On April 10 and 11, Cuba for the first time was welcomed to the Summit of the Americas. Presidents Raul Castro and Barack Obama exchanged handshakes and friendly greetings, and their speeches promised commitment to the process of reconciliation. Other leaders of the Americas celebrated this demonstration of reconciliation.
On April 11th after President Obama’s speech that was discussed in a prior post, President Castro delivered his major Summit speech, most of which was a critical review of the history of U.S. relations with Cuba and other Latin American countries.
This post contains substantial extracts from Castro’s speech. Other posts will examine the two presidents’ subsequent private meeting at the Summit plus Obama’s comments on other subjects and the reactions from other leaders.
“In 1800, there was the idea of adding Cuba to the [U.S.] to mark the southern boundary of the extensive empire. The 19th century witnessed the emergence of such [U.S.] doctrines as the Manifest Destiny, with the purpose of dominating the Americas and the world, and the notion of the ‘ripe fruit’, meaning Cuba’s inevitable gravitation to the [U.S.], which looked down on the rise and evolution of a genuine rationale conducive to emancipation.”
“Later on, through wars, conquests and interventions that expansionist and dominating force stripped Our America of part of its territory and expanded as far as the Rio Grande.”
“After long and failing struggles, José Martí organized the ‘necessary war’ [for independence against Spain], and created the Cuban Revolutionary Party to lead that war and to eventually found a Republic ‘with all and for the good of all’ with the purpose of achieving ‘the full dignity of man’. . . . Martí committed to the duty ‘of timely preventing the [U.S.] from spreading through the Antilles as Cuba gains its independence, and from overpowering with that additional strength our lands of America.’”
On “April 11, 1898, the President of the [U.S.] requested Congressional consent for military intervention in the [Cuban] independence war already won with rivers of Cuban blood, and that legislative body issued a deceitful Joint Resolution recognizing the independence of the Island ‘de facto and de jure.’ Thus, [the U.S.] entered [this war] as [Cuba’s supposed] ally and seized the country as an occupying force.”
“Subsequently, an appendix was forcibly added to Cuba’s Constitution, the Platt Amendment, that deprived it of sovereignty, authorized the powerful neighbor to interfere in [Cuba’s] internal affairs, and gave rise to Guantánamo Naval Base, which still holds part of our territory without legal right. It was in that period that the [U.S.] invaded the country, and there were two military interventions and support for cruel dictatorships.”
At the time, the prevailing [U.S.] approach to Latin America was the ‘gunboat policy’ followed by the ‘Good Neighbor’ policy. Successive interventions ousted democratic governments and in twenty countries installed terrible dictatorships, twelve of these simultaneously and mostly in South America, where hundreds of thousands were killed. President Salvador Allende [of Peru] left us the legacy of his undying example.”
“It was precisely 13 years ago that a [U.S.] coup d’état staged against beloved [Venezuelan] President Hugo Chavez Frías was defeated by his people. Later on, an oil coup would follow.”
“On January 1st, 1959, sixty years after the U.S. troops entered Havana, the Cuban Revolution triumphed and the Rebel Army commanded by Fidel Castro Ruz arrived in the capital.”
“On April 6, 1960, barely one year after victory, [U.S.] Assistant Secretary of State Lester Mallory drafted a wicked memorandum, declassified tens of years later, indicating that ‘The majority of Cubans support Castro […] An effective political opposition does not exist […]; the only foreseeable means of alienating internal support [to the government] is through disenchantment and disaffection based on economic dissatisfaction and hardship […] to weaken the economic life of Cuba […] denying it money and supplies to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government.’”
“We have endured severe hardships. Actually, 77% of the Cuban people were born under the harshness of the blockade, but our patriotic convictions prevailed. Aggression increased resistance and accelerated the revolutionary process. Now, here we are with our heads up high and our dignity unblemished.”
“When we had already proclaimed socialism and the people had fought in the Bay of Pigs to defend it, President Kennedy was murdered, at the exact time when Fidel Castro, leader of the Cuban Revolution, was receiving [Kennedy’s] message seeking to engage Cuba in a dialogue.”
