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 1st 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 26th 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 9th 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.