Fidel Castro - CASTRO SPEECH DELIVERED IN CIUDAD LIBERTAD lyrics

Fellow citizens: I beg of you to maintain order. Are they not revolutionaries, those who are here? Are there not many rebel soldiers here? Are there not many army men here? Then we must have discipline here, and everyone must keep silent. It is my duty to speak here tonight. I am faced with one of the perhaps most difficult of my duties in this long process of struggle which began in Santiago de Cuba on 30 November 1956. The people are listening. The revolutionary fighters are listening, and the soldiers of the army are listening. Their fate is in our hands. I believe that we are at a crossroads in our history. The tyranny has been overthrown. The happiness is tremendous, but nonetheless much remains to be done still. Let us not deceive ourselves in believing that what lies ahead will all be easy. Perhaps all that lies ahead will be more difficult. To state the truth is the duty of every revolutionary. To deceive the people, to awaken in them deceitful illusions will always result in the worst of consequences, and I believe that the people must be warned against an excess of optimism. How did the rebel army win the war? By telling the truth. And how did the tyranny lose it? By deceiving the soldiers. As we were faced with the duty, we made this clear over the Rebel Radio and warned all the comrades, so that the same would not happen to them. This was not the case with the army, in which all of the troops fell into error, because the officers and soldiers were never told the truth, and this is where I wish to begin. Or rather I wish to continue in this pattern, that of always telling the people the truth. A period of time has elapsed, which perhaps will represent a considerable advance. Here we are in the capital, in Columbia, the revolutionary forces are triumphant. The government has been established and recognized by many countries in the world. Seemingly peace has been won, but, however, we should not be optimistic. As we proceeded here today, while the people laughed and expressed joy, we were concerned, and the fact that the crowd which gathered to welcome us was most unusual and the happiness of the people was so great made our concern the greater, because it made our responsibility to history and to the people of Cuba the greater. The revolution is no longer confronted with an army ready for combat. Who, in the future, can the enemies of the revolution be? Who, since the people are victorious, can be the enemies of the revolution in times to come? The worst enemies of the Cuban revolution in the future may be the revolutionaries themselves. On one occasion I said to a rebel fighter that when we are not faced with the enemy, when the war has ended, the only enemies the revolution can have will be we ourselves, and for this reason I always say that we must be more demanding of the rebel soldiers than of anyone, because it will depend on them whether the revolution triumphs or fails. There are many kinds of revolutionaries, and many kinds of revolution. We have been hearing talk of revolution for a long time. Even on 10 March, there was talk of revolutionaries. We have heard talk of revolutionaries for a long time, too. I recall my first impression of revolutionaries. Later, study and some maturity gave me an idea of what a revolution really was, and what a revolutionary really was. But my first impression of a revolutionary goes back to childhood. So and so was in this or that battle, and such and such was a revolutionary. In the name of revolution a caste was created, and there were revolutionaries then who wanted to live off the revolution. And it is possible that those who talk the most were those who had done the least, and it is certain that they went to the ministries to seek public posts, hastening to profit from the revolution. And we cannot fall into this, or else we would be throwing away, as they did, the revolutionary ideal. I recall, from my first impressions as a boy, those revolutionaries who went around wearing 45 pistols in their belts and wanted to do things their own way. One had to fear them because they were capable of k**ing anyone. They went to the officers of high officials, threatening them in order to obtain what they wanted, which these officials had to give them. And in fact, one wonders: where is the revolution they undertook? Because there was no revolution and there were very few revolutionaries. The first question those of us who undertook the revolution must ask ourselves is what our intentions were in doing so, and whether an ambition, an ignoble desire, was hidden in any of us. We must ask ourselves if each of the combatants in this revolution had a firm and heartfelt idea or thought because of some egotistical goal or in the pursuit of other unknown but inadmissible goals. If we undertook this revolution thinking that if only the tyranny were overthrow, we could enjoy the advantages of power, planning to mount the throne and live like a king, in a little palace, expecting life to be a lark for us from then on, if this was why we became revolutionaries, if we thought of removing one minister in order to impose another, to remove one man to impose another, it would not have been worth the trouble undertaking the revolution. But I know that in each one of us there was a real spirit of sacrifice. I know that in each one of us there was a desire to do this, expecting no reward. And if we were ready to give up everything in advance, we were ready