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Message from
Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz to participants in
the celebration of his 80th birthday
Dear
compatriots and dear friends from all over the world:
I have worked intensively all this time to ensure the objectives
set for our country in the Proclamation of July 31st.
Currently, we are facing an adversary who has dragged the
United States to such a disaster that the American people
are almost sure to prevent him from completing his presidential
term.
Intellectuals and prestigious personalities from the world:
As I reflected on this address, I found myself in a dilemma,
since I could not find a small meeting room to accommodate
you all. It was only in the Karl Marx Theater that all guests
could be seated but, according to the doctors, I was not yet
ready for such a challenging engagement. Then, I chose this
way to address you all.
You are well aware of my identification with Marti’s
ideas about honor and glory, when he said that all the glory
of the world fits in a kernel of corn.
Your generosity to me is really overwhelming. There are many
people whose names I would like to mention here but I choose
to avoid the recitation and decide on bringing up only one
name, that of Oswaldo Guayasamin, since he embodied many of
your greatest virtues.
He painted four portraits of me; the first in 1961. That one
is lost. I looked it up everywhere possible but it could not
be found. It was particularly painful as it became apparent
to me what an exceptional person Guayasamin was. The second
one, which he painted in 1981, is preserved at Guayasamin’s
House in Old Havana. The third one, painted in 1986, is kept
at the “Antonio Nunez Jimenez Foundation of Man and
Nature”. When we met, we were very far from even imagining
that his fourth portrait would be his birthday present to
me on August 1996.
His words were inspirational when he said: “In Quito
or any other corner of the Earth leave the lights on, as I
will be coming back late.”
At the inaugural ceremony of the Man’s Chapel, I said
about Oswaldo Guayasamin: “He was the noblest, most
honorable and humane person I ever met. He created his work
at light-speed and his human dimension defied all limits.”
The work of creators will never be lost while this planet
exists and human beings can breathe.
Today, thanks to technology, the works and knowledge created
by man in thousands of years are within everybody’s
reach, even if the impact of radiation from billions of computers
and cell phones is still unknown.
A few days ago, the prominent organization World Wildlife
Foundation, based in Switzerland and considered the most important
NGO in the world to monitor global environment, acknowledged
that the set of measures implemented by Cuba to protect the
environment made it the only country on Earth to meet the
minimum requirements for sustainable development. This was
for our country an encouraging honor, albeit one of limited
world impact due to the low significance of its economy. Therefore,
last November 23, I sent a message to President Hugo Chavez
that read:
“Dear
Hugo:
“The
adoption of a Comprehensive Energy-Saving Program will make
you the most prestigious world advocate for the environment.
“It
is most significant that Venezuela is the country with the
largest oil reserves, so this will turn you into an example
and act as a magnet for all the other energy consumers to
do the same, thus saving incalculable sums in investments.
“Just
like Cuba, a nickel producing country, can mobilize resources
amounting to billions of dollars for its development, Venezuela,
a hydrocarbons exporter, could mobilize trillions.
“If
the industrialized and wealthy countries succeeded in operating
the miracle of reproducing solar fusion on the planet, within
various tens of years, devastating before then the environment
with their hydrocarbon emissions, how could the poor peoples
that make up the immense majority of mankind live in this
world?
“Ever
onward to victory!”
Finally, dearest friends who have honored us immensely with
this visit to our country, it is with great sorrow that I
bade you farewell for not being able to personally thank you
and embrace every one of you.
It is our duty to save our specie.
Fidel
Castro Ruz
November
28, 2006
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