Reflections
by Comrade Fidel
WE
WILL NEVER FORGET
On Tuesday, September 21, at 9 a.m., I met
with over 600 passengers of the Peace Boat, most of them Japanese, including a
survivor of the mass murders carried out in
Cuban national television broadcast the
meeting, but since we had no simultaneous interpretation in the Convention Center´s
conference room, the voices of interpreters, who had the difficult task,
overlapped with my words. So I have
decided to write a reflection on this subject.
I took advantage of the opportunity to reduce
the length of what I expressed and to put my ideas in better order while absolutely
maintaining the same contents.
I have kept the full statements
of the people who participated in the meeting.
Despite my efforts,
the Reflection was long, since the meeting lasted for two and a half hours, so
I decided to divide it into three parts, which will be published on consecutive
days.
The meeting opened with an address by Kenia Serrano, president of the
Cuban Friendship Institute:
Good
Morning.
On
September 3, the director of the NGO Peace Boat, Mr. Yoshioka Tatsuya, sent our
Commander in Chief a letter asking him to meet with the directives of the Peace
Boat and the Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivor who was on board; the Commander in
Chief accepted, and with pleasure he also invited a large group of the
passengers to the meeting.
We are gathered here today, September 21, a
day declared World Peace Day by the United Nations, and of course with the
participation of our beloved Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, which is memorable
for us. (Applause).
Presiding
over our meeting are Mr. Nao Inoue, director of this voyage of the Peace Boat
(Applause); Ms. Matsumi Matsumura, also part of the Peace Boat staff, who will
help us interpret into Spanish what it is going to be said in this meeting (Applause);
Ms. Junko Watanabe, member of the Hibakusha Movement and survivor of Hiroshima
and Nagazaki; and Professor Susana Garcia, from the University of Havana, who
will also facilitate the dialog by interpreting into Japanese as you can see
(Applause).
Comandante...
Cmdte.- What, is it my time to give a
speech?
Kenia Serrano.- Your greetings, since we all are waiting
for that.
Cmdte.- No, I came to give answers,
that is the truth. I asked what I should do and was not told anything.
In
fact I want, in the first place, to thank you for the honor that this meeting
entails.
I
was sort of absent as you may know. I read the newspapers; but I have missed
many of your meetings although I head about them later in detail. I have
already learned a lot about you: the number of times you have been in
Well,
when I received the invitation, I was happy to exchange views with you due to
the significance of the moment we are now living, which is not just any moment.
I also had a feeling of gratitude, because I know about your solidarity through
the years; the difficulties, the struggle against blockades, the identity and
nationality of the boat itself, the harbors that you were allowed or not allowed
to visit, if they would provide you with fuel or not, and other stupid things
similar to those made by our main adversary, whose methods will never lead to a
world of understanding and peace on our planet.
Now
as to your slogan, which, in my view has very special value —“Learn from past wars
to build a future of peace”—, and will always have meaning, at this moment it is
more relevant than ever. I would dare say, without fear of making a mistake,
that there was never such a dangerous moment in the history of humanity. So,
this is not just a simple trip; it is a real, serious struggle, and this I am
saying can be proven. I hope that during our meeting we will discuss ideas and strategies
that could be implemented; realistic solutions and not only the simple
expression of noble wishes.
This meeting has great significance for me,
particularly for the experience you have gained in this issue.
Over
the past few days, we marked one more anniversary of that brutal and unwonted
event, in which nuclear weapons were launched for the first time on peaceful
cities.
What
happened in
I
can talk more about that later, about the feeling I experienced and the concept
I held throughout my life about that event; but this is an example of those
things that help raise awareness, because the picture of everything that
happened there and the human tragedy inflicted, despite the passing of time,
would again move the world public opinion. I do not think that there was
anything more revealing of what war really is.
Well,
I think I have used up much of your time for my first words, we would like to
listen to you. I am willing to answer any questions you want to ask me. I have
no secrets of any kind, any subject can be addressed.
I´d like to ask our translator how she has been
doing. You, you (laughs and applauses).
Intepreter.- Fine,
I think, just fine, Comandante.
Cmdte.- Very good.
Kenia Serrano.- Thanks, Comandante.
Mr.
Nao Inoue, please.
Nao Inoue.- Godd Morning!
(exclamations: “Good Morning!”)
First of all, I´d like to express our
deepest appreciation for the fact that you welcome us on this occasion.
My name is Nao Inoue, director of Edition 70
of the cruise boat. I want to say some words on behalf of all Peace Boat
members.
