86. The delegation of the Revolutionary Government of Cuba speaks once again with an independent, antiimperialist and socialist voice in the General Assembly of the United Nations.
87. For seven years the most powerful, rapacious and aggressive empire of our day has been trying to stifle that voice and in doing so it has spared neither means nor resources, however ignoble. It does not lack accomplices and accessories to cover up its criminal activities. These people, betraying their fellow country-men, undertake to play whatever anti- Cuban tune the State Department, the Pentagon or the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States may call for in any given circumstances.
88. Cuba continues to be there and it is here too. Without stepping back an inch from the socialist path of development which it freely chose, without ever failing the revolutionary cause of the peoples, and without renouncing a single one of the principles which inspire its foreign policy, Cuba is still there seven years after the revolutionary dawn which transformed its life and destiny, and it is here too.
89. On behalf of Cuba, I welcome the election of Mr. Amintore Fanfani, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Italy, as President of this General Assembly in which he can count on my delegation's support in the performance of his duties. It is fitting also that we should express our gratitude to Mr. Alex Quaison-Sackey, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ghana, for his efforts in the post which he so worthily held. We also take this opportunity to extend our special greetings to U Thant, Secretary-General of the United Nations.
90. In performing their duties, the leaders of the United Nations will encounter numerous obstacles, just as their predecessors also had to face great difficulties. Events are showing every day more clearly the reason for these difficulties and obstacles.
91. In the last few years the foreign policy of successive United States Governments has shown itself, with increasing clarity, to be contrary to the principles and aspirations which brought the United Nations into existence. The conflict is vividly and amply demonstrated not only by words or simple interpretations of facts but by the evidence of the facts themselves.
92. Examples which illustrate this are to be found in the military intervention in Santo Domingo, in the bombing of towns and villages of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam and in statements by the United States President and House of Representatives; asserting the right of the United States to intervene unilaterally in any country of Latin America.
93. No one can claim to have been deceived, for there is no possible argument one could use to defend United States foreign policy. The imperialists themselves are proclaiming that policy, which is in open violation of the principles of the Charter and seriously hampers the United Nations in its efforts to preserve international peace and security.
94. It is necessary to fix the responsibility firmly on the shoulders of those who are to blame, to guarantee respect for the self-determination independence and sovereignty of peoples, to promote the development — without servitude or interference — of countries emerging from colonial backwardness, to eliminate the inequality of trade relations between the developed and the under-developed nations and to lay the foundation for peaceful coexistence among all States, large and small whatever their social system; and in doing so we must denounce those who are responsible for preventing the United Nations from achieving those objectives.
95. The agenda submitted for consideration by the Assembly contains many different items. It would be impossible to comment, even briefly, on each one. Moreover, they will be fully discussed in the various Committees to which they have been referred. In the general debate, what really matters is that each State should declare its position in regard to the problems which arise indirectly and to the development and prospects of the international situation, which is fraught with pitfalls, tensions and conflicts. We shall state the position of Cuba, using the same clear, firm and specific language as on previous occasions.
96. The theme of peace and war dominates this Assembly. The renewed appeals for peace which we have heard and which have culminated in the message of Pope Paul VI are an unmistakable indication of the gravity of the international situation.
97. But such appeals are not new to this forum. The echoes Of each year’s appeals merge with those of the next. The reason for this is that the only people who are interested in afflicting mankind once again with the dreadful scourge of war are the arms dealers and the beneficiaries of what the Prime Minister of Cuba, Commander Fidel Castro, in his historic speech in this Assembly [872nd meeting, para. 188], called the "philosophy of despoilment".
98. Peace has been an aspiration of people everywhere ever since they became aware of their role as cannon fodder in wars of conquest. Today the enemies of peace are essentially the same as before; they are those who exploit the people's labour, plunder their wealth, prevent their independence or fetter their sovereignty in order to increase their own political power, their own economic privileges and their own control of culture, science and technology. They invade and cynically intervene in the Congo in order to take possession of its natural resources; they wage a vile war against the Viet-Namese people in the southern part of their country which has been arbitrarily divided; they brutally attack the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam which exercises full jurisdiction over the northern part; they supply arms and money to prevent the emancipation of the subjugated and oppressed peoples of Angola, Mozambique and so-called Portuguese Guinea; they indiscriminately bomb Laos; they threaten the independence of Cambodia, they impair the sovereignty of Cyprus; they oppose the restoration of the lawful rights of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations; they organize indirectly or directly, individual or collective invasions of Cuba; they refuse to evacuate the military bases which have been imposed on small countries; they contrive to supply nuclear weapons to the West German revanchists; they land their marines in Santo Domingo to suppress the Dominican people's right of self-determination; they manipulate the Organization of American States as if it were a ministry of colonies; they support the policies of apartheid in South Africa; they engage in whatever criminal activities they consider necessary to maintain the semi-colonial system in Latin America, Africa and Asia; and they violate the independence of the emancipated peoples of those continents by sometimes subtle and at other times clumsy methods of neocolonialism, the peculiar form taken by imperialism in its final stages. In short, they are those who oppress and attack the developing peoples.
