|
 Dear
Pioneers,
I
do not want to speak for too long, but there are a few things I would like
to say to you. Although we do not have much time these days since we must
work and struggle continuously.
You
know why you are here, right? (Shouts of: "Yes!") I can see that
you know.
You
know that a little boy like you, younger than you –-because he just
turned six, and you, who are in fifth, sixth and seventh grades, are older
than little Elián–- is being held kidnapped in the United States.
You
have heard a lot of statements. You have been told what happened, and I do
not have to repeat it here. But just imagine for a minute, what it would
be like if any one of you were taken away, if any one of you suffered such
a disgrace, a tragedy like it happened to this boy who lost his mother due
to the hostility of that nation, of the government of that powerful
country that encourages illegal travel, careless about the death of women,
children and mothers.
Our
country places no limits on families who want to emigrate. The United
States grants a certain number of visas every year, because there are
always people who dream of moving to another country, and as the United
States is a country that has plundered the world, and continues to plunder
the world, and exploits the rest of the world, they possess tremendous
wealth, and so they can have many poor people there working for them,
millions of Mexicans, Haitians, Dominicans, and people from many other
nations doing the most difficult work. If they need people to cut sugar
cane, or pick tomatoes, or fruit, they use immigrants from these countries
to do the hardest, most demanding physical labor.
You
know that our country, like any country where there is justice,
distributes its wealth among all the people; in a just country there is no
selfishness. But, they take advantage of people who are very poor to make
them accept the worst jobs. And these poor people receive no social
benefits, no health care, no education; the only thing they get is
exploitation, and they are forced to work for the rich.
When
you children take part in some kind of work, or when high school students
go to the countryside to pick tomatoes, or vegetables, they are not doing
it for themselves or to earn money. They do it to send that food to the
hospitals, to homes, to the people. And it is also a way for you to learn,
as Martí wanted, from the combination of study and labor.
That
is why you pioneers can see that our young people are capable of great
feats, because it does not bother them to lay bricks, pull up weeds or
work under the sun for two or three hours. That is why Martí said that
work and study must be combined as the best form of education.
That
can only happen here, in our country, because over there, the difficult
jobs are for the immigrants who come from poor countries. The rich have
never done this kind of work; they have never picked a tomato in their
lives.
That
is why there are often people and families from poor countries, sometimes
influenced by the advertising from the so-called consumer societies
–-that means fake societies–- who dream of going to that rich country
and doing any work at all.
The
policy pursued by the Revolution is that anyone who wants to leave our
country and go somewhere else can do so if they are given permission to
enter the other country. Our country does not prevent any family from
emigrating because the construction of a revolutionary and just society in
socialism is a voluntary and free decision.
Of
course, children are not at all to blame for this kind of problem.
Children are just children; they are growing and learning, they are not
adults, and we respect the right of the family to decide for them. If a
family wants to travel to another place in the world, it travels with the
children. Nobody is prevented from doing this.
Our
country is not at fault either if there are people who leave illegally,
and it is dangerous to leave illegally. Why do they leave illegally? Oh!
Because the Interests Section that you were guarding would not grant them
visas. The Interests Section grants a limited number of visas, and if
others who do not get permission want to leave by illegal means, then they
do and no obstacles are put in their way.
Many
people are not given visas to migrate legally because they are not
professionals or have great skills, or because they do not like to work;
there are many people like that who are not used to working and are
antisocial elements, often with criminal records. And so these people
leave by illegal means, without a visa, and they are welcome in the United
States. A law is applied to them, which you have heard about recently,
that gives those who arrive illegally the right to residence. And as soon
as they arrive, they are even given permission to work, if there are jobs
available.
Even
though we have signed an agreement that provides for 20,000 visas a year
so that families who want to migrate can do so legally and safely, with no
danger involved whatsoever, which is the purpose of such agreements, there
are some who are excluded from the annual quota because they do not
qualify, or they do not want to wait, so what do they do? They steal a
boat, or build one, or they get on speedboats that come from the United
States and at a cost of thousands of dollars paid by relatives living
there they try to get to America. On a boat built for six people, they
load 15, therefore, on many occasions these boats sink on the way and the
people drown.
In
other words, those who are not given visas are allowed to travel there any
way they can, and the consequences of this are people drowning, families
who take children with them in dangerous conditions. I must add, of
course, that this should never be done, because nobody has the right to
expose a child’s life to danger, nobody, not even the child’s parents
have any right to put his life in jeopardy.
The
U.S. authorities do not care what happens. There is a law; there is a
normal way of traveling in complete safety. Would it be fair to put anyone
of you on a raft, or on one of those boats that can sink along the way?