It
seems you know a lot about our organization. We founded this organization in
1983, more than 27 years ago. We have thus far taken 70 cruises around the
world with more than 40,000 Japanese people.
As
you know, we have made 14 trips to
Over
the past 20 years, we have made our best efforts to be a bridge between the
Cuban and the Japanese people, and we have always rejected the unjust [
We
think that it is very important to maintain this bridge, not only between the
Cuban and the Japanese people, the two of them, but to also reach out to the other
Latin American and Asian countries. The reason we want to work hard in this
direction is because we want to build a world of peace, sustainable and led by
In
order to strengthen friendly and fraternal links between the ALBA countries and
Japan, we are now implementing a project known as the ALBA Youth Cruise, to
which we invite the youths from the ALBA countries to come on board, exchange views, hold forums and
lectures, and we would also like to ask you, Comandante, to support this
project.
As
you said, we are the only nation that was hit by an atomic bomb. As such we believe
we have the duty and the mission to spread messages in favor of a world free of
nuclear weapons. And we would like to cooperate with you in order to eradicate
nuclear weapons.
We
also want to say that
We
also learned about Latin American countries and that they also have a pacifist
constitution and prohibit the existence of foreign military bases. We are
planning to propose to the United Nations that this organization promotes a
pacifist constitution for all countries in the world.
We
do not want war ever; we cannot allow the use of nuclear weapons ever. As the survivors
of
We
took the compromise to create a world without poverty, without hunger, with much
happiness and a sustainable world.
Finally,
Comandante, I am a great fan of yours (laughs and applauses). It seems that we
all are fans of you.
We
know that you are very busy, but we want to invite you on board to sail to
Cmdte.- Marvellous! (Applause).
Nao Inoue.- I will
conclude my words with this invitation. Thank you very much (Applause).
Cmdte.- It won’t be during the
hurricane season, will it? (laughs).
I
was told that you were to arrive yesterday, but there were some storms in the
Nao Inoue.- We arrived
at
Cmdte.- And how fast does the Peace
Boat go? (laughs)
Nao Inoue.- More or less
like a fast bicycle (laughs).
Cmdte.- Well, it depends, I think that
world champion cycles can reach over 60 kilometers per hour (laughs).
I
think that in our times the Peace Boat must run faster; it is more urgent now
to travel around the world (Applause).
I
should also apologize. Yesterday morning I heard the news. I thought about how
I would meet with you, since I was told that I had been asked to meet with some
of you. Then I thought, “If possible, I will try to greet all of them,” I did
not know, however, what time you would arrive and since I knew that you had a
schedule planned for the whole day and I did not want to interfere with the
plans of any other institution or program, we decided to have this meeting so
early in the morning. We all have had to wake up early. I imagine that you
might have been…I don’t know where you might have been, if you were on board
the ship looking at the entrance Havana or if you were sleeping. I beg you to
excuse me for that, because I am guilty for you having had to expand your
program (Applause). Then we organized, or more precisely, we improvised this meeting
at this time so that you were able to attend your activities and to avoid me ruining
my relations with the institutions that will welcome you.
I
think they gave us one and a half hour. I answered that in the end you were
expected to arrive today, but were now to arrive tomorrow, so, it is a flexible
issue. I think the boat was expected to sail out today at
Kenia Serrano.- Boarding would start at
Cmdte.- So, was it expected to sail
out at
Kenia Serrano.- That’s
correct.
Cmdte.- Right, you were to conclude your
activities at
Well,
if a storm forced the delay of the boat, if you leave at
I
extend my apologies for that.
Do
you have any idea of how this will take place?
Kenia Serrano.- Comandante, this is a very moving event,
every time the cruise ship comes —last year and now— it brings survivors of
Hiroshima, and now we have Ms. Junko Watanabe with us. I propose we listen to
her testimony.
Junko Watanabe.- First, Commander
Fidel Castro, it is a great honor and also a great pleasure to meet you; I’d
like to express my deep appreciation for having welcomed us with so much love.
I
would also like to thank you for your great the interest and knowledge the
Cuban people show about
I
was born in
I
was born in downtown Hiroshima, but during the Second World War our family had
been evacuated from Hiroshima, and since I only was two years old I can’t
remember; though when I my parents told me that I was a survivor, I was really shocked.
On
Before the bomb was launched that August 6,
the weather was nice in the morning, and they say that the atomic bomb exploded
580 meters above.
Cmdte.-
How many meters?
Junko Watanabe.- Five hundred
and eighty meters above the earth.
Cmdte.- It was a nuclear bomb.
Junko Watanabe.- A nuclear
bomb.
Cmdte.- That was the energy of
uranium, not of plutonium. The plutonium one was launched on another city.
