On April 15, simultaneous air attacks were launched on three airfields in Cuba with the aim of eliminating the possibility of an effective Cuban defense against the invasion scheduled to take place the following day. The invasion was defeated within 72 hours and over 1,179 members of the invading mercenary Brigade 2506 were captured.
In a speech outside the main cemetery in Havana where the victims of the bombing raids were buried, Fidel Castro compared the attack to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, and went on to proclaim, for the first time, the socialist character of the Cuban revolution.
When, in the midst of [World War II], the imperialist government of Japan wanted to join in, it made no declaration of war and issued no warning. One Sunday morning, at dawn—December 7, 1941—Japanese planes and ships made a surprise attack on the naval base at Pearl Harbor and destroyed nearly all of the ships and planes of the US naval force in the Pacific.
Everyone remembers what happened there. Everyone remembers the wave of indignation it caused among the people of the United States; everyone remembers the irritation which that underhanded, surprise attack produced in that country and the indignation it caused in the rest of the world. The people of the United States mobilized in the face of that act of aggression, and they will never forget the treacherous, cowardly way in which their ships and planes were attacked that December dawn in 1941.
That attack stands as a symbol of treachery; it has gone down in the history of the United States as a symbol of perfidy, wickedness and cowardice. The United States and US public opinion have condemned it as a despicable, treacherous, cowardly act.
I’m not trying to establish comparisons, because when the Japanese were fighting against the United States, it was a struggle between two imperialist countries; two capitalist countries; two exploiting governments; two colonialist governments; two governments that were trying to control the markets, raw materials and economies of a large part of the world… Here, it isn’t a struggle between two exploiting forces; it isn’t a struggle between two imperialisms…
Cuba is very different from the United States. The United States exploits other nations, has appropriated a large part of the world’s natural resources and is making tens of millions of workers all over the world labor in the service of its caste of millionaires. Cuba doesn’t exploit other nations; Cuba hasn’t appropriated, and is not struggling to appropriate, the natural resources of other nations; Cuba isn’t trying to make the workers in other nations labor in its service…
With our revolution, we are eradicating not only the exploitation of one nation by another but also the exploitation of one human being by another. We have stated in a history-making general assembly [the Declaration of Havana in September 1960] that we oppose the exploitation of human beings; we have denounced the exploitation of human beings, and we will put an end to the exploitation of human beings in our homeland…
The people of the United States consider the attack on Pearl Harbor to have been a crime and a treacherous, cowardly act. Our people, therefore, are fully entitled to consider the imperialist attack that took place yesterday as a doubly criminal, doubly underhanded, doubly treacherous and thousand-times more cowardly act…
Without a doubt, the imperialist US government is treating us this way because Cuba isn’t a powerful country; unquestionably, it is treating us this way because it knows that we can’t give the criminal, cowardly actions it carries out against us the response they deserve. Without a doubt, if Cuba were a military power, the imperialist US government would never dare to perpetrate any such acts against us…
When the imperialist government of Japan took that action, it didn’t try to hide its responsibility. In contrast, the president of the United States is acting like Pontius Pilate. President Kennedy is acting exactly like Pontius Pilate—which sums up the US government’s policy.
How well those facts help us to understand! How well they show us what our world is really like and help us to educate our people. Those lessons come at a high price; they are painful and bloody. But how much the people learn from these things! How well our people have learned and have grown!…
Yesterday, as everyone knows, three groups of bombers, coming from outside the country, entered our national territory at 6:00 in the morning and attacked three different targets in our national territory. In each of these places, our people defended themselves heroically; in each of these places the valuable blood of our defenders was shed; in each of these places there were thousands and, where there were not thousands, hundreds and hundreds, of witnesses to what happened. Moreover, this was something we expected; it was something that was expected every day; it was the logical culmination of the burning of the sugarcane fields, of the hundreds of violations of our air space, of the pirate air raids, of the pirate attacks on our refineries from vessels that enter our waters before the sun is up. It was the consequence of what everyone knows; it was the consequence of the plans to attack us that were hatched by the United States in complicity with its lackey governments in Central America; it was the consequence of the air bases that everyone knows about only too well, because even the US newspapers and news agencies have published this information, and even their own news agencies and newspapers are tired of talking about the mercenary armies that are being organized, about the air fields that they have made ready, about the planes that the US government has given to them, about the Yankee instructors, about the air bases they have established in Guatemalan territory…
Imperialism plans the crime, organizes the crime, arms the criminals, trains the criminals, pays the criminals and the criminals come here and kill seven working people and then calmly go back and land in the United States. Even when the whole world knows about their deeds, they then say it was Cuban pilots who did it and they make up a fantastic tale, spread it all around the world, publish it in all the newspapers, propagate it from all the radio and television stations of the Miami reactionaries throughout the world, and then along come the archbishops to bless and sanctify the lie. Thus the whole throng of mercenaries, exploiters and phonies from all around the world come together in crime…
This is because what these imperialists can’t forgive is that we are here, and what these imperialists can’t forgive is the dignity, the firmness, the courage, the ideological integrity, the spirit of sacrifice and the revolutionary spirit of the Cuban people.