(Shouts of: "No!") It would not be fair, it would be practically
the only case when a child is justified to refuse –-and if I were a
child I would refuse to be put on one of those boats or rafts, or on
something that will fall apart along the way. It is very sad when these
things happen.
We
have insisted that they stop encouraging people to leave illegally. The
law I was telling you about only applies to Cuba, and not to any other
country in the world. It gives them the chance to spread propaganda, to
tell lies, and as a result, many people have risked or lost their lives.
When
we signed the migratory agreements, they promised they would not encourage
illegal emigration but they have not kept that promise, as was explained
by numerous comrades like Alarcón, who has been discussing all of these
agreements. They have not kept that promise and continued to encourage
illegal emigration. People are dying, mothers are dying, children are
dying, old people are dying because of this law which encourages illegal
migration. That is what causes tragic incidents like the one we are
discussing now.
In
this case –-whose full story is not known, yet–- the boat on which
little Elián was taken away, on a risky voyage, was prepared by a
criminal, a violent and aggressive individual who had never worked a day
in his life. He had gone to the United States illegally, stayed there for
three or four months, and then came back illegally as well. He was caught,
and spent some time in jail, perhaps three or four months. It was very
strange: he left illegally, and came back illegally. Who was this man? He
said that he had gone but was repentant, that he was sorry, and so he was
released from jail and sent back to his home in Cárdenas, so that he
could work if he wanted to work, although this individual never worked a
day in his life.
That
man is mainly responsible for this tragedy. Why? I should explain, so that
you understand. He became a stepfather, and some stepfathers are very
good, they take care of their stepchildren responsibly. That little boy,
who was not even six years old yet, did not know what was happening, and
the criminal I have been telling you about is the person mainly
responsible for this misadventure. A boat was built in complicity with
some crooks, the people willing to do such things, using materials stolen
from here and there. They built a flimsy boat. And so this man, who was
the boy’s stepfather, not his father, and not a stepfather who acted
like a real father, but rather an evil individual, was the one who
decisively influenced so that little Elián would be on that boat, because
he forced and intimidated the boy’s mother. As a result, they headed out
to sea on that flimsy boat, the mother and the child with other people who
had paid 1,000 dollars each.
There
were other children, we do not know how many exactly; there was at least
one other, who drowned. There is a little girl who was saved by chance.
The sea was rough and the boat had to return to shore, after having
already set out, to pick up a spare part, and the father or mother left
the girl on the shore; they did not take her. But little Elián was not so
lucky. Elián was crying loudly at this point, and the stepfather
violently ordered the mother to make him quiet down, or else he would do
it himself. There are people who witnessed this upsetting scene and are
here in our country. On that day, there were actually two helpless
passengers forcibly retained on that flimsy boat: the mother and the son.
They
left on the morning of November 22. A Cuban coast guard cutter spotted
them, and tried to persuade them not to make the trip. This is always
done; they do not use force to intercept the boat, because the use of
force could lead to an accident, and there were women and children on
board. What our coast guards do, within the 12-mile limit of Cuban waters,
is to try to persuade the passengers to turn back, explaining the dangers,
but avoiding the use of force, because a boat with 14 people on board
cannot be grabbed by hand, it cannot be roped with a lasso, like a horse,
it is always dangerous. In the end, if our coast guards fail to persuade
people to turn back, what they do is to alert the U.S. Coast Guard that a
boat is headed their way, in these conditions. They immediately inform the
U.S. Coast Guard by e-mail and fax, so that they can lend them support,
and accompany them, since the boat is already headed for U.S. territory.
That
is what happened this time, the Coast Guard was informed immediately. They
say that they went out to look for the boat but could not find it that
they sent out two helicopters but the boat was not spotted.
There
was no further news between midday on November 22, when the coast guard
cutter accompanied them to the 12-mile limit, and November 25. No one
knows what happened on the afternoon of the 22nd, or on the 23rd,
or on the 24th, or on the morning of the 25th. The
news arrived on the afternoon of the 25th –-three days had
passed–- that a boat with 14 people on board had sunk, that two adults
had survived, and that some fishermen had found a boy tied to an inner
tube. That was one of the tragedies, one of the traumatic events. Imagine
a little boy; imagine one of you on a sinking boat and surviving because
you were tied to an inner tube.
How
long was he there? Nobody knows. Two adults also survived, but nobody has
questioned them, no reporters have questioned them. The U.S. government
does not want to tell us how the boat sank or the day it happened, if only
to learn how long the boy was tied up to that inner tube, night and day.
But
that little boy is so strong, that little boy has such inner force, such
tenacity, that he resisted, and he did not die. If he had died, perhaps we
would never have heard of him again. But as fate would have it, some
fishermen found him and immediately took him to a hospital for proper
treatment.
