Fidel is inspiration and motivation
NKPJ ON
THE THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF FIDEL'S LOSS
Fidel was
undoubtedly a great historical personality in the most noble and lofty sense of
that word. He was a man who understood all human needs.
With his
death the international communist and revolutionary movements have lost a firm,
audacious, and experienced leader.
Fidel
Castro’s personality and legacy is beyond doubt a bright page in mankind’s
history and a signpost illuminating the horizon to future generations. He was
not merely a great warrior, revolutionary and thinker, but also the Promethean
Rock of our age. In the name of all the nations of the world, he has laid down
principles which will serve as mankind’s enduring inspiration.
He
directed and participated in all actions undertaken to defend the country and
the Revolution, against both military aggression from abroad and attacks by
counterrevolutionary bands within the nation. In particular, he led the Cuban
forces that defeated the invasion organized by the CIA at Playa Girón, on the
Bay of Pigs, in April of 1961.
He led the
Cuban people through the dramatic days of the October Crisis in 1962.
In the
name of the revolutionary government, he proclaimed the socialist character of
the Cuban Revolution on April 16, 1961.
On a
global level, he promoted the Third World's battle against the reigning
economic order, in particular against crippling foreign debt, the wasting of
resources on military spending, and neoliberal globalization, as well as
efforts to build unity and integration among Latin American and Caribbean
nations.
He has
headed the decisive action of the Cuba people to confront the impact of the
economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed on Cuba by the United
States, since its inception, and likewise in confronting the consequences of
the collapse of the socialist camp, leading the tenacious efforts of Cubans to
overcome the great difficulties that resulted, overseeing the resistance and
reinitiating a period of growth and economic development.
Throughout
the Revolution's many years, he inspired and directed the Cuban people's
struggle for the consolidation of our revolutionary process; its advance toward
socialism; the unity of revolutionary forces and the entire people; the
country's social and economic transformation; the development of education,
health, sports, culture, science, and defense; the country's response to
foreign aggression; the country's active, principled foreign policy based on
solidarity with world's peoples struggling for their independence; and the
deepening of the people's revolutionary, internationalist, communist
consciousness.
On the
basis of his immense moral authority, until his last breath, he continued to
contribute his opinions regarding the most important battles undertaken by the
Revolution.
Just as
Commander Fidel Castro said, “we shall fight and win side by side with all who
fight, who never give up when facing difficulties, all who believe in man’s
creative ability to disseminate and nurture values and ideas, with all who bet
on mankind; with all, finally, who share the marvelous conviction that a better
world is possible!”
Commander
Fidel remains eternally in the hearts of all who are struggling for justice and
freedom because of his heroic accomplishments and superhuman efforts in the
defense of his country’s freedom and sovereignty and for the dignity of man.
Dear
comrade Fidel, you will remain forever an integral part of every victory
achieved in the name of human progress.
APPENDIX:
EXCERPTS FROM THE SPEECH MADE
BY COMRADE FIDEL CASTRO AT A MASS RALLY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF HAVANA ON
MAY 4, 1999, RELATED TO THE WAR IN YUGOSLAVIA.
There is another more
important conflict. Presently, brutal and destructive air strikes are
taking place in the very heart of Europe, which are causing devastation,
death and terror in a population of millions. Religious and ethnic
conflicts have been considerably aggravated and thus hundreds of
thousands of men, women and children, also horrified by the bombs and
the war, are massively migrating.
On the eve of the next millenium Europe, --that is,
NATO and its members, the United States of America included-- is
involved in what can be described, whether they like it or not, as
genocide. That is what results from depriving one million people from
electricity and heating services, overnight and in mid winter. Also from
cutting off all communications, sources of energy and transportation;
destroying non-military facilities providing crucial services to all the
population and tearing to pieces all the means of life created by a
nation. Such destructive frenzy, either by mistake or recklessness, is
directly killing or injuring thousands of civilians while trying to
submit them by the destruction of their mass media and the
intensification of the psychological warfare with overpowering
technology and bombs. Unquestionably, this is a major genocide.
Europe is involved in a conflict hazardous to itself
and the world. An extremely serious precedent is being set in defiance
of international law and the United Nations Organization, and resulting
in an increasingly complicated the situation.
We are of the view that in such a predicament only a
political, and not a military, solution is possible based on respect for
the rights of every nation in that region, and every religion, ethnic
group and culture: a solution for both, Serbians and Kosovars. I am
deeply convinced that the problem cannot be solved by force, that the
military technology will crash against the will of any people determined
to fight. I firmly believe that when the people are willing to fight
--and this is how I feel about our own people, too-- no power,
regardless of its might, can throw them down on their knees.
In the case of Serbia, the aggressor thought it would
be a simple walk, a three days adventure, that the Serbians would
surrender to the first bombs. Forty days have already passed and
thousands and thousands of bombs have been dropped, however, we do not
perceive any symptom of weakness in their will to fight. This we know by
keeping in touch, through cell phones, --the only means of
communication-- with three Cuban diplomats in Belgrade who relate to us
what is happening there every day and after every night of Dantesque
bombing.
