We thank the President of the General Assembly for convening and organizing this event, which is a useful framework for the exchange of experiences on the role of young people as promoters of peace and development.
I was born in a small island located in the Caribbean, I am proudly Cuban and I represent all the young people who build day after day the future of our socialist and revolutionary Nation.
Young Cubans through study and work contribute to every achievement of the Cuban Revolution, which has given us so much, to which we owe so much and which we defend at the price of any sacrifice.
We, young Cubans, know of the darkness and misery in which our people lived before the triumph of the Cuban Revolution on January 1, 1959, even though we were not born at that time. It was a stage that we will never return to. To quote just a few examples, secondary and higher education were reserved for a minority, more than half a million children did not go to school, tens of thousands of children were forced to work to alleviate hunger, infant mortality rate was 60 per 1,000 live births and access to health care was a privilege only of the rich.
Our Cuba has changed much since then, the triumph of the Revolution brought us the light, granted us the right to life, education, health care and employment regardless of class or race. Cubans, including young people, enjoy today, free of charge, all these privileges.
Cuba was the first territory free of illiteracy in Latin America and in a population of more than 11 million inhabitants, more than one million university students have graduated, we are recognized internationally for being a paradigm in education and in universal health coverage. There is a life expectancy of almost eighty years and an infant mortality rate of 4.0 per thousand live births, a figure lower than that registered in many developed countries.
All these achievements are possible thanks to the will of our Government and the conviction of our people to continue preserving the achievements attained. Our children, young people and adults; our students, workers, doctors and teachers are all involved in every achievement; all of them playing their role and ready to offer our solidarity where needed.
As the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz said: "This Revolution is the Revolution of our people; it is the Revolution of our youth; it is the Revolution of our students. Together we made it. Together we defend it. We are one and the same and we cannot ever stop being so. "
Thank you so much.