The
U.S. authorities in Florida must know who organized this misadventure, how
it was done and the day the boat sank, because they have the testimony of
the two surviving adults. There was already talk of alien smuggling in a
Miami newspaper before we had any details. The organizer of the
expedition, a thug with a long record of common crimes who, according to
our files, had been in prison several times was an aggressive individual
who abused physically the boy’s mother on numerous occasions. She made
an honest living by working, and supported the family single-handedly. He
exploited her, and shamefully lived off of her. It is quite possible, and
several people who were very close to her are absolutely certain, that he
resorted to his usual physical abuse to intimidate the boy’s mother into
making that trip.
The
survivors, who must know disturbing details about everything that
happened, have not been shown. Where are they being kept? Nobody knows.
But, obviously, they have spoken to the authorities and told them
something. A newspaper that is certainly no friend of Cuba reported that
those people had paid around 1,000 dollars each to be on that boat.
Therefore,
this was not only a matter of an illegal departure organized by a common
criminal who never worked a day in his life, but also an alien smuggling
operation, which is a violation of international law, including the law of
the United States of America. I am not sure if you understand what I am
saying. Do you understand? (The children say yes.)
You
are actually the first people to know this part of the story, which had
not been discussed until now. It had not been discussed because we did not
want to hurt anyone’s feelings. There is a dead mother who was a victim
of this thug. We have tried to find out if she wanted to leave the country
but as far as we know she had never applied to leave the country legally.
And she could have been granted an U.S. visa for she had relatives there,
she was a worker who supported a household, and so she would have met all
the requirements. But, actually, there is not the slightest evidence that
the mother wished to go to the United States, and she could have done it
legally accompanied by her son, if the father gave his consent, because
for a mother to travel with a child, the father must give his consent. The
one who would not have received a visa, because of his criminal record,
was the man who posed as a stepfather.
It
is always hard when a child leaves, but we respect the rights of parents,
which is something that the U.S. authorities do not do with the children
of Cubans. Although it hurts us greatly, we respect the rights of the
father or mother, and we do not in any way obstruct the right of a family
to legally take their children out of the country, because that is the
right of paternal authority, when the children are minors. We prove our
respect for this right every day, every month, every year, because every
day, every month, every year, there are parents and families who travel to
the United States with their children by legal and safe means. It hurts
because these children are attending school here, and nobody knows what
awaits them there, those things you have denounced. It hurts because every
child who leaves is one pioneer less in a school, one empty desk in a
classroom.
Cuba
respects this right of parents as something sacred, and we do not regret
it, as much as it hurts when a child born in this country is uprooted from
his/her homeland. We do not interfere with the family’s decision for the
future of its children, or with what they themselves do as adults. We
protect them with 13 vaccines, so that they do not die of preventable
diseases, for them to grow up healthy and intelligent like you. We try to
ensure that they are well nourished that they do not lack for medicines,
that they are able to drink milk every day.
This
is the only country in the world where every child up to a certain age is
guaranteed, without exception, a liter of milk every day. That is why our
young people look so healthy. You can see it in their faces, in their
physiques, in their teeth, because of the painstaking care our society
provides for children. You can see it when they are adolescents, when they
are university students. All you have to do is look at these faces. If
they have some physical defect, it is corrected. If they have some sort of
problem that prevents them from walking properly, they go to an orthopedic
hospital, and the problem is corrected; they might have to use some sort
of bothersome device, but the problem is corrected. Any physical defect
that makes a child different from the others is corrected. Their teeth are
fixed, everything is fixed, and everything possible is done to ensure that
children grow up not only to be cultured, educated and healthy, but also
beautiful, boys and girls alike.
This
is something that visitors to this country find amazing, the faces, the
overall beauty of our students and our young people. We fulfill this duty.
If these young people, when they grow up, want to leave the country and go
somewhere else, because their heads have been filled with the millions of
tell tales used to fool so many people through the advertising of consumer
societies, that hurts but we respect the right to emigrate, and we respect
the parents’ rights.
On
the other hand, over there, for no reason whatsoever, simply because they
feel like it, they are holding this child, failing to respect the
father’s right of paternal authority, his right as the only surviving
parent. The child lost his mother, and now he has only his father, who has
been a loving father, and has always truly cared for him. This stands out
clear in all the documents and everyone in Cárdenas knows it, every child
in his son’s school, all the teachers, all the neighbors. But the boy
has not been returned to his father. Instead, he was handed over to a
distant relative who had only seen the child once in his life, and he has
been taken over by the whole gang of Cuba’s enemies there, the biggest
thugs in that country, the author of the Torricelli Act, aimed at starving
our people to death, including children. He has been taken over by the
intransigent authors, promoters and defenders of the cruel blockade that
brings so much hardship on our people.
They
talk about a child who arrived there, and how they want him to be happy.