99. The sworn enemies of peace today are the imperialists. Appeals for peace, however timely and just, are not enough. Peace is not a gift of the gods nor is it a boon granted by the imperialists. As long as imperialism exists the spectre of war will hang, like a deadly mushroom cloud, over mankind. Imperialism and war are two faces of the same coin. Since the imperialists are the sworn enemies of peace and if peace is truly desired by all, there is no alternative to concerted action by the peoples and Governments of the socialist countries, the non-aligned countries and the peace-loving countries to sever the hands of imperialism wherever it is found perpetrating its crimes. It is true that the correlation of forces in the world has altered to the disadvantage of the imperialists and, if only as a reflection of that fact, their deceitful manoeuvres and pressures are being resisted in the United Nations over which in the past was inexorably subject to the dictates of their mechanical majority. It is also true, however, that the only language which the imperialists understand is that of harsh facts.
100. The most effective way to create conditions for the strengthening of peace in the present period of transition is to remove imperialism's claws. We have extremely eloquent examples of this. Every defeat inflicted on Yankee imperialism and its accomplices by the Viet-Namese people is an effective step towards peace. The emancipation of every people from the imperialist yoke is an effective step towards
peace. The evacuation of every foreign military base is an effective step towards peace. The most effective step taken towards peace in the Western hemisphere was the lightning defeat inflicted on the mercenary brigade of Yankee imperialism at Playa Gir6n. Every time imperialism is forced to yield ground which it usurped and its positions of strength are weakened, a further step is taken along the road to peace. Imperialism respects only those who can impose respect. The fruit of such respect is peace with dignity. The conquest of such a peace naturally involves serious risks but it is the only worth-while and lasting peace.
101. If international peace and security are today gravely compromised, that is due to the United States Government’s policy of armed intervention in the domestic affairs of other countries. The centres of tension and the conflicts created by this policy are only a prelude to tensions and conflicts of greater breadth and scope. The escalating war waged by Yankee imperialism against the heroic and self- sacrificing people of Viet-Nam is likely to culminate in a conflict of world-wide dimensions.
102. That war reveals, on the one hand, the aggressive and blood-thirsty character of imperialism and, on the other, the unshakable determination of the Viet-Namese people to resist the aggressors to the last drop of blood of their men, women and children. Thousands of United States marines and troops are today trampling the soil of South Viet-Nam in a desperate effort by imperialism to bend the indomitable will of the patriots. The invading army has resorted to the criminal use of napalm and poison gas and, imitating the Nazi hordes, it goes about murdering, torturing, plundering, and raping with barbarous enjoyment. Wave upon wave of bombers attack the towns, villages and countryside of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam. They respect neither hospitals, schools, factories nor homes. But popular resistance in the South has strengthened a hundredfold and three-quarters of the territory remain in the hands of the patriots, the Democratic Republic of, Viet-Nam, with the invaluable co-operation of the socialist countries and the solidarity of all the peoples of the world, is daily increasing its defensive power and becoming a graveyard for American aircraft.
103. From this rostrum Cuba salutes the brave people of Viet-Nam and assures them once again of its solidarity and assistance.
104. The United States Government has violated international law, the Charter of the United Nations and the Geneva Agreements of 1954 which guaranteed to Viet-Nam its independence, neutrality and the restoration of its unity of which it had been artificially deprived. Under those Agreements, as everyone knows, there should have been a single State today in the territory of Viet-Nam. Geographically, politically, historically and culturally there is only one Viet- Nam, not two. The United States Government with its military power has created this de facto situation which is contrary to treaty provisions, the rules of the United Nations and the decision of the Viet-Namese people. By bombing the Democratic Republic of Viet- Nam the United States Government is also endangering world peace.