This is what they can’t forgive, the fact that we are here right under their very noses, and that we have brought about a socialist revolution right under the nose of the United States!
And we are defending this socialist revolution with these guns! We are defending this socialist revolution with the same courage that our antiaircraft artillery showed yesterday in riddling the attacking planes with bullets!…
We are not defending this revolution with mercenaries; we are defending this revolution with the men and women of our people.
Who has the arms here? Perhaps it is the mercenary who has the arms? Perhaps it is the millionaire who has the arms? Perhaps the mercenary and the millionaire are one and the same thing. Perhaps the little boys with rich daddies have the arms? Perhaps the overseers have the arms?
Whose hands hold the arms here? Are they the hands of playboys? Are they the hands of the rich? Are they the hands of the exploiters? Whose hands hold the arms here? Aren’t they workers’ hands, peasants’ hands? Aren’t they hands that have been hardened by work? Aren’t they hands that create? Aren’t they the hands of our humble people? And who are the majority of our people? Millionaires or workers? Exploiters or exploited? The privileged or the humble? Do the privileged have arms? Or do the humble have arms? Aren’t the privileged a minority? Aren’t the humble a majority? Isn’t a revolution where the humble bear arms democratic?
Compañeros, workers and peasants: This is a socialist and democratic revolution of the humble, by the humble and for the humble. And for this revolution of the humble, by the humble, for the humble, we are ready to give our lives.
Workers and peasants, humble men and women of our country: Do you swear to defend this revolution of the humble, by the humble, for the humble, to the last drop of your blood?
Compañeros, workers and peasants of our country, yesterday’s attack was a prelude to a mercenary aggression. Yesterday’s attack, which cost seven heroic lives, aimed to destroy our planes on the ground. But it failed. They only destroyed two planes while most of the enemy planes were damaged or shot down. Here, before the tomb of our fallen compañeros; here, next to the remains of these heroic young people, children of workers, children of the humble, we reaffirm our resolve that just as they exposed themselves to the bullets, just as they gave their lives, we, too, all of us, proud of our revolution, proud of defending this revolution of the humble, by the humble and for the humble, shall not hesitate, whenever the mercenaries come, no matter who is against us, to defend it to our last drop of blood.
Long live the working class! Long live the peasants! Long live the humble! Long live the martyrs of our country! May the martyrs of our country live forever! Long live the socialist revolution! Long live a free Cuba!
Patria o muerte! [Homeland or death!]
Venceremos! [We will win!]
A few weeks after the Bay of Pigs at a mass rally in Havana celebrating May Day, Fidel summed up the lessons of the invasion, reviewing the unfolding revolutionary process and the next steps forward.
Distinguished visitors from Latin America and the entire world;
Combatants of the armed forces of the people, workers:
We have had 14 and a half hours of marching. I think that only a people imbued with infinite enthusiasm is capable of such an endurance test. Nevertheless, I will try to be as brief as possible…
I believe that today we should outline the course we should follow, analyze a little what we have done up to now, consider what point in our history we have reached, and what lies ahead…
This May Day says a lot. It says a lot about what the revolution has been so far, and what it has achieved so far. Maybe it tells our visitors more than it tells us.
All we Cubans have been witnesses to every step taken by the revolution, so maybe we don’t realize how much we have advanced as fully as our visitors do, particularly those visitors from Latin America, where today they still live in a world very similar to the one we lived in yesterday. It is as if they were suddenly transported from the past and parachuted into this moment of our revolution to see all the incredible progress. We do not intend tonight to stress the merits of what we have done. We merely want to identify for ourselves the point we have currently reached and assess the revolution’s genuine results.
This May Day is so different from those of the past. Previously, this date was the occasion for each sector of labor to raise its demands, its aspirations for improvement, to those who were totally deaf to working-class interests, to those who would not grant even the most basic demands because they did not govern for the people, for the workers, for the peasants, for the humble. They governed solely for the privileged, for the dominant economic interests. Doing anything for the people would have meant harming the interests they represented. So they could not accede to any just demand from the people. The May Day marches of those years registered the complaints and protests of the workers.
How different today’s march has been! How different even from the first marches after the triumph of the revolution. Today’s march shows us how much progress we have made. The workers no longer have to submit themselves to those ordeals; the workers no longer have to implore rulers deaf to their appeals; the workers are no longer subject to the domination of any exploiting class; the workers no longer live in a country run by those serving exploiting interests. The workers know now that everything the revolution does, everything the government does or can do, has one goal: helping the workers, helping the people.
Otherwise, there would be no explanation for this spontaneous show of support for the revolutionary government, this flood of goodwill that every man and woman has expressed here today.
