Fidel
Soldado de las Ideas
Speech made by Dr. Fidel Castro Ruz, President of the Republic of Cuba, at the closing session of the 5th Meeting on Globalization and Development held in Havana, Cuba
During this round table I have been in constant communication with Juan Miguel and his family and we have agreed, just today because we find this is the right moment, to release the following information:
Juan Miguel González, Elián's father, is ready to immediately travel to the United states to assume custody of his son, as the child's father with full rights recognized by the INS and Judge Moore, accompanied by indispensable people according to the criteria of medical doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists. Together, the would forthwith undertake the child's recuperation and his reinsertion to the family and school environment while case unfolds in the Atlanta Court of Appeals.
The purpose of this action is not only to preserve the child's health, as you have rightly indicated, but also to facilitate the resumption of his education so that he can pass the school tests and move to second grade.
A veritable culture of protecting and preserving the schools, their resources and equipment must be encouraged in the children, the teachers, parents, local residents and our people in general. Nothing more noble, human, motivating and useful than a school can be created.
We must ensure that what fills us all with joy today will never become, through laziness or irresponsibility, a source of sorrow and frustration. Let us safeguard what has been achieved. Let us be worthy of the feats we have shown we can accomplish!
When that battle was waged here from November 20 to 30, forty-years ago, we could not realize the full meaning of the bravery displayed by our comrades. Actually, only 13 kilometers of paved road separated us from Bayamo, the headquarters for the enemy’s army operations. Still, one hundred and eighty inexperienced fighters, most of them young men just out of our draftees’ school, were challenging five thousand elite enemy troops.
Revolutionary Cubans, in the thick of the Battle of Ideas we are waging and embroiled in the arduous and heroic defence of our Homeland, the Revolution and Socialism, on a day like today we are rendering a special tribute to our two great heroes, with a firm, unshakeable decision: We shall all be like Maceo and Che.
The 45% of the total population in Latin America and the Caribbean region are poor, that is, 224 million people, and 90 million of them live in absolute poverty. Actually, over half of the poor and absolute poor are children and adolescents.As indicated by the UN Children Fund: "Children are more severely affected by poverty. No other age group is as vulnerable since the physical and psychological damages they sustain affect them for life".
Latin America and the Caribbean make up a group of countries with enormous natural and human resources, and we want to unite and develop ourselves.
Twenty-two months ago primary education in the capital was in a disastrous state: the average number of students was 37 per classroom; 340 had more than 40 students and quite a few had 45 or more. The students in Santiago de Cuba knew twice as much as those in Havana. Around eight thousand wonderful dedicated teachers ¾ with an average of over 20 years in the profession¾ kept the schools open with the classrooms, buildings and school furniture in a terrible state following ten years of special period that had deprived the country of the minimum amount of resources essential for their upkeep.
When the Revolutionary triumphed there was little organization and our small army was practically swallowed up by the number of new fighters who took up arms and occupied the military barracks. In just a few weeks our force grew to 40 000 men, 10 times its original size; the masses took to the streets, it was a chaotic situation. But, the worst was that we still had everything to do.
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