OUR MANDATE IS TO STRENGTHEN THE REVOLUTION

(The following article is from the March 1-15, 2008 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St. Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3).

From the address by Raul Castro Ruz, President of the State Council and the Council of Ministers, to Cuba's National Assembly of People's Power, Feb. 24, 2008, "Year 50th of the Revolution"

Comrades:

     As comrade Fidel alerted us in his fundamental Reflection of last January 14th, the people's mandate to this legislature is very clear: to continue strengthening the Revolution at a historical juncture which demands from us to be dialectic and creative.

     The composition of the State Council, which has just been elected by this Assembly, raised much expectation both in Cuba and abroad. The most significant was clarified by comrade Fidel in his Message of February 18th. There is very little that I can add to what he said except to express to our people, on behalf of the Revolution's Leadership, our appreciation for the innumerable expressions of serenity, maturity, self-assurance, and the combination of genuine sadness and revolutionary determination.

     I take on the responsibility entrusted to me deeply convinced that, as I have often said, there is only one Commander in Chief of the Cuban Revolution.

     Fidel is Fidel; we all know it very well. Fidel is irreplaceable and the people shall continue his work when he is no longer physically with us; although his ideas will always be with us, the same ideas that have made it possible to build the beacon of dignity and justice our country represents.

     The Communist Party, a sure guarantee of the unity of the Cuban nation, is the sole worthy heir to our people's confidence in its leader. It is the top leading force of our State and society as provided in Article 5 of our Constitution approved by referendum by exactly 97.7% of the voters.

     This conviction shall become especially significant when as a fact of life the generation that founded and forged the Revolution is no longer present.

     Fortunately, it is not that moment we are living today. Fidel is here, as always, with a very clear mind and his capacity to analyze and foresee perfectly intact and strengthened now that he can dedicate to studying and analyzing the countless hours he previously used to tackle the daily problems.

     Despite his steady recovery, his physical condition will not allow him those endless working sessions - often separated by hardly a few hours of rest - that characterized his work practically from the moment he started the revolutionary struggle, the same that grew in intensity through the long years of the Special Period when he did not take one single day off.

     Comrade Fidel's decision, a new contribution enhancing his example, ensures as from now the continuity of the Revolution and is perfectly consistent with a life guided by Marti's precept that: "All the glory of the world fits in a kernel of corn."

     Likewise, his determination is unchangeable with regards to his decision to continue making his contribution to the revolutionary cause and to the most noble ideas and objectives of mankind, while he has the strength to do so...

     Comrade Deputies:

     I am aware of my responsibility to the people as I take on the task entrusted to me. But I am also convinced that as it has been the case until today, I can count on the support of those holding positions of responsibility at various levels, and even more importantly, I can count on the support of my compatriots without which a society like ours could not succeed....

     During the first 15 years of the Revolution, the State structures inherited from capitalism were adjusted as we went along to undertake the tasks imposed by the radical economic, political and social changes.

     The 1960's institutionalization process, however imperfect, enabled us to structure an articulate system corresponding to those circumstances. We were then able to put ourselves on a level with the socialist countries, in terms of both good and bad experiences.

      Finally, in 1994, the most critical moment of the Special Period, considerable adjustments were made leading to the reduction and merging of institutions as well as to the redistribution of the tasks previously entrusted to some of them. However, these changes were undertaken with the rush imposed by the necessity to quickly adapt to a radically different, very hostile and extremely dangerous scenario.

     In the fourteen years that have passed since then, the national and international scene has noticeably changed. Today, a more compact and operational structure is required, with a lower number of institutions under the central administration of the State and a better distribution of their functions. This will enable us to reduce the enormous amount of meetings, coordination, permissions, conciliations, provisions, rules and regulations, etc. It will also allow us to bring together some decisive economic activities which are presently disseminated through various entities, and to make a better use of our cadres....

     In my visit last December to the Santiago de Cuba district that elected comrade Fidel a deputy, I said that the massive support enjoyed by the revolution demands from us that we question everything we do in order to improve on it.

     I also said that if the people are firmly united behind a single party, this must be more democratic than any other, and so must be the entire society. This society, of course, can be improved, as any other human work, but it is undoubtedly full of justice and everybody in it has the opportunity to express their views and, better still, to work for the materialization of whatever we all agree.

     There is no reason to fear discrepancies in a society such as ours, where its very nature precludes the existence of antagonistic contradictions, since the social classes that make it up are not antagonistic themselves. The best solutions can come from a profound exchange of differing opinions, if such an exchange is guided by sensible purposes and the views are uttered with responsibility.

     That's how the majority of Cubans have acted, from our best scientists, intellectuals, workers, farmers and students to the most humble housewife.

     At different stages of the Revolution, including the present, when objectively assessing both the strategic issues and the difficulties of their everyday lives, they have all set an example of political maturity and awareness of realities. Meanwhile, they are increasingly convinced that the only source of wealth for the society rests with the productive work, above all when man and resources are efficiently employed.

     The international doomsayers forecasting the death of the Revolution tried to capitalize on the criticisms made during the study and discussion of the speech made on July 26th in Camaguey. They overlooked the fact that it was debate and criticism within socialism. This was confirmed way over, a few months later, by the results of our electoral process which concluded last January 20th.

     It is also true that some people are inclined to talk before being properly informed. These make demands without thinking whether they are talking rationally or irrationally. As a rule, they agree with those who claim rights without ever mentioning duties. As Fidel put it in his Reflections of January 16th: "...they expect miracles from our determined and dignified Revolution."

     We do not deny their right to expression, provided they do it with respect for the law. In the face of such an expression we can neither be extremists nor naives. When the motivation is despair due a personal problem or the lack of information, we should be patient and offer the necessary arguments.

     But if anyone intends to put pressure motivated by their wishes to be in the limelight or by ambition, demagoguery, opportunism, simulation, arrogance or any other human weakness of a similar nature, we must face them resolutely, avoiding offense but calling a spade a spade. We should never forget that the enemy never sleeps, that it is always willing to use our carelessness to do us harm, even if some are bent on ignoring it.

     We shall not avoid listening to everyone's honest opinion, which is very useful and necessary simply because of the sometimes ridiculous noise made every time a citizen of our country says something that the very noise makers would pay no attention to if they heard it anywhere else on the planet.

     We are aware that such messages are intended to mislead or at least to create confusion; but in case anyone has had the outlandish notion to scare us off with them, I shall say that the reason we are still here - and we will continue to be here - is that our people and its Revolution have always faced up, without fear or hesitation and with the truth, all sorts of aggressions by the greatest military and economic power in the world...

Found at: http://www.peoplesvoice.ca/articleprint13/13_OUR_MANDATE_IS_TO_STRENGTHEN_THE_REVOLUTION.html