What hypocrisy, when at the same time they are waging a relentless
economic war against us, trying to starve our people to death, including
our children.
How
difficult it is for us at times to obtain medicines, to obtain food; we
have to look for them in faraway places, where they cost a lot more. And,
if despite everything we have not closed a single school and our is the
country with the highest number of teachers per capita in the world, it is
because the Revolution is dedicated first and foremost to helping children
and mothers, to helping the family.
You
have recently heard the story about how at one time, through the use of
lies, trickery and deceit, 14,000 children were illegally taken out of
Cuba. In that case, it was done with the parents’ consent. They were
fooled by mercenaries working for a foreign power and made to believe that
the Revolution was going to take away their paternal authority, as if a
child were a plantation, or a sugar mill, or a mine. It was all lies!
Because everything they do is based on lies, all of their propaganda is
based on lies, which they drill into the heads of the people by repeating
them thousands, millions of times. But, still, it was illegal; then, those
children who are adults now have written stories, very dramatic stories,
because the United States then suspended travel between the two countries,
and thousands of children ended up there alone, in orphanages, and
suffered a horrible trauma. Now they are speaking out and writing about
it, and many are critical of parents for having done this to them,
splitting the families and sending them off to endure such calamities.
Some of them are in a documentary recently shown on television where they
recounted their sad story.
In
Elián’s case, there is not just one injustice, there are at least three
aggravating factors: the voyage was illegal; the action was an alien
smuggling operation organized by a criminal who never worked a day in his
life and caused the death of 11 people, including children, and the
tragedy suffered by this child, who was not even six years old and the
child’s mother death.
What
right did the U.S. authorities have to take this child and hand him over
to a relative who had only seen him once before in his life, and who has
turned the child into a commodity, a crude and vulgar business, having his
picture taken with the worst enemies of our country, those who are trying
to starve us to death with one law after another, those who try to prevent
trade, to prevent us from importing food, technology and equipment, those
who do everything possible to jeopardize our country’s economic and
social development?
But,
they have not even succeeded in doing this. Our country ranks first place
in the world in many areas, in those that depend upon our determination.
We are not first in terms of wealth but we are in our enormous desire to
help the people, because that is what the Revolution exists for, and
nothing else. It exists so that there are schools and medical care, so
that there are recreation programs, so that there is everything needed by
children, teenagers, young people, adults and the elderly. People of
different ages have different needs, and the Revolution tries to meet them
all.
This
is what has happened. The child is handed over to a distant relative, who
is not asked to show even a single piece of paper. The father, known by
everyone, is asked to prove himself, and in fact, two U.S. officials came
here to collect all the documents that fully and irrefutably demonstrate
who the father is, and what his moral conduct has been like.
He
is asked to prove himself, the real father while those who have stolen the
child are asked any questions, not even a piece of paper. Now the
authorities cannot figure out what to do and they are going around in
circles, their opinions divided; they still have not come to a decision.
Meanwhile, the boy is held there despite what the doctors have said, and
the psychologists, after looking at that unfortunate boy’s face. He has
been the target of such vulgar maneuvers! They are trying to buy his
innocence with sophisticated toys, all kinds of junk, taking him to
Disneyworld.
Often,
they do not even let him talk to his father, and that I am denouncing it
here again. The boy’s father and maternal and paternal grandparents have
repeatedly complained that they are not allowed to talk to the boy with
whom they shared such a close and loving relationship. The only thing that
could help to remedy the child’s terrible emotional suffering at this
time is communication with his father, with his closest, most intimate
relatives, but he is being denied even that. It is a monstrosity! You can
see what kinds of thugs these people are!
All
those individuals surrounding the child in that photograph you saw on
television are thugs, the worst enemies of Cuba. They would do anything
possible to keep the child, but they will not be able to keep him, because
justice is on our side and all the laws and reason are on our side, too.
We
demand that they respect the paternal authority of this boy’s father, as
we have respected the paternal authority of thousands, tens of thousands,
perhaps hundreds of thousands of parents throughout the past 40 years!
What
we are asking for now is that they respect the paternal authority of a
Cuban family! That is what we are asking for (Applause) and they are not
even capable of doing that.
As
I came here today it was not my intention to explain all this to you. I am
taking advantage of the opportunity to tell you all this, and at the same
time I am telling it to all the citizens of our country through the media.
They need to know these things.
I
have mentioned an individual, and we have all the documents related to
this person, whom we had not even wanted to mention until now, but we have
to show the world just how very shameful all this is. The way the voyage
was planned and who organized it after living for several months in the
United States.
A
month has passed, and we have said that we will continue to struggle
restlessly.