also to carry out our duty as sincere revolutionaries. This question must be asked because the fate of Cuba, of ourselves and of the people, may depend to a great extent on this examination of our consciences. When I hear talk of columns, of battle fronts, of troops, I always reflect. Because here our strongest column, our best unit, the only troops capable of winning the war alone are the people. No general can do more than the people. No army can do more than the people. I was asked what troops I would prefer to command, and I answered I would prefer to command the people. Because the people are unconquerable and it was the people who won this war, because we had no army, we had no fleet, we had no tanks, we had no planes, we had no heavy guns, we had no military academies or recruiting and training teams. We had neither divisions nor regiments nor companies nor platoons, but we have the confidence of the people, and with this alone we were able to win the battle for liberty. The people have won this war. And I say this in case anyone believes that the people have been deceived. And therefore, the people are more important than anything. But there is something else: the revolution does not serve my interests as a person, nor those of any other commander or captain. The interests the revolution serves are those of the people. Those who win or lose by the revolution are the people, and it was the people who suffered the horrors of these years, the people who had to decide if in ten, fifteen or twenty years they and their children and their grandchildren would still by suffering from the horrors to which the people of Cuba were subjected under such dictatorships as those of Machado and Batista. It is of great concern to the people whether we will do well by this revolution just completed, and the one before that, etc., and thus it is the people who will suffer the consequence of our errors, because there is no error without consequences for the people. There is no political error for which one does not pay sooner or later. Today's circumstances are not the same as those of yesterday. For example, as of the present there is a greater opportunity than ever for the revolution to fulfill its destiny fully. This is perhaps why the joy of our people today is so great. But there is much more to be added. One of the greatest desires of the nation, as a result of the errors from which it suffered thanks to repression and war, was that for peace, peace with freedom, peace with justice and peace with law. No one asks for another kind of peace, because Batista spoke of peace, spoke of order, but no one wanted that peace and that order. Away with him, because this would have been peace at the cost of subjection. We here want peace as it is: to the benefit of the people. Peace without dictatorship, without crime, without censorship, without repression. Perhaps this is the joy which is most keenly felt now. Perhaps this is the joy of the Cuban mothers, the mothers of soldiers or revolutionaries, the mothers of any citizens who are today aware that their sons are finally free of danger; thus the greatest crime which could be committed in Cuba today would be a crime against peace, and this no one would pardon -- it would be the plotting, by anyone against peace. Anyone today who does anything to threaten peace in Cuba, anyone who puts the calm and happiness of a regime of Cuban freedom in danger is a criminal and a traitor. Those who are not prepared to sacrifice something for peace, those who are not prepared to sacrifice everything for peace are criminals and traitors. As this is my belief, I say and I swear before my fellow citizens and all of my comrades that our movement is the best safeguard for peace in Cuba. From this moment on, the people can be sure of, are guaranteed, a regime of respect, progress and peace, because I am a man who has indeed sacrificed something, as I have proved this on more than one occasion in my life, because I have taught this to my comrades, and therefore, I presume to have sufficient moral authority and strength to speak at a ceremony like this. And the first among those to whom we must speak of this are the revolutionaries, and if it were necessary, or rather because it is necessary, I would say here: that decade which followed the fall of Machado is not so far off. Perhaps one of the worst evils in that struggle was the proliferation of revolutionary groups which soon destroyed each other, and as a result what happened was that Batista came and was left master of the revolution in Cuba. When the 26 July Movement was organized, and even when we undertook this war, I believed that if indeed the sacrifices we were making were very great and the struggle would be very long (and it only lasted two years), they were for us but a step, two years of hard combat from the time we began the struggle again with a handful of men until the time we reached the capital of the republic -- despite the sacrifices which lay ahead, I was comforted by one idea, that the 26 July Movement would have popular support and sympathy. It was obvious that the 26 July movement had the support of the Cuban young people. It seemed that this time a great and strong organization would take up the concerns of our people. I think that everything went well for us from the very first, with a single revolutionary organization -- ours or any other, that of 36, 27 or 50, whichever. Because when all is said and done it was the same men, those of us who fought in the