The fruits of the revolution can be seen everywhere. The first to parade today were the children of the Camilo Cienfuegos school complex. We saw the Pioneers march by with smiles of hope, confidence and affection. We saw the Young Rebels march by. We saw the women of the Federation [of Cuban Women (FMC)] go by. We saw children from countless schools created by the revolution. We saw 1,000 students from the 600 sugarcane cooperatives who are studying artificial insemination here in the capital. We saw young people, humble people, parade in the uniforms of the schools where they are learning to be the diplomatic representatives of the future.
We saw the pupils of the schools for young peasants of the Zapata swamps, where the mercenaries chose to launch their [Bay of Pigs] attack. We saw thousands and thousands of peasants who are studying in the capital and who come from remote mountain areas, from sugarcane cooperatives or from people’s farms. We saw the young women studying to be workers in child-care centers.
Each of these groups created a wonderful display. We have seen not only those who came from the rural areas but also those who are going to the countryside, such as the volunteer teachers and some of the 100,000 young people on their way to the interior of the country to wipe out illiteracy.
Where does this strength come from? It comes from the people, and it extends toward the people in return. These young people are truly children of the people. When we saw them today spelling out “Long live our socialist revolution,” we realized how difficult it would have been to have all this without a revolution; how difficult for any of these children from the mountains to have marched here today, or for any of them to have the chance to get to know the capital, or to study in any of these schools, or to march with the joy and pride shown here today, or to march with the faith in the future shown today. Schools, university careers, art, culture and honors were never for the children of poor families, in the towns or in the countryside. They were never meant for peasants in the remote rural areas; they were never meant for the poor youth, black or white, from the countryside or the cities.
Art, culture, university careers, opportunities, honors, elegant clothes—all these were the privileges of a small minority, a minority represented today with that grace and humor shown by some workers’ federations in their mimicry of the rich. It is truly astounding to think that today more than 20,000 athletes and gymnasts marched, bearing in mind we are only just beginning.
And all this, without mentioning the most marvelous thing we have seen today: this armed nation, this united people, which has been a highlight of these ceremonies.
How would this be possible without a revolution? How can one compare the present with the past? How can one not feel emotion on seeing the endless lines of workers, athletes and militia march by. At times all became intermingled. After all, workers, athletes and soldiers are the same thing.
Everyone can see why our people must emerge victorious from any battle. We noted the many women in the ranks of the union federations. The men were in the artillery units, mortar units, anti-aircraft units or militia battalions. The women were the wives and sisters and sweethearts of the militiamen who marched by later.
And those secondary school students, the Pioneers who marched by first or with the athletes—these too are the children of the militia members.
In this way, we can appreciate the working people as a whole. Workers of every profession, all marching together; manual laborers and intellectual workers; the writers, artists, actors, radio announcers, doctors, nurses, health care workers—all marching together in massive numbers. Under the banner of the National Education Workers Union were teachers and employees of the Ministry of Education.
Today we have had a chance to see everything that is worthwhile in our country, everything produced by our country. We can understand better than ever that there are two classes of citizens—or rather, there used to be two classes of citizens—those who worked, who produced and who created; and those who lived without working or producing, those who were simply parasites.
In this young, combative nation, who did not march today? The parasites! Today it was the working people who marched, everyone who produces with their hands or their brain…
This truly is the people. Someone living as a parasite or who wants to live as a parasite does not belong to the people. Only invalids, the sick, the elderly and children are entitled to live without working and are entitled to have us work for them and care for them. We have a duty to work for the children, the elderly and the sick. No moral law can ever justify that the people must work for the parasites.
Those marching today were the working people who will never again resign themselves to work for the parasites. This is the way our nation has come to understand what the revolution is, and how a nation can rid itself of foreign and domestic parasites.
We recall that when the largest industries were nationalized, in the same way that we nationalized the US factories, some people asked: “But wasn’t this factory a Cuban factory? Why should a Cuban factory be nationalized?” Well, that factory did not belong to the people, it belonged to some gentleman. It did not belong to the people; it did not belong to the nation…
Certain gentlemen used to talk a lot about the homeland and the need to defend the homeland. They had quite a distorted idea of the homeland. What homeland were they referring to? The homeland of the few? The homeland of the privileged? The homeland of the gentleman with 1,000 caballerías of land and three houses, while others live in hovels?
What homeland did you have in mind, sir? A homeland where a small group has all the opportunities and lives off the labor of others? A homeland of the unemployed? The homeland of a family living in a slum? The homeland of the hungry, barefoot child begging for alms on the street?
What homeland are you referring to? The homeland that belonged to a small minority? Or the homeland of today, where we have won the right to chart our own destiny, where we have won the right to construct a better future. A homeland that will be, now and forever—as Martí wanted it—for the good of all, and not a homeland for the few!
The homeland will be a place where injustice is eliminated. This is our concept of the homeland. We will defend and are willing to die for a homeland that belongs to all Cubans, not just the few…
When a Yankee monopolist or a member of the US ruling circles talks about the homeland, they are referring to the homeland of the monopolies, of the large banking monopolies. They are thinking of sending the blacks of the South and the workers to be killed to defend the homeland of the monopolies.
