Fidel Castro - 1ST NATL CONGRESS OF ADVANCED TEACHERS lyrics

Havana, 10 April--Cuban Premier Castro said this evening that "our people must learn to comprehend the events developing at home, abroad, and especially in Latin America. We should not be dragged along by opportunist views. Our people should learn how to a**ess these events objectively and correctly." Castro was speaking at a meeting held here to mark the conclusion of the First National Congress of Advanced Teachers and the graduation of a cla** of students from the school for basic revolutionary instruction. Referring to the Cuban counterrevolutionaries patronized by the United States, the Premier said that "the counterrevolutionary forces are leading toward greater disintegration from day to day now that the united revolutionary forces have become more experienced, more sk**ful in struggle, and more united and stronger." Castro said: "We want to avoid clashes with the United States or any other country. This is no secret> We do not want war. Also this is no secret. It is extremely absurd to think that we want war." He continued: "Our country has struggled and has made preparations to fight in defense of our sovereignty. But this is a totally different matter. Never have we though of starting a war. Because a policy of aggression and hostility has been imposed on us, we found it necessary in the past to defend ourselves and to prepare for self-defense, In the future, we shall always be prepared for self-defense, and ready to pay whatever costs in order to defend our fatherland and our revolution. This is categorically different from a policy of war and from any irresponsible policy." Castro said that "it was not Cuba's mistake that our men had to fight at Giron Beach, but the aggressor's crime. Every measure that has been taken by this country has been for the purpose of preventing aggression." "Have the imperialists abandoned their plans of aggression? We are not yet clear about this." "As long as there is this menace, we will continue to seek adequate ways and means to insure our security." Referring to the bright prospects opened by Cuba and the storms rising in Latin America, the Premier asked: "Now where are some of those rulers who had worked as instruments of the imperialists?" "The revolution here has become firmer and more formidable then ever, has become more invincible than ever before the imperialist attacks and the conspiracies of the corrupt oligarchical forces in other Latin American countries." "In short, one thing is clear--that the revolutionary ranks have built up their strength and raised their consciousness. The revolutionary ranks are united as one while the enemies are on the wane and falling apart." He asked: "What can we not do, what can the people not do when they have become the real masters of their own destiny?" "This must be taught if any revolutionary theories are to be taught at all. This must be learned if revolutionary consciousness is to be promoted. To learn revolutionary practice is to learn to solve the innumerable questions presented to us by proceeding from reality with our feet firmly on the ground. A revolutionary should never forget, a Marxist should never forget that the primary thing is to plant one's feet firmly in reality and start out from there." -END-