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Vol. 81/No. 29 August 7, 2017
(special feature)
Raúl Castro: ‘Cubans are free, independent
and sovereign’
Below is an excerpt from a July 14 speech by Cuban President Raúl Castro
at the closing session of the National Assembly of People’s Power
discussing Cuba’s relations with Washington. After this excerpt, Castro
concluded his talk by reiterating the Cuban people’s solidarity with the
people of Venezuela, demanding Washington “respect Venezuela’s
legitimate right to resolve its internal problems peacefully and without
any foreign interference.” Translation by the Militant.
Regarding our foreign policy, I would like to say the following:
This past June 16, President of the United States Donald Trump,
announced his administration’s policy toward Cuba — nothing novel for
sure, since he reclaimed the rhetoric and elements from a past of
confrontation, which has proven to be an absolute failure for over 55
years.
It is evident that the U.S. president has not been well informed on the
history of Cuba and its relations with the United States, or on the
patriotism and dignity of the Cuban people.
History cannot be forgotten, as they have at times suggested we do.
[Then U.S. President Barack Obama urged Cubans to “leave the past
behind” in a March 22, 2016, address on Cuban television, to forget
about the decades of Washington’s economic, political and military
attacks against Cuba’s socialist revolution.] For more than 200 years,
the ties between Cuba and the United States have been marked, on the one
hand, by the attempts of the northern neighbor to dominate our country,
and on the other, by the determination of Cubans to be free,
independent, and sovereign.
Throughout the entire 19th century … different U.S. administrations
tried to take possession of Cuba … they did so in 1898, with a deceitful
intervention at the end of the 30-year war Cubans waged for their
independence [from Spain]. U.S. troops entered as allies, and then
became occupiers.
Negotiating with Spain behind Cuba’s back, they militarily occupied the
country for four years … and imposed an addendum to the constitution of
the nascent republic, the Platt Amendment, which gave them the right to
intervene in our internal affairs and establish, among other things, the
Guantánamo naval base, which today still usurps part of our national
territory — the return of which we will continue to demand. …
On Jan. 1, 1959, exactly 60 years later, with the triumph of the
revolution led by Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro, we became
definitively free and independent.
From that moment on, the strategic goal of Washington toward Cuba has
been to overthrow the revolution. For more than five decades they
resorted to diverse methods: economic war, breaking diplomatic
relations, armed invasion, attempts to assassinate our principal
leaders, sabotage, a naval blockade, the creation and support of armed
bands, state terrorism, internal subversion, the economic, political,
and media blockade, and international isolation.
Ten administrations held office until President Barack Obama, in his
Dec. 17, 2014, speech, without renouncing their strategic goal, had the
good sense to recognize that isolation had not worked, and that it was
time for a new focus toward Cuba.
Washington profoundly isolated
No one could deny that the United States, in its attempts to isolate
Cuba, in the end found itself profoundly isolated. The policy of
hostility and blockade toward our country had become a serious obstacle
to relations with Latin America and the Caribbean, and was rejected
almost unanimously by the international community. Within U.S. society,
a growing majority opposed to this policy had developed, including among
a good portion of the Cuban émigré community. …
Over the last two years, working on the basis of respect and equality,
diplomatic relations have been re-established and progress made toward
resolving pending bilateral matters, as well as cooperation on issues of
mutual interest and benefit. Limited modifications were made to the
implementation of some aspects of the blockade. The two countries
established the basis from which to work toward building a new type of
relationship, demonstrating that civilized coexistence is possible
despite profound differences.
At the end of President Obama’s term in office, the blockade, the
Guantánamo naval base and the regime change policy remained in place.
The announcements made by the current U.S. president June 16 represent a
step back in bilateral relations. This is the opinion of many people and
organizations in the United States and around the world, who have
overwhelmingly expressed their outright rejection of the changes. This
sentiment was also expressed by our youth and student organizations,
Cuban women, workers, farmers, Committees for the Defense of the
Revolution, intellectuals, and religious groups, on behalf of the vast
majority of the nation’s citizens.
The U.S. government has decided to tighten the blockade by imposing new
obstacles on its businesspeople to trade and invest in Cuba, and
additional restrictions on its citizens to travel to the country,
justifying these measures with outdated, hostile, Cold War rhetoric
regarding the Cuban people’s exercise and enjoyment of human rights and
democracy. …
Today, we reiterate the revolutionary government’s condemnation of
measures to tighten the blockade, and reaffirm that any attempt to
destroy the revolution, whether through coercion and pressure, or the
use of more subtle methods, will fail.
We likewise reject use of the issue of human rights against Cuba, which
has many reasons to be proud of its achievements, and does not need to
receive lessons from the United States or anyone else (Applause). …
Cuba and the United States can cooperate and live together, respecting
our differences and promoting everything that benefits both countries
and peoples, but don’t expect that, to do so, Cuba will make concessions
essential to its sovereignty and independence. Nor will it negotiate its
principles or accept conditions of any kind, just as we have never done
throughout the history of the revolution.
Independently of what the U.S. government does, or does not decide to
do, we will continue advancing along the path sovereignly chosen by our
people.
Related articles:
Meetings build ‘Che’ Cuba brigade, Sochi youth festival
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