Speech delivered by Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, on the 65th Anniversary of the State Security Organs, in the Universal Hall of the FAR, on March 26, 2024, "Year 66 of the Revolution".
(Shorthand Versions - Presidency of the Republic)
Dear Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, leader of the Cuban Revolution;
Dear combatants of the Ministry of the Interior and the State Security Agencies;
Comrades:
Our most sincere congratulations on the 65th Anniversary of the founding of our State Security Organs. I am very honored to be able to convey to you directly the respect and admiration that the 65-year history of the State Security Organs, which you represent, awakens in the Cuban people.
Cuban television has recently begun to rebroadcast En silencio ha tenido que ser (It has to be in silence), the series that turned part of that history into a legend and, in spite of the years that have passed, the emotion returns to see that new generations are beginning to follow it with equal interest.
Some will ask about the truth behind each chapter and others will understand why their parents are named David or Reinier, like those characters we all wanted to be. It's all true, even if we see it in fiction.
None of his characters were fabricated in his imagination by the writer of the series. They sprouted from real lives, from real heroes, from Cubans capable of forgetting themselves to start living, as the song of another serial that was made to honor the women combatants of the State Security says.
The history of the State Security Organs is one of the most fascinating, inspiring and patriotic that can be found in the history of Cuba.
It is the succession of heroic acts of women and men who, in the most complex circumstances, set out to face, many times anonymously, the aggressions, threats and challenges that the enemies of the Cuban Revolution have placed on the chosen path, since January 1, 1959.
It has been possible to overcome everything with the strength and intelligence of the people, an inexhaustible source from which spring the anonymous heroes who inside and outside Cuba have starred in glorious pages, some even written with their own blood, to prevent in time criminal plans and actions; attacks, terrorist acts, infiltrations, biological warfare, invasions, banditry and countless subversive and hostile modalities in the always useless but never abandoned purpose of overthrowing the Cuban Revolution.
The solidity of our Revolution owes much to the State Security Organs, which defend and protect it together with a heroic people of which they are an inseparable part, as they have demonstrated in the countless battles successfully fought against a powerful and merciless enemy, since its glorious antecedent: the Officers Corps of the Rebel Intelligence, created by the then Commander, today Army General and leader of the Revolution, Raúl Castro Ruz.
The greater the challenges and threats posed by the enemy, our thoughts return again and again to Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, who had the early and accurate idea of merging the Department of Investigations of the Rebel Army, the G-2 of the National Revolutionary Police and the Bureau of Naval Investigations and personally led the most complex missions of these bodies for decades.
Our permanent homage to its founders and to those who gave their lives in the fulfillment of their duty to the homeland.
May they receive today the deserved recognition of chiefs, officers, collaborators and civilian workers who, with exemplary performance, have given prestige and prestige to this force, so feared and respected by the enemies of the Cuban people for 65 years.
A special greeting to the young officers who, with the inexhaustible energy of the new generations, are nourished by the best experiences, knowledge, examples and the history of the State Security Organs, to assume with honor and passion the permanent challenges of the present and the future.
On this anniversary it is important to recognize those who, together with Fidel and Raúl, had an active participation in the creation of State Security, such as Commanders Camilo Cienfuegos, Juan Almeida, Ramiro Valdés, Manuel Piñeiro, the Rebel Army captains Joaquín Méndez Cominches, Eliseo Reyes Rodríguez, the Martínez Tamayo brothers, Orlando "Olo" Pantoja, among others.
To all those who have contributed to this history of resistance to the most prolonged and cynical overt and covert war, determined to suffocate and surrender a country, the heartfelt tribute and gratitude for their decisive and generous contribution.
The revolutionary work will be eternal and invincible because its people love it and because it has counted and counts on loyal and brave sons to face and defeat without fear the criminal plans of a powerful enemy before which we will never bow down.
In crucial days of confronting lies with truth; when war and genocide push against the right to peace and development; when multiple global threats challenge international security, independence and sovereignty of the peoples, we fully understand and honor the extraordinary vision of the founders of the State Security, and the heroism of the generations of fighters and collaborators who have given everything for the dignity and sacred conquests of the homeland.
We celebrate these 65 years at a time when the Cuban Revolution is facing one of the most complex periods in its history of struggles and we do so aware that we will continue to win. The guarantee is, as the General of the Army has told us time and again, in the unity, ideological firmness and cohesive action of the Party, the State, the Government, the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior with the common goal of guaranteeing internal stability and defeating the enemy on all fronts.
Eternal glory to the heroes and martyrs of the motherland! (Exclamations of "Glory!")
Long live the State Security Organs (Exclamations of "Long live!")!
Long live Fidel and Raúl! (Exclamations of: "Long live!")
Long live the heroic Cuban people! (Exclamations of: "Long live!")
Socialism or Death!
Fatherland or Death!
We shall overcome!
(Applause.)
(Cubaminrex - Granma)