105. All States which defend the right of self-determination of peoples and the principle of national sovereignty have a moral duty to condemn the aggressor of the Viet-Namese nation and people and also to demand the withdrawal of the armed forces of the United States and its allies from South Viet- Nam, a halt to bombing of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam, and strict compliance with the 1954 Geneva Agreements.
106. Cuba once again fulfils this duty. In addition, Cuba supports the four-point demands of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam and the .declaration of 6 April 1965 of the National Liberation Front of South Viet-Nam. The Revolutionary Government of Cuba considers that these problems should be discussed here in this Assembly and that the United Nations can contribute to the restoration of peace and security in South-East Asia if it throws all its weight behind the legitimate demands of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam and the South Viet-Nam Liberation Front.
107. But its action should not stop there. The United Nations must, as a matter of urgency, adopt measures to prevent a State or group of States from intervening in any form, whether on a world or regional basis, in the domestic affairs of another State. The Cuban delegation will give its warmest support to the declaration on this subject proposed by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [A/5977]. Its adoption by the Assembly would clearly be an effective step towards peace.
108. The main centres of tension and conflict in Africa are in the Congo (Leopoldville), in the Portuguese colonies, in Southern Rhodesia, Basutoland, Swaziland, South Africa, Aden and Oman. So long as these tragic manifestations of colonialism, neocolonialism and imperialism persist, peace and security will continue to be threatened.
109. The Congo (Leopoldville), which has scarcely been able to savour the fruits of independence, is today a country where intervention and exploitation by a few European Powers covetous of its mineral resources are taking place with the connivance of Yankee imperialism, the largest shareholder in that dirty business. The nature of the situation is in no way altered by Kasa-Vubu's dismissal of TshombS. That imperialist plot had been hatching for a long time.
110. Thousands of Congolese have been murdered by mercenaries and adventurers in the service of imperialism, including Cuban counter-revolutionaries. The struggle for the reconquest of their homeland and the expulsion of the invaders is becoming daily more intense and the light of final victory is already shining on the horizon. The memory of Patrice Lumumba is the standard borne by the vanguard of the Congolese patriots. The Cuban delegation pays a tribute to those patriots and reaffirms the support of the Government and people of Cuba for their cause.
111. The policy of apartheid imposed by a minority' of white settlers in South Africa is one of the most abominable manifestations of colonialism. It has been denounced and strongly condemned by the United Nations on a number of occasions, but the South African racists have so far scoffed at the United Nations Charter and the disapproval of world public opinion. The delegation of Cuba, a country in which the socialist revolution has eliminated all traces of racial discrimination, extends a brotherly hand to the black men and women who are suffering and fighting for their rights in South Africa.
112. The Cuban delegation supports the people of Southern Rhodesia in their opposition to any transfer of sovereignty or usurpation of power and it shares the African States' rejection of any unilateral declaration of independence by the white minority which is oppressing and exploiting the country's black majority.
113. Lastly, the Cuban delegation advocates the immediate granting of independence to the colonial countries and peoples of Africa, Asia and Oceania and supports the Arab States' position with regard to the sad case of Palestine.
114. It is necessary to emphasize that the agenda items relating to alleged violations of human rights in Tibet and the imperialist reunification of Korea and typical manifestations of the cold war, as morally unsound as they are senseless.
115. Some delegations deplore the close attention which is paid in General Assembly debates to the vestiges and methods of colonialism in Latin America. What is most significant, however, is that those delegations forget that in addition to European colonies there are colonial dependencies of the United States in the Western Hemisphere; they also try to ignore the new forms of neo-colonialism which Yankee imperialism has established on this continent.
116. There is the specific case of Puerto Rico, which possesses all the qualities of a mature nation and whose people have on many occasions expressed their unshakable determination to be masters of their own fate, and which nevertheless remains a United States colony. Puerto Rico did not wish to remain a Spanish colony and it does not wish to remain a United States colony with the euphemistic title of "Commonwealth". The voice of the United States and the voice of its remote control Government is not the real voice of Puerto Rico, but since that country is not directly represented in the United Nations, Cuba, its sister in history and in aspirations, will speak for it. It should not be forgotten that, when he organized the Cuban war of independence in 1895, Jose Marti insisted that his aim was to free not only our country but also its sister island. We are united by history and it is therefore the Cuban delegation's duty to speak in this Assembly on behalf of the Puerto Rican people.
