– Miguel Díaz-Canel –
(Translated by NEPH from granma.cu, May 3, 2023)
Speech by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic of Cuba, at the closing of the International Meeting of Solidarity with Cuba and Anti-Imperialism, at the Convention Palace on May 2, 2023, “Year 65 of the Revolution”
(Stenographic Version — Presidency of the Republic)
Sisters and brothers participating in this International Meeting of Solidarity with Cuba and Anti-Imperialism;
Friends:
Welcome everyone! Make yourselves at home! Cuba is and will always be the home of the workers, because in Cuba the workers are in power (Applause). Not kings, nor millionaires, nor representatives of an oligarchy: the Cuban workers! (Applause.)
We thank you, the attendees, for your participation in this meeting, in which we share the same feeling and commitment: human solidarity, solidarity with the Cuban Revolution and the causes of struggle of peoples for their true emancipation.
Celebrating International Workers’ Day alongside representatives of the working class from solidarity movements and friends of Cuba is a great honour and a courageous gesture that our heroic people deeply appreciate. It constitutes a worthy tribute to the legacy of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, a paradigm of the solidarity of the Cuban people.
You arrive at a time that has become common in a country that is facing a harsher blockade, experiencing very adverse situations such as the energy crisis and shortages of all kinds.
The idea was to meet in our plazas this May Day, to celebrate together the Workers’ Day. The bad weather forced us to postpone it; but, as the saying goes, “put up a good face in bad weather.”
Accustomed to seeing every challenge as an opportunity, we are not going to lament the rain, we are going to celebrate the 205th anniversary of the birth of the one who characterized the exploitation of man by man as the source of surplus value and the essence of capitalism, and called for the unity of all workers in the world for their emancipation.
We will be celebrating Workers’ Day in our plazas on Friday, May 5th, with parades and rallies. And we will also be commemorating the 205th anniversary of the birth of the greatest thinker in favour of workers, Karl Marx. So, up with the poor of the world! (Applause.)
Dear brothers:
In these times, it is an act of genuine commitment, courage and extraordinary effort to visit Cuba, and we know it. The Cuban people and their leaders appreciate it immensely.
The world is experiencing a systemic and multidimensional crisis of capitalism aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic and armed conflicts.
On April 28, two centuries passed since the then Secretary of State, and later President of the Union, John Quincy Adams, defined his theory of the “ripe fruit” for Cuba — and I quote:
“…there are laws of political gravitation as there are of physical gravitation, and just as a fruit separated from its tree by the force of the wind cannot, even if it wants to, avoid falling to the ground, so Cuba, once separated from Spain and the artificial connection that binds it to her broken, is incapable of sustaining itself, it must necessarily gravitate towards the North American Union, and towards it exclusively, while to the Union itself, by virtue of its own law, it will be impossible not to admit it into its bosom.”
How wrong Adams was!
From that announcement in April to the promulgation of the Monroe Doctrine in December 1823, eight months passed. “America for the Americans.” And today, as we seek to learn, as we critically read what these 200 years of application of the Monroe Doctrine have meant, closely associated with that of the “ripe fruit,” we must ask ourselves: What America and for what Americans were they talking about? It was not about seeking American integration, where all the human potential, resources, culture and history of America were put in the service of the mutual benefit of all our peoples and countries. They were talking about Latin America and the Caribbean having to belong to North America. That is the trap of this doctrine, and that is what we must know how to separate in order to consciously summon ourselves to anti-imperialist unity and the struggle against imperialism.
Those ideas, which are hegemonic, which are of domination, of arrogance and contempt towards the peoples of Latin America, were also reflected, in the case of Cuba, when in the 1960s a U.S. State Department official wrote a memorandum advising the U.S. government that, since the majority of the Cuban people supported the Revolution, it was necessary to economically strangle us so that from that economic suffocation, disillusionment, rupture, lack of commitment and social explosions would arise that would bring an end to the Revolution.
As part of that same hegemonic, interventionist doctrine that despises Latin American and Caribbean peoples, the Organization of American States was founded, as defined by Foreign Minister Raúl Roa, as a “ministry of colonies.”
All of these are hegemonic, domination, arrogance and contempt platforms; therefore, our response must be, as we have discussed at this event, anti-imperialist unity!
