuba spend more than 1 million pesos a day. [applause] What the shameless imperialists do not say is that the tremendous distance across which Cuba must bring its imports and move its exports amounts to 15,000 kms and this has greatly increased transportation costs. What the shameless imperialists have failed to mention is that Cuba has been blockaded by the United States for almost 14 years. Ask them what country under such conditions could withstand a blockade in which an attempt has been made to starve us to death, to deprive us not only of medicines but also of technical personnel and teachers. What country with an underdeveloped agricultural economy could have withstood that blockade without the support given to us in every area by the socialist bloc, but above all by the Soviet Union? [applause] Two factors have been decisive in the consolidation of the Cuban Revolution; let us call them two principles, two inseparable issues. The first is the possession of a revolutionary doctrine and its consistent application. To consistently apply a doctrine amounts to being ready to fight and die for one's principles. Our people--and this has been demonstrated--were, are and will always be ready to fight and die for their principles. [applause] [Person in the audience says something to Castro] A worker from the micro brigades says he is ready to go to Vietnam if necessary. [applause] It is fitting to recall that when the Cuban Revolution began it had no contact, no link with the USSR or the socialist bloc. When we rose up in arms, when our people rose up in arms and supported the struggle we did so absolutely on our own account. [applause] When the first revolutionary laws were promulgated, we did so absolutely in our own account. [applause] When the perils and threats began, we were ready to run all risks absolutely on our own account. [applause] What would have occurred had the socialist bloc not existed; had the Soviet Union not existed? Well, the least that could be said is that they would have had to kill all of us. That is the least that could be said. [applause] However, this country which was waging a revolution on its own account found something extraordinary, something which undoubtedly is the most noble, most advanced and the most generous idea of human history. Cuba found what is called internationalism, international solidarity. [applause] For this reason we say that two factors were decisive in the consolidation of the revolution: a revolutionary doctrine and its inflexible and consistent application and international solidarity. We must publicly announce this everywhere. It is our opinion that in today's world, in today's world where imperialism still exists and is powerful, in the final analysis there is no revolution without socialism or without international solidarity. This is our opinion. [applause] We have presented this opinion everywhere and we supported it unanimously at the meeting of the central committee. History has shown which movements have prospered, which movements have advanced. They are those which have carried out a social revolution and those which have supported themselves in international solidarity. [applause] When the reformists, the chauvinists, the pseudorevolutionaries begin to play as revolutionaries sooner or later they fall. [applause] Sooner or later the imperialists will defeat and crush them. Why have they not succeeded in defeating Vietnam or Cuba and why will they not be able to defeat them? Because the are two nations which have applied these principles. [applause] While speaking about Vietnam and Cuba we do not pretend to make

comparisons. The Vietnamese people have faced the real need to make sacrifices which are way above those which we have had to make. They have lost millions of their best sons in the struggle for their revolution and independence. Fortunately we were able to eliminate quickly the mercenaries of Giron before they established a beachhead there. Had they established a beachhead, with the Yankee ships, the Yankee planes and the OAS behind them, we would have lost hundreds of thousands of lives--millions of lives. So far we have fortunately been able to develop our revolution without paying the price which the Vietnamese people have had to pay. In one single aspect we can compare ourselves with the Vietnamese people, not in the sacrifices which each nation has made, but rather in the will and determination to die and shed the last drop of blood defending our cause, defending our revolution. [applause] However, here is a question for the pseudointellectuals, the pseudorevolutionaries, the intriguers and slanderers: without the support of the socialist bloc and the Soviet Union, without the weapons of the socialist bloc and the Soviet Union, how many millions of lives would the Cuban Revolution have lost by now? [applause] We are not affected by little intrigues. Many of these fakes have never been worthy of tying the shoes of a revolutionary. They have become the scum of the imperialist world and are playing into the imperialists' hands. We do not play into the hands of imperialism. For this reason, we say here and we shall always say: our people are proud of the Soviet people's friendship. [applause] Our people are joined to the Soviet people by the ties of internationalism and by the ties of the most basic gratitude. Our people are proud since we have had other friends. And when we recall those friendships, we appreciate the full, immense value of the friendship of the Soviet people who are altruistic, disinterested, and revolutionary. That is what we saw throughout the Soviet Union. In all the places we visited, in the people, in the members of the Communist Party and in the leadership of the Soviet Union we saw a profound feeling of friendship, of sympathy, of affection and of respect for our country. Never in the history of relations between countries have there been such relations. This is a historic fact, a historic truth. This relationship is indestructibly solid, because it is not based on personal friendships. It is based on principles and on doctrine. Anyone visiting the USSR realizes to what extent Leninism is present there--Lenin's books, Lenin's teachings, Lenin's doctrines. It is possible that the doctrines and the principles of the founder of the Soviet state have not been spread to such a great degree anywhere else in the world. Marxism and Leninism are the daily fare of the Soviet people. [applause] Leninism is studied in the schools, in the universities, by the people, by the masses. That inspires great confidence and establishes the permanence of the ties between Cuba and the USSR--in the principles which are the principles of the leadership of the Cuban party and of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union [applause] and which are the principles of the Cuban people and of the Soviet people. When relations are based on revolutionary principles, they can be called lasting; they can be called imperishable. That is what we call those ties. We have spoken of such ties in connection with the Soviet Union because it was the first socialist country and because it is the country on which the intriguers and the fakes concentrate their campaigns. Of course, our relations with the other revolutionary peoples--the socialist peoples, the revolutionary peoples of Africa and Latin America--are developing at the same time and these relations are based on principles. During our tour of all those countries, we did not have Cuban national interests in mind. We were not carrying requests peculiar to Cuba. All our