Now,
a U.S. official has stated that this cannot be resolved immediately, that
the decision has been postponed until January 21, and they keep coming up
with something new every day, out of fear for the counterrevolutionary
worms over there. And when I say worms, I do not mean all the Cubans
living in the United States, because there are many Cubans there, members
of the Cuban-American community, who support the return of the child and
oppose the blockade. No, I mean specifically the mercenary worms at the
service of an anti-patriotic and clearly terrorist mob and of the most
shameful, arrogant and reactionary people in the United States.
It
is for fear of these people that the matter has not been resolved, and it
seems they are challenging us to a long struggle. If it is a long
struggle, they should know the price they will have to pay for a long
struggle, as the world continues to witness what our people are made of,
as we continue to demonstrate our morale, our conscience, our reason and
our strength. At the moment, despite the reactionary propaganda and the
lies they are telling over there, the majority of the U.S. people support
the return of the child. The fact is that in the United States, like
everywhere else, families have great respect for the right to paternal
authority, and they can clearly see that the rights of this child and his
father’s rights are being abused. (Applause)
So,
how long will this struggle take? We must be prepared, but for now, I want
to tell you something: the open stage will no longer be only there where
it has been for almost three weeks. That will be its official venue.
Listen
to this: the stage may be anywhere in the country. One day it may be in
Cárdenas, for example, and address the country from Cárdenas. Another
day it may be in Plaza Cadenas at the University of Havana, and do the
same.
I
already explained that if this struggle goes on much longer, as it will
likely be the case, we could not wear ourselves out. We must gather energy
and strength for a long struggle. You know that. If boy scouts like you
are going to walk for three days, you do not drink all the water you take
in the first half-hour. If you are going to be walking six hours, you
should not begin drinking it until two or three hours at least have
passed.
When
I made long treks, I developed the habit of not drinking water until I was
in a place where I could replenish my supply. You know why? Because you
suffer more when you are thirsty and your canteen is empty than when it is
full. You endure thirst better --and this is a little secret I am telling
you– when you know you have a full canteen with you, even if you are
suffering because you want a drink of water. When it is empty, the anxiety
and suffering are two or three times worse.
I
drew a lesson from all this. When I walked a lot I used that method. We
must keep the canteen full for this long struggle, and when we drink a
little, we must try to replace it as soon as we can. And we must increase
the quantity of water, and find a larger canteen. Or, if the walk is
really long, we can take two canteens, in order to gather strength and
energy to use in this struggle, in which reason is on our side, and
morality is one our side, totally and completely. They have fallen into a
trap that they themselves had laid because they should have solved this
problem immediately. I tell you that with every passing day they have to
pay a higher price, that is, they are more discredited and they may end
this long struggle in total disgrace. That is why we need to manage our
enormous strength very carefully.
For
yesterday’s march, 70,000 people were called. There must always be a
reserve force, in case someone falls ill or cannot participate for some
important reason. Fifty thousand were announced, and 100,000 actually
marched. All those who had T-shirts with Elián’s picture on them were
there, and many who did not have them gathered in an orderly fashion in
the blocks where there were T-shirts in reserve. They were given the
T-shirts since they said they wanted to participate. That is why yesterday
no less than 100,000 people marched, although the idea was to have only
50,000. Why was that? Because we wanted to preserve forces and energy.
How
many marches will we have to make if the struggle is long? And we have
classes, we have exams, we have vacations. All this has to be estimated.
That is why it is not correct at all to use all our forces. We are ready
to use them, as they become really necessary. With our canteens full –
perhaps this is a good image – and ready for a long march. They are the
ones who are not ready for a long march. We are.
Of
course, we are making every effort to keep the marches short because, most
of all, we are interested in the child’s return, in putting an end to
his suffering.
Who
is to blame for making him suffer one more day, one more week, one more
month? Not us. We even suggested an honorable solution. We said we did not
want to humiliate anyone. We also know that in the United States there are
different views, widely different views on this issue, and that many
unbiased, intelligent and calm people favor the child’s return. If the
boy’s release is delayed and he suffers one more minute, one more day,
one more week or one more month, we will never be the ones to blame. But
the longer they keep him there, the greater our determination, the
steadier our decision to fight for as long as necessary. We shall see who
wins this battle. (Applause and shouts.) We shall see what is stronger, if
force and arrogance, or reason and the feelings of a whole people who will
not be alone in the world.
As
we said some weeks ago, we will leave no stone unturned! (Applause.) And
the total responsibility for every last bit of the child’s suffering
lies with the U.S. authorities. And not only the child’s suffering,
because the father is suffering terribly, especially since they do not let
him speak to him on the phone; the grandparents are suffering terribly and
so are his 900 classmates, together with millions of pioneers in our
country.