What kind of morality and what right or reason do they have to make a black person die defending the monopolies, or the factories and the mines of the ruling class? What right do they have to send a Puerto Rican of Latin blood, of Latin tradition, to the battlefields to defend the policy of large capitalists and monopolies? The only threat to security is the threat to the monopolies. What concept of morality, law and rights is it to send the blacks from the South and Puerto Ricans to fight for them? This is their concept of homeland. A real homeland is one where the interests of the privileged classes have been eliminated, and where the nation and its wealth belong to everyone, the wealth is for everyone, and opportunity and happiness are for everyone…
Let’s not talk about what might have happened to the people’s hopes and aspirations if the imperialists had succeeded [in the Bay of Pigs invasion]. There can be no more tragic spectacle in the history of humanity than that of a defeated revolution. When the revolt of the slaves in Rome was defeated, thousands were nailed to crosses on the roadside. This should give us an idea of what a defeated revolution is.
There was also the dreadful slaughter of workers after the defeat of the Paris Commune [in 1871]. This, too, should give us an idea of what a defeated revolution is.
History teaches us that a defeated revolution has to pay an extraordinary toll in blood. The victorious ruling class demands payment for the anxiety it experienced, for all the interests that were affected, or that were threatened. But it not only demands payment for present debts; it also seeks to collect, in blood, payment for future debts. It tries to annihilate the revolution down to its very roots.
Of course, under certain circumstances it is impossible to smash a revolution. I’ve spoken of revolutions that were defeated before the people had conquered power. What has never happened before in history is the defeat of a revolutionary people that has truly conquered power.
I am only trying to point out what the situation of this country might have been had imperialism got what it wanted. I am trying to point out the kind of May Day our workers would be having had imperialism got what it wanted!
For this reason, we think about everything we owe to those who fell. This is why we consider that every smile today is a tribute to those who made possible this happy and optimistic day.
The blood that was shed in battle was the blood of workers and peasants. It was the blood of children from poor working families. It was not the blood of plantation owners, millionaires, thieves, criminals or exploiters. The blood that was shed was of those who were exploited yesterday but today are free. It was humble blood, honest blood, working-class blood, creative blood. It was the blood of patriots, not mercenaries. It was the blood of workers who voluntarily and spontaneously enlisted in the army of the homeland. It was not the blood of conscripts forced into service by some law. It was the blood of those who spontaneously and generously offered to confront all the risks of battle to defend an ideal, a true ideal they felt deeply—not the false and hypocritical ideal that the Yankees inculcated in their mercenaries, as if they were parrots repeating the word “ideal.”
Theirs was not an ideal of parrots, not an ideal to which you pay lip service, but an ideal from the heart. Not an ideal of those coming to recover their lost privileges, their lost lands, their lost banks, their lost factories, their lost riches. Not an ideal of those who came to recover the easy life, by those who never had a drop of sweat on their brow while they lived off the sweat and blood of everyone else. Not the ideal of the mercenary who sells his soul for the mighty empire’s gold.
Rather, it is the ideal of the worker who does not want to continue being exploited. The ideal of the peasants who do not want to lose their land again. The ideal of the young person who does not want to lose his or her teacher. The ideal of the black person who does not want to be discriminated against anymore. The ideal of the woman who wants to live with rights and dignity. The ideal of working people, those who never lived off the sweat of others. The ideal of those who never considered life as a gift, but as work. The ideal of those who never stole anything from anyone, or killed anyone in defense of illegitimate interests.
It is the ideal of a working person who defends the revolution because the revolution is everything. Previously that worker was nothing, lowly and downtrodden, subject to humiliation, discriminated against and mistreated. A person whom the ruling and exploiting class considered to be a nobody. Today that worker is a somebody, one among millions of people. And that worker defends the revolution because the revolution is their life, and because identified with the revolution is that person’s life, future and hopes.
Before sacrificing these hopes, those workers would rather lose their lives a thousand times. Because they are not thinking selfishly about themselves. They are thinking that while an individual may fall, it would not be in vain, because the cause for which they fall will bring happiness to millions of their brothers and sisters.
Working-class blood, peasant blood, the blood of the poor was shed by the homeland in the battle against imperialism’s mercenaries. What kind of blood and what kind of people did imperialism send here to establish a beachhead? A beachhead from which they could plunge our people into a war of attrition, systematically burning our cane fields with incendiary bombs—as they have been doing without holding a piece of the national territory with which to try to give some legitimacy for launching their planes. Launching a war of destruction against our factories and our people, as they have been doing when they didn’t even have a base here, sending their planes from abroad, at the same time as they were deceiving the world in the most cynical manner.
We have a right to say to the people, above all to our visitors, that at the same time that three of our airports were being bombed by US-made planes, with Yankee bombs and bullets, US news agencies were telling the world that our airports had been attacked by planes from our own air force, with pilots who had deserted that same day…
So, who were the people that fought against those workers and peasants? I’m going to tell you.
