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Vídeo de este discurso disponible aquí. alto-anchura de banda
Video of this speech available here.
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MESSAGE ADDRESSED BY COMMANDER IN CHIEF FIDEL CASTRO RUZ, FIRST SECRETARY OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CUBA AND PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCILS OF STATE AND OF MINISTERS, TO THE AFRICAN AMERICANS, OTHER MINORITIES AND THOSE SECTORS IN THE UNITED STATES WHICH HAVE BEEN AND ARE ACTIVE IN SOLIDARITY WITH CUBA, AS DELIVERED IN HIS MEETING WITH THE US DELEGATION WHICH ATTENDED THE SYMPOSIUM "MALCOLM X SPEAKS IN THE 90'S" ON MAY 24, 1990, "YEAR 32 OF THE REVOLUTION".
I would like to say that we have always been in solidarity with the struggle of the Black people, the minorities, and all the poor people in the United States. We have always been in solidarity with them and they have always been in solidarity with us.
I might say that we should struggle to defeat the campaigns, the intrigues, the lies, all of that which attempts to separate us. I think that in this moment we need this friendship more than ever, and we need your solidarity more than ever, we appreciate it very much because I understand that one has to be very brave in the United States to organize a demonstration in favour of Cuba.
The worth of that is not measured by the amount of people who participate, but by the very fact of their participation, by the courage of those who do that in a moment when it seems like socialism is crumbling. In fact it is crumbling in many countries where there was no real socialism, because one of the requisites of true socialism is for it to come out of the people themselves, not to be brought by any one or artificially manufactured, but rather to really come out of the struggle of the people, as it has been in Cuba.
In spite of all of those disasters, we feel much more committed (sic) than ever before to socialism and to the Revolution; to defend the Revolution and prove that socialism is a thousand times much better than any other social system. I believe that this is in the interest of all peoples.
If the reactionary trend were to prevail, if they were to reach hegemony in the world, they would have hegemony against all the countries of the Third World, and they would have the reactionary forces' hegemony against the very people of the United States. This is a reality, that those who are attacking us now are the same enemies of all the just causes all over the world as well as inside the United States itself.
Cuba has now a role to play, a very big responsibility, because there were people who thought that the Cuban Revolution would also crumble as socialism crumbled over there. They were even setting up dates: the day, the month; there were even people in Miami packing to come here. I think the moths are going to eat up their clothes!
But, of course, the country will withstand. There are three big battles we are involved in now; The political battle, where we maintain the unity, the support and the determination of our people; the economic battle, which is more difficult under the present conditions due to what is happening in Eastern Europe; and the defense battle. In these three directions we have to work now; but we think that we are doing it not only for ourselves, but for all the just causes in the world in a moment of skepticism. We know that optimism and the hopes of the people will blossom again, because the negative forces will not be able to prevail.
We would like you, the people in the United States, the African - Americans, Latinos, and Asian-American people, all the minorities in the United States, every person with a spirit of justice, to understand this.
We are very grateful to you for attending this meeting in Cuba, this seminar in memory of Malcolm X. Malcolm X, Che, and all the heroes of the struggle in the cause of the peoples have to be remembered now more than ever. That is why I am so pleased with the significance and the importance you have attached to this anniversary.
I always remember when I met with Malcolm X at the hotel "Teresa", because he was the one who gave us support and made it possible for us to be accommodated there. We had two choices: one was the patio in the United Nations; when I told this to the Secretary General he was horrified at the thought of a delegation camping in tents there; and then we received Malcolm X's offer, he had talked to one of our comrades, and I said: "That is the place, Hotel 'Teresa'." And there we went, so I have personal memories of him.
Now years have passed, I am sorry I did not have time to talk more with him because those days in New York were of great agitation; it was a folly; there was already an important number of people who had fled to the United States, a large number of Cubans who were against the Revolution, and some old residents who were in
favor. There were many Americans who were giving the thumbs down as we were passing along the streets, but when we got to Harlem, it was the other way around.
Almeida (1) was with us, we were a little bit younger. Actually, we did not know much about politics at that time, we only had the rebellious spirit, the spirit of struggle; we were convinced of our cause. Of course, we did not have the experience that inevitably has accumulated over the years. But we are still here and we intend to continue, which creates more headaches for them.
Yesterday it was Comrade Carlos Rafael Rodriguez's (2) 77th birthday, we had not told him anything - he was sitting over here - and it is very likely that he had been thinking that nobody had remembered it was his birthday. And then, that meeting, which had started at 3:00 pm lasted longer than expected; there was only a 20 minutes break, and it was 11:00 in the night; and he was surely thinking: How cruel are these people! This is the way they celebrate my birthday! It was not until the end that we said. "Well, today is Carlos Rafael's birthday", and they even sang happy birthday to him in Spanish; there was a snack, and even some drinks, which is not common here, and, in the end, there was also a cake, all of that.
I am telling you this because as he was leaving he embraced me, he was really moved, very sentimental to the point that whenever someone congratulated him he almost cried or did cry, but what I want to say is I told him: "Well, Carlos, we have to be here, always on the job, fighting up to the last day, the last hour, and last minute..." and then I thought: What am I saying? And I said: Yes, to the last hour, the last minute of our enemies.
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(1) Juan Almeida a veteran of the Moncada Attack and a leader of the Rebel Army, who accompanied Fidel in his trip to New York in 1960 and is at present a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba.