117. We demand that the Assembly recognize the Puerto Rican people's right to set up a free, independent and sovereign State. The Cuban delegation, interpreting that people's legitimate aspirations and echoing the demands of the independence organizations of that dauntless island, requests the Special Committee on decolonization to include the case of Puerto Rico in its agenda, in conformity with the Declaration approved by the Second Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries, held at Cairo in October 1964. We appeal to the members of that Committee for their support,
so that this heroic Caribbean people may realize that they are supported by the other peoples of the world and are not alone in their struggle for the independence that has been achieved in recent years by so many other countries such as the Gambia, Singapore and the Maldive Islands, which we welcome today.
118. In Latin America, imperialist policy is determined by the triumph of the Cuban revolution and its significance for the peoples of this hemisphere. The victory of the Cuban revolution, its subsequent consolidation and the development of the revolutionary movement on this continent have shown with increasing clarity that political, economic and pseudo-legal measures will no longer suffice to ensure the attainment of the imperialists' objectives.
119. In the past, the United States Government hid behind the mantle of the Organization of American States and behind the pseudo-legal, political and economic measures it used to wield its influence and power over the oppressed peoples of the Americas. For the past twenty years, those measures have sufficed to guarantee the hegemony of its policies on this continent. The Organization of American States, which lost its regional character when it excluded Cuba, has now entered its final crisis, and already the whole world knows it to be nothing more than a Yankee dependency.
120. The imperialists tried to oppose the expansion of the democratic and revolutionary forces through the so-called "Alliance for Progress". From the very first, the Revolutionary Government of Cuba predicted that it would be a resounding failure. Today that failure is admitted by the imperialists themselves. The only people deceived by it were its sponsors and a few puppet Governments.
121. On the other hand, the Government of the United States pursued a policy of threats, military aggression and economic blockade against our country. That policy has been a consistent failure. Today the Cuban revolution is stronger than ever. Its political, economic and cultural victories and above all the strength of its example are making themselves increasingly felt on this continent.
122. The most obvious proof of its increasing strength is the fact that the imperialists have been obliged to resort to direct armed intervention in the internal affairs of Latin American States in an attempt to impose their policy.
123. The case of Santo Domingo is an obvious example. For many weeks, the Dominican situation occupied the attention of the Security Council and world public opinion. At the present time, United States armed forces are still stationed in that country.
124. As in previous decades, the United States was obliged to send in its marines in order to ensure that its views prevailed. For thirty years it had proclaimed that history would not repeat itself and yet history is repeating itself today. The Dominican people now know that such intervention can be ended only by the liquidation of imperialism.
125. The last word will be spoken, and is being spoken now, by the Dominican people. They have emerged from their experience with a clear knowledge of their rights and their strength. In their duel with the imperial Power which has profaned their soil and ignored their will, covering itself once again with mire and blood, the Dominican people will not be alone or defenceless. They have been supported and will continue to be supported by all the peoples of the world.
126. The revolutionary movement has been growing in other countries of the continent. Guerrilla warfare is developing in Venezuela, Guatemala, Colombia and Peru. Brazil is being shaken by a tremendous economic crisis which is making social inequalities more acute. The conditions for the revolutionary explosion are being created in that South American country.
127. Confronted by these facts, United States policy, caught at the crossroads, had no alternative but to contradict some of its own statements.
128. The House of Representatives of the United States has just proclaimed the alleged right of that country to intervene in any country of the continent when there is a danger of a socialist revolution. A number of Latin American parliaments have protested against that declaration, which demonstrates the clumsiness and cynicism of many United States leaders.
129. Those leaders have placed certain Latin American Governments in a difficult position. The Prime Minister of the Revolutionary Government of Cuba made some very pertinent comments in that connexion, when he said:
"When the representatives of the monopolies administered a slap in the face to all the Republics of the Americas by issuing the declaration of nonindependence, some people, or rather many people, blushed with shame; many, were scandalized when the United States declared it had the right to intervene unilaterally.
"It is fitting to remind them of the anti-Cuban agreements to which they were parties. It is fitting to remind them of their complicity in the crimes against our country committed by imperialism. At that time we were the only one to arise, determined to die; we said that we were defending not only Cuba’s rights, but the independence of the other peoples of Latin America.
"Those who sow the wind reap the whirlwind, and those who sowed intervention against Cuba, collective severing of relations with Cuba, and the blockade of Cuba are reaping the whirlwinds of interventionism and threats against themselves. Yet they are surprised and panic-stricken; the Parliaments meet and the bourgeois parties scream to high heaven. Now they are reaping the fruits of complicity with the imperialists; now they realize the true nature of imperialism.
