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Dear fellow Cubans;
Distinguished guests:
Many of us who had the privilege of witnessing
that exciting day are still alive; many others are deceased. On
January 1, 1959 the overwhelming majority of those here tonight were
less than 10 years old or had not been born or there were still many
years to go before they would be born.
It was never our purpose to attain individual or
collective glory, honors or recognition. However, those of us who
today have a legitimate right to call ourselves Cuban
revolutionaries found ourselves obliged to write what has turned out
to be an unprecedented page in the annals of history. Unhappy with
the social and political situation in our country, we simply
resolved to change it. This was not something new in Cuba; it had
happened many times for almost a century.
We believed in the rights of the peoples,
including the right to independence and to rise up against tyranny.
It was from the exercise of such rights in this hemisphere,
conquered by European powers by fire and the sword, mass slaughter
of indigenous peoples and the enslavement of millions of Africans,
that a group of independent nations emerged, one of which was the
United States of America.
When, on July 26 1953, the Cuban Revolution
fought its first battle against an illegal, corrupt and bloody
regime, 8 years had not yet gone by since the end of World War II
unleashed by fascism in 1939, which took the lives of more than 50
million people and brought about the destruction of the economies of
all the then industrialized countries, with the exception of the
United States, which was out of reach of enemy bombs and guns.
The fascist ideas that were the cause of that
colossal conflict were in total contradiction with the principles
proclaimed by the 13 former British colonies in America on July 4,
1776 in their Declaration of Independence, which literally read:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the
pursuit of Happiness. […]That whenever any Form of Government
becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to
alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its
foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such
form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and
Happiness".
The French Declaration of the Rights of Man,
which resulted from the 1789 French Revolution, carried this point
even further when it proclaimed: "When the government violates
the rights of the people, insurrection is for the people and for
each portion of the people the most sacred of rights and the most
indispensable of duties".
The fascist ideas also clashed head on with the
principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter after the
gigantic battle that was World War II. Among the principles the
Charter proclaimed to be essential prerequisites of a world
political order are respect for the rights of the people to
sovereignty and independence.
Actually, the rights of the peoples have never
been respected throughout humanity’s brief known history, so full
of wars of conquest, empires and an infinite variety of forms of
plunder and of ways for human beings to exploit other human beings.
Nevertheless, at that historic point in time and despite the reality
that the victorious powers imposed a world political order with
privileges for a minuscule group of the most powerful states that
became ever more irritating, many nations, institutions and people
were hopeful that a new and promising stage for humanity was
beginning. More than 100 nations or groups of nations, including
human groups that still lacked a national identity, were formally
recognized as independent States. It was a time that greatly favored
illusions and deception.
The overwhelming majority of countries that
formally received the status of independent states was made up of
former colonies, dominions, protectorates and other forms of
oppressing and controlling countries that the most powerful nations
have used for centuries.
Their dependence on the former colonial powers
was almost total; their struggle to attain greater sovereignty and
act on it has been difficult and often heroic. The dreadful
harassment to which they are submitted in Geneva to get them to
support the US resolutions or, as a last resort, to abstain from
voting against them is proof of this. The way these states behave in
the United Nations General Assembly is admirable. An expression of
this is the growing and almost unanimous support for Cuba against
the blockade.
The worst of all is that a considerable number of
those countries that were supposedly independent before that
conflict was unaware of just how little independence they really
had, and Cuba was one of them. Almost all of the Latin American
countries were on that sorry list, as would become blatantly clear.
As soon as our heroic people achieved real and full independence,
almost all of their governing elites joined with the United States
to destroy the Revolution and prevent the social and political
accomplishments we were rapidly achieving.
The aggression began as early as 1959 with the
use of all possible economic and political measures, including
violence, terrorism and the threat of the massive use of US military
might.
What happened to Cuba would help showing all of
the illusion and deception contained in those elegant texts about
principles and rights proclaimed by the United Nations Organization.
Might and not rights would continue to be the
basic fact of human life, as it has been the case through the
millennia.
