Dear Cuban Ambassador,
Dear President of the Cypriot-Cuban Friendship Association,
Comrades,
friends,
The Cuban Revolution celebrated 65 years of life a few days ago. Despite the adversities and the negative balance of power at the international level, despite the flagrant violation of UN resolutions and the inhuman blockade applied by the United States for 64 years, the Revolution insists on standing, enduring and evolving. It perseveres because it inspires every people struggling for dignity, freedom and independence.
The history of the Cuban Revolution encapsulates the history of Cuba itself. It tells the story of the past of the country and its people, because it is the culmination of a long process of struggle for freedom. Inspired by earlier stations of resistance in Cuban history, the Revolution is the cause and property of the Cuban people themselves.
From Spanish colonialism in the 15th century, to the American intervention in 1898 and the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1952, the Cuban people have seen their fate determined by outside interference and their natural wealth seized countless times. However, every now and then in history, cracks of hope have appeared that remind us that freedom is the highest ideal: the struggle for independence under Carlos Manuel de Cespedes in 1868 and José Martí's Little War in 1895 laid the foundations for the 26 July Movement and the Cuban Revolution.
"Love, mother, for the homeland is the unquenchable hatred for the one who oppresses it." The words of the Apostle of Cuban Independence, José Martí, inspired Fidel and his brother Raúl Castro, Ernesto Che Guevara, Camilo Cienfuegos and thousands of guerrillas who started the revolution in 1953.
On New Year's Day 1959, when the rebels entered the liberators in Santiago de Cuba, Fidel Castro foreshadowed the Cuban people's future, saying that the victory of the Revolution would be a difficult task, full of dangers. "Let us not delude ourselves that everything will be easy in the future; perhaps everything will be more difficult in the future," he warned.
Fidel was no prophet. He knew that an aggressive US foreign policy would not show the slightest respect for the popular sovereignty of the Cuban people, nor would it allow the establishment of a socialist mode of production in their "soft underbelly", just 90 miles from American shores.
The very next year, the United States put in place an inhumane economic, commercial and financial blockade of Cuba. This policy created terrible, disproportionate difficulties in the daily lives of the Cuban people and led to trillions of dollars in losses for the country. As early as 1960, the US State Department had publicly stated its strategic objective through the blockade: to weaken the vitality of the Cuban economy, to cause hunger and despair in society and to sow discontent in order to facilitate regime change.
As noted in the 2024 edition of the "International Tribunal on US Sanctions against the Republic of Cuba", following testimonies and evidence collected, it is proven beyond doubt that US sanctions have negatively affected all aspects of Cuban life. The Court further notes the obvious: the sanctions are in flagrant violation of the country's sovereignty and contrary to international law.
In applying the blockade, the US has to date defiantly ignored UN resolutions, most recently the one of November 2023 which called for the lifting of the US embargo. The resolution was voted for by 187 states and against by the US and Israel, while Ukraine abstained.
At the same time as the criminal sanctions, Cuba continues to suffer the seizure of part of its territory by the US and the operation there of the Guantanamo Bay prison base. In Cyprus, of course, we too know first-hand what it means to have the territorial integrity of our country trampled on, to see maps 'truncated' and to see sovereign rights over our territories granted to foreign powers, against the will of the people themselves.
The reference to the conditions experienced by Cuba is doubly important. In addition to raising awareness of the terrible consequences of the blockade and the need for an immediate end to it, it is also a measure of the unprecedented - by the standards in which it is taking place - leaps forward that are being made in the country.
While in a number of European countries, in 2024, this is far from being taken for granted, in Cuba education and health are a public and free good for all the people. In a report a few years ago, the World Bank stated: "No education system in Latin America can be considered of high quality when speaking in global terms, except that of Cuba [...] It is characterized as one of the most efficient education systems in the world, like those of Finland, Singapore, Shanghai".
In Cuba - the first country in the world in terms of the number of doctors per capita - medicines, treatments and medical infrastructure are systematically developed and put entirely at the service of the people. While a number of Western countries were hit hard by the covid pandemic19 and vaccines were being exploited and made rich by the medical cartels, Cuba has developed five vaccines against the virus, with the Abdala vaccine showing an effectiveness of 92.28%. Not only that, but for decades Cuba has been actively demonstrating the internationalist nature of the Revolution, sending hundreds of doctors to dozens of countries around the world, offering their knowledge and assistance.
No more fitting example of solidarity and humanitarianism could be cited than the words of Aleida Guevara, a doctor and daughter of the great revolutionary Che, who, addressing the struggling Palestinian people in a recent video message, said:
"I apologize for the distance. I would like to be with you, I feel that this is my place because solidarity is not just words, solidarity is actions. I am a doctor. I can be there, I have to be there and you can count on me, whenever you need me I will be with you."
This is the Cuba of the Revolution and Socialism. While the whole of humanity has recently witnessed Israel's genocidal policy against the Palestinian people, Cuba not only joins the relevant UN resolutions in support of the cry for a ceasefire in Gaza, but stands actively on the side of the Palestinians. Not by chance, of course, since the Cuban people, like the Palestinian people, have their own experience of struggles for freedom and justice and are well aware of the tragic consequences of not implementing the UN resolutions.
At this point, I cannot but note our gratitude for Cuba's constant support for our own struggle for the liberation and peaceful reunification of our country and our people. Cuba, with its consistent stance on the Cyprus problem, is a firm ally of our country, with which it shares common experiences and struggles, both countries being founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement. We are convinced that Cuba's principled political and diplomatic solidarity with Cyprus will continue in the near future.
Comrades,
No matter how much some people strive to vilify Cuba, presenting it as an underdeveloped and third world country, ignoring the objective difficulties it is experiencing, its successes will belie the distortion. Cuba is developing, evolving and progressing, and with it the Revolution.
The scientific achievements and advances made in the context of the treaties remind us that the higher quality world we envision is entirely possible and necessary.
May the 65th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution therefore become a hundred and a thousand years, so that we may draw examples of patriotism, humanity and internationalism.
Long live the Cuban Revolution and Socialist Cuba.
Long live the friendship of the two countries.