From then until today, for 200 years, the policy of the powerful neighbour has been the same: to take over Cuba, our America, and all our natural resources.
The United States intends to internationalize the Monroe Doctrine and 200 years later renews it through policies of blockade, sanctions, political-judicial actions, walls, interferences, media sieges and wars.
The intensified economic, financial and commercial blockade constitutes the main obstacle to Cuba’s economic and social development, and Yankee imperialism uses it as a tool to suffocate the Cuban people, break their unity and confidence in the Revolution, in socialism, in the Party and in the Government. To make matters worse, they have once again included us, without any justification, on the spurious list of state sponsors of terrorism.
During 2022 we were hit by two strong accidents and a natural disaster, as has been mentioned here on several occasions: the explosion at the Saratoga Hotel in Havana, the fire at the supertankers base in Matanzas and the impact of Hurricane Ian in the western part of the country. In each of these moments, as we did during the COVID-19 crisis, the Cuban people demonstrated their ability to rise to the occasion in the face of difficulties, and with willpower, solidarity and unity, we were able to face them and move forward.
The results of the three participatory democracy processes held in just the last six months demonstrate the people’s confidence in the Revolution, in its infinite work of social justice and in the direction of the revolutionary process. This was expressed by the people when they approved the Family Code, the elections for delegates to the Municipal Assemblies of People’s Power and, most recently, the election of deputies that culminated in the establishment of the 10th Legislature of the National Assembly of People’s Power.
In this context, what do we ask of you, our friends from all over the world, the people who have made Cuba and the Cuban cause a sense of their lives? We believe that it is a priority to strengthen the demands to condemn the blockade in all its manifestations and to continue demonstrating that, despite the siege and pressure, it is possible for Cuba to advance and develop. But, as I recently expressed in my inauguration speech before the National Assembly of People’s Power, we must “defeat the blockade without waiting for it to be lifted!” And you, friends, who represent international solidarity with Cuba, are also an essential part of that challenge we share.
It is also a political and ethical imperative to denounce the inclusion of Cuba on the spurious list of state sponsors of terrorism, where it should never have been. In addition to being arbitrary, unjust and immoral, it has serious economic implications and a deterrent and intimidating effect.
It is also necessary to increase activism and coordination in social media and digital spaces, where important battles are fought today in the face of campaigns of lies from the media empires of Yankee imperialism and their internal and external operators in their attempt to discredit and destroy the Revolution.
What do we recognize and what do we want to thank you for? Firstly, that in the face of this aggressive policy of the empire, the solidarity movement with our country is growing in the midst of enormous challenges and an extremely complex international scenario. That the actions of solidarity developed by political forces, social and popular movements, pacifists, trade unions, students, peasants, women, youth, religious groups, graduates of Cuban schools and associations of Cuban residents abroad, among others, are increasingly strong and coordinated.
It is also encouraging to note the increase in travel to Cuba as a safe destination, in open rejection of the restrictions imposed by the U.S. government and the media campaigns promoted from Europe and other regions.
We recognize the public protest actions against the blockade through caravans and other initiatives inspired by the Bridges of Love project, which have become common, mainly on weekends, everywhere in the world.
We embrace the idea of holding the 7th Continental African Meeting of Solidarity with Cuba, to be held in South Africa in the second half of this year.
We support the European campaign “Unblock Cuba” and the multiple solidarity actions that are gradually becoming a broad political movement against the blockade in Europe.
We celebrate the political coordination and solidarity that has been achieved through the Latin American and Caribbean Continental Network of Solidarity with Cuba and Just Causes, as well as in the Caribbean Network of Solidarity with Cuba.
In difficult times, many ask: Why socialism in Cuba? Not everyone can withstand 60 years of economic asphyxiation that has opportunistically deepened more than once. All of this harms Cuban society and families so much that some suggest we should give up socialism.
Why did the Cuban Revolution choose the path of socialism for prosperity? Because it is the only alternative to capitalism; because it is the best way to give power to the people and decisions about the country and the future (Prolonged applause).
The Cuban Revolution is not only the reaction of a people to an unbearable accumulation of abuses, after centuries of colonialism and 60 years of neocolonialism. It is the reaction of a continent and a world plagued by injustices — that is why we have never been alone in our struggle. You are an example! (Applause.)