talks revolved around political matters, around revolutionary matters, around matters of principle. But we must state, as an index of the respect and the development of our country's relations with those countries, that never before had we encountered greater respect, greater understanding, greater desire and greater willingness to cooperate with Cuba, to help Cuba overcome its difficulties, to help Cuba overcome underdevelopment, to help Cuba emerge victorious in its blockade against imperialism [as heard], to help Cuba in its struggle for economic development [applause]. We must state that, as regards the economic field, never was any suggestion made by our delegation; and when economic matters were touched on, they were touched on only when the other parties so desired. [applause] We brought up a matter of principle--that of economic integration--following an analysis of the realities of our country, of what its historical realities were as a country which had to depend on work where productivity was a little more than 1,000 [word indistinct] a country which traditionally had to employ a half million men in its sugar production, a country without coal, oil, steel, wood, or electrical energy. In today's world, what could be the answer, the requirements, for the development of such a country? And what about the matter of integration on this basis? We are in this hemisphere, on this side of the Atlantic. We are Latin Americans. We know that no small country, no microcountry, will have the slightest possibility of progressing in tomorrow's world, of great human and economic communities, amidst the gigantic scientific and technological revolution, and amidst a struggle against an imperialism which still exists and which will continue to exist for some time. We know that in the future we will integrate economically with Latin America. We are not, of course, going to integrate with the United States because the differences in language, customs, mentality, everything, are very great, despite the fact that we are internationalists. We think that some day we will integrate economically and politically with the Latin American peoples. [applause] We are not dreamers. This, which was perhaps a [word indistinct] and which was undoubtedly an idealistic product of rationality--what America's wars of independence at the beginning of the last century accomplished--is today a vital need of our peoples. We brought this matter up in Chile, in Ecuador, everywhere. We are not in a hurry. We merely say what we think--that the evolution of the world is leading us to that. But in order for there to be economic and political integration there must first be a social and antiimperialist revolution in Latin America. [applause] We are not going to integrate with the United Fruit Company, nor with the Standard Oil Company, nor with the ITT, nor with all those hundreds of monopolistic (?octopuses) which are (?demanding that their rights be respected) in many parts of Latin America. We are not going to integrate with the large landowners and with the bourgeois. We have to integrate with the workers, the laborers and the peasants, with the revolutionaries when the inexorable hour of the revolution comes to Latin America. But that takes time. We cannot make planes with a view to an integration which might take 10, 15, 20, 25, or 30 years. That is for the more pessimistic. Meanwhile, what are we--a small country surrounded by capitalists, blockaded by the Yankee imperialists--to do? We will integrate economically with the socialist bloc. [applause] That is the matter of principle that we brought up. In the future, we will integrate economically and politically with Latin America. Today we are spiritually integrated with the socialist bloc and we will become economically integrated with it. Today's integration will not have to conflict with tomorrow's integration. Besides, this will take time. This

integration will not take place overnight--neither ours with the socialist bloc nor ours with Latin America. But it will come more quickly, more rapidly, and we will work in cooperation with the economy of the socialist countries. That is one of statements of principle which we have made and which we state here. It fits in with our way of thinking and with the lines we follow. It fits in with Marxism-Leninism and with the interests of our people and of other peoples. So then, we have discussed today and tomorrow. The day the hour of revolution comes to Latin America we will be integrated with Latin America socialist community of the future--and the socialist bloc. We think that the support they have given Cuba and the support that they give any Latin American country which makes an effort to assert is sovereignty and its independence vis-a-vis the United States will justify tomorrow's ties. In any case, we wish to state here that tomorrow's world will change, but our friendship with the Soviet people will not change. Our gratitude toward the Soviet people will be eternal. [applause] We see the world of the future as Marxist thinkers saw it, as Marx and Engels saw it as Lenin saw it--a world in which capitalism and imperialism will one day no longer exist, a world which will be guided by different norms, not by war, not by the right of conquest, not by class exploitation in which certain classes lord it over others, certain nations lord it over others, as mankind has known until now. With the disappearance of man's exploitation of man, the disappearance of classes, the domination of certain nations over others will also disappear in the sphere of international relations. Such a world will come. Who can doubt this? Did they not doubt, before 1917, that socialism might someday triumph? Didn't many people doubt that there could be socialism in Cuba, 90 miles from the United States? Didn't socialism triumph in the USSR? Didn't socialism triumph in Cuba? Didn't the Soviet Union's socialism help contribute to the triumph of socialism in Cuba? [applause] The path will not be easy. The struggle will be a long one in every way and on all fronts, but that day will come. Now, what gives us this absolute guarantee? It is because Marxism-Leninism is the denial of the exploitation of man by man, is the denial of man's exploitation which precisely has been the source of crimes, wars, oppressions and calamities that humanity has suffered for thousands of years. That day will come, and someday there will be a socialist United States. Who doubts it? I do not doubt it. [applause] It is clear however that that socialism must be carried out first and, moreover, must be well done. In the end they will benefit from the advance of ideas and experience. Will it become socialism with the history and merits of Soviet socialism? Well, that is difficult, because that was the result of history. It was humanity's history which determined the emergence of a people such as the Soviet people. It was a case of 50 years of sacrifices and struggles. Perhaps someday the United States will become socialist through elections, but they will not be able say--as the Soviets can--that they have in their thoughts and spirit their own history full of sacrifices and heroism. To tell the truth, the United States does not know what are is in the modern sense of the world. We already know their history--invasion of Cuba, intervention in Cuba with 100 or 200 dead, if that, I do not recall now; [as heard] intervention in Nicaragua, Haiti, the Dominican Republic; occupation of the Philippines. But the wars never touched their borders. They do not know what a bombing is; they do not know what it is to have an industry destroyed; they do not know what it is to have a school demolished.

