RAUL CASTRO RUZ: No enemy can defeat us

at us

For those of you interested...

 
 


Affirms Raúl in a statement to Granma. He affirmed that Fidel
continues to improve and thanked people for the thousands of messages
of solidarity and support from our country and abroad. Measures have
been taken to prevent any attempt at aggression. The people are giving
a conclusive demonstration of confidence in themselves

BY LAZARO BARREDO MEDINA

The General of the Army Raúl Castro Ruz has offered an interview to
Granma daily. The conversation took place in his office at the
Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR) and focused on the
principal events of recent days.

Comrade Raúl, our people joyfully received the message and photographs
of the Comandante en Jefe published in the press and the subsequent
television report of the encounter with president Chávez.
Nevertheless, taking advantage of this opportunity, it would be
greatly appreciated by millions of people who have attentively
followed information on the state of health of compañero Fidel, to
hear your personal assessment, as someone always so united to him.

Without any doubt, what most interests all of us at this time is the
Jefe's health.

On behalf of all the people, I will begin by congratulating and
thanking the doctors and the other compañeros and compañeras who have
attended to him in an excellent manner, with an unsurpassable
professionalism and, above all, with much love and dedication. This
has been a very important factor in Fidel's progressive recovery.

Moreover, I think that his exceptional physical and mental nature has
also been essential to his satisfactory and gradual recovery.

We Cubans, even when we don't see you for a while on television or in
the written press, know that you are there, at your combat post as
always. But I think that these words of yours will also disarm the
speculation and lies present in some of the foreign media.

If you are referring to those in other countries who entertain
themselves by speculating about if I am going to appear on television
or in the papers or not; well, I appeared with Fidel on Sunday (August
13) and when I received President Chávez , although really those
comments don't bother me in the slightest.

What does interest me greatly is what our people are thinking,
although, fortunately, we live in this geographically small island,
where everything that we are doing is known. I can confirm that when I
talk with the population or other local leaders in my tours of the
country.

As a point of fact, I am not used to making frequent appearances in
public, except at times when it is required. Many tasks related to
defense should not be made public and have to be handled with maximum
care, and that has been one of my fundamental responsibilities as FAR
minister. Moreover, I have always been discreet, that is my way, and
in passing I will clarify that I am thinking of continuing in that
way. But that has not been the fundamental reason why I don't appear
very often in the mass media; simply, it has not been necessary.

No essential orientation has been overlooked…

Effectively, the Comandante en Jefe's Proclamation gave the
information that could be given at that time and moreover, proposed
specific tasks for everyone. The main thing is to dedicate oneself in
body and soul to fulfilling them. That is what all the leaders at
different levels have been doing, together with our people who have
known how to maintain an exemplary discipline, vigilance and working
spirit.

On behalf of the Comandante en Jefe and the Party leadership, I will
take the opportunity of thanking everyone for the innumerable displays
of support for the Revolution and for the content of his Proclamation,
as well as the demonstrations of affection that have been expressed by
figures from the cultural sector; professionals and workers in all
sectors; campesinos, soldiers, housewives, students, pioneers; among
them numerous believers, public figures and religious institutions

from the overwhelming majority of denominations; finally, the people
of Cuba. It has been a conclusive demonstration of their unbreakable
unity and their revolutionary consciousness, essential pillars of the
fortitude of our country.

The breadth of support coming from all over the world has also been
impressive.

Yes, really heartening. That is why I should also like to express
thanks for the numerous messages of solidarity and respect from all
over the world, from people of the most diverse social categories,
from simple workers to intellectual and political figures, as well as
a significant and representative number of religious institutions and
figures. All of them have done so without any conditions whatsoever.
Messages from the few who did not act in that way were not accepted or
acknowledged.

So, they have been joined to date (August 17) by some 12,000
signatories supporting the call made 10 days ago by prominent cultural
personalities from more than 100 countries, among them various Nobel
Prize winners, condemning the interfering and aggressive statements of
the government of the United States, and which also exposes the openly
interventionist nature of the Bush Plan, as we are calling that
monster that would seem to be dusted off from the times when – as at
the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th – they
frustrated the independence of Cuba and imposed their administrators
on us.

Now they have also designed one for the supposed "transition." One
McCarry, who recently stated that the United States does not accept
the continuity of the Cuban Revolution, although he didn't say how
they are thinking of averting that.

One gets the impression that the enemies of the Revolution have been
left speechless by the conclusive reaction of the Cuban population,
immune to their giant and disgraceful campaign of offenses and lies.
They are talking with surprise at the calm reigning in Cuba, as if it
was something unusual and not exactly normal, and which all of us here
knew would happen in a situation such as this.

Yes, it would seem that they have come to believe their own lies. The
most probable is that their "think tanks" and many of their analysts
are now drawing other conclusions.