Now
you have an explanation I think you can understand. While listening to the
children speaking on TV and those in Elián’s school, I could have a
better appreciation of the intelligence of our children, the knowledge of
our children, the feelings of our children, and that is how I know that
you understand what I say. If you were in first, second or third grades, I
would not speak to you like this, but you are fourth, fifth and sixth
grade pioneers, and I think I can talk to you like this.
Why
are we here tonight, and why have I met with you? Simply because yesterday
you wrote a page in history. Did you know that? (Shouts: "No!")
You did not know. That is right, there was no way for you to know it. You
have to be told. Someone had to explain it to you. (Applause.) And I am
telling you; I am trying to explain it to you, because yesterday you did
something that had never happened before anywhere in the world. Usually,
you keep custody of the polling stations where not a single vote is bought
and where citizens truly vote, and not for the candidate with the most
money, the most posters or the most propaganda, but for the one the
neighbors know has the most merits or is most capable. This is something
our children know.
The
polling stations that everywhere in the world are guarded by soldiers
armed to the teeth are in custody of pioneers here. You make up an
exceptional moral, social and human force with still greater potential. We
realized that every time there was a combative march special security
measures were taken, even if it was just to reassure the tenants of the
buildings close to the march, and two lines of special force fighters
stood on guard there, without weapons, without weapons! During the last
march they carried no guns, of course, or batons; they were there in
addition to the security guards that ordinarily protect the embassies.
We
asked ourselves: Who guarantees the safety of any of these embassies in
such circumstances? Their guarantee rests, mainly, with the high degree of
culture of our people, the education of our people, the unity of our
people. But an outraged individual might want to act by himself, throw a
stone. Therefore, these measures have been taken from the very beginning,
so that people spontaneously wanting to do such things would be prevented
from doing it. However, we have absolute confidence in our people, our
students, our youth, our workers and their conscience, their equanimity,
their wisdom and their political awareness.
They
know that embassies must be respected. It is an international duty and we
know how to fulfill it marvelously. We know how to offer that security. Of
course, we know that the most important thing is the education of our
people. A million citizens may march and none will throw a stone, because
they know this is something you just do not do. They throw something that
is far more powerful than a stone. They throw an idea, a message, in a few
words: "Free Elián!" Or "Let us save Elián!"
(Applause.) These are not stones, these are not insults. No battle of
ideas is won with insults. These battles are won with reason, with
arguments, with ideas.
Rest
assured that every thing you cry out there, every slogan, every word
carries a message, an idea. These are smart weapons. You have heard of
smart weapons, the ones that can be aimed at a target thousands of miles
away, even if they are the size of this courtyard.
We
have to use smart weapons. Our smart weapons are our ideas, our smart
weapons are our arguments, and our smart weapons are based on principles,
on our revolutionary thought. Our smart weapon arsenal is endless. When
each of you march or rally and shout "Return Elián!", "Elián
must return!", "Let us save Elián!", "Free Elián!",
you are using smart weapons against which there is no possible defense
(Applause) and these smart weapons are the morality, the reason, the
example, the image of a united people defending justice with impressive
determination; a people that does not yield and that is never discouraged,
neither the elderly, nor the adults, nor the pioneers. With these weapons
our people are invincible, because we can make these weapons reach every
corner in the world.
Although
they own who knows how many international TV networks and other mass
media, we have many friends and many ways of making these videos of the
march and the rallies be seen, many ways of spreading written messages,
filmed messages and spoken messages to every corner of the world.
That
is why it would be ridiculous, stupid and even primitive to throw a stone
and break a window in an embassy, in this case, the United States
Interests Section. However, what we see every day and almost every hour in
the world are demonstrations in front of U.S. embassies, every time they
commit another brutality or crime. The protesters throw stones, break
windows and burn flags or effigies of Uncle Sam. You see that quite often
and terrible clashes with the police everywhere. I do not criticize them.
At times, it is the only way they have to express their outrage and their
discontent in this world full of abuse and injustice. They do not have the
possibility of carrying out a political struggle like Cuba has, with its
united and free people. At times, in other places, they are 500, 1000,
2000 or 3000 people who gather to make themselves heard and demand justice
in a hostile and repressive atmosphere.
Before
the Revolution, when we did not have this strength, when we did not have a
united people and we were just students, we also went to a consulate or an
embassy, the U.S. embassy itself to throw stones, paint slogans on walls,
and do things of that sort.
I
remember when some American marines climbed up on the statue of Jose
Martí in Central Park. This caused a great fury. The students went to the
U.S. embassy, which at that time was very close to Eusebio Leal´s museum,
in Old Havana, and the police hit us with rubber batons and clubs so we
would not be able to do those things.
What
a difference compared with today! Such different weapons we can use now!
