(Shorthand versions - Presidency of the Republic)
Long live free Cuba! (Shouts of: “Long live!”)
Down with the blockade! (Shouts of: “Down with it!”)
Heroic combatants of Bay of Pigs here present;
Dear friends of solidarity with Cuba participating in the 5th International Patria Colloquium;
Beloved and heroic Cuban people;
Compatriots (Applause):
Sixty-five years ago, women and men who were as young or younger than all of us filling these streets today—possibly many grandmothers, grandfathers, mothers, or fathers of some of us—gathered here to write a truly epic chapter in contemporary world history.
That day changed history, and not just for Cuba. With an invasion on the verge of our shores, with no certainty yet as to where they would land, but aware that behind the invaders stood the full backing of the powerful United States government, the voice of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, nearly broken by the strain of hours of sleeplessness and tension, rose above the crowd overflowing this historic corner to declare that we were what we continue to be: a socialist revolution right under the empire’s nose! (Applause.)
That declaration is momentous in the history of Cuba, as it set the definitive course of the revolutionary process that began with the triumph of 1959 and which, by 1961, had become deeply radicalized in favor of the traditionally dispossessed.
The mercenaries were preparing to launch themselves against the nation that gave them birth, convinced that nothing could stand against the protection guaranteed to them by the empire. But history would be relentless with them.
They expected fear and found courage. They bet on betrayal and were confronted by a united people. They believed their own lies, and the truth awaited them, with rifles at the ready and singing the notes of the Bayamo Anthem.
The Cuban people marched from here into battle, and from battle to victory! A small nation, fresh from war, would, less than 72 hours later, deal imperialism its first major defeat in the Americas (Applause).
From that fateful April onward, all the peoples of the region would be a little freer.
Cuba changed forever. The people who fought for socialism on the sands of Bay of Pigs had, by then, already begun their cultural transformation with a Literacy Campaign that carried the dreams of the humble all the way to university classrooms.
Human development would reach heights that only a just society can guarantee. This Revolution of the humble, with the humble, and for the humble would go so far that a shoe-shiner under capitalism would become Latin America’s first cosmonaut; that young people from Africa and throughout the Third World would become professionals in Cuban schools; that we would share our blood and our fate with those who had always been forgotten and reviled (Applause).
And we defeated apartheid, illiteracy, and curable diseases in other parts of the world to which we would send doctors, not bombs; teachers, not bombs. That is socialism: a society where man is a brother, not a wolf to man! (Applause.)
When, in the fateful 1990s, the socialist experiment self-destructed in Europe, through vile conspiracies by its imperialist adversaries, Cuba resisted and transformed itself until it rose again through its own strength and the support of international solidarity.
Chávez had not yet triumphed in Venezuela, and the decade of integration sparked by the Bolivarian Revolution was just beginning.
Fidel—Fidel once again, just as he had done at Bay of Pigs, directing the fighting and advancing atop a tank at the vanguard—led that superhuman struggle to preserve Cuban socialism in an era of feverish neoliberal advance and unipolarity.
While others privatized even the cemeteries and parks, blindly believing in the fairy tale of the market as the omnipotent ruler of a wealth that never existed, this country built a monumental achievement, using the science and the human labor and scientific potential forged in the Revolution, and with the heroism and creative resistance of the Cuban people (Applause).
And our people’s army went out to sow and to build, to demonstrate, as Raúl said, that yes, we can! That we can always do it! And we did! That is socialism! (Applause.)
Many times over the years, while the country strove to correct, refine, and adapt the battered economy besieged by the blockade, countless silent invasions took place: laws to codify the blockade, terrorist attacks, smear campaigns, and constant sabotage of all projects of integration, solidarity, and cooperation.
Every silent bomb that fell on development projects has left a wound in Cuban society. A particularly painful one has been the migration of promising young people educated for free in our schools and universities, from whom capitalism steals the skills and talent it did not invest in, while accusing the society that shaped them of failing to guarantee what the predatory market offers them.
Let the truth be told: That human potential, which impresses and gains ground and relevance in any country it reaches, was shaped by socialism! (Applause.) Only socialism turned the children of workers and peasants into top-tier professionals—not in exceptional cases as under capitalism, but on a massive scale. (Applause.)
To hide the genocidal and multidimensional nature of the six-decade blockade that suffocates the entire people—and can only be called an “embargo” on paper by those who impose it—a deceitful and highly cynical narrative has been constructed: Cuba as a failed state.
The impacts of decades of blockade and financial persecution are very visible in our homes, industries, in the lack of goods—even the essentials—in the scarcity of almost everything, even the most basic and indispensable necessities of life.
Also visible are our own mistakes in this process of social construction with unique and very Cuban characteristics, in which we strive, against the tide, overcoming countless obstacles; but as long as the blockade remains a noose tightened around the neck of the economy, no one can deny—and I repeat, no one can deny—its absolute culpability in the suffering of Cuban families! The main cause of our problems is the genocidal blockade imposed by the United States government against our people! (Applause and shouts of: “Down with the blockade!”)
Liars also rely on the numbing effect induced in the minds of a world polluted by prejudice and poisoned by anti-communism ever since the October Revolution brought the creators of wealth to power.