All that has happened up until the present, since
the first known historical facts were registered, is the result of
the natural and spontaneous, torpid and disorderly evolution of
human society. Nobody can be blamed for the various economic and
social systems that have followed one another over the course of
five thousand years.
The different civilizations which arose in the
most distant regions of the world: China, India, the Middle East,
the Mediterranean, Central and South America obviously were, to a
greater or lesser extent, ignorant of the others’ existence, were
independent, although many things attest to the extraordinary range
of their knowledge. Some are amazing like, for example, the Greek
civilization with its art, philosophy, literature, its knowledge of
history, physics, mathematics, astronomy and other subjects.
Our knowledge of Mayan and other pre-Incan
civilizations is growing, and this knowledge shows that human
beings, even when separated by tens of thousands of years in time
and tens of thousands of kilometers in space were already creators
and capable of extraordinary works. Yet, in all the civilizations
that preceded us and even today, empires, wars of conquest,
different kinds of slavery and feudalism, rich and poor, privileged,
ruling social classes and exploited, marginalized and excluded
classes have existed in one form or another. To ignore this fact
would require enormous ignorance.
I must admit that Marx was right when he sketched
out the idea that only when a truly rational, just and equitable
social regime exists on this earth, will humankind have left
prehistory behind.
If the whole development of human society has
inevitably been chaotic, disorderly, unpredictable, extremely cruel
and unjust, the struggle to create a different and truly rational
world, worthy of our species’ intelligence is, at this moment in
its history, which bears no resemblance to any of humanity’s
previous stages, something that was not possible or even imaginable
in other circumstances: an attempt by human beings to plan their own
destiny for the first time.
Dreaming of impossible things is called utopia;
struggling for goals that cannot only be reached but which are
essential if the species is to survive, is called realism.
It would be wrong to assume that such an aim
would be motivated by ideology alone. We are talking about something
that goes beyond the noble and completely justifiable whishes for
justice, beyond the deep desire that all human beings can live a
free and decent life: we are talking about the survival of the
species.
The big difference between the age of the Greeks
and our age lies not in the intellectual capacity of our species but
in the exponential and seemingly infinite development of science and
technology that has taken place in the last 150 years, and which
completely eclipses the negligible and ridiculous political capacity
we have shown for facing up to the risk of perishing as a species, a
risk which really is threatening humanity.
Less than 60 years ago, when the first nuclear
device equivalent to 20,000 tons of TNT exploded over Hiroshima, it
became clear that technology had created a tool which, if developed,
could bring about the obliteration of human life on this planet.
From that day on, the development of such new weapons and weapons
systems, hundreds of times more powerful, varied and accurate has
not ceased, not for one day. Today, there are tens of thousands of
them. Actually, very few have been destroyed under deceptive and
limited covenants.
A small group of countries that have a monopoly
over such weapons have taken upon themselves the exclusive right to
produce and improve them. Meanwhile the contradictions and interests
of its members change and humanity develops under a web of nuclear
weapons that threaten its very existence. Someone could say
something similar to what that Persian emperor said as he and his
huge army closed in on the 300 Spartans defending the pass at
Thermopiles: "Our nuclear weapons shall hide the sun".
The lives of the billions of human beings who
inhabit this planet depend on what a few think, believe and decide.
The worst of it all is that those who wield such great power do not
have psychiatrists to look after them. We cannot just accept this.
We have the right to denounce it, to exercise pressure and demand
changes and an end to such an absurd, unheard of situation, which
makes hostages of us all. No one should ever have such powers or
else no one on this earth will be able to talk of civilization
again.
There is another lethal problem as well: nearly
40 years ago some people began to voice their concerns over what has
come to be called the environment, because a barbarous civilization
was destroying the natural conditions for life. This extremely
sensitive issue was then put on the table for the first time. Quite
a few people thought it was just some alarmists exaggerating, a kind
of neo-Malthusianism, like in previous centuries.