The Revolution did not come to Cuba as an import; it was born from its concrete socio-historical conditions and gestated in almost a hundred years of struggle against injustice. Its strength arises from its authenticity.
When the socialist community disappeared suddenly, and with it the CMEA, and the Cuban economy fell by more than 30%, the Revolution grew politically and morally, with Fidel at the forefront and a united Party conscious of its strength. It took the country five years to stop the fall and return to grow discreetly, but we grew! That is authentic socialism.
The so-called “Soviet satellite of the Caribbean” survived not only the economic and political disappearance of the European socialist bloc; it survived the ideological dismantling and moral collapse of political parties and organizations that were supposed to be a reference point. We were never satellites!
All of this happened in a context marked by the euphoria of neoliberalism in Latin America: even cemeteries and parks were sold, and the project of the FTAA was put together.
As Cuba did not fall for those siren songs that soon proved to only further indebt the people, economic warfare actions became laws.
In the 1990s, when socialism collapsed in Europe and the Revolution did not fall, two laws were promoted and approved in the United States Congress: the Torricelli Law in 1992 and the Helms-Burton Law in 1996. It was a Republican, George H.W. Bush, and a Democrat, Bill Clinton, who respectively signed the laws to win the votes and money of the Florida right. Incredibly, according to experts, they buried what until then had been a prerogative of the presidents.
The incredible thing is that our development possibilities are tied to two laws from another country. Look at the statistics and you will see how the data on the highest migration flows are connected to moments of greatest pressure and closure, and vice versa, how there were periods when the migration flow was reversed when exchanges were opened.
What resistance and willpower have confirmed to us is that justice for all can only be achieved through socialism, the society for which we continue and will continue to fight! (Applause.)
Capitalism, especially dependent capitalism, ruled in Cuba for 60 years and left us with such a deep degree of injustice that the response was the most radical revolution in the hemisphere.
Renouncing socialism with these historical lessons is not an option, because we did not choose it by chance, we responsibly chose it as an expression of the most advanced universal thought in terms of social justice.
The effectiveness of socialism in achieving noble and humanistic goals is so real that even tied up, surrounded and persecuted by the most powerful empire in history, they have not been able to suffocate us or defeat us.
It is so true that only socialism offers a future as a system of social justice that we are convinced that this is the primary cause of the blockade: to prevent an anti-capitalist, socialist system from succeeding just 90 miles from the empire! (Prolonged applause.)
Sisters and brothers,
At a time like this, we can reaffirm to you that Cuba maintains its foreign policy of principles, solidarity and the defence of just causes in the current complex international context.
And I am going to reaffirm some ideas that were expressed earlier at the opening of today’s session by the Vice Minister of Foreign Relations of our country:
We reaffirm our constant support for the Bolivarian and Chavista Revolution of Venezuela, for the civic-military union of its heroic people and for its legitimate president, Comrade Nicolás Maduro Moros (Extended applause and exclamations).
We reiterate our solidarity with Sandinista Nicaragua, with its people and with President Comandante Daniel Ortega Saavedra (Prolonged applause and exclamations); also our solidarity with the Plurinational State of Bolivia; with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in Brazil, leader of the Workers’ Party of Brazil (Applause); and our unswerving support for the efforts of the Argentine Republic to recover sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands, South Georgia, South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime spaces (Applause); our commitment to the Government of President Luis Arce, of the MAS, in Bolivia, for his work in the country’s recovery and the fight against coup-plotters (Applause); we also support the cause of the Peruvian people and endorse the Government of Honduras and its President Xiomara Castro (Applause).
We will continue to defend the legitimate interests of Caribbean nations and support their demand for compensation for the consequences of slavery and colonialism (Applause).
Especially, we reaffirm our commitment to the brotherly people of Haiti, and our full support for the self-determination and independence of Puerto Rico (Applause).
We thank our friend Andrés Manuel López Obrador, President of Mexico, for his firm support and solidarity with the Cuban Revolution (Applause).
We maintain our unwavering position on a broad, just and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, supporting the search for a negotiated, just and definitive political solution that guarantees the legitimate right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to exist as a sovereign and independent state within the borders prior to 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital (Applause).