We do what I have just explained, protesting with arguments, with ideas. I
know that you understand. (Applause)
Why
did you write a page in history? Because for the first time in our
country, or anywhere in the world, instead of specialized troops and
soldiers guarding the United States Interests Section, 2000 pioneers
–2000 pioneers!– were in charge of guarding it while the march was on
its way.
The
Interests Section has its usual protection. There are several sentry posts
which are reinforced at times of tensions, precisely to prevent action by
any isolated individual, in good faith, or an agitator, who might throw a
stone and smash a window, thus staining the honor of our country. A large
propaganda campaign would immediately begin claiming the diplomatic seat
of the United States in Cuba had been attacked. It is our inescapable duty
to protect the immunity and integrity of all diplomatic missions and that
Interests Section among them.
That
is why we feel that the moment you stood there like a wall reinforcing the
guard, 15 minutes before the march began, was of historic consequence. Was
that guard ever stronger? (Shouts of "No!") No! And I will
explain to you why. It was reinforced by the conscience of our people, by
a culture that grows day by day, and it was also reinforced by the fact
that no one is more respected or protected in this country than children
are. Three lines of children are the greatest protection that Interests
Section has ever had in this country. (Applause.) You will remember this
day for the rest of your lives and your parents will always be proud of
you.
As
can be understood, for the reasons I have already explained, we knew you
were in no danger. Other pioneers were marching. The junior high school
pioneers were marching, the senior and higher education students were
marching there and they are your closest brothers and sisters. The youth
that protect you so much were marching there. The patriotic and
revolutionary people, who love children so much, because they have
children of their own, because they are parents themselves, were also
marching (Applause). Who would protect you better than them?
Believe
me, this troop of boy scouts who guarded the embassy during yesterday’s
march has written a glorious page in our history (Applause). You will be
proud when you grow up, and your parents will be even prouder.
You
were the first, and you were all from the municipality of Plaza. That is
why we could hold this meeting today in this youth facility, and you did
not have to walk too much, because 17 schools in Plaza sent their pioneers
to guard that building (Applause). Did you do it to defend imperialism?
(Shouts: "No!") You did it to defend the Revolution; you did it
to show the world what this country is, to show the world that today this
can only happen in this country. (Applause) Our pioneers do not only guard
polling stations but also embassies; they can guard whatever is necessary
and may be guarded by them.
That
is why just yesterday, at a meeting with leaders of the Young Communist
League, the students and the pioneers, we agreed to present you this
afternoon with a certificate of recognition that you can keep for the rest
of your lives (Applause and shouts of "Long live Fidel! Long live
Fidel!") No, no, long live all of you, and I hope you live a very
long life to enjoy the pride of having this certificate! Keep it always
and show it to your children when you have them and to your grandchildren
when you have grandchildren! We expect you to keep it in a safe place, and
if for some reason you lose it, as we have the record of those who
received it, we will give you a new one. But take care of this because
this is the one we are giving you today. (Applause and shouts.)
We
wrote the text yesterday at the meeting. Listen to what it reads:
"In
recognition of:" This is where the pioneer’s name goes. We did not
have time to write all the names, and we wanted to do it in nice
handwriting. So the 17 schools you are from will be visited and the
certificates will be filled in with your names in clear handwriting, as
beautiful as possible. (Applause.)
"In
recognition of" (He points at a girl in the first row.) What is your
name? Say it in a loud voice, come, say it, come over here. What is your
name? (The girl comes closer and says her name.)
Elizabeth
Gálvez Soler. Then it will read: "In recognition of Elizabeth
Gálvez Soler." Then comes the text: "A pioneer who carried out
the mission entrusted to him by the Revolution of guarding the diplomatic
office of the United States in accordance with its – that is, the
Revolution’s – responsibility during the historic march of pioneers,
students and young workers for the liberation of Elián." (Applause)
A small correction should be made in the text, so it reads "to
him" for the boys and "to her" for the girls. My signature
is at the bottom. Of course, I could not sign 2000 certificates –that
would have been too many– but I made a special signature for you. I
wanted it to be the best possible. This is it. (He shows it.) And of
course, when you sign one with your own hand, it is printed on the rest of
the certificates, no matter if there are 100,000. I am not going to fool
you. I am not going to say that I spent a month signing the certificates.
There are many things to do. But I signed once for this certificate of
recognition.
Today
we planned to hand them out symbolically, one for each school, but what we
will do is send one each to all the children who participated from every
school. There is a small mistake in the text (in Spanish) that must be
corrected. It should actually say "its responsibility" and not
"their responsibility". It is not the pioneers’ duty to guard
an embassy. You carried out a mission entrusted to you by the Revolution,
since it is the duty of the Revolution to guard the Interests Section.