Junko Watanabe.- Yes, on
Then,
since it explodes high above, it does more damage with its hot rays and hot
wind, which burn people. After the bomb exploded, all the dust and papers flew
upwards and then came the black rain with radiation.
After
being exposed to the black rain my body had this condition.
Cmdte.- How’s that, can you explain?
Junko Watanabe.- My body was
damaged, I will explain its condition now.
I
suffered from diarrhea every day. I could eat, but no nutrients remain in my
body, they all were lost, everything that I ate. My parents thought their
daughter would die.
In fact I was only two years old, and I
cannot recall any disastrous scenes.
When
I turned 60, I joined an association in
Cmdte.-
Where, in
Junko Watanabe.- In
Cmdte.- Were they kids when they went
to
Junko Watanabe.- Of different
ages.
Cmdte.- Did their parents go with them?
Junko Watanabe.- Most of them
got married and went there as adults, without their parents.
At
present the average age of these survivors is 75, they are getting old. That is
why the president of the Association in
Although
I am a survivor, because I could not remember anything, I did not know anything
about the atomic bomb before I joined the association.
Later I had the opportunity to read all the
documents written by 200 survivors of
That
was the first time I knew about the reality of the atomic bomb in
Sadness and resentment made me feel very
unhappy and I felt that I was shaking.
I
also found a documentary with images, filmed by a Japanese journalist. However,
after the atomic bomb, US academicians stole this information and took it to
their country. They were never going to show us this video I found in the
office.
It
has been somewhat difficult to watch it because is an old tape. So, I asked a
friend to turn it into a DVD.
We and 10 survivors, friends of ours, saw the
film.
The scenes in the documentary are too
brutal and I watch it with much sadness; the city of
We
saw that in the documentary, we saw how the buildings were all burnt and the
city was completely black. There were also the people, who seemed to walk
unconsciously; skin hanging from their arms because it had deteriorated; their
eyes falling out of their sockets. People walked, but unconsciously.
When
I saw that documentary, although I could not recall that event, I understood I
was there at that moment and I also understood that such a thing was done by human
beings; then I felt strong resentment and sadness.
Then
I came up with this idea. We have to tell those testimonies to other
generations, and two years ago, in 2008, I participated in the Hibakusha
Project undertaken by the Peace Boat Organization. With 100 survivors on board,
we travelled and gave our testimonies in every port; I also met other Hibakushas
around the world.
In
My
older brother, who was playing at the temple, died two years ago at the age of
67.
After
being submitted to the black rain, as I was, he had weak bones and became very
weak. He died at age 67 from liver cancer.
Now
that I see the survivors dying, I am very concerned about my health.
I
would also like to tell you about the story of Origami, the crane figures made
from paper. They represent a symbol of peace for us and now for the world. They
accompany the story of a young girl, named Sadako Sasaki, who died from
leukemia at the age of 12.
This
year, when I attended the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Conference held in
Let me tell you a little about the story of
Sadako Sasaki. Like me, she was hit by the black rain. She grew up healthy until
she turned 10. Then, she became ill and was hospitalized; she was never able to
leave hospital.
She
believed that if she could make 1,000 paper cranes, she would get better and,
according to the story told by her brother, she kept making cranes until…Well,
at that time there was no paper. She received her medications wrapped in paper,
so she would use that paper, folding it by using needles. Up until her last moment, she would always say:
“I want to live more, I want to live more.”
We
are now in the same situation of Sadako Sasaki. We were hit by the black rain
at the early age of two. She is dead and I still survive. Therefore, I feel
this great responsibility of explaining what the atomic bomb is and who the
survivors are. Survivors have to live with many physical problems and mental preoccupations
until they die, and we had to tell this to other generations.
We
learned that there are different kinds of Hibakushas around the world, in
several places. For instance, the indigenous people who extracted uranium from
the mines are very affected by the radiation; the people who live near nuclear
plants too, and we have to learn these things to educate people.
When
I participated in the Hibakusha Project two years ago, there was this Japanese
man, the director of the documentary film, who discovered that I was on board.
He later also interviewed my father, who is 98 years old. What my father told
him I had not previously known. My father said the following. The director
asked my dad; “Why didn’t you tell Junko the truth?”
From
the bomb up until now, the young girls who were affected by the atomic bomb,
although they are survivors, they have been discriminated against and have had
difficulties trying to marry. Then, we recognized that I, being a survivor,
have fortunately had no physical problems, although there are many doctors who
say that the affect of the radiation also shows up in future generations.
To be continued tomorrow.
Fidel Castro Ruz