Reflections
by Comrade Fidel
The
Overwhelming Victory of Daniel and the FSLN
On Sunday,
As fate would have it, the
other day marked the 94th anniversary of the glorious Soviet
Socialist Revolution. Unforgettable
pages in history were written by Russian workers, peasants and soldiers and the
name of Lenin shall always be shining among men and women who dream of a just
future for humankind.
These topics are ever more
complicated and the efforts poured into educating the new generations shall
never suffice. Therefore, today I dedicate some time to comment on this event,
in the midst of so many occurring on a daily basis on our planet and the news
of which arrives by a growing number of channels that were barely imaginable just
a few decades ago.
I must say that the
Nicaraguan election was held in a traditional and bourgeois style, having
nothing fair or equitable about it, since the sectors of the oligarchy who have
an anti-national and pro-imperialist character have, as a norm, the monopoly on
economic and publicity resources which, generally speaking, and in a special
way on our hemisphere, are at the service of the political and military
interests of the empire; all that underlines the magnitude of the Sandinista
victory.
It is a truth that our
Homeland knows well from the time Marti died at Dos Ríos on May 19 of 1895, to
“timely prevent, with the independence of
We shall never tire in
repeating it, especially after our people have been able to steadfastly stand
up to half a century of sustained economic blockade and the most brutal
aggressions of that empire.
However it is not hatred
that moves our people; it is ideas. From these ideas our solidarity with the
people of Sandino, the general of free men, was born; we read about him with
admiration when, more than 60 years ago, we were university students and
without the marvellous cultural outlook of those who, in a few days and along
with the students in secondary education, shall be taking part in something
that by now is a beautiful tradition: the University Festival of Books and
Reading.
The heroic death of the
Nicaraguan hero who fought against the Yankee occupation forces in his
territory was always a source of inspiration for Cuban revolutionaries. Our solidarity with the Nicaraguan people is not
surprising; it was expressed from the very first days of the revolutionary
triumph in
Yesterday, on the 8th, the newspaper Granma was reminding us of the heroic
fall in November of 1976, just two and a half years before the triumph, of the
founder of the FSLN, Carlos Fonseca Amador, “tayacán[1]
victor over death”, as the lovely song written in his memory “sweetheart of the
Red-Black Homeland, all of
I know Daniel well; he never adopted extremist positions
and was always invariably faithful to basic principles. Given the responsibility of the presidency on
the basis of a group political directorship, he was characterized by his
respectful conduct in terms of the points of view of his comrades coming from
within the Sandinista movement at a determinate stage in the struggle before
the triumph. He thus became a unifying
factor among the revolutionaries and sustained contacts with the people. This was due to the great ascendancy he
acquired among the more humble sectors of
The depth of the Sandinista Revolution earned
him the hatred of the Nicaraguan oligarchy and Yankee imperialism.
The most atrocious crimes were perpetrated
against his country and his people in the Dirty War that Reagan and Bush
promoted from the presidency and the CIA.
Many counter-revolutionary gangs were organized,
trained and supplied by them; drug trafficking became the instrument for
funding the counter-revolution and tens of thousands of weapons brought into
the country caused the death or injury of thousands of Nicaraguans.
The Sandinistas held elections in the midst of
that unequal and unfair battle.
The fall of the Socialist bloc is added to this
situation, along with the imminent collapse of the
The Nicaraguan people were forced to once more
put up with almost 17 years of corrupt and pro-imperialist governments. The rates of health, literacy and social
justice installed in
Cuba was continuing under the brutal Yankee
blockade and suffering, moreover, the rough consequences of the Special Period
and the hostility of one of the worst murderers that has governed the United
States, George W. Bush, son of the father who had promoted the Dirty War in
Nicaragua, freedom for the terrorist Posada Carriles to distribute weapons to
the Nicaraguan counter-revolutionaries and reprieved Orlando Bosch who was the
other author of the Barbados Crime.
However, a new phase was beginning in Our
America with the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela and the coming to power in Ecuador,
Bolivia, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay of governments committed to
the independence and integration of Latin American peoples.
Furthermore, I can state with satisfaction that
the solidarity of
The thousands of doctors who have provided their
services in that heroic sister country feel really motivated by the excellent
use the Sandinistas made of their efforts.
The same can be asserted about the thousands of teachers who, during one
day in the first phase of the process, were sent into the most remote mountain
areas to teach the peasants to read and write. Today the education experiences
in general and especially the practices of teaching medicine coming from the
Latin American School of Medicine where thousands of excellent doctors have
been trained have been transferred to
These details I am mentioning are nothing more
than an example of the prolific effort of the Sandinista revolutionaries in
favour of the development of their Homeland.
The fundamental nature of Daniel’s role and the
reason for my opinion about his overwhelming victory is that he never distanced
himself from contact with the people and the never-ending struggle for their well-being.
Today he is a truly experienced leader who has been capable of
handling complicated and difficult situations from the years when his country
was once more under the aegis of rapacious capitalism. He knows how to
intelligently handle complex problems; he knows what he can and cannot do, what
he should and should not do in order to ensure peace and the sustained advance
of the economic and social development of the country. He is very much aware of
the fact that he owes the overwhelming victory to his heroic and courageous
people, because of their broad participation and almost two-thirds of the votes
cast in his favour. He was able to
establish close ties with the workers, peasants, students, young people, women,
technicians, professionals, artists and all progressive sectors and forces that
sustain and carry out the advances made in the country. In my opinion, it is very right to call on
all the democratic political forces willing to work for independence and the
economic and social development of the country.
In today’s world, problems are extremely
complicated and difficult. But while the
world exists, we, the small countries, can and must exercise our right for
independence, cooperation, development and peace.
Fidel Castro Ruz
November 9, 2011
8:12 p.m.