Everywhere in the Soviet Union one can see reminders of war--in the form of monuments, books, recollections. The Yankee imperialists never experienced the destruction of even a bolt. This is why there are so many irresponsible politicians there. This is why a fascist like Nixon can be president of the United States. [applause] This is why so many foolish things happen in that country and why so many irresponsible acts are committed there, because they have no idea of what war is like. This is why they commit the crimes they are committing. And this is the truth. At any rate, tomorrow's world will have no place for capitalism, no place for imperialism; and relations among nations will be governed by principles. We can say now that as a small country our relations with the socialist countries are based on principles, our relations with the Soviet Union are based on principles; and we have had the opportunity to see these principles in action. We want to say a few words regarding Latin America, because we are Latin Americans and because our future fatherland is Latin America, not the Latin America with the monopolies, [applause] not the Latin America of the oligarchs, landlords, bourgeoisie or exploiters, but the Latin America of the revolutionaries. We are not and cannot be pessimistic; through various ways the panorama of Latin America has been undergoing changes. I have here a speech which I made on 14 July 1969. I shall read some excerpts from it. I will read the following paragraphs: Let it be said once and for all that our fatherland will never place a foot in that repugnant, nasty, disparaged and filthy place called the OAS. One day we will have an organization or association or community of revolutionary states of Latin America. We are not impatient, we are in no hurry. We will wait until one by one they break with the past, until one by one they develop their own revolution. As revolutionary nations--really revolution nations--emerge, our people will share natural and indispensable ties with them. We will wait because we hope to see Latin American countries break, one by one, their bonds and change their structure like our country had done to begin the path of the revolution and progress. How long must we wait? As long as necessary--10, 20, 30 years, although we do not believe, not even remotely, that we shall have to wait so long. Important events are taking place, have been taking place in a Latin American country--Peru. We have tried to be very discreet regarding these events in Peru although in our judgement this military movement was of a different nature than other military movements. From the outset of the movement, from the moment they ousted the reactionary and proimperialistic clique which had been ruling that country, the leaders of the military movement made statements which clearly indicated their intention to develop their country. They have shown awareness of the backward state, the poverty and exploitation which their country has been suffering and have indicated their desire to free their country of such a condition. Their first move has been against the imperialist oil company which has been exploiting and cheating the Peruvian people. This is a patriotic move, a brave step. Subsequently, an agrarian reform law was passed. Our opinion is that this is a radical measure which, if applied properly, can be called a revolutionary move. The oligarchic papers immediately attached the agrarian reform program of that country. We know that the Latin American oligarchy will never support any really revolutionary movement. The Cuban Revolution will firmly and fully support any revolution in any Latin American country. If a real revolution takes form in Peru, regardless of who might be the promoters of such a revolution, despite the fact that promoters are military men, many of whim

received their training in U.S. schools, if that revolution takes place and continues as an antiimperialist revolution, as a revolution which promotes structural changes, as a revolution which defends the people's interest, if such a revolution takes place in Peru our people will support it and will support the Peruvian people. If as a result of revolution in Peru or in any other Latin American country criminal blockades and imperialistic aggressions should take place, our people will support that threatened country, our people will support that attached country. We also said: We will observe the events. We will support all that which is revolutionary. We will avoid all actions which could be considered as interference in this movement. We will not beg Peruvian leaders to establish relations with Cuba. But if they should desire such relations one day because they are really revolutionaries, we will not reject such relations. Later events have confirmed the Peruvian movement as a real consolidation of this sovereignty, as a recovery of its natural resources, of structural changes and of social progress. It is a movement which is going full speed ahead. Our policy toward Peru was decided from the very beginning. Unfortunately, not everyone understands the Peruvian movement. We understand it. We have observed it with great hopes, and we have seen its great development. A conclusive proof of Peru's confirmation of its sovereignty has been its attitude toward Cuba. We recall the earthquake, when we offered help. Oh, other countries would have trembled. Cooperation from Cuba? No, no, the Yankee imperialists do not allow such a thing. But the Peruvian Government in the most casual way accepted Cuba's help, thanked Cuba for its help. On an international level Peru has waged a war--within the OAS--against the blockade. This action was spontaneous. Cuba's position regarding the OAS is well known, but we respect the path, the way, the methods chosen by the Peruvian Government. It carried the matter to the OAS, it defended the cause there, and at the same time it made clear that it would make its own decision independent of the OAS decision. [applause] And that is what it did. As a result, we now have a Peruvian ambassador in Cuba. He is on this platform with us today, representing his country with relations resumed. [applause] Our people, from this forum express their recognition of and fraternally greet the Peruvian Government, and especially the president of that fraternal county Gen Velasco Alvarado. [applause] Our country is honored by these relations because they are the kind and form of relations which we believe have a political value, a moral content. Relations with any government which as fully reaffirmed its sovereignty, which proposes changing the structures, which plans to progress in the social area have for us a moral content, a human one, and one of solidarity which means a great deal--just as do the relations established previously with the Government of Chile. [applause] More than a year after I spoke these words, elections were held in Chile and the candidate of Popular Unity won, our comrade and great friend of our revolution and of our country, Salvador Allende. [applause] One of the first decisions he took upon being invested with the presidency of his country was to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba. [applause] Popular Unity's purpose is to radically change the structure and to march along the path of socialism. Hence, the relations between Chile and Cuba are revolutionary ones, the are relations which bestow honor upon us. And this is very important because relations with Cuba are constantly being talked

