Citas

"I believe that, rather than weapons the peoples need ideas. They need a change from an inhumane, unsustainable global world that threatens life on the planet, to a just and humanitarian social order that offers humanity an opportunity to survive. The peoples need a world with a bit of drinking water and air to breathe where the necessary food is available and advanced technology can be used to produce housing, schools to educate the children, medicines to preserve human health and medical care indispensable to all, children, adolescents and the elderly".

References to the original: Speech given by Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Councils of State and Ministers, upon receiving the José Bonifacio Medal, Grand Official grade, at the Rio de

"World politics and economics moved forward at such a blind and chaotic pace that concepts like the environment, biological diversity, the preservation of nature, dessertification, holes in the ozone layer and climatic changes were barely known or even mentioned a few decades ago. Under a system of anarchic and chaotic production, which eventually gave rise to the current state of imperial, hegemonic and unipolar control, enormous amounts of resources were squandered, nature was significantly damaged, and absurd and unsustainable models of consumption were established, which constitute really unattainable dreams for the immense majority of those who living on the planet today and those who will live on it tomorrow".

References to the original: Speech by Dr.Fidel Castro Ruz, President of the Republic of Cuba, presented at the public forum held in San José de las Lajas, Havana Province, on January 27, 2001

“The world’s population was several hundred million, a far cry from the 6.2 billion human beings who now inhabit the planet Earth, the vast majority of them living in the Third World where the deserts keep expanding, the soils are downgraded, the climate changes and harrowing poverty and disease have become a pervasive scourge”.

References to the original: UPON PRESENTATION OF THE ORDER OF THE CONGRESS OF ANGOSTURA, AT BOLIVAR SQUARE, BOLIVAR CITY, VENEZUELA, August 11, 2001

"The developed countries and their consumer societies, presently responsible for the accelerated and almost unstoppable destruction of the environment, have been the main beneficiaries of the conquest and colonization, of slavery, of the ruthless exploitation and the extermination of hundreds of millions of people born in the countries that today constitute the Third World".

References to the original: Speech at the World Conference against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, September 1, 2001

"The crisis will have an especially negative impact on the struggle for sustainable development, the preservation of the environment and the protection of nature from the merciless destruction to which it is being subjected, and which is causing the poisoning of the waters and the atmosphere, the destruction of the ozone layer, deforestation, desertification, and the extinction of animals and plants. How could this possibly not be taken into the slightest account?"

References to the original: Televised presentation by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, President of the Republic of Cuba, on the present international situation, the economic and world crisis and its impact on Cuba. Havana, November 2, 2001

"Hardly 30 years ago, few people in the world discussed the environment. Ideas or themes linked to the destruction of the forests, soil erosion and salinity, climate change, the disappearing ozone layer, melting icecaps, whole cities and nations doomed to fatally disappear beneath the sea, polluted air and water; overexploited oceans seemed to be inventions of doomsday scientists and not pressing realities".

References to the original: Speech given by Dr. Fidel Castro Ruz, President of the Republic of Cuba, at the public rally held at the "Abel Santamaría Cuadrado" Revolution Square in Ciego de Avila on the occasion of the 49th anniversary of the attacks on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel
In the face of climate changes, environmental damage caused by other factors, economic crises, epidemics and hurricanes, our material, scientific and technical resources are ever more abundant. The protection of our people will always take first place in our efforts. There could be no higher priority. 
References to the original: Speech made on the current world crisis, on the occasion of his inauguration as President of the Republic of Cuba, march 6, 2003