Cuba has defended and will continue resolutely defending the values it has cultivated and the rights it has won

Speech by President Fidel Castro Ruz, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, at the ceremony, held at the Karl Marx Theater on March 13, 2002, Year of the Heroes Imprisoned by the U.S. Empire, marking the 45th anniversary of the attack on the Presidential Palace and the takeover of Radio Reloj.

TRANSLATION OF THE TRANSCRIPT OF THE COUNCIL OF STATE

Compatriots:

José Antonio Echevarría, who died at the age of 24 after having survived other dangers, might be here with us today if he hadn’t fallen in combat on March 13, 1957.

Even now, words fail me when I hear Radio Reloj’s strange tick-tock. From a 1,000-meter-high mountain in the heart of the Sierra Maestra, with only 12 men, we tried to unravel that mystery. Something serious was happening! We never imagined that at that very same moment, a group of heroic comrades headed by José Antonio were carrying out their promise to struggle together to "bring down the tyranny and make the Cuban Revolution," as the 26th of July Movement and the Federation of University Students had agreed on August 30, 1956, in Mexico.

For our part, that year we had declared we would be fighting in our homeland. We did this under the bold and reckless slogan: "In 1956 we will either be free or martyrs." We had only 90 days left. The enemy was counting off the days on the calendar, convinced that that such a promise could never be fulfilled, and we would be extremely discredited. Whether or not that promise was correct from the tactical point of view, the reigning skepticism and loss of faith on the part of the people, defrauded a hundred times, obliged us to attempt it.

On that March 13, as our modest expeditionary force had been caught in a surprise attack, discouraged and almost exterminated days after we disembarked, José Antonio was carrying out what he considered a sacred task, emanating from the Mexico Letter and his own convictions.

Many heroic combatants from the Revolutionary Directorate, founded by him on February 24, 1956, fought at his side and gave their lives. A bloodbath followed the brave, bold attack. Hardly anyone from the two groups who had signed the letter survived.

When Radio Reloj broke its unusual silence and we knew what had happened, how hard it was remembering that young man so full of life, honesty, unselfishness, extraordinary courage and deep revolutionary sentiment. Nor could I forget the fraternal affection I always received from him.

He was endowed with a special charisma and clashed with the dictatorship’s repressive forces many times on the front line and leading the students. On numerous occasions I feel immense pain that young people like him, Abel [Santamaría], Frank País and many others died along the way. What did the Revolution mean to them? What did it mean to Céspedes, Agramonte, Maceo, Martí and the whole legion of patriots who died in the struggles for independence? What did it mean to Mella, Guiteras, Martínez Villena and others like them who died along the way without seeing any of their dreams become reality?

On anniversaries like these, one feels the desire to shout with all one’s might: "Eternal glory to those who only knew the pleasure of sacrifice offered by Martí to Gómez!" although in this case we don’t have to add "the probable ingratitude of the people," as he did at the end of his historic phrase.

They bequeathed to us the example with which our people, day by day, little by little and idea after idea, have converted Cuba from a Spanish colony first, then a humiliated imperialist dominion, into the world’s most independent and free nation (APPLAUSE); from a slave society full of injustices and inequalities to the most sharing and fair nation the world has ever known. (APPLAUSE)

The great monument that our people have erected to the noblest and purest sentiments of human beings cannot be destroyed with calumny and lies. History cannot erase what we have built and defended in the face of the most powerful empire that has ever existed. The most sophisticated and destructive weapons able to wipe humankind off the map don’t have the slightest capacity for making any dent in the strength and bravery with which Cuba has defended and will continue resolutely defending the values it has cultivated and the rights it has won.

It has been some time since the enemies of the Cuban Revolution have been able to use fear — the most important of all the weapons that the conquerors of countries and huge empires always count on. (APPLAUSE)

With such a solid foundation, dear compatriots, I can assure you that everything that makes us feel proud today is no more than a pale reflection of what we plan to achieve in the future, using the enormous human potential and new values created by the Revolution.

Let facts speak for themselves. We will finally become real human beings and live as such. We will become the world’s most cultured people. (APPLAUSE) We will enjoy the deep happiness that emanates from human dignity, brotherhood and creativity. We will make our own small contribution to the future of humanity. If the powerful empire tries to stop us and we have to pay the modest price of our lives, we will gladly cease to exist. And that nothing can prevent the humble path made by our Revolution on its journey through history from being followed by many other people in the world.

One way or another, we shall overcome!

We swear it!

(OVATION)