Sierra Maestra or in the Hscambray or in Pinar del Rio, and we were the same men, all of us supported a single ideal and revolutionary organization. Ours was simply the first, that which waged the first battle at the Moncada Barracks, that which disembarked from the "Granma" in the month of December and which fought alone for more than a year against the tyranny, when we had no more than 12 men holding high the ban etc., until we came to show that this was not the struggle, that it must be different. We had to invent tactics in so doing, and it was we who had to lead the struggle effectively to the achievement of its ideal, and I want the people to tell my honestly if this is or is not the truth. There is,-moreover, another question. The 26 July Movement was a majority movement. Isn't this true? And how did the struggle end? When the tyranny fell, we had taken all of Oriente, Camaguey, almost all of Las Villas, Matanzas and Pinar del Rio. The struggle ended with the forces which had reached Las Villas, because we rebels had in command Major Camilo Cienfuegos and Major Guevara in Las Villas. On 1 January, because of Cantillo's betrayal, Camilo Cienfuegos had orders to advance on the capital and attack Columbia, and Major Ernesto Guevara in Las Villas also had orders to advance on the capital and seize La Cabana, and every military fortress of any importance fell to the rebels. And finally, it was our efforts, experience and organization which enabled us to win. Does this mean that the others did not fight? No! Does this mean that the others were not worthy? No! Because we all fought as the people fought. In Havana there were no mountain battles, but hundreds were k**ed. In Havana there were no mountain battles, but the general strike was a decisive factor in making the triumph of the revolution complete. In stating this, the only proper thing is to put things in their place. The overall effect of the movement in the struggle was not here and not there exclusively. It was the product of the joint efforts of all. Someone should write an article entitled "Against Everything," explaining the strategy which this revolution developed and which culminated with the 26 July triumph and the overwhelming defeat of the tyrant's forces, which surrendered to the forces of the rebel Army. Not only did this serve the ends of the 26 July forces, but it also taught how it is necessary to deal with the enemy in war, because this was perhaps the first revolution in the world in which no prisoner of war was murdered, no wounded soldier abandoned, no man tortured, because this was the conduct maintained by the Rebel Army, and, moreover, this was the only revolution in the world which did not produce a single general. Not one, because the rank I took for myself, which my comrades a**igned me, was that of Major, and I have not changed it, although we have won many battles. i still want to be a major. And there was a moral result which promotions will not produce, because our highest rank is that of major, although there are more than one can count. To judge from appearances, I believe that the people approve of the way we fought, and because I have fought as I have for citizens' rights, I take for myself the right to speak the truth even if it hurts, and also because we are defending the interests of the fatherland, and will not compromise with the threats which may hang over the Cuban revolution. Although others have the same moral authority as I to speak, I would say that they nonetheless have less merit, as I believe that for men to have equal prerogatives, they must earn them in practice, against negative moral conditions, they must prove worthy of merit. I believe that the revolution has been completed, now that Major Cienfueges, after a month and several days of battle, is in command in Columbia, now that Alnejeiras, who has lost three brothers in this war, is chief of police and now that Major Ernesto Guevara, who landed with the "Granma" and is a veteran of two years and one month of battle in the highest and most rugged mountains of Cuba, is in command of La cabana, and now that we have placed in charge of the various regiments in the different provinces the men who have sacrificed and fought the most in this revolution. If this is the case, no one has the right to challenge them. We must honor merit, because those who do not are but ambitious creatures, those who do not honor the merits of others, who challenge them, seek to deceive in order to a**ume their prerogatives. Now the republic and the revolution are entering a new phase. Would it be just for ambition or egotism to threaten the destiny of the revolution here? What serves the interests of the people? Because it is the people to whom it is of interest to avoid this danger. Our freedoms, the rights they have won, peace, inner interest? Because currently the people have all the freedoms, all the rights, and all the pace they have wanted. Does an honest government serve the interests of the people? Is it not an honest government which serves the interests of the people? Well, today they have one. In the President of the Republic we have an honorable official. Does honest and open army leadership serve the interests of the people? Well, today they have it. What is important to the people here is that their leaders be honest men, not just anyone. What matters here is that those appointed have these qualities, for haphazard appointees are not worth anything to the people of Cuba. Has any of our appointees tried