As you were saying, absolute tranquility is reigning in the country.
And something even more important, the serene, disciplined and
decisive attitude that can be felt in every workplace, in every city,
in every neighborhood. The same one that our people always assume in
moments of difficulty. If we were to be guided solely by the internal
situation, I am not exaggerating in affirming that it would not have
been necessary to mobilize even one pioneer from among those who guard
the ballot boxes in the elections.

But we have never ignored a threat from the enemy. It would be
irresponsible to do so when faced with a government like that of the
United States, which has is declaring with the greatest audacity that
it does not accept what is established in the Cuban Constitution. From
over there, as if they were the rulers of the planet, they are saying
that there must be a transition to a social regime of their liking and
that they "would take note of those who oppose that." Although it
seems incredible, this boorish and at the same time stupid attitude
was assumed by President Bush a few days ago.

They'll have to waste a lot of paper and ink...

A lot. For that reason I would advise them to do the opposite. To
"take note," as they say, of the annexationists on the payroll of the
U.S. Interest Section here in Havana, those who are going to receive
the crumbs of the announced $80 million earmarked for subversion,
because the bulk of it will be distributed in Miami, as is usually the
case.

On the contrary, the list is going to be interminable. They would have
to list the names of millions and millions of Cuban men and women, the
same ones who are ready to receive their designated administrator with
rifles in hand.

At this juncture, they should be very clear that it is not possible to
achieve anything in Cuba with impositions and threats. On the

contrary, we have always been disposed to normalize relations on an
equal plane. What we do not accept is the arrogant and interventionist
policy frequently assumed by the current administration of that country.

Recently rereading Party Congress documents, I found ideas that seemed
to have been written today. For example, this excerpt from the Central
Report presented by Fidel to the Third Congress in February 1986:

"As we have demonstrated many times, Cuba is not remiss to discussing
its prolonged differences with the United States and to go out in
search of peace and better relations between our people."

And he continued:

"But that would have to be on the basis of the most unrestricted
respect for our condition as a country that does not tolerate shadows
on its independence, for whose dignity and sovereignty entire
generations of Cubans have fought and sacrificed themselves. This
would be possible only when the United States decides to negotiate
with seriousness and is willing to treat us with a spirit of equality,
reciprocity and the fullest mutual respect."

Similar formulations are contained in the documents from the other
Party Congresses and have also been reaffirmed by its first secretary
on diverse occasions.

Nevertheless they are continuing with the same aggressive and arrogant
policy as always.

That is the reality. More than 20 years have passed since Fidel
pronounced the words that I have just cited; they have that 485-page
interventionist plan that I already mentioned, approved in 2004, in
which they detail how they propose to dismantle the achievements of
the Revolution in health, education, social security; agrarian reform
and urban reform; in other words, to kick the people off their land,
out of their homes so as to hand them back to their former owners,
etc. etc. etc.

To cap it all, just a few days ago, on July 10, President Bush
officially approved a document complementing the former one, and which
they had posted with a very low profile on the Internet in June. They
have openly stated that it includes a secret appendix that is not
being published "for reasons of national security" and "to ensure its
effective implementation;" those are literally the terms that they
used, and which constitute a flagrant violation of international law.

For a while now we have been adopting measures to confront those
plans. These were reinforced particularly when the current U.S.
government initiated the unbridled warmongering policy that it has
maintained to date, including the announced intention to attack
without previous warning any of those places that they call the "sixty
or more dark corners of the world."

A notable escalation of aggression…

Effectively, and in 2003 the plans became more explicit. On December 5
of that year, Mr. Roger Noriega, then assistant secretary of state for
Western Hemisphere Affairs, declared – I don't know if it was
intentional or a slip – that "the transition in Cuba – in other words
– the death of Fidel – could happen at any moment and we have to be
prepared to be agile and decisive." That "the United States wanted to
be sure that the regime's cronies have no hope of holding onto power"
and, so as to leave no doubt, he added that they were working "to
ensure that there was no succession to the Castro regime."
Subsequently he and other senior U.S. officials have returned to the
theme insistently.

What other form exists for obtaining these goals that is not military
aggression? Thus, the country adopted the pertinent measures for
counteracting that real danger.

Faced with similar situations, Martí taught us what to do: "Plan
against plan. Without a plan of resistance, a plan of attack cannot be
defeated," he wrote in the newspaper Patria on June 11, 1892.

The United States government is not revealing the contents of that
appendix because it is illegal. Its publication must be demanded,
above all now that they have spoken about its existence in order to
threaten Cuba.

On the contrary, our defense plans are transparent and legal, simply
because they do not threaten anybody; their sole objective is to

guarantee the sovereignty and independence of the homeland; they do
not violate any national or international law whatsoever.