about--being debated and discussed here and there. Cuba's return to the OAS has also been publicly discussed. We have already firmly said no. Those are not our objectives. For all I know the day might come at the OAS--even in that saloon, as an institution [Castro does not finish thought]. By calling it a saloon we are not criticizing the governments. The Chilean Government believes it should be there and the Peruvian Government also thinks that it should be there and we respect their viewpoint. Undoubtedly they do no help to make the OAS happier and pleasanter for Yankee imperialism. The day might come when the antiimperialists become a majority. How long would the OAS then last? When that day comes, the best thing would be to change the name of that trash heap together with its objectives and purposes. When the day comes when an organization is no longer controlled by the imperialists, but by a majority of independent countries, we think then that that institution will have to be revolutionized. It will no longer be the OAS and will no longer have the foul taste it has today. [applause] Well, we were saying--this subject under discussion is very boring--but no one has asked us. Apparently, they do not take us into account regarding this matter on the return to the OAS. Furthermore, we have said this 40 times. But, regarding relations: gentlemen, in order to establish relations with Cuba, one should also take Cuba into account. No relations with Cuba can be established unilaterally. [applause] And why should we be interested in relations with a puppet of imperialism? Why should we be interested in relations with a government which does not have any kind of independence, that does not have self-respect, that does not deserve any consideration? Relations today, and then tomorrow they are given orders by the imperialists to break them off? Under no circumstances will this occur. Therefore, our relations with the Latin American countries must embody principles, a moral and political content which must be based on full sovereignty--period. And besides they must be based on a clear posture of independence and non-submission to orders from Yankee imperialism. [applause] In the past we inherited relations--those were relations with the former Cuba, they were relations with Batista and his gang, and they were broken off, with an honorable exception, Mexico. By ignoring the treaties it changed the characteristics of its relations with our country. [applause] The other relations would be new ones, with a socialist Cuba, with a communist Cuba, with a revolutionary Cuba. [applause] That is why we clearly and lucidly set forth that in order to establish relations with Cuba, first one has to count on Cuba, and to count on Cuba one has to be truly free, sovereign, and independent. [applause] Events continue to develop. But before anything else, a letter from President Allende has just reached me and I want to read a few paragraphs which convey recognition and greetings to the people of Cuba. Twenty-one July 1972 Dear Fidel; A few words to express to you what 26 July means to us, the revolutionaries of Latin America. The heroic deeds set in motion at that time culminated in the liberation of Cuba. The revolutionary [word indistinct] of a group which during the passage of years with its example and its exemplary actions could defeat imperialism and reaction and renew the awareness of an entire country which is enthusiastically building its future. I realize what this date means to you and how the memory will return of your heroic comrades, those who fell and those who continued their redeeming tasks with deep conviction. The people of Chile always stand by Cuba, and like everyone else we are today ever closer to Vietnam

which is sacrificing and heroic. [applause] I congratulate you that Cuba and Peru have resumed relations. [applause] It is a big step which strengthens the struggle of our peoples, and I ask you today to let Cuba and its people know how deeply we the Chileans are aware of the Moncada, its martyrs, its lesson. And complying with that wish we have read you paragraphs from a personal letter from Comrade Allende. [applause] Other events are developing on the continent; another small country with a heroic tradition, oppressed and humiliated by the imperialists is Panama [applause] which is struggling to consolidate its sovereignty and recover--revindicate its sovereign rights on the edge of a territory where the Panama Canal has been built which has cost the fraternal people of Panama so much blood and humiliation. We do not have diplomatic relations with the people of not worry about that; we simply want to tell them as a that we sympathize, we are in solidarity with them and cause, their just demands, their just struggle for the Canal Zone. [applause] Panama, and we do matter of principle support their just liberation of the

Neither do we have diplomatic relations--just cultural ones--with the people of Jamaica. A few days ago, a state secretary from that fraternal country was here on a visit to discuss civil aviation agreements. Panama and Jamaica have new governments of the great majority who are also struggling and undertaking efforts for their country's development, for social progress, and for consolidating their sovereignty. Although we do not have diplomatic relations with that country--and it does not worry or concern us--we also send to the people of Jamaica and its government in their struggle for social progress and the consolidation of sovereignty, greetings from the Cuban people. [applause] About this matter of relations I wish to touch on a very important point: the United States of America, the matter of the imperialist blockade, imperialist subversion. Imperialist attacks against Cuba are stirring up an increasingly greater and wider opposition within the United States. We have said this on more than one occasion. It should not be necessary to repeat it. But we also want to mention the following thought which guides Cuban policy with regard to the United States: Cuba today is not a territory in which war or peace is at issue. It is not Vietnam. Cuba today enjoys a relative peace. This is not because the imperialists have granted in gratuitously, but because we have prepared ourselves, because we are stronger, and also because the correlation of forces has continued to shift in favor of the USSR and the socialist camp. And it is also due to a reason which merits our recognition and or gratefulness: the heroic struggle of the Vietnam people. [applause] That is why we said that in Vietnam a struggle was being waged on behalf of all the countries in the world. Vietnam, in its heroic struggle for the defense of its independence, has weakened imperialism militarily, politically, morally. It has exposed it; it has awakened an antiwar sentiment in the United States. By maintaining its power at all costs, the revolutionary movement has continued to grow over those years. The strength of the revolutionary countries continued to grow and Cuba's strength continued to grow. Our people have a reason for being deeply grateful to the people of Vietnam, for in their struggle they also fought for us--because with their spilled blood they helped to save Cuban blood. The imperialists [applause] have not been sufficiently strong to wage war in Vietnam and continue their adventures against Cuba. When the war in Vietnam ends with the imperialist's defeat, the circumstances will then be very different. It

