>Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit > >Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 1 July 2000 22:00 > >FIDEL CASTRO'S MESSAGE TO THE OPEN TRIBUNE IN MANZANILLO >GRANMA PROVINCE, SATURDAY, 1 JULY, 2000 > >Manzanilleros, Bayameses, Orientales: > >Our beloved province of Oriente was not multiplied by five when destiny >wanted to lead our small Granma yacht -- with only two inches of fuel left >in its tanks -- to the swampy shores of Las Coloradas, in Niquero >municipality. In Niquero the enemy spotted us, hungry and exhausted by a >long journey, and we immediately began our hazardous march toward the Sierra >Maestra Mountains, whose first peaks were hardly seen in the distance. > >We could not then imagine that the region where we rebuilt and developed our >small army with the few scattered combatants that were left after the worst >of setbacks , would one day become a province named after the small yacht >that took us from Mexico to this corner of Cuba. > >There we fought the first victorious skirmishes and decisive battles. There >we learned to win and never to give up. All the columns that later invaded >the rest of the country left from there. From there, in less than two years, >always fighting in a proportion of 20 adversary soldiers per each one of us, >we completely defeated the enemy on January 1st, 1959. > >Precisely that day the glorious struggle that began a few kilometers from >Manzanillo in the Demajagua sugar mill more than 130 years ago, ended in a >complete victory and for the first time we were totally free. Since then >nothing and no one has been able and will never be able to defeat a people >like ours. > >Without the support of Manzanillo, of Bayamo, and all fellow countrymen and >women who lived in what is today Granma, nothing of the afore mentioned >would have bee possible. > >There is no other site on our island with more symbolism and more >encouragement to continue the struggle of ideas and mass participation that >over the past seven months we have been fighting in front of the most >powerful empire that humanity has known. > >Only a few hours have passed since the moving return to our homeland of Juan >Miguel and Elian, now turned into two moral giants, and our struggle, >without a truce or moment of rest, resumes vigorously to enter a new and >prolonged stage. We are not a people who stop to enjoy the pleasure of >victories or boast of their successes. With the experience acquired and the >formidable strength accumulated, we won't stop until all and each one of the >just objectives for which we swore in Baragua are accomplished. > >We have not deprived any country of its right, neither do we intend to >deprive any country of the fruit of its peaceful work nor of its >independence. We have proclaimed no violent hostility, blockade or economic >war against any people. We have declared no people our enemy, not even the >people of the United States who, despite the ocean of bias and lies with >which they are deceived when a pretext is sought to commit great crimes, >supported the just cause of the kidnapped child and his father, as one day >they were able to put an end to the cruel and unjust war that killed 4 >million Vietnamese and totally destroyed a small and poor country of the >Third World. > >For us it's not important who will be the next President of the superpower >that has imposed its system of hegemonic and dominant control of the world. >None of those who are contending for the presidency is trustworthy. It is >useless for them to spend unnecessary time making statements and promises >against Cuba to obtain the votes of some people without a homeland who even >dared to trample on and burn US flags. Whoever is the new President of the >United States should know that Cuba is and will be here with its ideas, >example and its people's undefeatable rebel spirit. And all aggression and >attempts to strangle us and bring us to our knees will be defeated. Four >decades of stupid arrogance, underestimation and shameful failures should be >enough for them. > >Since January first, 1959, Cuba was, is and will continue to be free. Its >capacity of struggle and resistance, its profound political culture, its >consciousness and the courage of its people show that the Cuban Revolution >with its project of justice and noble objectives has created such a spirit >of solidarity and heroism, and has laid such deep roots in the heart of our >homeland that it has become invincible. > >This feeling of trust, safety and healthy patriotic and revolutionary pride >is what I want to convey today, July 1st of the year 2000, a day that will >be unforgettable in the history of Granma province and Cuba. > >FIDEL CASTRO RUZ > >(c) 2000 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved. > >================================================================= > NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems > Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us > 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 > http://www.blythe.org e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >================================================================= > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ >Law.com is the preeminent online destination for legal professionals. >Visit Law.com for exclusive content from American Lawyer Media, online >CLE Seminars, Practice Centers and Career Listings. >http://click.egroups.com/1/5803/0/_/30563/_/962506629/ >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >Cuba SI - Imperialism NO! >Information and discussion about Cuba. >Socialism or death! Patria o muerte! 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