There are close to 1,100 mercenary prisoners captured by the revolutionary forces at the present moment, not counting the ship’s crews. We analyzed the social composition of these prisoners with the following results: approximately 800 are from wealthy families, whose property collectively amounts to 27,566 caballerías of land taken over by the revolution; 9,666 houses, 70 factories, 10 sugar mills, two banks, five mines, and two newspapers. In addition, more than 200 of these 800 belonged to the most exclusive and aristocratic clubs in Havana. Of the remaining 200, 135 were former members of Batista’s army, and the other 65 were lumpen or declassed individuals.
You will remember that during a discussion with the prisoners, I asked if any of them had cut sugarcane and no one came forward. Finally, one person raised his hand and said that he had once been a sugarcane cutter. If instead of this question, I had asked how many owned large landed estates, 77 would have raised their hands. So this is the social composition of the invaders: 27,556 caballerías of land, 9,666 buildings and houses, 70 factories, 10 sugar mills, two banks, five mines and two newspapers.
We are sure that if we were to ask everyone here how many own sugar mills, or how many own banks, or how many own large landed estates, there would not be one. Had we asked the combatants who were killed, members of the militias or soldiers of the Revolutionary National Police or Rebel Army; had we asked about the wealth of those who were killed or who fought, you can be sure there would not have been a single bank, a single mine, a single sugar mill, a single apartment building, a single factory, a single plantation, nor would there be a single member of any of the aristocratic clubs that used to exist in this city.
And some of those shameless individuals said they came here to fight for ideals, for free enterprise! Let some idiot come here today to say he was fighting for free enterprise! As if our people did not know more than enough about what free enterprise is. Free enterprise was the slums of Las Yaguas, Llega y Pon, Cueva del Humo and dozens of other places around this city. Free enterprise was unemployment for 500,000 Cubans. Free enterprise was hundreds or thousands of families living in guardarrayas. Free enterprise was more than 100,000 peasant families working the land in order to pay a considerable part of their produce to absentee landlords who had never even seen a single seed being planted. Free enterprise was discrimination, arbitrary acts, abuse against workers and peasants, beatings by police, murders of workers’ leaders, Mujalism [yellow unionism], contraband, gambling casinos, vice, exploitation, lack of education, illiteracy and poverty.
How are they going to talk about free enterprise to a people that had almost half a million unemployed, a million and a half illiterates, half a million children without schools, who had to stand in line to get into a hospital—in addition to finding some politician to help, in exchange for selling him your vote! How can they come and talk about free enterprise to a people that knows what free enterprise is: aristocratic clubs for a few thousand families while there are beggars in the streets, while hungry children go swimming at El Morro, next to sewage because they could not afford to go to a beach, because the beaches were off-limits and for the aristocrats only; the beaches were for the fortunate beneficiaries of free enterprise.
They could not even dream of going to Varadero beach, because Varadero was for a few wealthy families. They could not even dream that the child of a poor person could go to a university, because the universities were only for the privileged of free enterprise. They could not dream that their child would go and study languages in Europe, because the only ones who went to Europe were the privileged of free enterprise. They could not dream that the child of a construction worker or any low-paid worker could attend high school. A sugar worker could not dream that their child could graduate from high school, not to mention become a doctor or engineer. The child of a worker could only go to school if the worker lived in the capital and could afford to send that child—even then the possibilities were few—but 75 or 90 percent of the workers’ children lived in areas where there were no secondary schools and they lacked the resources to pay for room and board in the city; so there was no opportunity to go to school. That opportunity was exclusively for the children of the beneficiaries of free enterprise. A cart driver or a sugarcane cutter could not even dream that his daughter would march in a parade, or do a tap dance and wear elegant clothing. A peasant could not even dream that his son could go and study agriculture in the Soviet Union. Nor could working families dream that their children would have the opportunity to study diplomatic law, mechanics, or any other profession, because these opportunities, with only a few exceptions, were for the children of wealthy families.
Some little rich kid, who doesn’t know what it means to work, to sweat, or to suffer, and who came to murder peasants and workers—how can he tell us that he shed the people’s blood in order to defend free enterprise? And not just his daddy’s free enterprise, but the free enterprise of the United Fruit Company, the free enterprise of the Yankee electricity monopoly, the free enterprise of the company that used to control the telephones, the free enterprise of the companies that used to control the oil refineries. These were not free enterprises, they were monopolies that as such virtually eliminated competition.
When these gentlemen who came here, armed by imperialism, say they were defending free enterprise, what they were really defending were the monopolies. Monopolies in fact are against free enterprise, because they control the entire industry, its prices and its resources. Its method consists precisely in ruining everyone else. So, they were not even defending free enterprise, technically speaking. These very ignorant or very stupid people were defending the Yankee monopoly interests here and abroad. How can they tell the Cuban people that they came to defend the interests of free enterprise?
