No subject

struggles, we have come to the Ciudad Libertad to express our jubilation at
these past fifty years. And we do so with the same conviction that led us t=
o
establish, in our own land, one of the most advanced constitutions in Latin
America.

We have come from this continent reinforced and revived by the social memor=
y
that is permitting us to settle the scores of history.

This settling of scores begins with the genuine vindication of the
indigenous population, pillaged, exploited, humiliated, offended and,
paradoxically, also used and manipulated. For that reason, today, the
Ecuadorian state is pluri-national, it is intercultural, and pursues
equality in its diversity; in other words, the most authentic execution of
true democracy=C2=85In the same way, with the African-Ecuadorian people whi=
ch,
like the Cuban people, are the drum and the flag of our homeland.

Many years ago, two of my people=C2=92s democrats, Eloy Alfaro and Federico
Proa=C3=B1o, were the subject of a tribute by Jos=C3=A9 Mart=C3=AD.

Alfaro, according to the Cuban national hero, was one of the few Americans
by creation and, his combatants from the coast, the guerrillas, brothers of
the Mambises, founded this Ecuadorian land which today is emerging and
rising up.

With respect to our insurgent fighter Federico Proa=C3=B1o, Mart=C3=AD said=
:

"For the enemies of human=C2=92s free will, and for his clear occupation in
America, Proa=C3=B1o had nothing more than tooth and nail. And his pen, ref=
ined
and fierce, outlined with one stroke, illuminated from an uproar, hammered
from a pillory,

opened up like two wings, before the majesties of humans and nature."

And history continues. The Cuban Revolution had an Ecuadorian martyr,
journalist and patriot Carlos Bastidas Arg=C3=BCello, murdered in May 1958 =
by
Batista=C2=92s henchmen=C2=85

We pay tribute to Carlos Bastidas today, for being the dignified
representative of the pride and sacrifice of our peoples (Applause).

And, in tribute to this Revolution, cemented in the most noble principles
deposited throughout the history of humanity: solidarity, universality,
unity, independence and, above all, dignity, today we are calling for and
demanding=C2=85an end to the criminal blockade, premeditated ethnocide by t=
he
same powers as always (Applause); those same powers which have subjected to
the most perverse injustice Ren=C3=A9 Gonz=C3=A1lez, Gerardo Hern=C3=A1ndez=
, Ram=C3=B3n
Laba=C3=B1ino, Antonio Guerrero and Fernando Gonz=C3=A1lez, patriots who, p=
erhaps as a
form of consolation, and as Silvio Rodr=C3=ADguez has said: "We must unders=
tand
what they are suffering, they are the cruel swipes of a beast against an
unbearable light" (Applause).

Fortunately, today Latin America does not belong to any empire. We, the
heirs of Jos=C3=A9 Artigas, Jos=C3=A9 de San Mart=C3=ADn, Rosa Campuzano, M=
iguel de
Hidalgo, and also Rigoberta Mench=C3=BA, Camilo Torres, Leonidas Proa=C3=B1=
o, Hebe de
Bonafini and Chico Mendes, do not believe in one sole form of thinking,
because our identity has the face of each and every one of us.

We honor the essence of the Cuban Revolution, considering it transcendental
to the evolution of humanity.

Because we believe that its principles are fundamental in order to secure
the well-being of our peoples.

On honoring this Revolution, we reiterate the words spoken fifty years ago
by Comandante Fidel Castro, words that, today, we make our own:

"From this moment, the lavish receptions and ovations are over; from now
on=C2=85it=C2=92s work. Tomorrow will be a day the same as any other, and e=
very other
one like it, and we will become used to freedom."

We, from our Andean Ecuador, from Guayas to Chimborazo, from the homeland o=
f
Alfaro and Manuelita, join these festivities for justice and dignity.

We, in the greatest execution of sovereignty, denounce as you do, an
illegitimate, illegal and immoral foreign debt (Applause).

For us=C2=85socialists of both the mind and the heart, revolution will neve=
r be
sorrowful, it will always be a fiesta, because it will be a celebration of
equality between men and women; because it will be an exercise of solidarit=
y
between human beings and the earth.

And so, we will celebrate the Cuban Revolution with the words of poet Fayad
Jam=C3=ADs:

"For this freedom

of song in the rain,

we will have to give everything,

until our shadows

and it will never be enough."

With the protective shadow of Bol=C3=ADvar and Mart=C3=AD=C2=85

With this renascent entry of Fidel into the Ciudad Libertad=C2=85

And with the memory of Che, we say, with dignity and with all our heart=C2=
=85

=C2=A1Hasta la victoria siempre!

=C2=A1Viva Cuba! (Cries of: "=C2=A1Viva!")

=C2=A1Viva Ecuador! (Cries of: "=C2=A1Viva!")

=C2=A1Viva Am=C3=A9rica Latina! (Cries of: "=C2=A1Viva!")

(Applause.)

Translated by Granma International


=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Havana, Cuba
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un Para=C3=ADso bajo el bloqueo"
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D