Fidel Castro - CASTRO SPEECH AT CAMAGUEY lyrics

Havana, Radio Progreso, in Spanish to Cuba, Oct. 21, 1959, 1810 GMT--E (Fidel Castro speech at Camaguey) (Summary--Relay begun while speech was in progress) We know what a loyal and revolutionary nation is. Then there is another idea which saddens us because there is no reason for its existence. It is the idea of disloyal men, of ambitious men, and of ungrateful traitors who are not capable of loyalty to their own country. More than traitors, they are ingrates. They are ingrates because they carried out a counterrevolutionary maneuver in the most revolutionary province of Cuba. They are ingrates because they mistook the sympathies of the people for unconditional support. They constantly promoted propaganda in their own favor. They misunderstood sympathy for a cause and the people's gratitude not to those who are alive, but chiefly to those who fell in battle. The people must give their gratitude, applause, loyalty, and unconditional support to those who fell because it is they who made possible the nation's victory, because it is they who made it possible for there to be commanders who have the people's support. How ungrateful, foolish and conceited are those who think this gratitude and applause are for them because men can be traitors, but not nations. These men were ungrateful not only to the people but also to their comrades of the revolution who gave them friendship and did not haggle for honors, posts, and recognition. They were ungrateful to the country which today more than ever needs loyal men. In Camaguey there was a rebel commander who had crossed the frontier of Oriente Province and who held out for several months during the war. When the war was over he should have been appointed chief of the province. Victory Mora had been fighting longer than Huber Matos. He had fought in many more battles. However, he was not fortunate enough to have gone to school. He was an illiterate and uncultured peasant who won his stripes by service and courage, and although the command should have been his we did not give it to him. We called upon the cultured and intelligent man. We called upon the more fortunate man, upon the one who liked to make speeches and who called in reporters so that they could praise him in their editorials. It was in his hands that we placed the province of Camaguey, which gave us out greatest support. The ingrate wanted to repay all these honors with betrayal. He did not care about the results of his action because from the very beginning he tried to control the unconditional support of the press and radio. He was carefully preparing the way for Huber Matos and not for the country. The reactionaries knew that Huber Matos' weakness was publicity and ambition. While campaigns were being waged against Camilo Cienfuegos, Che Guevara, and Raul, and attempts were being made to discredit the most solid bulwarks of the revolution, they tried to defy the vain and the ambitious one in order to introduce the Trojan horse inside the revolution. But Huber Matos and the reactionaries did not take the people into consideration. They thought they were going to deceive the people. They had been preparing their conspiracy for days. What was their pretext? It was the same as that of Urrutia and Diaz Ianz. When he was in control of a group of insignificant student leaders--and I am going to give their names so that the students will know who they are--when he saw that a true revolutionary, a comrade from the Sierra Maestra, a rebel who was not intimidated by the estate owners had been appointed as head of the agrarian reform, he tried to give the impression that he supported the reform. The first cooperative, La Rosera, the first agrarian reform, cooperative began here. In order to put the agrarian reform really into effect I called upon comrade Mendoza who was in Oriente Province and I put him in charge of advancing the agrarian reform. Hubert Matos did not want a true agrarian reform. While the workers were giving part of their salaries for the industrialization of the country, while the teaches were giving cla**es to new teachers at half their salary, Huber Matos was plotting. When he felt strong enough, supported by reactionary propaganda, and by the flattery of the reactionaries, he accused us of being communists just like Diaz Ianz and Urrutia. He accused us of being communists so that he could get the support of the reactionaries. We never asked to what party the fighting men belonged because part affiliations were of no importance. The revolution can win only is the people are united and prepared to make the greatest sacrifices. Hubert Matos is trying to divide the nations. Thousands of persons are in economic straits and he is making them worse. There are political difficulties and he is making them worse. The people cannot be won over without a program satisfying their interests and feelings. Is the revolution not fulfilling its program? (Applause) If the revolution is to triumph we must be told where and how we are going. This is exactly what you can read in the editorials of the DIARIO DE LA MARINA. In his letter of resignation Hubert Matos tried to give the impression that he is not involved in anything. He said that he has done everything he could for Cuba and that he is satisfied that he has accomplished his mission in organizing a province. He concluded his letter by asking to be allowed to return home as soon as possible. I answered as follows: Maj. H. Matos: I have received your letter asking (to be relieved?) and setting forth your motives. You say among other things: "After the replacement of Urrutia and others, I believe everybody who has been frank enough to talk to you about the communist problem should get out before being put out." I consider that such an insinuation would fit well into the mouth of the announcer on Trujillo's network, into Masferrer's statements, or in the columns of the reactionary press. I reject it as untrue. It is the way Pedro Luis and Urrutia tried to justify their treacherous conduct. At bottom it was a matter of immorality and ambition. The changes you mention were made under authority that does not include the requirement to render accounts to you. You have no right to judge or prejudge them, as the leader of a faction would do. From this paragraph and other things you write I have sufficient motive to feel I have been more than generous with you. You act as if you think in the process we are going through in Cuba it is possible to advance other than by merit and sacrifice. I said further in my answer: Far from being unjust with you I have pa**ed over the talks you had with many rebel officers to form a political nucleus while I was in the United States, your fine relations with Pedro Luis Diaz Lina; your relations with Urrutia, which served as an encouragement to him; and a whole series of unfavorable details in your conduct. In all these cases I had good grounds for withdrawing my confidence from you. I believe if someone has been untrue, it is you. I said in my reply: Since your decision to resign is final, Major Cienfuegos will receive the command. You have had things too easy and this has been bad for you. For many days he had in mind this plan to resign and have a group of officers resign along with him, creating confusion. He planned to take advantage of the popular good will, because of the belief in Camaguey that he was a revolutionary, to make it appear he was that a victim. Yesterday his henchmen began spreading the report that Huber Matos had