They were, in fact, well-informed and intelligent
people who took to building a public awareness on this issue, at
times worried sick that it was too late to take useful measures.
Regrettably, those who due to their great political responsibilities
should have shown greater concern, showed only ignorance and
disregard.
More than ten years have passed since the
UN-convened Rio de Janeiro Summit and despite the usual
proliferation of speeches, pledges and promises, very little has
been done. Nevertheless, there is a growing awareness of the mortal
danger. And the struggle must grow and will grow. There is no
option.
Recently, a conference was held in Havana on
desertification and climate change, which was also convened by the
UN. It was an important effort to inform, raise awareness and call
people to join the struggle.
In Rio de Janeiro, I was a witness to the deep
concerns and fear of representatives from small islands in the
Pacific and from other countries threatened by the risk of being
either partially or totally submerged by the seas because of climate
change. This is sad. The first to suffer the consequences of
environmental damage are the poor. They do not have cars, or air
conditioners; it is possible they do not even have furniture, if
they have houses, that is. The effects of huge emissions of carbon
dioxide causing atmospheric warming and the destructive effect of
the ultra violet rays that pass through the damaged ozone layer
filter have a greater impact on them. When they fall ill, it is
common knowledge that there are no hospitals, doctors or medicines
for them or their relatives.
A third problem: according to the most
conservative estimates possible, world population took no less than
50,000 years to reach one billion. This happened around 1800, just
as the 19th century was beginning. It reached two billion
130 years later, in 1930. It reached 3 billion in 1960, thirty years
later; 4 billion in 1974, fourteen years later; 5 billion in 1987,
thirteen years later; 6 billion in 1999 only 12 years later. Today,
it stands at 6.3 billion.
It is really amazing that in just 204 years world
population increased by 6.4 times from the figure of one billion
reached in 1800, after no less than 50 thousand years, calculated in
a relatively arbitrary and conservative way so as to have a point of
reference, but that should be further analyzed. It could have taken
many more years, if we limit ourselves only to the time it took to
reach its current capacity.
At what rate is it growing now?
1999: population 6,002 millions; growth 77
millions.
2000: population, 6,079 millions; growth 75
millions.
2001: population, 6,154 millions; growth 74
millions.
2002: population, 6,228 millions; growth 72
millions.
2003: population, 6,300 millions; growth 74
millions.
2004: estimated population, 6,374 millions;
growth 74 millions.
What will the world population be in the year
2050?
The lowest estimates say it will be 7,409
millions; the highest say 10,633 millions. According to many
experts, there will be around 9 billion inhabitants. The enormous
alarm generated by this colossal demographic explosion plus the
accelerated degradation of the natural conditions needed for our
species’ survival have caused people to react with true dismay in
many countries, since almost one hundred per cent of the growth I
mentioned will take place in Third World countries.
Aware of the growing deterioration and reduction
of land and water resources, of the famines in many countries, of
the indifference and wastage in consumer societies and the
educational and health problems facing the world population, one
could imagine that if all of these problems are not solved our human
society might become one where its members devour each other.
It would be a good idea to ask the Olympic
champions of human rights in the West if they have ever used a
single minute to reflect on these realities, which to a very large
degree are the result of the current economic and social system. It
would be worth asking them how they feel about a system that,
instead of educating the masses as a fundamental element for making
progress in the search for urgently needed, viable solutions, with
the support of science, technology and culture, spends one trillion
dollars every year on alienating consumerist advertising. With the
money spent in just one of those years to spread this peculiar
poison, all the illiterate and semi-illiterate people in the world
could be taught to read and write and even reach ninth grade in less
than ten years and no poor child would have to go without schooling.
Without education and other social services, crime and drug abuse
can never be reduced or eradicated. This we proclaim from Cuba, a
country blockaded for 45 years, accused and condemned more than a
few times in Geneva by the United States and their closest allies
but which is about to provide health, education and cultural
development services the like of which the developed and rich West
has never even dreamed of and, what is more, these are absolutely
free for all citizens, with no exceptions whatsoever.