(2) A member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba and Vice-president of the Councils of State and Ministers.
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DECLARATION OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN DELEGATION TO MALCOLM X SPEAKS IN THE 90'S SYMPOSIUM-- HAVANA, CUBA, MAY 19 TO 25, 1990
We the undersigned members of the African-American delegation to the
Malcolm X Speaks in the 1990s Symposium held in Havana, Cuba (May 18-25,
1990) make the following declaration:
In the United States at this time popular forms of resistance are emerging to
defend Black people against genocidal social conditions and violent racist
attacks. Malcolm X is a central political symbol of this resistance. This is a
major opportunity to deepen our understanding of the radical Black tradition, to
open broad based community discussion and debate critical ideological and
political issues, and to forge greater unity in our liberation struggle through
alliances, coalitions, fronts and joint statements of unity.
We recognize, acknowledge and deeply appreciate the tremendous sacrifices
that the Cuban people and its government have paid in human lives and material
resources in advancing the cause of Black liberation, both on the African
continent and in the African Diaspora, including the granting of asylum and
sanctuary to political prisoners opposing U.S. racism and imperialism.
Therefore, in this spirit we declare the following:
a. We call upon all African peoples and progressive forces to rededicate
themselves to the struggle for Black liberation, including political, economic
and social justice, as well as the fight for human rights in the tradition of
Malcolm X.
b. We deplore and oppose with all our moral and political convictions the
insidious U.S. effort to intervene in the internal affairs of Cuba, attack the
Cuban people and turn back the gains of their revolution. We unequivocally
condemn the U.S. government's systematic attacks: The continued economic
blockade, menacing the people of Cuba with the threat of military invasion,
illegal media propaganda campaigns to sow seeds of reaction inside Cuba,
particularly the lies, disinformation and slander the U.S. promotes as "news."
We understand that this is intended to create a grave crisis to undermine the
national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Cuba, and thus we demand:
1) That the U.S. Government cease and desist from all its efforts to
intimidate Cuba and its people, life its immoral economic blockade, and call
upon all progressive countries and organizations in the world to join us in this
demand.
2) That in the spirit of both Malcolm X and Jose Marti, to strengthen our
solidarity with Cuba, we call upon all African peoples and progressive
organizations to join in an international information exchange program whereby
we will provide Cuba with information from INSIDE THE MONSTER while Cuba will
send the people in the U.S.A. information from INSIDE THE REVOLUTION as an
effort to combat the illegal radio and television aggression, especially
so-called Radio and TV Marti
3) We call upon all African peoples and progressive forces to join in
building an active mass campaign of information and direct action protests to
mobilize the American people around the important and urgent issue of keeping
U.S. Hands Off Cuba."
4) We call upon all African peoples and progressive forces to involve
themselves in efforts to expose the violation of human rights inside the United
States. We remind the world of the scores of political prisoners currently being
held U.S. prisons and detention centers. We support the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights as socially just principles which are not respected by the United
States in terms of its relationship with African-Americans and other oppressed
nationalities.
5) We call upon all African peoples and progressive forces to support the
movement to Save the Audubon Ballroom, the site where Malcolm X was
assassinated, and denounce the plan by Columbia University and New York City to
destroy this historic landmark and build in its place biomedical technology
experimental laboratories. We call instead for the Audubon Ballroom be renovated
and developed into an international cultural center in Malcolm's name where our
youth can study his life, his rise from the depths of U.S. society to a world
renowned international statesman for human rights. The Malcolm X Cultural Center
would also serve as an institution to study Malcolm's predecessors,
contemporaries and progenies who struggled for the right to self-determination
and national identity of Africans in the United States and the Americas.
6) We call upon all African peoples and progressive forces to establish the
birthday of Malcolm X as an African people's national holiday, to commemorate
his contributions and their relations to other international heroes whose lives
also are commemorated on or about May 19th.
7) We call upon all African peoples and progressive forces to actively build
and participate in the International Conference on Malcolm X: Radical
Tradition and a Legacy of struggle to be held November 1-4, 1990 in New York
City.
We are forever grateful to Casa de las americas and the Centro de Estudios
sobre America for answering our call to host this symposium. We have gained
immensely from our Cuban brothers and sisters and were pleased to share with
them the experiences of our brother and great son Malcolm X-- a dedicated
fighter for self-determination and human rights of oppressed peoples through the
world. But even more than this we are grateful for the Cuban example that
Revolution is possible, that there is a glorious possibility that the centuries
old degradation of capitalist exploitation can--and will--be surpassed.
For this we salute Cuba in this declaration and commit ourselves to deepen
our solidarity with the Cuban Revolution as we advance our common struggle for
peace and social justice through the programs we hereby adopt by the signing of
this document.
Done this day, the 25th of May 1990 by the African-American Delegation to the
Malcolm X Speaks in the 1990s Symposium, May 18-25 in Havana, Cuba.
| Abdul Alkalimat | Natasha Russell | William Strickland |
| Elombe Brath | Kwame Ture | Margarita Samad-Matias |
| Akinyele Umoja | Viki Akiwumi | James Turner |
| Muhammad Ahmad | Assata Shakur | Lewanda Hernandez |
| Omawale Clay | Rosemari Mealy | Odette Polintan-Taverna |
| William Sales | Father Lawrence Lucas | Sulaiman Rabab |
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