Speech by Dario Machado

to Herndon High School Political Science Students

Cuban Interests Section, Washington, D.C. December 10th, 2003

Cuba , is an elongated and narrow island located at the Caribbean Sea and was a Spanish colony during four centuries. It was a mono producer country, which only area of development was the sugar production.

Starting in 1790, in only 30 years, more African slaves were imported in Cuba than in the century and a half before, to substitute the aborigine population. Then, the arrival of massive immigration of Chinese, Haitians, and other peoples formed the roots of a people for whom the race is not important because they have a culture that is the result of the mixture of all these nationalities that make them to be what they are today: Cubans.

Due to the unsustainable economic, political and social situation in the Island imposed by the Spaniards, the first war for independence began on October 10, 1868 and finished in 1878 with the promise of reinitiating it until the freedom of the island were reach. The new war started on February 24, 1895 . Jose Martí landed in Cuba with Máximo Gómez, General in Chief of the Liberation Army, and shortly after was killed in combat at Dos Ríos. Martí's death was a terrible loss for the Revolution. With the foundation of the Cuban Revolutionary Party, Marti achieved the unity of all Cubans, which had been one of the reasons of the defeat of the previous war.

The independence of Cuba was frustrated by the U.S military intervention that provoked a short war with Spain with the pretext of having sunk the Maine Vessel with the objective of satisfying their desire of taking control of the island.

On the 1^st of January 1899 , the United States formally occupies Cuba , true to its secular ambition. They dissolved the Liberator Army and the only and unique Party founded by Jose Marti, our national hero. The Platt Amendment was imposed on our country which legitimized the U.S. interventions whenever the U.S government considered them necessary. It also forced the Cuban people to accept in its territory two military bases. One of them still exists against the sovereignty and will of the Cuban people.

Two different bloody dictatorships characterized the political scenery of the country for many years which counted with the support of the U.S. government. The first dictatorship was Gerardo Machado's, which was defeated by the people in 1933. This revolution was frustrated by the politicians of the time with the support of the U.S embassy. The second was the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista that cost 20,000 lives of young people. These two dictatorships were corrupted governments that had plunged Cuba in the most terrible misery.

On January 1 1959 , after been defeated by the July 26^th movement led by Fidel Castro, Batista flees from the country. Fidel Castro’s forced the surrender of the troops in Santiago de Cuba and calls the people to a general strike that, with the support of all the population, finally guaranteed the triumph of the Revolution.

Once installed in power, the Revolutionary Government started to dismantle all the neo-colonial political system. In 1959 the Cuban economy was only based in the sugar production. The harvest lasted only six months. This meant that the unemployment reached incredible levels the rest of the year. That was called DEAD TIME. Life expectancy was less than 60 years. The infant mortality rate was very high. There were approximately 6000 doctors, in the main cities of the country. The other 3000 left the country after the revolution at the beginning of the 60's. Illiteracy reached 50 % of the population. The U.S. mafia had promoted prostitution and gambling and an incipient drug trafficking. At the beginning of the revolution Cuba was a devastated country, full of diseases, with low life-expectancy, high levels of unemployment, and a dependent economy from the United States . There was not a health care and educational system which could satisfy the well being of the Cuban citizens.

After the revolution an outstanding literacy campaign was carried out in only one year, all Cubans knew how to read and write. An incredible work to increase the educational, cultural level of the population started. Cuba worked very hard training doctors and health personnel who have helped our country in becoming a health power in the world. The Health Care and educational system are totally free. Today, the life-expectancy of the Cuban population is 78 years. And the infant mortality rate is only 6 per 1000 born alive, even lower than the United States .

Education in our country is compulsory until 9^th grade. Even in the mountains there are schools with only one or two students. A teacher is paid to teach these two children who live far away from the city. Another achievement is that there are only 20 students per classroom in elementary school. Each of the classrooms has its own TV, video and the students learn computer science since the first grades. Cuba has achieved a high level in biotechnology with the development of different medications. We trained hundreds of doctors from third world countries at the International School of Medical Sciences totally free for low income family's students. Some of them are Americans. Cuba has sent its doctors to remote places where nationals do not want to go. Cuba has proposed the United Nations to send 5,000 Cuban doctors to Sub Saharan Africa to fight AIDS. The developed countries were supposed to contribute with the most necessary material resources. This proposal was presented more than three years ago. During that time, millions of people that could have been saved have died and what it is worst, millions have become infected. The answer does not appear yet.

This is a small and, of course, incomplete summary of the work of the revolution. This is what we have done to deserve, since the first time, the hostility of our northern neighbor. In 1961 the United States prepared and financed an invasion with an army formed by mercenaries from the former Batista's army and the sons of the most important families that were part of the dictator government. The invasion was defeated by the Cuban people in just 72 hours and the mercenaries were returned to the U.S. and exchanged for food for the Cuban children. The United States encouraged the creation of counterrevolutionary organizations and groups of bandits fighting against the revolution and murdered innocent farmers, until these groups were finally defeated.

The world said "no" for the twelfth time to the U.S. blockade against Cuba last November 4, 2003 when a resolution in favor of putting an end to the U.S. economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba was adopted at the U.N. General Assembly by 179 countries. This represents the vast majority of the international community. Only Israel and the Marshall islands joined the U.S. in voting against it. The blockade has cost Cuba more than 70 billion dollars.

Cuba has been victim of different terrorist attacks, many of them plotted from the U.S. with the support of the different administrations. Declassified information by the U.S. government and hearings in Congress showed this. These terrorist acts have cost Cuba more than 3000 victims and a lot of economic losses. There have been prepared more than 365 assassination attempts against our president, some of them prepared by the CIA, which has no objections to declassify documents which prove their conspiracy.

Cuba is also part of the Terrorists List that is made up every year by the U.S. government. What an irony, the victim is being accused of being terrorist. The United States has no right to organize terrorist acts against any country or government.

Every country in the world has the right to defend itself. For that reason, and taking into account the impunity with which the Miami terrorist groups acted against Cuba , our country decided to find at all cost information on these organizations activities. Cuba sent five young people to be part of those organizations. And from inside, they were to alert of the terrorists plans the organizations were plotting.

Some of the collected information was given to the U.S. government, that far away from acting against the terrorists, apprehended and convicted to excessive punishment the five Cubans who are imprisoned since 1998 without abandoning their ideas.

Who are these five men?

Gerardo Hernandez Nordelo, graduate from the Institute of International relations , Rene Gonzalez Schewert, Cuban pilot, Fernando Gonzalez Llort graduate from the Institute of International Relations , Antonio Guerrero, Graduate from Civil Engineering and Airport construction specialist and Ramon Labañino Salazar graduated with honors from the Economy School of the University of Havana .

The Five are serving unjust punishments, accused of spying just because of having defended their country from the scourge of terrorism. That is the reason why they are imprisoned since 1998, they have been maltreated, they have been in the SHU (Special Housing Units) better known as the HOLE, Two of the wives of these comrades have not visited them because the US government has denied their visas, and one of them does not know his five years old girl.

Ladies and gentlemen, the U.S. government is trying to asphyxiate Cuba just for defending its right to self determination. Many Cubans have died during these years, and maybe some more will do, but the Cuban people will defend their sovereignty at whatever the cost may be.

Thank you, very much.