resigned, to create an atmosphere of unrest. Think how happily that would be received by the war criminals' newspapers, the Trujillo radio stations, and the spokesmen of reaction. He did not care. He was not resigning just to get out. He had a bunch of friends whom he had made officers who were to resign too. Let them resign, so much the better. There will be more money for teachers, roads, and other constructive items. He was already planning the maneuver when he sent the letter. He had the support of some petty student leaders. The day after the resignation he intended to begin exploiting public sentiment. I do not know how they expected to have public support. They hoped that the resignations would spread throughout the province and create chaos, destroying the authority of the revolution. He forgot the people. Faustino Miro, a petty politician, had an item prepared for the paper saying that the news of the resignation of Huber Matos had caused consternation, that expressions of support were being voiced for him, that he enjoyed the affection of the people. So everything was ready for getting agitation under way. Miro's item went on with an effort to incite the people. The Camaguey Province secondary students federation, whose leaders should be ousted by the students themselves, issued a statement of support for Matos. It was signed by Jose A. Garcia Aleman and Dagoberto Gonzalez Bonet. Another note urged students of all schools to attend an emergency meeting. (Names of signers are read--Ed.) These impudent counterrevolutionaries must be ousted. The setup is clear: The resignation; then a ma** resignation; the little student leaders and newsmen like this Miro; agitation was being prepared. And if a state of rebellion had been created, if these plans had prospered, what would the consequences have been? They should have thought about the consequences of placing a province in a state of rebellion. What would it have cost? Blood, shed for the profit of whom? It would have been for the enemies of Cuba and the revolution. And yet they cared absolutely nothing about the consequences of their acts. Of course, they were mistaken. They fooled themselves because they misjudged the situation. They did not know what the people are. But it is clear that they were preparing a plan, with ma** resignation of all the officers to create chaos in the province, agitation among the students, statements to the press and radio. And what time did they choose for this? They did it just as Cuba was obtaining one of the greatest economic triumphs, while more than 2,000 delegates of tourist agencies from all countries were here, when a new era of tourist trade is about to begin that may mean hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign currency every year, after thousands of men have worked ceaselessly--the hotel men, restaurateurs, and the like--after the nation has spent almost a million pesos, when a tremendous success is being scored and a marvelous prospect is opening up for our tourist trade--that very week this gentleman, instead of waiting another week as he could have, created a serious disturbance with the results you know of: Uncertainty, rumors. Those enemies we have are spreading alarmist rumors all around, bout fighting taking place, and none of the ASTA delegates went to the meetings today. And so this scandal was provoked just as Cuba was having a triumph. It was not right for the work done by thousands to be destroyed by an ambitious, mistaken, disloyal ingrate. If anything compensates for this damage it is the attitude of the people. I showed how much confidence I have in the people by coming to Camaguey. I came to my headquarters, which is the public square. I knew the people of Camaguey as a revolutionary people and I had no doubts. There can be no counterrevolution here. This is a great lesson. The three musketeers have all fallen now. They fell one by one without glory, because they failed to take the people into account. Maybe the aristocrats, the big landholders, do not like us, but that does not matter. we are transforming the land. The revolution is only 10 months old, but it has already produced great works throughout the island. The revolution has created 10,000 schools that will be operating in (two?) months. We have ended gambling, corruption, abuses in general. The revolution is doing a work of justice and reparation. We believe in the people and the people have always justified our faith. And the people are behind us simply because we do our duty. The people of Camaguey won a victory today. They solved a problem without shedding a drop of blood. what do we care about these gentlemen? They are failures, frustrated men. This gentleman, like Diaz Lanz, is frustrated. we can afford to be generous with them. we are going to take into account the times they did something useful for Cuba. Being strong, a people can be generous, and therefore, now that the problem has been solved without bloodshed, let them go home if they want to as Urrutia did. See if the people will believe in men given over to ambition. When a people is strong it can be generous. They cannot forge any more little plots; they cannot do any harm. Any time they try the people will take care of the matter. Every bit of treason urges the people on to greater heights. Today's lesson is without parallel elsewhere in the world. With people like the Cubans our country can never again be enslaved. With people like these the revolution will attain all its goals. Camaguey will go forward, for now there will be no more hindrances to delay the revolution. The agrarian reform in Camaguey will go ahead. The big landholders will have lost their last hope. To show you how the activity of the plotters here coincided with the campaign of Trujillo and the war criminals, it is noteworthy that (almost?) the same day that a plane, coming from the United States beyond a doubt, was dropping bombs, these gentlemen were planning a ma** resignation. They were endangering the lives of Cubans here while the country was under attack from foreign bases. It is the limit that now the tyranny has been defeated they should still want to drop bombs and still have in that neighboring country all necessary facilities for making bombing raids. But if sticks of bombs are dropped here every day the agrarian reform will go through. Let the traitors and big landholders lose hope. If we were ever attacked we would have all the people with us ready to fight. Cuba is a nation that must be respected because of the fine qualities of the people. See how quickly the country people gathered here today. They know we keep our word. Nobody can fool the people; they have faith is us, because we have faith in them. This unity between the revolutionary government and the people cannot be broken. Because we are taking culture and bread to town and countryside, because we are building a nation of which the Cubans can be proud, we can always count on the people. And when difficulties arise we will go to the people. We have absolute faith in our people. We will make this military city into a school. Our barracks are the people themselves. Our revolution is defended by the people. If an enemy ever attacks, all the people will take part in the defense. If some day we have to fight an enemy from outside, then we will come with our arms loaded down with rifles to give to the people. People of Camaguey, on behalf of the revolutionary government, on behalf of Cuba, accept our gratitude for the fine patriotism you have shown today. -END-