The neoliberal globalization imposed on the
world, designed to facilitate greater looting of the planet’s
natural resources, has, in the wake of the fateful "Washington
Consensus" led most of the countries in the Third World, and
especially those in Latin America, into a desperate and
unsustainable situation.
The first fruit of this disastrous policy was the
"lost decade" of the 80s during which economic growth in
the region only reached 1%; it rose to 2.7 % between 1990 and 1998,
much lower than false hopes and pressing needs, to drop again to 1%
between 1998 and 2004.
The foreign debt, which in 1985, the year of that
treacherous "consensus", was $300 billion, today stands at
more than $750 billion.
Privatizations wiped out hundreds of billions of
dollars worth of national assets that took many years to create but
which evaporated with the speed at which capitals flee from those
countries to Europe and the United States.
Unemployment reached record heights. Of every 100
new jobs created, 82 are in the so-called "informal
sector" which includes a long list of those who earn their
living any way they can without any kind of social or legal
protection.
Poverty has grown alarmingly, especially extreme
poverty; it has grown by 12.8 % involving 44 % of the population.
Development is stagnant and social services are deteriorating by the
day. Neoliberal globalization, as was to be expected, caused a
veritable disaster in these services, first and foremost health and
education.
If old and new forms of looting, such as unequal
terms of trade, the unceasing, forced flight of capital, the brain
drain, protectionism, subsidies and the WTO’s edicts are added to
this, then no one should be surprised by the crises and other
developments in South America.
Latin America is the world region where
neoliberal globalization was applied most rigorously and exactingly.
Now it is facing the challenge of the FTAA which will sweep away
national industries and turn the MERCOSUR and the Andean Pact into
appendages of the US economy: it is a last assault on the economic
development, the unity and the independence of the Latin American
peoples.
But, even if this attempt at annexation is
successful, this economic order will still be unsustainable, both
for the Latin American peoples and for the people in the United
States whose jobs are threatened by plentiful cheap labor recruited
by the maquilas from among those who were prevented by the
existing poverty, educational disaster and unemployment from getting
properly trained. Cheap, unskilled labor is something that the Latin
American oligarchies can offer on a grand scale.
A summary of all that I have said shows my
profound conviction that our species, and with it each one of our
peoples, are at a turning point in their history: the course of
events must change or else our species shall not survive. There is
no other planet we can move to. There is no atmosphere, no air and
no water on Mars, neither is there any transportation for us to
emigrate there en masse. Either we save this what we have, or
many millions of years will have to go by before another intelligent
species arises that can start all over again the adventure we have
gone through. Pope John Paul II has already explained that the
theory of evolution is not irreconcilable with the creation
doctrine.
I must draw my talk to a close. There is much
work awaiting us in 2004.
I want to congratulate our people for everything
it has done over all these years, for its heroism, its patriotism,
its fighting spirit, its loyalty and its revolutionary fervor.
I want to offer special congratulations on this
45 anniversary to those who took part in glorious internationalist
missions, today epitomized by the exemplary behavior of the five
heroes imprisoned by the Empire who, with impressive dignity, have
withstood the unjust, vengeful, cruel actions of the enemies of
their homeland and their people; epitomized too by the 15,000
doctors who, making great sacrifices, taking risks and dangers carry
out their internationalist duties anywhere in more than 64
countries, a human feat that the United States and Europe could
never accomplish as they lack the human capital to demonstrate which
human rights they are really defending.
Nobody can prevent with threats or aggressions
that our doctors, teachers, sports instructors or any other
collaborator show their solidarity; nobody can hold back the bravery
of our sons and daughters because many are ready for the honor of
taking the place of those who might fall victims of terrorist
actions encouraged and promoted by extremist officials in the US
government.
I congratulate all those who struggle, those who
never give up in the face of adversity; those who believe in
humanity’s capacity to create, sow and cultivate values and ideas;
those who bet on humanity; all of those who share the beautiful
tenet that a better world is possible!
We shall fight hand in hand with them and we
shall overcome!
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