They also say they came to defend the 1940 constitution. It is curious that they did nothing to defend the 1940 constitution when it was torn up by the Batista dictatorship. They did nothing to defend the constitution when it was destroyed in the March 10 military coup with the complicity of first, the US embassy; second, the reactionary clergy; and third—or rather first, together with the others—the dominant economic classes, the monopolies, and the rich of our country, with the complicity of a judiciary corrupted down to the marrow of its bones, and of a whole series of corrupt politicians. It is truly cynical to see a little rich kid together with mayors, representatives and politicians of all types from the Batista years saying they were coming to defend the 1940 constitution. It was Batista himself who trampled on and destroyed that constitution, with the complicity of imperialism and the ruling classes. Also accompanying these little rich kids were hundreds of former members of Batista’s army, and along with them a bunch of criminals and torturers, as well as a bunch of corrupt politicians—all saying they were coming to defend the 1940 constitution.
In point of fact, insofar as there were any advanced or revolutionary aspects of the 1940 constitution, the only government that has respected it, abided by it and moved it forward is precisely the revolutionary government.
That constitution said, “The system of large landed estates is prohibited,” and that “to bring about its disappearance”—the constitution spoke of “its disappearance”—“the law will establish the maximum amount of landed property that any agricultural or industrial enterprise can possess.” Obviously that provision was never carried out. Why not? Because there needed to be a subsequent law brought into Congress. And who was in Congress? The politicians, the lawyers for the Yankee monopolies, the owners of the large landed estates, the millionaires, the rich. Only a tiny handful of workers’ leaders made it to the House of Representatives or the Senate, where they were condemned to remain in the minority, because all the newspapers, all the radio and television stations belonged to the same ruling economic sectors who owned and had a monopoly over the means of disseminating ideas. Any attempt to do something on behalf of the peasants was drowned in lies.
Back then it was very difficult for the people to learn about the evictions of peasants, about the frightful misery of the peasants, about the extremely high infant mortality rate. Tens of thousands of children of all ages died without a single doctor. The fact that tens of thousands of children died for lack of doctors and medicine was not a crime as far as the ruling class was concerned. It was not a crime as far as the beneficiaries of free enterprise were concerned. This did not pain them. This was not important to them. Society hardly even knew of these things!
The members of that Congress who had to decide on the supplementary provisions of the constitution were none other than the owners of large landed estates, the millionaires and the lawyers for the Yankee monopolies. There was no Agrarian Reform Law then. Despite the fact that the law said, “The system of large landed estates is prohibited,” a single Yankee company owned 17,000 caballerías of land. And despite the fact that another provision of the 1940 constitution said, “the law will determine the appropriate norms so that the land returns to Cuban hands,” in 19 years after the 1940 constitution was approved and went into effect, there was not a single law that took even a single caballería from a Yankee monopoly that owned 17,000.
Another monopoly had 15,000 caballerías, another had 10,000, which is almost 140,000 hectares. There were companies here with more than 200,000 hectares of the best land in Cuba.
The constitution also stated that “the state shall exhaust all means at its disposal to give work to every worker, manual or intellectual.” Does this refer to teachers? The revolution discovered over 10,000 teachers without a classroom, without work, and it immediately gave them jobs, because there were also half a million children who needed schools. Let me repeat: “The state shall exhaust all the means at its disposal to give work to every worker, manual or intellectual, in order to provide them a decent existence.” This is what the revolution did. It exhausted all the means at its disposal for this. And if it didn’t exhaust all the means at its disposal, it was prepared to exhaust all the necessary means to give them jobs. Yes, jobs, because that’s what the constitution ordered.
Those basic principles, which would have resolved the problem of hundreds of thousands of peasants, hundreds of thousands of unemployed, were set forth in the constitution but not complied with…
Those who follow the instructions of the US State Department, promoting the policy of isolating Cuba, those complying with imperialism’s orders and breaking relations with a Latin American country under attack by imperialism, are miserable traitors to the interests and feelings of the Americas.
These facts show us the rotten and corrupt politicking that prevails in many Latin American countries. It shows how the Cuban revolution has turned those business-as-usual and corrupt ways upside down in order to establish completely new ways of life in our country.
To those who talk to us about the 1940 constitution, we say that the 1940 constitution is already too outdated for us. We are way beyond it; we have outgrown the 1940 constitution like an old jacket. That constitution was good for its time although it was never carried out. That constitution has been bypassed by this revolution, which as we have said is a socialist revolution.
We must talk of a new constitution. Yes, a new constitution, but not a bourgeois constitution, not a constitution corresponding to the rule of an exploiting class over other classes. What we need is a constitution corresponding to a new social system, one without the exploitation of one human being by another. That new social system is called socialism, and this constitution will therefore be a socialist constitution.
If Mr. Kennedy does not like socialism, well, we do not like imperialism! We do not like capitalism!
We have as much right to protest the existence of an imperialist and capitalist system 90 miles from our shore as he feels he has the right to protest over the existence of a socialist system 90 miles from his shore.