to cover the country with blood? Has any of our ministers covered the country with blood and disturbed the peace of this nation? If the team of leaders the present government has does not prove worthy, the people have the right to out them, not to approve them, I mean in elections, because when everyone knows that they are not worthy, this is the final recourse: elections. We have finished forever here with coups d'etat. We must make this clear so that demagogy and confusion will not arise, and with the first evidence of ambition to appear, we must be merciless. Nor my part, I tell you that the only thing to heed is the people, and the people have all the armed columns. This is because in order to wage a free revolution we called upon the people, because by talking with the people it is possible to avoid bloodshed and it is necessary to call upon the people, so that they can help to resolve the problems. I who have profound faith in the people and believe I have shown this, tell you that the people want to be counted on this country, but for public opinion to make itself felt, it is necessary to have extraordinary strength. In an era of dictatorship, public opinion is nothing, but in an era of freedom, it is everything and the official authorities must express their views to the republic. They must speak to the people, because always, by this means, by speaking wisely with the people, the revolution can avoid many threats. And I tell you that these treats are not so great, because it should not be necessary to shed more Cuban blood to consolidate the revolution. I must say that we are working to consolidate this revolution, because otherwise it would not exist, nor would I have been speaking here before this vast crowd. I could not have spoken thus when we were a group of 12 men, when all we had was the duty to fight, to struggle and to win merit in the eyes of the people. But now that we have heavy guns, weapons, a navy and tremendous strength of a military nature, and in the people, our great concern must be not to fight, because there is no merit in fighting thus, because to fight now with tanks, heavy guns, etc., has no merit. What I ask of the people in order to combat all ambition is their cooperation in condemning the ambitious, in order to eliminate any emerging ambition from hereon. I am not going to make an attack of a personal and specific nature, because the triumph is too recent to permit embarking on polemics. However, when the time comes to do so, I am ready, because I have moral authority enough to do this (applause). And this is because I believe in the ma** of the fighters, in the majority of the men, and I cite as an example Carlos Prio Socarras, who told me that he wanted to contribute to the revolution, without any personal aspirations, that is to say, unconditionally, and he proved this by protesting not at all, by never expressing the slightest objection or complaint to the cabinet. And I have found the same readiness in other organizations -- those of combatants, men who fought and struggled, and the other organizations must have the feeling of the free revolutionaries who have always thought of the welfare of the people. And I am certain that if anyone were to come to combat civil revolution in Cuba they should do so very carefully, because all they would achieve would be the desertion of all the combatants from their ranks, because they would not follow them. One would have to be mad to challenge the reason, the right, the peace and the history of Cuba. I say all this because I want to ask the people a question the answer to which interests me greatly. Why are they ama**ing weapons secretly now? Why are they smuggling weapons in currently? I tell you that currently there are members of revolutionary organizations who are stockpiling weapons and smuggling them. All of the rebel army weapons are in the barracks, and no one has taken them home. They are in the barracks under lock and key! This is true in Pinar del Rio, just as it is in Havana, Matanzas, Camaguey and Oriente, because these weapons should now be in the barracks. And I will give you this warning: I am prepared to do whatever I have to do to resolve this problem with the help of public opinion, and I want to count on the strength of the people alone to safeguard the weapons. I suggest that these revolutionaries abandon the false positions into which they are slipping and get back in tune with the freedoms and peace of the people. Weapons for what? To fight against whom? Against the revolutionary government, which has popular support? Weapons for what? To fight against the revolution? Is Urrutia the same as Batista? Now there is no censorship, the press is free and you can be sure that censorship will not be reestablished, ever. Today there is no torture, a**a**ination or dictatorship. Today there is only happiness. All of the leaders are organizing their trade union organizations, all of the rights of the citizens have been reestablished. Weapons! What for? To blackmail the President of the Republic? To threaten peace? So that we can watch gangsterism and daily skirmishes flourish? Weapons for what? Well, I say to you that two days ago, members of a certain organization entered the San Antonio barracks, which was under the command of Camilo Cienfueges and myself, as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and took 500 machine guns and other weapons. And I honestly hope that they have not decided to engage in any other provocation, because to violate