will not be so easy to plan wars against Cuba--not militarily, politically or in any other way. Furthermore, imperialism's actions against Cuba are increasingly discredited within the heart of the people of the United States. Starting from the premise that neither war nor peace are at issue here, our situation is that we having nothing to discuss with them. That is clear. There is the problem of the Guantanamo base, the economic blockade they wage against our country, the subversive activities. Our position is very clearly the following: We limit ourselves to unconditionally demanding that they withdraw from the Guantanamo base [applause] that the blockade [heavy applause] that the blockade ends and that the subversive activities also end. That is our position and it is not debatable. [rhythmic applauding] But are Cuba's concerns perhaps limited to our local and national interests with regard to the United States? No; even when the war in Vietnam is ended, even with the withdrawal of the imperialists from Vietnam there will yet remain the problems of Latin America. And this does not concern subversive activities by the United States against Cuba, not the Guantanamo naval base. When they decide to talk with us, Cuba will not be the subject; the subject will be Latin America. [applause] It is not that we presume to represent Latin America. It is not a matter of studying the military or economic power for counteracting the actions of Yankee imperialism on this continent. It is a matter of principles. Cuban and U.S. relations cannot improve as long as the United States assumes the right to militarily intervene in any Latin American country, as long as the United States assumes the right to practice intervention and subversion in Latin America. We represent a moral principle in the struggle against Yankee imperialism. We represent a position on this continent. We are a banner and it is not a nationalist banner; it is an internationalist, it is a [applause] Latin American banner. [long applause] We do not represent a bourgeois government obsessed by exclusively national matters. The problems in Cuba concern us, the problems of our people concern us, but the problems of the other sister nations also concern us, as revolutionaries, as Marxist-Leninists. We do not put our interests ahead of those of the rest of the countries. Therefore, due to reasons of mortality and principles, we cannot visualize the improvement of Cuban and U.S. relations. These principles were set forth and unanimously approved by the central committee of our party for as long as the United States militarily intervenes and exercises the role of a reactionary policeman as concerns the sister nations in Latin America. [applause] Therefore, U.S. relations with Cuba will not take place whenever Nixon wants them. Who has told this man that one can play with the Cuban Revolution? There will be no political deals made with the Cuban Revolution. No one can play with the Cuban Revolution. Diplomatic offensives are of no use with the Cuban Revolution. We say nothing; we simply say that Cuba's doors have been completely closed to the politicking and trickery of Mr. Nixon. [applause] And whether Nixon or anyone else is president of the United States we say to him that Cuba's problems are the problems of principles of the other people of Latin America. [applause] And our relations cannot improve, under any circumstances, with a gendarme and reactionary state. That is our policy; these are the criteria which guide our conduct regarding the United States. Now then, could we carry out this policy of the revolution--clear, intransigent-- if we did not feel strong militarily, if we did not feel

strong politically, if we did not feel certain about the country's prospects in the future? Yes; we would carry out a policy of principles always and under any circumstances. In our difficult hours when we did not even have any links with the socialist camp, in the actions that could cost us our lives--practically the lives of all the people--we did it. We maintained our policy. What I want to say is that the success of the revolution, the success of its line, the march of this process in which Cuba plays an important role are a guarantee and are actually made possible precisely because of our friendship with the socialist camp, our friendship with the Soviet Union. [applause] Therefore, our people understand perfectly well that the basic requirements of Cuban policy are its military strength, its political strength, its ideological strength and its close relations of friendship and cooperation with the socialist camp, and especially with the Soviet Union. [applause] These make it possible and permit us to tell the imperialists: We want nothing from you. We would not want anything anyway. We would not have wanted anything when we were weak, much less would we want anything being stronger. We did not want anything from the imperialists when our difficulties were greater. We will not want anything now that we are marching, that we are advancing, that our prospects are better than ever. [applause] We have put up all these years without relations with them, having been weaker in the past, and poorer. Without hesitation or concessions we shouldered our struggle against imperialism, and now with much more reason and much more peace of mind, we are willing to remain 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 years without relations with the United States. [applause] No advantage of any type, no economic advantage could tempt us because the future of this country, this country's development fortunately for a long time has not depended on any trade with the United States, in any economic relations with the United States. Tourists here playing roulette, tourists here in brothels, tourists to corrupt? No, no difficulty, no economic benefit could compensate morally for what Yankee tourism would mean in this country. [applause] It could almost be said that as long as socialism does not exist in the United States and there is not a radical change in mentality and customs, this country could not assimilate the ordinary and regular U.S. tourist. [applause] It is not an insult of the U.S. people. But we are guided by different customs, by different morals and by different principles And I think that here they could neither find the things for which they cam before, nor would we be willing to accept the corrupting influences of yankee tourism. U.S. students, workers and revolutionaries can come to Cuba. Those of the peace movement, the men and women of the U.S. left can come to Cuba; and those who come there to help us in the work plans, to cut sugarcane, to work; and honest men and women, men and women of good faith, and men and women we cannot classify as the ordinary and regular tourist. There are all sorts among the tourists--good and bad. Since they are U.S. citizens we only want the good ones in our country, and not as tourists. [applause] No economic advantage in any sense could tempt our country. Cuba's development in all fields is assured without any relations with the United States. Therefore, our people can wait peacefully. Our people can wait peacefully, even until there is socialism in the United States. If there is no socialism, if there were a realist government--in case capitalism could be realistic sometime--with the changes in the correlation