Rights do not come from size. Right does not come from one country being bigger than another; that does not matter. We have only a limited territory, a small nation, but our right is as respectable as that of any country, regardless of its size. It does not occur to us to tell the people of the United States what system of government they must have. Therefore, it is absurd for Mr. Kennedy to take it into his head to tell us what kind of government we should have here. That is absurd! It occurs to Mr. Kennedy to do that only because he does not have a clear concept of international law or sovereignty. Who had those ideas before Kennedy? Hitler and Mussolini!
They spoke the same language of force; it is the language of fascists. We heard it in the years before Germany’s attack on Czechoslovakia. Hitler split it up because it was governed by a reactionary government. The reactionary and pro-fascist bourgeoisie were afraid of the advance of a socialist system, and even preferred domination by Hitler. We heard that language on the eve of the invasion of Denmark, Belgium, Poland and so forth. It is the right of might. This is the only right Kennedy advances in claiming the right to interfere in our country.
This is a socialist regime, yes! Yes, this is a socialist regime. It is here, but the fault is not ours, the blame belongs to Columbus, the English colonizers, the Spanish colonizers. The people of the United States, too, will someday get tired [of capitalism].
The US government says that a socialist regime here threatens US security. But what threatens the security of the US people is the aggressive policy of the warmongers of the United States. What threatens the security of the North American family and the US people is the violent, aggressive policy that ignores the sovereignty and the rights of other peoples. It is Kennedy’s aggressive policy that is threatening the security of the United States. That aggressive policy could lead to a world war; and that world war might cost the lives of tens of millions of North Americans. Therefore, it is not the Cuban revolutionary government threatening the security of the United States, but the aggressive government of the United States itself.
We do not endanger the security of a single North American. We do not endanger the life or security of a single US family. We are making cooperatives, agrarian reform, people’s farms, houses, schools, literacy campaigns, and sending thousands and thousands of teachers to the interior [of Cuba], building hospitals, sending doctors, giving scholarships, building factories, increasing the productive capacity of our country, creating public beaches, converting fortresses into schools, and giving the people the right to a better future. We are not endangering a single US family or a single US citizen.
The lives of millions of families, of tens of millions of North Americans are being endangered by those who are playing with nuclear war. Those who, as General Cardenas said, are playing with the possibility that New York becomes a new Hiroshima. Those playing with nuclear war, along with their aggressive war and their policy violating the rights of people, are the ones endangering the security of the US nation and the lives of untold millions of North Americans.
What do the monopolists fear? Why do they say that they are not secure with the socialist revolution nearby? As Khrushchev says, they are proving that they know their system is inferior. They don’t even believe in their own system. Why don’t they leave us alone when all our government wants is peace?
Our government recently issued a statement saying we were willing to negotiate. Why? Because we are afraid? No! We are convinced that they fear the revolution more than we fear them. They have a mentality that does not permit them to sleep when they know that there is a revolution nearby.
Fear? No one is afraid here. The people struggling for their liberty are never frightened. Those frightened are the wealthy, those who have been wealthy. We are not interested in having imperialism commit suicide at our expense. They do not care about the death of blacks, Puerto Ricans or Americans. But we do care about every Cuban life. We want peace.
We are ready to negotiate. They say that economic conditions can be discussed, but not communism. Well, where did they get the idea we would discuss that? We would discuss economic problems. But we are not ready to admit that these talks so much as brush a petal of a rose here. The Cuban people are capable of establishing their own government. We have never considered the possibility of discussing this. We will discuss only matters that do not affect our sovereignty. But we do want to discuss peace.
Those who are not concerned about taking the US people to war are being led by their emotions. We have no fear. If they think that is the case, they should forget it. No Cuban is afraid. If they think we will discuss our internal politics, they should forget that, too. They can discuss anything they want to discuss. We discussed things with invaders, didn’t we? Well, we will debate with anyone. We are willing to talk. We are willing to debate. But does that mean we are desperate to negotiate? No way! We are just acting rationally. Does this mean the revolution will slow down? No way! We will continue, picking up speed as we can…
We announce here that in the next few days the revolutionary government will pass a law nationalizing the private schools. This law cannot be a law for one sector; it will be general. That means the private schools will be nationalized—of course, not a little school where one teacher gives classes, but private schools with several teachers.
The conduct of the directors of private schools has varied. Many private school directors have not been instilling counterrevolutionary poison. The revolution feels it is its duty to organize and establish the principle of free education for all citizens. The people feel they have the duty of training future generations in a spirit of love for the country, for justice, for the revolution.
What will happen to the private schools that have not supported the counterrevolution? The revolutionary government will indemnify those directors or owners of schools whose attitude has not been counterrevolutionary, whose attitude has been favorable to the revolution; but the revolution will not indemnify any school whose directors have been waging a counterrevolutionary campaign, who have been against the revolution. In other words, there will be indemnity for those schools that have displayed a patriotic, decent attitude toward the revolution and their directors will be invited to work with the revolutionary government in directing that school or another school…
The teachers and employees of all these schools, of a lay nature, will be given work; they will have their jobs guaranteed. The pupils of these schools can go on attending, the educational standards will be maintained and even improved, and furthermore, now they will have to pay absolutely nothing to attend these schools…
Religion is one thing, politics is another. If those gentlemen [the Catholic bishops] were not against the political interests of the people, we would not care at all about their pastorals, their discussions about religious matters. The churches can remain open; religion can be taught there. Wouldn’t it be much better if they had stuck to their religious teaching? Wouldn’t it be much better to have peace? They can have peace, within strict limits of the respect due to the revolutionary people and government. But they cannot make war on the people on behalf of the exploiters. That has nothing to do with religion; it concerns blood, gold and material interests. They can have the consideration of the people, within a mutual respect for rights.