what has been achieved like this is knavery. If they were seeking provocations, what they lacked was not guns but only men of the people to support them. Because the combatants with true ideals are capable of fixing the responsibility for this deed with those who have none, and so we have remained calm, and no one fears that we are going to become dictators. He who does not have the people with him, he who is not in the right, has no strength, and we have seen such human and total affection in the hearts of the people because we have never acted in such a way as rudely to impose ourselves where we were not wanted, because we have won and produced something in waging this struggle against the people and we do not need force because on the day that the people look with disfavor upon us -- only this -- we will leave, because we regard this task as a sacrifice, not pleasure. We are working honestly, because it will bring us nothing personally, and the people will never see me granting privileges to anyone, nor committing injustices, nor plundering nor abusing, because we regard the exercise of authority as a sacrifice, and we believe that if it were not thus, if it were not for the demonstration of affection received from the people, the least we could do would be to withdraw and retire, particularly since it is a duty, and if it were not for this duty, what I would do would be to say goodbye and take with me the gift of the love which I have won in the hearts of the people, and wait for them to call upon me in the same words as they have done today. The tasks which duty imposes upon us not represent a difficult path full of dangers. And there is also another reason force does not interest us, because on the day someone rises up to use force here I will make bold to call him an enemy. I will tell him to take that force, and again I would depart, and they could see how long this lasted. I believe that these are reasons enough to show everyone that ... The President of the Republic has appointed me commander-in-chief of all the air, land and sea forces in the republic. This is not an honor I have earned, because to me it represents a sacrifice, and so I am not proud or thankful for it, and I want the people to tell me I should a**ume this duty. I believe that if I created an army with only 12 men and if I commanded a military force which never abandoned a wounded man, nor harmed a prisoner, we are the men who should command the forces of the republic, filling the armed institutes with men not a one of whom has ever struck, tortured or k**ed a prisoner, and moreover, we can serve as a bridge between the revolution and the military. Because these soldiers will have the duty of continuing to belong to the armed forces, and I also say that those who have murdered will never save anyone. And this is the case because all of the revolutionary combatants want to belong to the regular forces of the army of the republic, have a right to do so, since... but there are other more important problems to resolve. The doors will be open to all the revolutionary fighters, because they have fought and produced good for the country. And if they have confidence in the country, in the government, if the doors are open to all, what reason is there to stock weapons? I want the people to tell me if they want peace, or a kind of war. I want to be told if the people agree that each has a right to his own private army, in order to promote discord, if we can have peace in the republic this way. And these are the problems I have sought to control, so that the guns could disappear from the streets as soon as possible, because when we are not confronted by the enemy, there is no need to fight anyone, and if one day it is necessary to do so, because they come to oppose the revolution, it will not be just a few who will fight, but all. No one has a right to have a private army. These elements have been seen engaging in suspicious maneuvers. Perhaps they have taken the pretext that I have been appointed commander of the army, and they have talked of a political army. Is this a political army? That which has the support of the people? And I want to tell the people and the mothers of Cuba that I will resolve all problems without shedding a drop of blood. I tell the mothers that they will never, because of us, have to weep. I want to ask the people, all responsible men, to help us to resolve these problems and when we are threatened with an action... this is immoral. I say here, moreover, that we will not access to these threats, because this would be to dishonor the revolution and to compromise its success and consolidation. Let those who are not members of the regular forces of the republic return the weapons to the barracks, because there are more than enough weapons here now, and it has been proven that weapons are only needed when one has to defend the right and the people. They are not for committing misdeeds. I want to tell the people that they can be sure that the laws will be respected, because there is no egotism or partisanship here. However, on the day the people order that weapons be taken up to guarantee their law, their peace and their right, then these weapons which are under my jurisdiction will be taken up again to fulfill their duty. Let no one think that we will full into temptation, because we have too great a responsibility to prevent the shedding of a single drop of blood, so that we cannot allow ourselves to be corrupted or confuse the issues of life. Thus, let