Brutal attacks and blockades have been waged against all socialist experiments, and yet it will be impossible to deny all that they contributed to humanity in terms of balance and well-being. Nor can the colossal contribution of the USSR to the defeat of fascism and the conquest of space be erased from history; nor can the dazzling development of a gigantic nation—such as the People’s Republic of China—which emerged from famine and widespread poverty, and of a small country, yet brave, that endured three wars and today wins the admiration of the whole world for its dynamic growth, the heroic and brotherly Vietnam (Applause).
Socialism is the only guarantee of social justice, the only path to the real emancipation of all people, and in our case it has been and remains, moreover, the real possibility of providing a collective response to the collective punishment that has been imposed upon us all these years.
No, gentlemen of manipulation and lies, Cuba is not a failed state; Cuba is a besieged state, Cuba is a state facing multidimensional aggression: economic war, an intensified blockade, and an energy blockade. Cuba is a threatened state that does not surrender! (Applause.) And despite everything, and thanks to socialism, Cuba is a state that resists, creates, and—make no mistake—a state that will prevail! (Applause.)
Comrades:
Today, April 16, we commemorate fundamental milestones in our recent history: the heroic and massive popular response to the prelude of the mercenary invasion, with the criminal bombings of the 15th, and the declaration of the socialist character of the Revolution, made by Fidel at the funeral of the first victims of the ongoing aggression, and on that very same day, although many did not know it then, our Communist Party was born, as has been explained here.
Fidel put it this way: “At Bay of Pigs, the socialist nature of our Revolution was proclaimed; at Bay of Pigs, our Party was practically forged.” That is why we consider April 16 the founding date of the Party, the Party of unity, the Party of the Cuban nation, the Party that organizes and directs the efforts of all for the good of all (From the audience: Long live the Communist Party of Cuba!) (Shouts of: “Long live!”) But history would be of little value if we did not heed its lessons, if we did not take note of its patterns and transform them into definitive lessons.
The attacks on the airports of Ciudad Libertad, Santiago de Cuba, and San Antonio de los Baños in the prelude to the invasion, with surgical strikes, using aircraft bearing false Cuban insignia; the sustained use of disinformation and deception through media outlets aimed at confusing the population, along with the economic war, diplomatic pressures to isolate the Revolution, and constant threats, reveal cunning practices and methods never abandoned by those who attack and who continue to repeat them around the world today.
They have repeated their aggressive and interventionist tactics so often, and so many nations and processes have been threatened and attacked over the years, that despite the technological, military, and media resources they throw around indiscriminately, a wave of solidarity with Cuba continues to rise as proof of the isolation of the imperialist policy that seeks to bring us to our knees through suffocation.
From this historic podium, where Fidel’s words still echo, calling on the people to take their place in the coming struggle, and where today we pay a well-deserved tribute and homage to the heroes and martyrs of that day when the homeland resolutely donned the militia uniform, we call for a national and international solidarity movement to carry the truth of Cuba to every corner of the planet— the suffering of the people due to the actions of the blockade and multidimensional economic war, exacerbated by the energy blockade, which constitutes genocide given the extreme levels of deprivation to which all Cubans are subjected.
Daily life in Cuba is painful, from the vital rest interrupted first by the blackout and then by the return of power after long hours—which has shifted domestic work to the early morning hours—to the paralysis of industries, transportation, vital services, and production because there is an absolute lack of fuel for almost everything.
The list is very long, and all of this stemmed from a single executive order that declared us an “unusual and extraordinary threat”—exactly what we are not.
Compatriots:
This is an extremely challenging moment, and it calls on us once again—as it did on that April 16, 1961—to be ready to face serious threats, including military aggression. We do not want it, but it is our duty to prepare to prevent it and, if it is unavoidable, to win! (Applause.) We have the faith in victory that Fidel instilled in us.
We believe in dialogue and in the extraordinary power of peace to sustain life on the planet. The history of the dispute between Cuba and the United States has shown that this is possible. We must consider all the human suffering it would cause our two peoples if they were dragged into a senseless, illogical conflict for which there are neither pretexts nor justifications when there is so much we can do together.
To Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, whose centennial we will celebrate in 2026, we pay the highest tribute on this 65th anniversary of the great epic (Applause). (From the audience: Long live Fidel!) (Shouts of: “Long live!”)
Fidel did not merely lead the Battle of Bay of Pigs. Fidel was and is Bay of Pigs!! (Applause.) Fidel embodies the conviction that a united people can defeat an empire! (Applause.)
Resisting the onslaught of daily invasions is the epic we are writing today, the best legacy to the fallen, to those who gave their lives in that April of 1961 for independence and socialism. As long as there is a woman and a man willing to give their lives for the Revolution, we will be victorious! (Applause.)
The socialist nature of our Revolution is not a phrase from the past; it is the shield of the present and the guarantee of the future! (Applause.)
Bay of Pigs is today and forever!
Cuba will not surrender! (Applause.)
No one here will surrender! (Applause.)
We will fight here!
Here, as the song says: We’re going to set it on fire! (Applause.)
Long live the rebellious dignity of our people! (Shouts of: “Long live!”)
Long live Socialism! (Shouts of: “Long live!”)
Homeland or Death!
We shall overcome!
(Ovation.)