"Thus with every passing day the peoples will see more clearly who is right, who in those historic years defended true independence, true freedom, true sovereignty with their blood against imperialism and all its accomplices. They are learning this from the imperialists themselves."
These words of our Prime Minister are instructive for those who sowed the whirlwind, who sowed interventionism and encouraged imperialism.
130. In these circumstances, created by this unilateral, provocative and despicable decision of the United States Government, the only free territory in the Americas is Cuba. Cuba is the only country where Yankee imperialism will be unable to use an alleged danger of communist revolution as a pretext for invasion or enslavement. In Cuba the revolutionary power is already definitively and irreversibly established.
131. The words spoken by Commander Ernesto Guevara at the United Nations in his memorable statement to the nineteenth session of the General Assembly now have more force than ever:
"Cuba, a free and sovereign country with no chains binding it to anyone, with no foreign investments in its territory, with no pro-consuls to 'direct' its policy, can hold its head high in this Assembly and prove its title to the name 'Free Territory of America' with which it will be baptized." [1299th meeting, para. 137.]
132. No delegation which respects itself or the people it represents can fail to recognize that all these facts confirm the thesis of the Revolutionary Government of Cuba and prove incontestably that the United States Government is violating international law.
133. What can the United Nations do? The only way in which the Organization can play a role in the modern world is by courageously opposing this United States policy.
134. The situation would be quite different if it were to accept a subservient position or watch impassively while the principles which gave it life were trampled underfoot. Cuba will not remain impassive when, confronted by the violators of international law, and we know that many countries will do the same. The hope all peoples place in the United Nations is based on the authority which should be exercised by those countries which defend the principle of self-determination of States. The unity and authority achieved by the independent nations and by the Governments which defend that principle will be the most effective guarantee that the United Nations will be able to fulfil its role. That is the only policy which can triumph and force the imperialists to refrain from criminal aggression.
135. The most obvious proof that the Achilles' heel of imperialism is the irrevocable decision of the peoples of the world to stand up to its threats and aggression is provided by the 7 million Cubans who today are building a new society ninety miles away from an implacable enemy.
136. This has already been proved to the imperialists in Cuba, but it is also being proved to them again in Viet-Nam, in the Congo, in Mozambique, in Angola, in so-called Portuguese Guinea, in Aden and in Oman, just as it was proved to them in Algeria and will no doubt be proved to them wherever the people resist their domination in Latin America, Africa and Asia. The struggle for national liberation, which has already made a promising beginning in Latin America, is the Iliad of modern times in the making. Some day, if the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples has not previously been fully implemented, the United Nations will be obliged to pay a tribute to those who with courage, self-sacrifice and integrity are revindicating the partly dead letter of its purposes and principles.
137. What action will the peoples of the world take when confronted with imperialist aggression? The action they are already taking: guerrilla action, agitation by workers, peasants and students, expansion of the popular movement, protest demonstrations, strikes, slowdowns and revolutions.
138. Nobody is deceived, nobody is under any illusion: Asia, Africa and Latin America are at boiling-point and Yankee imperialism is powerless to stay their inevitable liberation.
139. Imperialist strategy in Latin America, Africa and Asia calls for the closest solidarity and unity of action among the peoples of the three continents in their struggle for national liberation, both within and outside the United Nations. A major step forward in the co-ordination of the methods, forms and objectives of that struggle will undoubtedly be taken at the First Solidarity Conference of the Peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America, which will open at Havana, the capital of Cuba, on 3 January 1966. The Tricontinental Conference will also be the point of departure for wider, deeper and more dynamic joint action against colonialism, neo-colonialism and imperialism, which will hasten their end. The intensification of the revolutionary struggle on those three continents, with the support of all progressive forces, will undoubtedly constitute a decisive step in the history of the oppressed peoples of the world.
140. The problem of European security continues to depend on the signing of a peace treaty with Germany and the recognition of the objective existence of two independent German States — the Democratic Republic of Germany and the Federal Republic of Germany— which have different social systems and completely opposite political objectives, one being socialist and peace-loving, whereas the other is capitalist, the heir of nazi aggressiveness, and a direct ally of Yankee imperialism. The revanchiste policy of the Federal Republic of Germany and its declared desire to participate in the NATO multilateral nuclear force endanger not only European security, but also world peace.
141. The Cuban delegation proposes that the Democratic Republic of Germany be admitted to the United Nations, of which it has a full right to be a Member State.