of forces, with the growing imperialist weakness, it is possible that sometime imperialist--even before ceasing being capitalist--they will have to be realists [sentence as heard] If there were a government capable of respecting the interests, sovereignty and rights of our people, and it did not practice subversion and counterrevolution and ceased playing the role of gendarme regarding the Latin American countries, we then could talk with such a government. But we are in no hurry, although we do greet with satisfaction those advances and those new formulations being made in U.S. politics. It is even said that one of the candidates favors ending the blockade against Cuba. However, they include in a platform that Cuba cannot become a Soviet military base. In our concept of citizenship, we begin by telling this man that in our territory we do whatever we wish, [applause] and that no party platform has the right to establish conditions of any sort here. We are truly sovereign, and we understand it as such. And in what is understood as a sovereign country, we do not sacrifice any attribute of sovereignty by demand of the imperialists. We would give up our sovereignty among all the countries of Latin America. We would give it up to join a superior community. We relinquish our sovereignty in the revolutionary movement and in a revolutionary world. But in the face of imperialism, we would not even agree to discuss the most initial nor the most elemental attribute of our sovereignty. So there is the warning so that it can be well known that we do not accept any of these stores. [applause] However, we believe that in the traditional conflicts between the ruling parties in the United States, the Republican Party--Nixon's party--has the worst position-- is the most criminal, the most reactionary and the most warmongering party, and there is not the slightest doubt of this. Therefore, we perceive perfectly well and know that of all the politicians who presently are involved in U.S. political life, Nixon is a criminal, is the most reactionary and the most aggressive. We do not have any doubt about this, and the worst candidate in the United States is Nixon. We are not voters there nor do we vote there, nor anything like it. But of course we cannot ignore the fact that the political contests there play a role because Mr Nixon is now desperate and disoriented because he wants to be reelected. And no one can guarantee this. If the Vietnam war continues as it is now when the elections arrive, no one in the united States can guarantee Nixon's victory. This is our evaluation and the only tactical value we can give to the political contests. I make this explanation after making the first one, after explaining what the criteria of our party are regarding the United States. I point out that you give tactical importance, especially son the Vietnam question, to the traditional confrontations between the U.S. political parties. Despite the time, I now speak about what has been the theme and is an inspiration and soul of this concentration, and that is the international solidarity, and especially our solidarity with the heroic people of Vietnam. [applause] Throughout our tour of all the countries we visited, in the public events there was agreement on the imperialist escalation and the bombing. The matter of solidarity with Vietnam became for our delegation an essential matter, a fundamental matter, and we are satisfied of the success of the results, with the joint communiques where the support of Cuba and the socialist countries for the Vietnamese people occupied a fundamental position. We have listened with deep respect, sympathy and admiration to the speech delivered by Comrade Thi Binh. Her words, her denunciations, her arguments,

here eloquence, here firmness constitute an honor for our people, for this plaza, for this date, for this rostrum. It is an honor that from here that speech has been delivered, those words have been pronounced, those denunciation have been made and that position has been raised, because we think that in the midst of the atrocious crimes by imperialist ferocity and its cruelty, it is one satisfaction on this occasion, today to know that here, some miles from the United States, a country is emerging, an intransigent and nonnegotiable revolution is being implemented where support to the heroic people of Vietnam has occupied a place of honor in our feeling and in our hearts. It was from here, very close to the United States, that they have exposed their positions, denouncements and arguments. It is unquestionable that the imperialists are in Vietnam carrying out acts of true desperation, and the most reprehensible acts. We, in our visits through Europe, in our tour of Poland, visited places that were the scene of large attacks, extensive bombing by the fascists, big executions and big crimes. We visited a concentration camp where four million people lost their lives--coldly slain there, converted into fertilizer and grease. Their material components were used for industrial ends. It is truly incredible that despite all the ferocity of fascism, despite its acts of aggressions, what happened there could be known and what the Nazi war criminals were capable of doing could be believed through movies, photographs and witnesses only after the Soviet armies liberated Europe and penetrated those camps. In our visit to the USSR, we went to Leningrad which was subjected to a 900-day siege. And there is a cemetery there which recalls the million civilians and fighters who died as a result of the siege, of the terror, of the bombs, and from hunger. On that previous occasion we also visited Stralingrad. We have visited numerous cities. This time we visited (Voronei) and Minsk. There is not a single Soviet city without a monument to the victims of that war. In Minsk, there is a whole project dedicated to the memory of the 2 million people who lost their lives. Thousands of villages were destroyed, hundreds of them razed to the ground with all their inhabitants, who, without exception, were all murdered. There are names of 13, 12 and 3-year old children, 6-month old children. They were implacable and forgave no one. Today, history remembers those crimes there with horror. They were crimes which are really beyond imagination. History has already taken care to gather it all. If at some time humanity did not see it, or did not know it or did not understand it in its full magnitude, today, millions and millions of human beings visit these areas every year. In literature and in art, those events will be culled and remembered, and they will be remembered forever. War criminals were tried at Nuremeberg and hung for such crimes. When we see the things the imperialists are doing in Vietnam--all those things, the many ships, the thousands of planes, the use of modern technology, of chemical warfare, of meteorological methods, of electronics, of the most modern methods of advanced science and technology. All these things are being employed against the people of Vietnam, which is 20,000 kms away from the United States, and which, as the Comrade PRGRSV foreign minister has said, has done nothing to the United States. Why is the United States in Vietnam? Because of imperialist expansion which began as early as the middle of the last century and continued in the guise of modern imperialism at the end of that century, and which continued through this era. And so they arrived in Florida, they took possession of Mexico, they took over the Panamanian national anthem, they installed their base in Cuba and established a neocolonialist government. They took possession of all the resources--mines, petroleum--of Latin American and of the world. They took possession of Hawaii, of the Philippines and finally, in its expansion, imperialism reached Vietnam.