We are told by those diplomats about the
extraordinary morale of the Serbian people, in general, and particularly
the people in Belgrade where planes are constantly flying at low
altitude, thundering in the sky, terrorizing and causing traumas in
children --hundreds of thousands, millions of children and adolescents
afflicted perhaps for life-- youth, women and elders affected by the
noise of the explosions and the constant attacks, whose growing
viciousness is also announced. Once again I insist that that path will
not lead to the solution of the problem. I firmly believe that there is
no other choice, for anybody, but to work toward a political solution
which is possible on the basis of common sense and rationality.
From the beginning of the attacks we realized that they would be useless and would only bring about a catastrophe.
We are aware of the history of World War II, the nazi
invasion of Yugoslavia and that people’s long resistance. This time the
aggressors do not even want to use ground forces since they believe
that their smart bombs and guided missiles can solve the problem. But,
the problem cannot be resolved with missiles, bombs or ground troops
because when the people are determined to fight they do so everywhere,
from all directions, and every house may become a fortress, every man or
woman a combatant. It is not a matter of armored divisions, artillery
groups, air or navy war fleets.
We know very well how we would conduct a struggle in
our country under similar conditions and so do millions of people here;
all those methods would be useless. This country cannot be conquered by
anyone; no one can conquer a country that is willing to fight. It is
wrong to try to conquer it. It already happened in Vietnam where the
Americans understood it only when they had lost over 50 thousand lives
and killed 4 million Vietnamese. Well, now, they are in a similar
situation there, and one that can become more complicated if the
Serbians everywhere give their support to the Serbians inside Serbia.
Then, the political situation in Russia would become untenable because
the ethnic bonds between both peoples are very strong.
Other peoples will draw their own conclusions. I
think the Russians are drawing theirs --after all that has happened to
them in the past and all that can still happen to them in the future--
when they see the numberless bombs dropped by a military alliance driven
increasingly arrogant, haughty and furious by an unexpected resistance.
Europe and NATO have become the hostages of a subjective factor: the
decision the Serbians might adopt --or not-- to resist to the end,
although it is to be assumed that after such destruction they are not
going to be much inclined to give up. What is happening there was
obvious to us from the beginning. This does not mean that we are against
anybody’s rights; we support both, the rights of the Serbians and the
Kosovars’ rights.
When we were recently informed that Guantanamo Naval
Base would be used to accommodate 20 thousand Kosovar refugees, we
immediately agreed, and I think it is the first time that we have agreed
with anything the United States of America has done in that base. It is
not that they requested our permission or agreement, actually they
simply were kind enough to communicate to us that they would do that.
They explained their purposes, they said it would be for a limited
period of time while the conflict was settled, and so on. The least they
expected --they do not know this country-- was our reply.
We said that we did not only agree that 20 thousand
Kosovar refugees were sheltered there but also that we were willing to
cooperate as much as possible in providing care for those refugees, that
we offered our hospital services if required, our doctors and any other
cooperation within our capabilities.
Finally, they were not sent in and it was a clever
thing to rectify that decision because they would have been much
criticized. The truth is that none of the NATO countries, which have
dropped so many bombs there, really want to receive refugees. There is
much xenophobia and selfishness in the West. They had said they would
receive from 80 thousand to a 100 thousand but they have only received a
few thousands because they do not want to have Kosovar refugees in
their own territories, so they have done nothing significant. Anyway, it
was a political mistake but we were informed and we said that we
agreed.
There is something else. There is this international
humanitarian organization known as the Saint Egidious Community which
cares for refugees; it sustains relations with the Catholic Church and
works mostly in supportive actions every time there are refugee
problems.
Although we strongly condemn the brutal and genocidal
attacks against the Serbian people, we also share in the suffering of
the hundreds of thousands of refugees dragged to such condition by a
series of longstanding factors, not only historic in nature but also
associated to the disintegration of Yugoslavia, a country that had lived
in peace for 40 years after World War II.
Those who disintegrated Yugoslavia and stirred up the
national ethnic and religious conflicts are greatly responsible for
what is happening there now. Many of Europe’s statesmen and public
figures are aware of Europe’s responsibility in that process. Those who
so lightly agreed to use all their sophisticated and overwhelming
military technology against what was left of the former Yugoslavia bear a
great responsibility for what is going on there and the misery of those
hundreds of thousands of refugees.
As for solutions, we advocate solutions for all the
parties involved: refugees, citizens of Kosovo, Serbians and people of
other nationalities living there, and all the nations that make up what
is left of Yugoslavia today. That is, from the humane point of view our
sympathies are with all the suffering people there. In this token, when
several weeks ago, in the first days of April, we were visited by
leaders of the Saint Egidious Community and they explained to us what
they were doing to provide care and assistance to those distressed
refugees, for which purpose they had about 30 medical doctors, --this
happened a few weeks ago but I have not mentioned it before, I am doing
it for the first time-- we said to them: Look, we do not have abundant
resources but we have a human asset. If you needed medical personnel to
care for those hundreds of thousands of refugees living in deprived
camps, our country would be willing to contribute with one thousand
physicians, absolutely free of charge, to care for the Kosovar refugees.
Based on a longstanding experience we know that
language is not a barrier. A six months old baby speaks no language at
all, however, he/she can be care for by a doctor. This offer we made to
the leaders of the Saint Egidious Community on the night of April 5,
that is, 12 days after the onset of the NATO attacks.
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