What the pioneers did was to carry out a mission entrusted to them by the
Revolution, by doing what you did yesterday. Is that clear? (Applause and
shouts of "Yes!")
Well,
now you know. Everyone to school tomorrow to see if the Federation of
Senior High School Students and the Young Communist League honor their
commitment of having the 2000 certificates ready tonight, with the
corrections distinguishing boys from girls and the "its" instead
of the "their". It was a simple mistake that has come in handy,
because it allowed us to improve the certificate.
All
this was done in a few hours. The march was organized in a few hours. Who
knows the things they can organize? Resources for this struggle are
infinite, I tell you. Resources and ideas are infinite (Applause) and they
are not based on violence, but on ideas. Do not forget something that
Martí said, and that perhaps you have heard before: "Trenches of
ideas are worth more than trenches of stones." We are going to prove
it beyond all doubt. We will preserve our strength, we will keep up
production in the economy and services and we will keep up good grades in
school. We will do everything that needs to be done but avoiding damage to
other activities.
From
you, the elementary school, junior and senior high school, and university
students and teachers, we ask for a small additional effort to do what we
must do: to produce and, at the same time, to sow what must be sown in the
minds and the hearts of that enormous treasure that is our childhood and
our youth.
A
little more effort is requested from all of you, and I know you have more
than enough energy, and even more than enough time; perhaps all you would
have to do is miss a radio or TV program you like for just one day. For
the moment, you should not miss those extraordinary shows in the open
stage, since they will provide you with general knowledge and political
culture, and that is the most important of all cultures and the one most
scarce in the world today.
I
was telling you that on Saturday, the open stage would move to the
National Theater. (He is told that it will be at the Avellaneda Hall in
the National Theater) Both times? (He is told yes.) It will be a special
program for children, where children will perform, supporting the struggle
for Elián’s liberation. (Applause.) So, the open stage, with its
announcers, speakers and leaders will be there at 5:00 in the afternoon at
the National Theater, and it will be broadcast to the whole country on
both TV channels. We hope it will be on both of them. The open stage near
the U.S. Interests Section will always be broadcast on both channels. In
this other case, we shall see. But even the children in Baracoa will see
it on TV. I propose that the pioneers’ organization hands out some
tickets as a reward to these guards who wrote a page in history yesterday.
(Applause.) Saturday and Sunday it will be there, and on Monday it will be
somewhere else.
Since
an official said that the solution has been postponed, until who knows
what month and what day and they are into tricks and ruses, I want to tell
you about an idea we will implement immediately, or as soon as possible.
Right in the place where the open stage was provisionally established we
will set up a permanent open stage, (Applause) a better-designed and
stronger open stage. They should know that this stage will be the main
venue for this program and that it will stay there. (Applause) The most we
will do, when they return the child, is to take away the loudspeakers
aimed at the Interests Section building, so as not to annoy them with the
echo of our functions nearby. But our glorious youth need a permanent
stage, a permanent school for cultural education, a permanent school, we
should say, of general culture and political culture. (Applause) That
stage, born in the heat of this battle you are waging, will stay there.
Perhaps
in the future lectures will be delivered there on history, economics,
politics and other topics about the world today. A very wide scope of
subjects will be covered but the main purpose will be the cultural and
political education of our children, our youth and all our people.
(Applause.)
This
is the piece of news I wanted to give you. Cuba’s response to this
tactic of forever postponing the case of the kidnapped child and the
continuation of their cruel and persistent hostility against our people,
which has been maintained for almost half a century, is the permanent open
stage from where Elián’s return is being demanded today. (Applause)
Thank
you very much, my dear little comrades. You have behaved very well. We
will always remember you. We will always consider you an example. I am
very pleased with the attention you have paid to me, the discipline you
have shown. I will use a slogan today that is not definitive, since we
should not renounce the idea of Homeland or Death or the idea of Socialism
or Death. However, I will say what a young deputy to the National Assembly
said: Homeland and Life! Life for you is what we want! (Applause) Our
pioneers will not have to die.
In
the long and historic struggle of our people, whose end no one could
exactly guess, perhaps as young men and women, you will be asked one day
to sacrifice your lives for the homeland. But since today we are more
powerful than ever, and have so many smart weapons, we will win this
battle for life, and not only for your lives, but also for the lives of
all children in the world.
What
we do today will serve hundreds of millions of people. Millions will use
tomorrow the path that we are opening today, hundreds of millions of
children who in the world of today have no schools, nor doctors, nor the
patriotic, revolutionary, socialist and internationalist education our
people have. (Applause.)
Until
our next victory! (Applause and shouts of "Fidel, Fidel,
Fidel!")
There
is also a letter for the pioneer’s guides who were with you that day.
They will also receive the recognition they deserve. I had forgotten to
mention that. (Applause.)
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