Comments by Ivan Ivanovich Melnikov, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma and Vice-Chairman of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (Council of state transcript / GI translation)
Dear compañero Raúl;
Dear Cuban compañeros:
Today is a day of celebration, May Day, a day of international solidarity. It is with great pleasure that we celebrate here in Havana with Cuban friends. I am still under the effects of a pleasing and great impression of what we have seen in this parade.
We are visiting your country on the 60th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, Sixty years is a brief period in historical terms, when the people of Cuba changed their destiny, opening a path to a bright future; but it is an advanced period because of its content, it is the path of full independence, from a backward country toward a modern state. It has been, and is, a path of courage and resistance. A path, from the proclamation of objectives and missions, to concrete achievements and unquestionable victories.
The advances of the Cuban people in medicine, education, culture, sports, sciences and cutting-edge technologies, are universally known and unquestionable, and all this has been in the midst of permanent political and economic pressures on the part of the enemies of this island of freedom.
The achievements of the Cuban Revolution, of the people, of their unity and creative work, the defense of the ideals of Martí and other heroes on independence and justice, are inextricably linked with the name of Comandante Fidel and, of course, with yours, compañero Raúl.
Special ties unite our peoples and countries; the consolidation of our strategic partnership, and the coordination of positions regarding all the problems that concern our mutual interests in all international spaces, is the distinctive feature of our relations.
Allow me, once again, with all my heart, to congratulate all of you on the occasion of this exceptional celebration, on the day of international solidarity of workers, and to fulfill a satisfying mission.
By Resolution of the Presidium of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Central Committee to confer the Lenin Prize of the Party Central Committee for the year 2019:
For his exceptional contribution to the construction of socialism and his endeavors to consolidate the principles of justice, humanism and social progress in society; for his loyalty to the ideals of socialism and the Cuban Revolution; for his personal efforts in the international struggle against anti-communism and colonialism; for his consistent position in strengthening the Cuban-Russian friendship, the Lenin Prize is awarded to Raúl Castro Ruz, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee.
Allow me to present this emblem and the Prize. (Applause)