Vietnam represents the most distant point where the imperialists went to dig in their claws and to impose their rule. It is the point which definitely marks their historical decline. They will have to withdraw from Vietnam, and to continue to withdraw until the day when imperialism no longer exists. Some 20,000 kms from the United States, they have clashed with the Vietnamese people, whom they have forced to pay a terrible price for the Vietnamese people's love of the revolution, for their love of independence and for their love of freedom. The Vietnamese people fought the French colonialists. They defeated the French imperialists. And as was said here today, at the time of the Moncada assault when the struggle in Cuba was beginning, the Vietnamese--tired of abuse, of outrage and of crimes--rose up in arms in that area of the country under imperialist rule. During all these years, during the years we were imprisoned, the years we were fighting in the mountains, the years since the triumph of the revolution, the Vietnamese have been struggling there for their independence against the Yankee imperialists. And the imperialists commit their crimes as if it were the most natural thing to do. They bomb cities and destroy homes, schools and hospitals. They attack dikes and commit similar villainies. We are sure that some day humanity will become fully aware of all this. We are sure that some day it will become perfectly clear how alike Nixon and Hitler are, and how similar Nixon's crimes in Vietnam are to the crimes committed by fascism in Europe and throughout the world. [applause] Some day, monuments will also be erected there, some day, all these crimes will be remembered. Some day, millions of human beings will curse and damn Yankee imperialism there, and they will curse Johnson, they will curse Nixon, and they will curse all those guilty of these crimes. We imagine a kind of historic emulation between Nixon and Hitler in cruelty, in lack of scruples--although it seems that Mr Nixon is gaining on Hitler in the area of demagoguery and in shamelessness. The Nazis were all consumate criminals. They did not try to depicit themselves as liberators. They did not try to show themselves to the world as civilized people. And this man is carrying out his crimes. He tries to justify them. He also tries, through his demagoguery and lies, to diminish the importance of these crimes. Nixon has been denying that Vietnamese dikes have been bombed. We understand that this matter of the dikes is a basic issue, because millions of persons are protected by the dike systems--which have been under construction for 2,000 years--from the periodic floods from the great rivers caused by heavy rains in this region of the world. Not even Johnson launched a policy of bombing the dikes. The PRGRSV has denounced these bombings and has appealed to the world, imploring public opinion to mobilize to stop these barbarous attacks. Nixon has gone even further, not only by mining the ports, but also by bombing not only cities, schools and hospitals but also dikes. And he denies it. But the photographs are there. The documentaries are there. The testimony of the diplomats is there, the testimony of visitors to Vietnam is there. We have with us here a letter sent to Comrade Thi Binh by a U.S. citizen who has excelled through her active and courageous fight in the United States against the Vietnam war. She is the well-known actress, Jane Fonda. [applause] The letter states: To Madam Nguyen Thi Binh from the peace-loving people of the United States. We would like to take the opportunity of your trip to Cuba to warmly embrace you and you heroic men, women and children of Vietnam, who are carrying on the bravest struggle in history to achieve freedom and independence for their country. many of us have visited you country and we have seen with our own eyes proof of the fact that the Nixon administration has escalated the war to an unprecedented level though massive bombings and through the use of new