Christianity arose as a religion of the poor, the slaves and the oppressed of Rome; it was the religion that flourished in the catacombs. It was the religion of the poor, and it won respect. It coexisted with the Roman empire. Then came feudalism. The church coexisted with feudalism, later with absolute monarchies, and later still with bourgeois republics. With the disappearance of the bourgeois republic, why shouldn’t the church continue to coexist with a system of social justice that is far superior to those previous forms of government? This system is much more like Christianity than Yankee imperialism, the bourgeois republic or the Roman empire.
We believe coexistence is perfectly possible, because the revolution does not oppose religion. Religion has been used as a pretext to combat the poor, forgetting that Christ said it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven.
These are the facts. We have spoken clearly as always. It means simply that we are prepared to defend the revolution and continue to move forward, convinced of the justice of our cause.
We have spoken about our socialist revolution. It doesn’t mean the small business owner or small industrialist need worry. Mines, fuel, banking, sugar mills, export and import trade—the bulk of the economy—is in the hands of the people. That way the people can develop our economy. The small industrialist and small business owner can coexist with the revolution. The revolution has always cared for the interests of small business.
Our urban reform is a proof of this; this month small landlords will be collecting around 105,000 pesos. Formerly, if tenants did not pay their rent the landlord lost out; now a fund has been established to ensure that the small landlord will be paid. The revolution will have some 80 million pesos a year for construction from the urban reform. And when rent is the only income of these landlords, the revolution has decided that after the house is all paid for, the landlord will receive a pension.
A socialist revolution does not mean that interests of certain sectors are eliminated without consideration. The interests of the big landholders, bankers and industrialists were eliminated… but no middle interests will be affected without due consideration.
Small business owners and industrialists have credit today and the revolution has no interest in nationalizing them. The revolution has enough to do developing the sources of wealth it now has at its disposal… Counterrevolutionaries have claimed that barber shops will be nationalized, and even food stands. That is not the aim of the revolution. The solution to those issues will be found over time. There are some problems related to a small plague of middlepeople that results in tomatoes and pineapples being sold in the city at far higher prices than in the country. The revolution must still take measures to eliminate such abuses, to improve the consumption levels of the people. But I don’t want anyone to be confused. Everyone should know what to expect…
Why are some Cubans so incapable of understanding that this happiness can also be theirs? Why do they not adapt to the revolution?…
This is the time to ask them to join us… The revolution does not want to use its force against a minority. The revolution wants all Cubans to understand. We do not want to keep all this happiness and emotion to ourselves. It is the glory of the people.
We say this to those who have lied in the past or those who have not understood. In all honesty, we say that our revolution should not be diminished by severe sanctions against the mercenaries. It might serve as a weapon for our enemies. We have had a moral victory and it will be all the greater if we do not besmirch our victory.
The lives lost hurt us as much as they do others. But we must overcome that hurt and focus on our prestige and our cause. What lies ahead of us? The risk of imperialist aggression! Big tasks! We should realize that the time has come to make the greatest effort. The coming months are very important; they will be months in which we must make greater efforts in every field. We all have the duty to do the utmost. No one has a right to rest. With everything we have seen today we must learn that with effort and courage we can harvest wonderful fruit. And today’s fruits are nothing compared to what can be done if we apply ourselves to the maximum.
Before concluding, I want to recall what I said during the Moncada trial. Here is part of that statement: “The country cannot remain on its knees imploring miracles from the golden calf. No social problem is resolved spontaneously.” At that time we expressed our views. The revolution has followed the revolutionary ideas of those who had an important role in this struggle.
That is why when one million Cubans met to proclaim the Declaration of Havana [in September 1960], the document expressed the essence of our revolution, our socialist revolution. It condemned landed estates, starvation wages, illiteracy, shortage of teachers, doctors and hospitals, discrimination, exploitation of women, oligarchies that hold our countries back, governments that ignore the will of their people by obeying US orders, monopoly of the news media by Yankee agencies, laws that prevent the masses from organizing, and imperialist monopolies that exploit our wealth. The general assembly of the people condemned the exploitation of human beings.
The general assembly proclaimed the following: the right to work, education, the dignity of human beings, civil rights for women, secure old age, artistic freedom, nationalization of monopolies, and the necessities of life.
This is the program of our socialist revolution.
Long live the Cuban working class!
Long live the Latin American sister nations!
Long live the homeland!
Patria o muerte! [Homeland or death!]
Venceremos! [We will win!]