We will continue to show unconditional solidarity with the brotherly Sahrawi people and their right to self-determination (Applause).
We advocate for continuing to develop and strengthen the close and friendly ties with Syria, based on respect for self-determination, territorial integrity, and rejection of terrorism and the imposition of economic sanctions by foreign powers and international organizations (Prolonged applause).
We greet the workers of the socialist brother countries (Prolonged applause).
Cuba advocates for peace, cooperation, solidarity, multilateralism and dialogue as premises for conflict resolution, and defends a new international economic order.
While this International Solidarity Meeting is taking place, the third round of the peace talks between the Government of Colombia and the National Liberation Army is being held in Havana (Applause). Cuba’s commitment to peace in Colombia is unalterable, and we will do everything in our power to achieve this long-awaited goal of the Colombian people and our region (Applause). We are committed to fulfilling the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, as approved by the CELAC Summit in 2014.
We know that in many countries in Asia and Oceania, Africa and the Middle East, Europe, North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, workers take to the streets in massive demonstrations to confront neoliberal policies that do not guarantee them employment or social security. To all of them, we convey the solidarity message of the labour movement and the Cuban Revolution for the just struggles they are waging today (Applause).
We want to express our conviction that the great problems facing humanity today, and those it will face in the future, can only be solved through cooperation and solidarity, and not confrontation.
The victory of the Cuban Revolution is, above all, a victory of our people and also of the peoples represented by the international delegates and of all the friend peoples of Cuba (Applause).
The strength of the revolutionary process in Cuban society could not be explained without that popular will and without the meritorious role of the international solidarity that you provide us (Applause).
Comrades:
Those who stay until Friday — is it too much to ask? — will witness how the workers and people of Cuba, despite limitations, will celebrate with joy and unity the International Workers’ Day, this time in a different way, but with the same spirit, enthusiasm and unwavering faith in victory (Applause).
Our eternal and sincere gratitude reaches all of you for accompanying us in our unwavering struggle against the blockade.
On behalf of our people, Party and Government, I reaffirm the continuation of the revolutionary legacy of Fidel, Raúl and so many generations of Cuban patriots who fought for the sovereign, independent, solidarity, democratic, socialist and dignified homeland that we have the responsibility to defend at whatever price necessary (Applause). This is the message of love and firmness that we extend to you and to all friends and peoples of the world.
The uncertain and dangerous global panorama and the brutal extremes to which the enemies of the Revolution have brought us to surrender by hunger and all kinds of shortages have caused many to doubt the real possibility of the victory that awaits us.
In the history of Cuba, there have been many moments like the one we are living now, but perhaps the one with the least hope was experienced for several days by the survivors of the Granma landing. Thirteen days after dispersing, after the baptism of fire in Alegría de Pío, Fidel is reunited with his brother Raúl and four other comrades in the middle of the night and in a remote location known as Cinco Palmas. They embrace. Fidel asks how many rifles they have and Raúl responds five, and Fidel says, “Plus the two I have, seven. Now we win the war!” (Applause.) According to Raúl’s account, at that moment he believed his brother had gone mad, until they won the war! (Applause.)
Many years after so many moments like that, Cuba lost its markets and socialist solidarity, and the empire and ex-socialists allied to impose a double blockade on us. Once again, as in the Bay of Pigs, Fidel led the epic resistance for Cuba and socialism.
Raúl, leading an army that did not lay down its arms but instead focussed on producing food and medicine, demonstrated and said: “Yes, we can!” (Applause).
The generation that now holds the main responsibilities in the Cuban Party, State and Government comes from that school, and we are convinced that “yes, we can” and that “yes, we won the war!” (Applause.)
And just like then, now and always, we count on your solidarity.
Unity and hope are our present and future, and your solidarity strengthens unity and increases hope! (Applause.)
Human solidarity cannot be blockaded, it will continue to be an indestructible weapon of struggle and combat, and at the same time, a permanent and inexhaustible message of peace that cannot be silenced.
Homeland is humanity! A humanity upheld by workers!
Solidarity forever!
We will triumph! We will surely triumph!
Hasta la Victoria Siempre! (Forever onward to victory!)
(Ovation.)