weapons and chemicals, which the Nixon administration employs especially against the civilian population, and which are causing death and mutilation. This death and mutilation is perhaps only comparable to the destruction caused by the Hiroshima bombing. Among Nixon's many crimes, we have observed the dropping of (?laser-guided) bombs on civilian targets by B-52's, the massive use of antipersonnel weapons and the new gases and chemicals, such as the savage napalm, phosphorus and incendiary bombs. Many of us can also bear witness to Nixon's systematic attempts to destroy the dikes and irrigation systems in North Vietnam, right at the time of heavy rains. History has never seen such a savage plan, which is endangering the lives of 15 million innocent people in the Red River delta. We call on all the peoples of the world to mobilize to prevent this monstrous crime. Nixon's Vietnamization program has failed. He and the Saigon regime are isolated in the military, political and diplomatic spheres. In his last desperate attempt to halt the course of his defeat, he will try to flood North Vietnam, and he will make it seem as if it were a natural disaster. We must act now to uncover his plan and to force him to end all the crimes he is committing against the Vietnamese people, force him to withdraw from Vietnam, to withdraw all his forces from your fatherland and to allow the Vietnamese people to determine their own lives. [signed] Jane Fonda. [applause] A comrade has proposed that the cup of emulation won by Ceiba 1, where 95 percent of the students were promoted, be sent to a school in Vietnam. [applause] We can give it to Comrade Thi Binh so that she can take it to a South Vietnamese school. [applause] Through the revolutionary movement in Latin America, through the progressive organizations in the United States and throughout the world, we must strongly denounce, we must act and we must voice our protest by all means available, against the criminal and savage attacks against the Vietnamese people, and especially against the incredible barbarity of destroying the dikes. We must give our fullest political, moral and material support to the heroic people of Vietnam. But at the same time, we are completely sure that the imperialists will be defeated and that they will have to withdraw from Vietnam. History has so demonstrated this in the resistance of a nation like Vietnam today, Algeria yesterday and Cuba in the last century. A country determined to defend its cause, its independence no matter how small, cannot be squashed, cannot be defeated through any technique, any bombing strikes, or any war crime. Hitler, with his war crimes, could not defeat the resistance of the Polish people. Hitler with his horrible crimes could not defeat the Soviet people and in the long run the Soviet people squashed him. This decision, this steadfastness, this heroism of the people of Vietnam has moved the world and aroused the sympathy and support of the entire world for its cause. This cause is invincible and Nixon should take very much into account the words pronounced here, words which express the Vietnamese people's decision to resist until their basic rights are established, words which express the determination of the Vietnamese people to not shrink one inch, to defend their demands, to defend their fundamental points that will permit the liberation of Vietnam. That is, the right of Vietnam to its independence and that will prevent a repetition of what happened with the Geneva accords and that will prevent the establishment of neocolonialism in any region of Vietnam. Nixon should take this into account. We are certain that the Vietnamese people will emerge victorious.

Any observer can clearly see that Nixon's acts stem from desperation and despite his barbaric bombing strikes, the Vietnamese patriots' struggle in South Vietnam will continue. The combat capability of their forces is increasing, the response of the South Vietnamese people, despite the fierce repression is a response which is increasingly being reflected in the popular insurrections. Large land areas have been liberated by the patriots and nothing will enable the puppet and mercenary forces serving imperialism to resist the offensive and struggle of the Vietnamese people. Public opinion will support Vietnam. The protest movement will increase throughout the world and will increase even in the United States. The Vietnamese cause, one way or another, will emerge victorious with Nixon or without Nixon. This is our belief, [applause] we are sure of this. [applause] Today we received messages from the Cuban crewmen who remained aboard Cuban ships at Haiphong [words indistinct] of Nixon and remained to unload the goods even if they were sunk. There are Cuban doctors and nurses working in Vietnam at the side of the Vietnamese people. Several days ago we also received a message from them expressing their solidarity and determination. This reflects our people's sentiments toward Vietnam, the determination of our workers, peasants and students. A worker said here that he was ready to help in reconstruction. The students of the outstanding high school offered their cup. These sentiments express our peoples' attitude of solidarity with Vietnam. They are sentiments which are expressed by the phrase "For Vietnam, we are ready to offer our own blood. [applause] and should circumstances demand it, our people, our workers, youths soldiers would also be ready to offer their blood. In line with their solidarity, with Vietnam, the Cubans are ready to fight at the side of the Vietnamese people in Vietnam. [applause] These statement are not made for ceremonial purposes. Whenever the Vietnamese people deem it necessary let them give the word and these words will become a reality. [applause] Regarding this Vietnamese matter, we wish to say something else: Nixon should not underestimate the support of the Vietnam which is being extended not only by world opinion, not only by the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America. No, Nixon should not underestimate the support being given to Vietnam by the socialist bloc. Nixon should not underestimate the support being given by the Soviet people, the CPSU, the Soviet leadership. [applause] Nixon cannot ignore the positions of the Soviet people and the positions of the CPSU and Soviet people's leadership toward Vietnam. Nixon is aware of these positions and cannot ignore or underestimate them. He is totally wrong if he believes that the cause of Vietnam is weak. He is totally wrong if he believes the Vietnam is alone because we know how the leaders of the socialist countries think and how the leaders of the Soviet Union think. We know what their principles are regarding the just cause of the Vietnamese people and their determination to support Vietnam morally, politically, and materially until the Vietnamese just cause emerges victorious. [applause] For this reason, we believe that the cause of Vietnam is invincible, that the Vietnamese people will win this struggle. Until attaining victory the Vietnamese people can count on the unconditional support of the Cuban revolutionary people. [applause] We are going to close our speech. Basically we have devoted our time to international affairs as befits the visit of the delegation representing the PRGRSV. This fits in with the slogan of a 26 July dedicated to solidarity, to internationalism. We have said virtually nothing about our national problems. This subject can be covered in a few words. From the viewpoint of our country, we recall 26 July 2 years ago and all the progress we have made

since then in every area--in the mass organizations, in the general work of the country's economy, in our people's awareness that we must continue struggling hard and intensively. However, we can say that never have the prospects of the revolution been as they are now and that in no sense, neither politically or from the viewpoint of revolutionary awareness nor from the viewpoint of the prospects of our work or from the viewpoint of the growth of our relations and international ties and the cooperation of the socialist bloc, never has the situation of the Cuban Revolution been better than now. On this 26 July we can say with satisfaction that our revolution has been consolidated extraordinarily and that a promising future in every order awaits our country. For us it is very satisfying to be able to proclaim today: Hail the glorious and heroic people of Vietnam, [audience shouts "hail"] for Vietnam we are ready to offer our blood. [applause] Hail proletarian internationalism! [applause] fatherland or death, we will win. -END-