Dear Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, leader of the Cuban Revolution;

Dear deputies:

The current times are intense and complex; defiant, we call them revolutionaries, to scare away the impossible. But that does not take away from us a sense of reality, a reality marked by inequalities and imbalances that come from centuries and are dramatically accentuated under the reign of neoliberalism, in the so-called post-truth era.

The luck is that the desire for justice, consubstantial to the human being, still survives. As Martí said: “When there are many men without decorum, there are always others who have in themselves the decorum of many men.”

If a test was missing to measure the great values of our people, the deep traces that in their natural nobility have been left by the heroes and heroines of the country’s history, there is the answer to the tragedy of the Saratoga hotel: the scenes of passers-by that, at the risk of their own lives, rushed to help the victims of the explosion in the first minutes.

Those anonymous heroes have something of those naked mambises, who made the most powerful army of its time tremble, machete in hand and shouting ¡Viva Cuba Libre!

The act of solidarity and altruism of these people, of the hundreds of compatriots who came to donate blood, of the always heroic firefighters, of the courageous rescuers, of the agile drivers of ambulances and other cars that casually passed by and transferred the wounded, of the consecrated hospital workers, the essential specialists in medicine and nursing, the honest and indefatigable press that moved to the place so as not to miss a single detail, all those who brought water, coffee and food from their private businesses to the tired people for the search; of each citizen who wanted to do and did something, even if it was only to post a message of condolence on the networks; in all these attitudes, together with those of the cadres and leaders of the Party, the Government and the People’s Power, who have the social responsibility to solve problems and work to move the country forward, the best of being national, of natural Cuban, is summed up, which we have also defended in these cultural laws that we have approved today.

 

All that I have described contrasts enormously with the cruelty of the haters who in these days of uncertainty and pain have contaminated the networks with messages of deep contempt for the authorities, but also for the citizens, just because they are capable of doing extraordinary things without waiting something in return. A mercenary will never understand a patriot. Whoever puts a price on his ideas is unable to understand those who have the courage to support and defend theirs.

Cuba has experienced its mourning without fanfare; it did it since before the Decree with which we made it official, and it has not stopped feeling it in the days that followed. As for those who have wanted to profit from that pain, I’m just saying that we’re not going to waste any more words or time on people who increasingly bury their credibility in the mud of lies. In the Cuba that saves lives and pays respectful tribute to its dead people, those who hate do not count!

For the lives that were lost under the rubble of the Saratoga and for those who are still fighting for theirs in hospitals or at home, we are committed to redressing the heavy blows of this unexpected incident, putting the recovery of the injured first, caring for the affected families and the rehabilitation of homes and other properties that have been totally or partially destroyed.

Once again, heartfelt condolences to those who suffered the loss of loved ones and support to the families and relatives of the victims.

I take this opportunity to reiterate our deep gratitude to political leaders and people who, from various parts of the world, have sent us their condolences, support and accompaniment in these difficult times for Cuba. In the midst of pain, solidarity relieves!

Dear deputies:

From the US embassy in Havana and other toxic platforms, oriented against Cuba, they try to revive what happened on July 11 of last year and infamous versions of the trials of the commissioners of the acts of violence are constructed. In the height of cynicism, from the country that holds world records for incarceration and prison mistreatment of girls and boys, we are accused of having tried and sentenced children under 16 years of age.

The Cubainformacion site has published brief data on prisons and the child population in the United States, according to which 2,000 children are arrested every day and there are 44,000 in prison. We only cite these data to show once again the hypocrisy and double standards of those who claim to be judges of what is happening in the world.

Yes, we are interested in affirming before our people and the world that in Cuba no one under 16 years of age is imprisoned! That those tried for the events of July 11 and 12 had the procedural guarantees established by Cuban law. Out of respect for these laws and our Constitution, those who try to harm sovereignty, independence and internal order must know that the law exists to be fulfilled. We are a socialist state of law that has the right to exist. Exactly what our adversaries refuse to accept.

Now, blind with frustration, the empire and its employees resort to old practices of attack with modern techniques of Unconventional Warfare. They put labels on us and return to the infamous paths of hatred, with constant calls for acts of vandalism, encouragement of terrorism.