The country's media has informed about the seriousness and reach of
the measures that we have been adopting recently to steadily
strengthen our defense. Just over a month ago, on July 1, the issue
was analyzed extensively by the Fifth Plenum of the Central Committee
of the Party.

Some of the empire's war hawks thought that the moment had come to
destroy the Revolution this past July 31.

We could not rule out the risk of somebody going crazy, or even
crazier, within the U.S. government.

Consequently, at 3 a.m. on August 1, in fulfillment of the plans
approved and signed on January 13, 2005 by compañero Fidel, and after
having made the established consultations, I decided to substantially
raise our combative capacity and readiness via the implementation of
the projected measures, including the mobilization of several tens of
thousands of reservists and militia members, and the proposal to our
principal units of regular troops, including the Special Troops, of
missions demanded by the political/military situation that has been
created.

All of the mobilized personnel has completed or is currently
completing an important cycle of combat training and cohesion, part of
that under campaign conditions.

These troops will rotate, in approximately equal numbers, as the
proposed objectives are attained. All of the reservists and militia
members who are to participate in these activities will be informed,
with the necessary anticipation, of the date of incorporation into
their units and the time that they will remain in these to fulfill
their guard duty to the homeland.

To date, the mobilization that we began on August 1 has developed
satisfactorily, thanks to the magnificent response by our reservists
and militia members, as well as the commendable labor undertaken by
the military commands and especially by the Defense Councils, under
the leadership of the Party, at every level.

It is not my intention to exaggerate the danger. I never have done so.
Up until now, the attacks during these days have not gone further than
rhetorical ones, except for the substantial increase in subversive
anti-Cuba broadcasts over radio and television.

They have announced the use of a new airplane...

Previously, they were using, at varying intervals, a military airplane
known as Comando Solo. From this past August 5, they began using
another type of aircraft that has effected daily transmissions. On
August 11, it did so in conjunction with the aforementioned Comando Solo.

In fact, on the 5th and 6th, our radars detected that transmissions
were being made from international waters, in outright violation of
the agreements of the International Telecommunications Union, to which
the United States is a signatory, which once again we are condemning
via the corresponding channels and agencies, given that moreover these
transmissions are affecting broadcasting in our country.

In reality, we are totally unconcerned at the hypothetical influence
of this crude and abysmally-made propaganda, very much below the
cultural and political levels of the Cuban population and which
moreover our people reject, just as they reject the little signs on
the U.S. Interests Section. That is not what this is about; it is
above all a matter of sovereignty and of dignity. We would never
passively allow the consummation of that aggressive act, and that is
why we interfere with it.

All things considered, they are spending millions in U.S. taxpayers'
money to achieve the same result as ever: a TV that is not seen.

I add to these reflections on the country's defense an idea expressed
by Fidel in 1975, in his Central Report to the First Party Congress,
which I have quoted so much that I know it by heart:

"As long as imperialism exists, the Party, the State and the people
will give their utmost attention to the services of defense. The
revolutionary guard will never be neglected. History shows with too
much eloquence that those who forget this principle do not survive the

error."

That has been our guide throughout many years, and continues to be
today for more than enough reasons.

I think that we Cubans have shown during these days that we all share
that conviction.

I agree with you, and that is why I conclude by ratifying my
congratulations to the Cuban people for their overwhelming
demonstration of confidence in themselves; a demonstration of
maturity, serenity, monolithic unity, discipline, revolutionary
consciousness and — put this in capital letters — FIRMNESS, which
reminded me of the conduct of the Cuban people during the heroic days
of the so-called Missile Crisis in October 1962.

They are the fruits of a Revolution whose concept Fidel summed up in
his speech of May 1, 2000, in 20 basic ideas that constitute the
quintessence of ideological political work. They are the results of
many years of combat that, under his leadership, we have waged. Let
nobody doubt, as long as we remain like that, no enemy will be able to
defeat us. •

REVOLUTION

is a sense of the historic moment; it is changing everything that
should be changed; it is complete equality and freedom; it is being
treated and treating others like human beings; it is emancipating
ourselves through ourselves, and through our own efforts; it is
defying powerful dominating forces inside and outside of the social
and national sphere; it is defending values that are believed in at
the cost of any sacrifice; it is modesty, selflessness, altruism,
solidarity and heroism; it is fighting with audacity, intelligence and
realism; it is never lying or violating ethical principles; it is the
profound conviction that there is no force in the world capable of
crushing the strength of truth and ideas. Revolution is unity, it is
independence, it is fighting for our dreams for justice for Cuba and
for the world, which is the foundation of our patriotism, our
socialism and our internationalism.

Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro Ruz

May 1, 2000

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