https://themilitant.com/2018/12/08/castro-internationalism-is-paying-our-debt-to-humanity/
Castro: ‘Internationalism is paying our debt to humanity’
Vol. 82/No. 47
December 17, 2018
Cuban and Angolan fighters celebrate 1983 battle in Cangamba, Angola,
pushing back forces backed by apartheid South Africa and U.S. rulers.
“This internationalist mission in Angola” Castro said, victorious in
1988, “had a very big impact on Africa,” helping lead to fall of the
apartheid regime.
Verde Olivo
Cuban and Angolan fighters celebrate 1983 battle in Cangamba, Angola,
pushing back forces backed by apartheid South Africa and U.S. rulers.
“This internationalist mission in Angola” Castro said, victorious in
1988, “had a very big impact on Africa,” helping lead to fall of the
apartheid regime.
Below are excerpts from In Defense of Socialism by Fidel Castro. The
book contains four speeches by the central leader of the revolution
given around the 30th anniversary of the 1959 Cuban Revolution. These
speeches were given at the high point in the rectification process in
Cuba — a fundamental reorientation of the revolution based on voluntary
labor and deepening working-class political leadership. Castro led this
fight to reverse the growing impact of bureaucratism and capitalist
methods on working-class consciousness and morale. The victory of Cuba’s
internationalist mission against the South African apartheid regime’s
invasion of Angola reinforced this battle. The excerpt is from a Dec. 5,
1988, speech, “As Long As the Empire Exists, We Will Never Lower Our
Guard.” Copyright © 1989 by Pathfinder Press. Reprinted by permission.
BY FIDEL CASTRO
We are a small country — an island, what’s more — located many
thousands of kilometers away from any potential or real allies; ninety
miles away from not just the most powerful imperialist power on earth
but also the most high-handed and arrogant one. Or as we have pointed
out on other occasions, we are not even ninety miles away but just a few
millimeters, a few microns, from a piece of our territory illegally
occupied by them.
That empire still is and will continue to be, perhaps for a long time to
come, just that: an empire, and a powerful one at that.
We are the first socialist country in the Western Hemisphere, the first
socialist country in Latin America, the last one to free itself from
Spain, the first one to free itself from U.S. imperialism, [Applause]
the first one to establish full control over its own wealth, the first
one to disobey their orders, the first one to challenge them, the first
one to carry out the deepest of revolutions on the basis of new
concepts, new ideas, new values.
We have been the first country to raise aloft the banner of the workers,
the peasants, the poor, and to implement their demands and rights. We
have been the first country to set the example corresponding to this
stage of historical development of the peoples of Latin America. We have
upheld those banners and that attitude for nearly thirty years, and the
empire will never forgive us for that.
But it’s not just a question of wounding the empire’s pride but also of
causing a great injury to its imperial interests. We are a symbol, we
are the road to rebellion, freedom, and independence.
And the empire will never stop trying to crush that symbol, that
example, that road one way or another. As long as the imperial
domination of our hemisphere exists, that is and will continue to be
their goal.
Even if the day were to come when relations between socialist Cuba and
the empire improve formally, that would not stop the empire from trying
to crush the Cuban revolution. And they don’t hide it; their
theoreticians explain it, the defenders of the imperial philosophy
explain it. There are some people who say it’s better to make certain
changes in their policy toward Cuba in order to penetrate it, weaken it,
destroy it — peacefully, if possible. Others think that the more
belligerence shown toward Cuba the more active and effective Cuba will
be in its struggles on the Latin American and world scene.
Therefore, there is something that must be the essence of Cuban
revolutionary thought; there is something that must be absolutely clear
in the consciousness of our people, who have had the privilege of being
the first to travel this road: and it is the awareness that as long as
the empire exists we will never be able to lower our guard, to neglect
our defense. [Applause] …
The question of our defense was never in anyone’s hands but our own.
[Applause] It’s very important that we realize this! We were never
defended by nuclear missiles. We have nothing to gain or lose in this
regard if some missiles of one type or another are dismantled or even if
there is universal nuclear disarmament — something which unfortunately
does not appear to be so close at hand — since our defense never
depended on short-, intermediate-, or long-range missiles. …
We know that the United States had some sleepless nights over the kind
of boldness whereby a small, blockaded and threatened country like Cuba
was capable of carrying out an internationalist mission of this nature.
The empire can’t conceive of this. They are the only ones in the world
who are entitled to have troops everywhere, weapons everywhere, bases
everywhere. And so the fact that a small Caribbean country was capable
of providing support to a sister African nation is something beyond
their parameters, concepts, and norms.
It’s clear that this internationalist mission carried out by Cuba had a
very big impact on Africa. The African peoples, and even African
governments that are not revolutionary but belong rather to the right
have viewed with admiration the mission carried out by Cuba in Africa.
The African peoples know these are troops allied with them; they know
that the only non-African country whose troops were sent to defend an
African country against the aggression of racist and fascist South
Africa is Cuba. [Applause] …
There are some who have even dared question the internationalist spirit
and heroism of our people, who have criticized it. This is the Yankees’
hope: that anti-internationalist currents would arise among our people
to weaken us. As we have said before, being internationalists is paying
our debt to humanity. [Applause] Whoever is incapable of fighting for
others will never be capable of fighting for himself. [Applause] And the
heroism shown by our forces, by our people in other lands, faraway
lands, must also serve to let the imperialists know what awaits them if
one day they force us to fight on this land here. [Applause and shouts]
In This Issue
Front Page Articles •‘Yellow vest’ protests force French gov’t to back down
•Working class must lead rural revolt against capitalist rulers
•Disaster from Camp Fire is result of capitalist rule
•Welcome to the 1,404 new readers of the ‘Militant’!
•‘We won!’ Marriott hotel workers vote to end strike, return to work
•National coalition against censorship says stop Florida bans on ‘Militant’
Feature Articles •Moscow launches assault on Ukraine access to Sea of Azov
Also In This Issue •Canadian nationalism, tariffs dead end for working
farmers
•At G-20 US, China rulers reach truce in trade dispute
•Florida victory boosts fight for ex-prisoners’ voting rights
On the Picket Line •Minn. Somali Amazon workers fight speedup,
discrimination
•Canadian postal workers protest gov’t order to go back to work
•Striking Kentucky concrete workers fight bosses’ ‘final offer’
Books of the Month •Castro: ‘Internationalism is paying our debt to
humanity’
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