In an effort to create a climate of citizen insecurity, as a prelude to the social explosion, they no longer even hide from their calls, which they amplify through vulgar spokesmen on different Internet platforms. Since they can’t kill us, they scream at rehearsal to get the check.

In the effort to demobilize the people they tried everything last May Day. Drunk with their own lies, they believed that very few would respond to the call of the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba and its unions to celebrate International Workers’ Day.

They still haven’t gotten over their astonishment and are demanding data from their lackeys to understand this overwhelming and massive response from our people.

They say that there was an order to lower the profile of the images of mass and joy in the same media outlets that had already damaged their credibility by covering the events of July 11 with false news and montages.

The same people who daily criticize what we do wrong or what we don’t do, who are outraged by bungling, insensitivity, laziness and bureaucracy; that same town paraded, ran over in conga and raised posters in support of the Revolution and, back home, defeated the lie by showing the truth with their publications on networks.

The people took it upon themselves to paint the landscape of our creative resistance. There are the beautiful visual testimonies of Cuba celebrating the triumph of talent, effort and solidarity in facing the most colossal of challenges we have ever had: two years of pandemic with intensified blockade.

We said it here, at the foot of the José Martí Memorial and in all the country’s squares. Together with Raúl and the heroic Centennial Generation, we ratify that May Day that it was possible, it is possible and it will always be possible! (Applause.)

Of course it is not about saying a slogan. A conviction is expressed that must always be accompanied by a principle: everything from the people, with the people and for the people (Applause).

Deputies:

Since the second half of last year we have been warning that the United States Government is promoting a dangerous international schism, trying to divide the world selectively between those who are willing to submit to the tutelage imposed from Washington, on the one hand, and those who are convinced their sovereign right to self-determination and determined to defend it, on the other.

The manifestations of this senseless ambition have not been long in coming and the consequences are already being paid, especially in Europe. They are costing lives and suffering, and causing global economic damage whose outcome is difficult to predict. They are turning the European stage into a prominent destination for weapons of all kinds, with no real control or prospects for their future use.

It should not be forgotten that the volume of nuclear weapons concentrated today by a few countries has the capacity to destroy the planet several times over and the possibilities of miscalculations cannot be neglected.

The global scenario of the 1990s, when the United States enjoyed a singular hegemonic supremacy after the collapse of the socialist camp in Europe, is not the one of today and it would be a dangerous mistake to try to impose it by force.

Aware of these realities, we develop international relations based on principles and in full adherence to International Law, committed to peace, justice and the right to full independence, development and security of all countries, in especially those of the Third World that are the most threatened.

This is how we defend our positions in international organizations, with full independence, coherence and responsibility.

Cuban foreign policy will continue to have as a priority the incessant battle against the economic blockade of the United States, its denunciation at all times and in all corners of the planet.

The aggressive, criminal and genocidal nature of this policy, and its overwhelming impact on all of society and the life of the country, forces us to concentrate and redouble our efforts to combat it tirelessly.

In our region, the compass that guides us continues to be the development of friendly and cooperative relations with all Latin American and Caribbean countries, support for regional integration, based on the precept of unity in diversity, observance of the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, and the solidarity commitment to social justice for all the peoples of Our America.

In the month of April we received the official visits of the prime ministers of Dominica and Belize, Roosevelt Skerrit and John Briceño, respectively, with whom we advanced in bilateral relations in correspondence with the traditional ties of brotherhood between our nations.

More than 1,000 delegates from 60 countries and 219 organizations accompanied the Cuban people in the International Meeting of Solidarity with Cuba, which confirmed the support of millions of people in the world for the cause of the Cuban Revolution.

A few days ago, we had the special honor of welcoming the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and the delegation that accompanied him to Havana. It was an official visit, important in the mutual effort to strengthen and deepen bilateral ties, and to contribute to the advancement of the region, its independence and its integration. It coincided with the 120th anniversary of the establishment of relations between our two countries, a date of great significance for Cuba, which has always found in the land of Juárez the brotherhood and support that Martí and Fidel found in their Mexican contemporaries. In those hours we understood much better the depth of the ties that unite us, but also the political caliber, the deep sensitivity and the endearing commitment of López Obrador in his relationship with all the peoples of Our America.