“After the [U.S.] Alliance for Progress, and [after] having paid our external debt several times over while unable to prevent its constant growth, our countries were subjected to a wild and globalizing neoliberalism, an expression of imperialism at the time that left the region dealing with a lost decade.”
“Then, the [U.S.] proposal of a ‘mature hemispheric partnership’ resulted in the imposition of the Free Trade Association of the Americas (FTAA), –linked to the emergence of these Summits– that would have brought about the destruction of the economy, sovereignty and common destiny of our nations, if it had not been derailed at [the Fourth Summit of the Americas at] Mar del Plata [Argentina] in 2005 under the leadership of Presidents Kirchner, Chavez and Lula. The previous year, Chavez and Fidel had brought to life the Bolivarian Alternative known today as the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America.”
“We have expressed to President Barack Obama our disposition to engage in a respectful dialogue and work for a civilized coexistence between our states while respecting our profound differences. I welcome as a positive step his recent announcement that he will soon decide on Cuba’s designation in a list of countries sponsor of terrorism, a list in which it should have never been included.”
“Up to this day, the [U.S.] economic, commercial and financial blockade is implemented against the island with full intensity causing damages and scarcities that affect our people and becoming the main obstacle to the development of our economy. The fact is that it stands in violation of International Law, and its extraterritorial scope disrupts the interests of every State.”
“We have publicly expressed to President Obama, who was also born under the blockade policy and inherited it from 10 former Presidents when he took office, our appreciation for his brave decision to engage the U.S. Congress in a debate to put an end to such policy.” In an apparent extemporaneous addition, Castro said, “I apologize to Obama for expressing myself so emotionally. President Obama has no responsibility for this. There were 10 presidents before him; all have a debt to us, but not President Obama. . . . I have read his books — parts of them — and I admire his life.”
“This and other issues should be resolved in the process toward the future normalization of bilateral relations.”
“As to us, we shall continue working to update the Cuban economic model with the purpose of improving our socialism and moving ahead toward development and the consolidation of the achievements of a Revolution that has set to itself the goal of ‘conquering all justice.’”
“Venezuela is not, and it cannot be, a threat to the national security of a superpower like the United States. We consider it a positive development that the U.S. President has admitted it.”
A major section of the Castro speech covered Cuba’s continued advocacy for the ideals of the Revolution, for true international governance of the Internet, for changes in hemispheric relations and cooperation against cyber warfare, climate change, terrorism, drug-trafficking organized crime and inequality and for eradication of poverty, illiteracy and hunger. He also commended the efforts in these areas of CELAC [Community of Latin American and Caribbean States], UNASUR [Union of South American Nations], CARICOM [Caribbean Community], MERCOSUR [Southern Common Market], ALBA-TCP [Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of Our America—Peoples’ Trade Treaty], SICA [System for Integration of Central America] and ACS [Association of Caribbean States].
Castro concluded with these words: “Cuba, a small country deprived of natural resources, that has performed in an extremely hostile atmosphere, has managed to attain the full participation of its citizens in the nation’s political and social life; with universal and free healthcare and education services; a social security system ensuring that no one is left helpless; significant progress in the creation of equal opportunities and in the struggle against all sorts of discrimination; the full exercise of the rights of children and women; access to sports and culture; and, the right to life and to public safety.”
“Thanks to Fidel and the heroic Cuban people, we have come to this Summit to honor Martí’s commitment, after conquering freedom with our own hands ‘proud of Our America, to serve it and to honor it […] with the determination and the capacity to contribute to see it loved for its merits and respected for its sacrifices.’”
It would be easy to criticize this speech as an unnecessary historical review going back to the late 19th century and as an unproductive way to advance the cause of Cuba-U.S. reconciliation in 2015.
On the other hand, I see the speech as a necessary recital to the U.S., other countries in the hemisphere and the world of the reasons for Cuba’s historical and current suspicions of U.S. motives and actions and for Cuba’s wariness in engaging in the current negotiations for restoration of normal relations with the U.S. Nevertheless, this history is not preventing Cuba ifrom engaging in those negotiations, and by its actions Cuba is demonstrating that such reconciliation is in Cuba’s national interest.