142. The problem of general and complete disarmament is still stalled and the Eighteen-Nation Disarmament Commission continues to drift. As a signatory of the Declaration approved at the Second Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non- Aligned Countries, held at Cairo in October 1964, Cuba supports the calling of a world disarmament conference which would include all countries and peoples and particularly the People's Republic of China. Unless that country participates in the discussion of problems relating to international peace and security, all efforts in this direction will be unrealistic. Furthermore, we feel that the immediate restoration of the lawful rights of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations and the consequent expulsion of the ventriloquist's dummies of Yankee imperialism who illegally occupy its seats can no longer be delayed.
143. Cuba supports general and complete disarmament, the banning of all atomic tests, the total destruction of all nuclear and thermonuclear weapons, the establishment of denuclearized areas in Central Europe and Africa, and all measures which may help to reduce international tension, including respect for the territorial integrity of nations, the halting of imperialist aggression and the abandonment of all military bases on foreign soil.
144. On the other hand, Cuba has not participated, and cannot participate, in the plans for the denuclearization of Latin America. We consider it a laudable enterprise, but an incomplete one. The only nuclear Power in the hemisphere is the United States. Consequently, when this idea was put forward at the seventeenth session of the General Assembly, the Cuban delegation proposed that the draft resolution should include the United States and its military bases in Panama and Puerto Rico, and also the withdrawal of the naval base at Guantanamo in our territory. The only fair and effective way in which the denuclearization of Latin America can be achieved without leaving its peoples at the mercy of their traditional aggressor is by simultaneously denuclearizing the only nuclear Power in this part of the world.
145. As long as the United States Government retains the privilege of keeping and using its nuclear and thermonuclear weapons, Cuba reserves the right to insist on prior conditions which will guarantee its security, and to acquire the type of weapons needed for its defence.
146. If there was more than sufficient motive and reason to assume that attitude before the armed invasion in the Dominican Republic, how could we fail to reaffirm it after that predatory act by the United States Government and the recent interventionist declaration by the United States House of Representatives?
147. The items on economic development, international trade and technical assistance constitute one of the heaviest sections of the agenda. One of the gravest problems caused by colonialism is the backwardness and distortion of the economies of the developing countries. The gap between those countries and the developed countries has continued to widen. One of the central objectives of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, held at Geneva in 1964, was the adoption of agreements and measures aimed at progressively closing that gap. It must be recognized that the hopes placed in that Conference have almost vanished. Thus far, the initiatives taken and the resolutions adopted have not gone beyond the nebulous sphere of good intentions. The meeting of the Trade and Development Board held recently at Geneva was a complete fiasco.
148. There is, however, something even more disquieting. The trade relations between the developing countries and the developed capitalist countries are becoming progressively more unfavourable to the former. But the developing countries have now realized that the real keys to their political freedom and the improvement of their living conditions are to be found in the effective exercise of their sovereignty over their natural resources, on the independent development of their economies, and on unconditional international co-operation and free trade, carried on with mutual benefit and without discrimination. The close connexion between this and the struggle to eliminate the vestiges and ties of colonialism is obvious.
149. This, in broad outline, is Cuba's position with regard to the problems affecting the present and the future of the world.
150. The building of a socialist society in our country is proceeding rapidly. With the New Year, Cuba will celebrate another year of complete and final triumph over the interests, privileges and forces that subjugated its political will, deformed its national personality and stifled its economic development. The enemies of the self-determination, independence, sovereignty and progress of the' Cuban people have not abandoned their vain aim of restoring the old society, based on the exploitation of one human being by another.
151. Imperialism persists in its attempts to defeat the Cuban revolution. The subversion planned in imperialist territory continues, as do harassments, conspiracy, provocation and the economic blockade, which the Cuban people have overcome through their own' strength and the fraternal aid of the socialist countries. The imperialists, in their arrogant pretension, continue to violate our air space and territorial waters as they please, and maintain a military base against the will of our people.
152. All these facts have been repeatedly denounced by the Cuban Government and we shall not abandon our demand that the sovereign rights of our people be respected. In the face of this imperialist policy, Cuba maintains diplomatic and friendly relations with all Governments which respect the principle of self- determination of peoples and stands by its irreversible decision to retain its independence and build a socialist and communist society.
161. Cuba will attack no one; but let it be known also that if it is attacked, directly or indirectly, individually or collectively, it will know how to defend its integrity with all the heroism and dignity of which it is capable. Our motto, both there and here, is still the one which echoed through this hall for the first time during the memorable debate on invasion which was abandoned in such ion at Playa Giron; We shall or Conquer!