Dear deputies:

The old neo-colonial ambition of the United States continues, aimed at fragmenting and weakening this part of the world, as a way to preserve the hegemonic power of imperialism or restore it where it has been lost.

Washington has called a meeting for next month that they are curiously calling the “Summit of the Americas,” even though it excludes some countries.

They hid until the last moment the selective and discriminatory nature of the call with the clear purpose of avoiding as much as possible the natural discomfort of the governments of the region, which have long rejected capricious exclusions.

The enormous and desperate efforts that the United States has had to deploy, even with high-level special envoys, to avoid the claim that it was an inclusive event, a truly representative meeting of the hemisphere, are known.

Whoever assumes the commitment to host a hemispheric meeting must have the ability and the courage to listen to everyone, from the Arctic to Patagonia, to listen to differing criteria, to be ready to deliberate with solid arguments, not with impositions and evasions; face the truth, no matter how harsh and unpleasant it may seem. The country incapable of accommodating everyone is disqualified from serving as host.

At bottom there is, of course, a doctrinal factor. It is the Monroe Doctrine that, known or not, continues to be the guide and political focus of the United States for this region that José Martí called Our America.

It is already known that nothing about economic and social inequality is going to be discussed or approved at that meeting; about the growing marginalization in the region, including the United States itself. It is known that the growing problem of the judicialization of politics to sabotage the popular will and elected governments with the support of the most humble sectors will not be addressed, nor will the corporate effort of the large transnationals to corrupt the governments of the region.

The role of the OAS in orchestrating a coup in Bolivia will not be discussed, nor will any decision be adopted that truly promotes the aspirations of democracy, inclusion and respect that the peoples of the region deserve.

The reasons why both the United States and Latin America are among the regions most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic will not be delved into.

None of the documents proposed by the State Department intends to advance with practical actions in the fight against racism, in favor of women’s rights and to alleviate the uncertain situation of immigrants.

There will be no discussion of the manipulation exercised by the US government in relation to the migration issue, which is used for destabilizing purposes against Cuba, while carrying out an illegal policy based on unilateral coercive measures that pursue economic collapse, encourage irregular emigration, disorderly and insecure, while the commitments and agreements in force in this area are deliberately breached.

No discussion is expected about the disastrous impact on organized crime societies, the arms trade, produced mainly in the United States, or the cancer of drug trafficking also fueled by the level of consumption in American society.

Terrorism, including state terrorism, and the manipulation of the issue for political ends are not on the agenda. It is unlikely that the special and differential treatment that the small Caribbean countries deserve will be recognized and that Argentina’s right to the Malvinas Islands will be confirmed.

There will be no pronouncement against unilateral coercive economic measures and their use against the countries of the region as a ruthless weapon of aggression.

Puerto Rico’s right to independence will not be recognized.

The President of the United States will enjoy a photograph and will use the Summit in his internal political campaigns, especially in Florida, but few will remember hours later what happened there or the meaning of the documents that are intended to be adopted with American language and concepts.

The so-called Summit of the Americas seems to be identified with the OAS. Thus, it will bear the same discredit and moral disqualification that accompanies that Pan-American institution. That organization has been condemned for a long time and it is time that it ends up recognizing itself with total transparency; management in recent years has only accelerated its dying state.

Companions:

These sessions of the National Assembly confirm the progress of the country in a process to which we grant the highest priority: the deepening of socialist democracy and the promotion, protection and effectiveness of the rights enshrined in the Constitution, in the international treaties in force for the Republic of Cuba and in the development laws.

We are aware that the socialist State of law and social justice will be more democratic as long as it maintains and deepens the safeguarding of human dignity as the supreme value that supports the recognition and exercise of rights and the fulfillment of duties in society.

Constitutional rights make it possible to demand or claim, through various channels and mechanisms, their protection against violation or transgression, they grant permanent legitimacy to the political system.

In this Legislature, several complementary laws have been approved that channel the constitutional mandates. Public policies are promoted aimed at the comprehensive protection of children, adolescents, the elderly, people with disabilities and women. Programs are developed for equality and non-discrimination for reasons of any personal condition or circumstance that implies a distinction harmful to human dignity. The judicial function is strengthened so that the popular court system is a guarantor of constitutional rights.