no one fear, because when our patience is exhausted, we will seek new patience, and when that is finished, we will seek still further patience. And this must be the slogan of the men who have weapons in hand, and power in their hands: they must never become so exasperated as to take up weapons. They must resign themselves to all sacrifices, except when there is an attempt to endanger the security of the law and the rights of the people. But we will make use of the weapons when the people so demand. What I want to do now is simply to warn the people of this danger, so that this revolution, which has cost us so much, can be kept pure and useful to the citizens. It is true that all peoples, after such struggles, have had others and yet more. This seems to be an exception, and would that it should even more so, because there could be no one who wants the firing of a single further shot here. I am proud of the discipline and the spirit of the people because if something really excellent has been accomplished it is the demonstration of their dignity and civic conscience. Sacrifice for such a people is well worth it. As of the present, the military battles have ended. Tomorrow we will have another day of peace like all the rest. We have become accustomed to war. For a long time, we did not know what peace was. But we must learn to work to pay the rent, the electrical bills, etc. I know that the young people are deeply imbued with the enthusiasm which will change the republic. I am certain of it, and also of the fact that there is a president who has the confidence of the people, because no danger threatens. The position of the president is established, and has now been recognized by almost all the nations in the world. Nothing can threaten him, and he has the support of the people, our support and that of the revolutionary forces. This is true support, support without revolution and without danger. For us, this step is above suspicion because we have fought without ambition and full of the greatest hopes, faith and without the slightest doubt. Thus, now we must work hard. For my part, I will do all I can to the benefit of the country. And I with all of my comrades stand with the President of the Republic and all the other Cubans. I hope that the triumph of consolidation will not be long in being achieved. I see an extraordinary spirit of cooperation in all sectors of the people, among the journalists and in all the other sectors of the country. We will make a tremendous advance. The Republic will be free of all petty politicking, vice and gambling. And now it is the Republic which will resolve all the problems... Because I am not a professional military man or an army careerist. I was a military man as short a time as possible. I am not going to engage in military war undertakings with neighboring countries, because if it is desired to fire shots, I believe that there is plenty of room here in Cuba to do so. If we do not resolve all these problems it means an incomplete revolution, because I believe that the basic problem of the Republic, following the triumph, is work, and this is the way to resolve the problems. But this is not all, comrades. There are thousands of other things. But as you can imagine, we are not going to deal with every subject in a single evening. We are ending a long day. Although I am not tired, tomorrow morning a day of work must be begun. I promised to attend the program "With the Press" tonight and I see that it is 1:30 and I cannot go. You will have other opportunities to hear me on the radio, in the press, etc. Also we will meet in the schools, the neighborhoods and everywhere, anyone can talk with me. The demands of all will be met. The Council of Ministers is made up of great revolutionary elements. The President of the Republic chose the Prime Minister, and when he asked our cooperation, we granted it. As I have said previously, we cannot do everything in one, two or three days. Moreover, I have told the people during other ceremonies that they should not expect these ministers to know how to be ministers. These are new tasks for them. We knew nothing about war, either, nor did Che Cuevara know anything about strategy, or anything like it. He knew nothing of military matters. Why? Because he had not studied them. Possibly the same will be the case with the ministers, but I am sure that within a month, they will know more than enough. The most important thing is the desire they have to learn, to serve the people, and to do their jobs well. How will they know how to do this? Morality, honesty will teach them, because although there are no sages here, there are indeed honest men. The majority of them are members of the 26 July Movement, but if they do not serve the purpose, others, the men of 27 or 28 July, will replace them. The 26 July veterans have a right to try to serve the Republic. And this must be all for today. Really, I have said all I wanted and if there is something else, I will leave it for another time. I realize now that what I have not said is that I believe that all of the people of Havana are here today. The vast crowd gathered today, this astonishing multitude, will be seen in photographs. And I believe that the people have done too much, because this is more that we merit. I believe that never again will we see a crowd such as this, although I am sure that on such will gather again when we go to our grave, because we want to merit the gathering of such a crowd, since we will never deceive our people. -END-