Fidel Castro - FUNERAL OF MAJOR FAJARDO lyrics

"Comrade Rebels, Comrade Militiamen, workers, peasants, youths, ladies and gentlemen: "We have gathered here today to bury a major of the rebel Army. This event is bound to be painful for all of us. First of all, because the fatherland has lost a good son. Second, because the revolution has lost a first-line fighting man; and third, because we who were his comrades and his friends and his brothers have lost a comrade, a friend, and a brother. However, how should we react as revolutionaries in response to the d**h of a valiant comrade? Well, in response to the d**h of a comrade, we revolutionaries must stand up straight; we must take a look at what the destiny and the mission of a fighting man is. d**h comes to all of us but, above all, d**h is the only rest for a true revolutionary and d**h is familiar to all of us. It was more so than ever before during the war, when we witnessed episodes such as these continuously. It was an idea that we simply had to become accustomed to. But when the war was over, the situation changed. "It certainly would have seemed strange to us on 1 January, in the midst of the extraordinary jubilation of our people, to think that before 2 years were over, less than 2 years from that day, we would have to gather here today in this heroic city of Manzanillo, to bury another heroic son of Manzanillo, who have his life for the fatherland, during his duty, fighting against the same interests and fighting against the same enemies because of whom we had become so familiar with d**h. We had become familiar with the d**h of those who fell in combat or those who died day after day, a**a**inated in the streets and in the rural areas of our fatherland. The Struggle Is Not Over "And you, the people of Manzanillo, you accompanied us in the war, you were the first and the most constant supporters in our struggle; you went through 2 years of continuous terror and crime; you know very well and you remember very well those days and the idea that there would be no d**h for your youngsters. You believed that d**h and crime would be banished from our fatherland; you believed that this constant holocaust would end, this holocaust which claimed valiant and useful lives; and this through made us happy; but we were wrong in thinking that the struggle was over on that day and the reality is now that the struggle began in a different form on January 1. "Why did Major Fajardo die? Who is responsible for the d**h of Major Fajardo? Who recruited the a**a**ins because of whose guilt the fatherland lost a son such a Fajardo? Who, if not those who do not want our country to have any justice? Those who want the revolution to fail, whose who want our country once again to become a land of injustice, privilege, oppression, and crime. Those who once again want to dominate our people; those who once again want to seize control of our economy. Who are the men who are responsible for the d**h of Major Fajardo, if not, first of all, those who, from abroad, from a foreign country, constantly deep dropping weapons by parachute over a region of Cuba, in order to arm the counterrevolutionaries and to support the spies and traitors? "Although these weapons always fall into the hands of the revolution, they keep right on dropping them; they continue to parachute weapons so that the spies and the traitors will find the necessary encouragement as they go out into the mountains with foreign support, so that they can fight against the revolution. It is the government of the United States which is primarily guilty of the d**h of Major Fajardo. The bandits in the Pentagon and in the intelligence service of the United States are primarily guilty of the d**h of Major Fajardo; it is they who have constantly been dropping weapons into Escambrey, in order to develop small armed groups against the revolutionary government there; this is why Fajardo was in Escambray at this time, heading the peasant militia, trying to stop all of the efforts of imperialism. "The same criminals of yesterday, who a**a**inated so many revolutionaries, are equally guilty in the d**h of Major Fajardo; the traitors and the big privileged groups of yesterday, who have not resigned themselves to the revolution, are guilty. "Our grief as servants of the fatherland of course is reason for rejoicing in the ranks of the enemies of the fatherland; the d**h of a good son of the fatherland only makes the traitors to the fatherland happy; nevertheless, this happiness will not last long because in this pain of ours there is something more than grief. "There is grief and there is valor. There is grief and there is fighting spirit. There is grief and there is firmness. There is grief but there is also the determination to go on. As we bury our comrade, we are also firmly resolved that the enemies of the fatherland, the enemies of our people, will continue to be defeated. There is pain but there is also the determination of all of those of us who have come to bury a dead comrade, a determination to make sure that the traitors to the fatherland will die a d**h without glory, unmourned by their side. Doctor and Soldier "We are full of grief over the fact that this comrade of ours died in the service of his country; he died doing his duty; but the traitors to the fatherland, those who have sold out for foreign gold, those who want to prevent the country's march toward progress and happiness, will not have to face dishonorable d**h at the hands of the firing squad, unless they fall in battle. And this is not very probable because they prefer to surrender to the generosity of the revolutionary forces. "Comrade Fajardo did his duty. He did it in war, as a doctor and soldier. He did it in peace; and in the hearts of the first 500 students at school city, the name of Fajardo will always be remembered with love. He did his duty as a doctor, as a teacher, as a soldier. And the doctor and the teacher fell with the soldier. It is not easy to live a life such as the one lived by Fajardo. "To achieve what Fajardo achieved, one must make a hard and long effort, from the very first school days onward, to the very last years of his career as a student. "And to become a major in the Rebel forces, he had to make sacrifices and he displayed valor from the very first day he joined our ranks until the end of the war. And he was only a major because major is the highest rank we have. This is the highest rank we have in the army and he could not be anything more than a major; and Fajardo was one of those who rendered great service even after he became a major. The Fatherland Has Reserves "We have had traitors among us; we have suffered extremely painful losses in terms of comrades who fell doing their duty. "However, as I look into so many dear faces of old fighters, as I look into the faces of the veterans of the war, as we realize that the country has tremendous reserves, the old reserves and the new reserves, we do have the consolation of being able to tell our fallen comrade: 'Rest in peace, you have earned your right to rest in peace. You have won the prize that is given to the good. You have won the right to the eternal love of your people, the love of the present generation and the love of the generations yet to come.' "'We are profoundly saddened because you will not continue to walk with us, because you cannot go on contemplating with us the magnificent fruits of the revolution, because you cannot go on looking into the new faces of the new students who are attending this school city here, at which you taught. We are profoundly saddened because you cannot go on among us, contemplating the work that is growing here. But amid all this pain, we are happy to be able to tell you, dear comrade, that the work will be continued, that in this city, someday, we and others, will look into the faces of 20,000 happy children. "'We are happy to be able to tell you that the fatherland will continue to march on cost what it may, that the struggle will go on, cost what it may, and that the counterrevolutionaries and the men who have sold out will continue to run into men such as you, fighting men such as you, first cla** fighting men, capable of dying such as you did, capable of leading the men, in doing their duty. And it makes us happy, dear comrade, to be able to tell you that the enemies of the fatherland, regardless of where they may spring up, regardless of where they may try to destroy the revolution, and regardless of where they may intend to rise up in arms against it, will be liquidated. "'Rest in peace, comrade Fajardo.