Eight important laws have been approved for our country: Food Sovereignty and Food and Nutrition Security; that of Personal Data; the new Penal Code; the Criminal Enforcement Law; the Protection of Constitutional Rights; that of the System of Natural Resources and the Environment; that of Copyright and Performing Artist and that of Protection of Cultural Heritage and Natural Heritage.

Each of these laws, as was well expressed in their presentations, are the result of a broad consultation process with specialists, experts, university professors and the population.

Its contents have been discussed and explained, in particular everything related to the new Penal Code, with which the regulations on this matter are tempered and the country’s legal-criminal system is unified in a single text, taking into account the treaties regulations on this matter in force for Cuba. It also comes to complement the laws that have been approved by this Assembly in the criminal procedure system, and introduces important modifications in the field of prevention and confrontation with crime. Now it is time to disclose it in order to encourage our citizens to respect socialist legality.

Those responsible for its application are responsible for acting with due fairness. This is a tool that must be used with due rationality. It is an instrument to protect society, people and the political, economic and social order enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic.

As you will remember, among the most innovative issues introduced by the current Constitution of the Republic is the wide range of rights that it recognizes. Protecting them against any violation by State bodies, their managers, officials or employees and citizens is the objective of the Law of the Process of Protection of Constitutional Rights that we approved yesterday. It is a law that strengthens the country’s institutions and materializes the definition that Cuba is a socialist state of law and social justice.

Another of the approved laws, which represents a step forward, is the Law on the System of Natural Resources and the Environment. Its text reinforces the full exercise of the right of people to enjoy a healthy and balanced environment, extols the responsibility of all with the conservation, protection and rational use of resources, in order to make human life more rational and ensure survival, well-being and security of our citizens.

For its part, the Copyright and Performing Artist Law tempers this matter to the changes experienced in the processes of creation and dissemination in the literary, artistic, journalistic, scientific and educational spheres; reinforces the educational, scientific and cultural policy of the State by combining the interests of society and the recognition of creators for their work.

The Law for the Protection of Cultural Heritage and Natural Heritage approved by this Assembly also generated great interest among specialists and connoisseurs of this topic. It materializes the obligation of the State with the protection of the natural, historical and cultural heritage of the nation, and the duty to protect them. National and local identity, cultural sovereignty and the legitimate right of the people to the creation, enjoyment and protection of culture are consolidated.

Deputies:

In socialism, the comprehensive protection of human rights is essential, since the human being and his dignity are the epicenter of society. The capitalist discourse and narrative in the matter of human rights develop forms of domination, sometimes hidden, sometimes open, that take refuge in an apparent legitimacy.

Not submitting to the hegemony of imperialism, swimming against the current has consequences: the blockade and its resurgence is one of them. This cruel and inhumane system seeks to eliminate socialism as an alternative, seeks regression to capitalism, tries to limit the action of the State, hinder its policies, plans and programs to promote, protect and guarantee rights; It feeds contradictions and internal errors and tries to impose a colonizing vision of rights.

Despite this, we reaffirm the conviction that even in difficult economic conditions, the Cuban State will maintain as its essential goals the guarantee of effective equality in the enjoyment and exercise of rights and in the fulfillment of the duties enshrined in the Constitution and in the laws; promote sustainable development that ensures individual and collective prosperity and obtain higher levels of equity and social justice; preserve and multiply the achievements of the Revolution and guarantee the full dignity of people and their integral development.

Although they constitute important advances, the laws that we approved in these sessions are not enough. It is necessary to raise the levels of civic education, of legal culture, adopt all the necessary measures, in different orders and levels, that allow the effective enjoyment of rights and ensure the circumstances that inhibit the behaviors that violate these. Recognize, promote, prevent, protect, guarantee are verbs that denote state action and for which joint work with the different social actors, with popular participation, with popular power, is essential.

If we examine the international context, there are not many countries that in such a short time submit draft legal provisions to two mechanisms of popular and democratic participation: the popular consultation and the constitutional referendum in 2019 and, soon, the legislative referendum for the draft Code of the Families. Why don’t those who insist on saying that there is no democracy in Cuba talk about how deliberation is promoted in popular consultation and the decision with binding effects in the case of the referendum in the process of creating regulations? Why don’t they refer to popular involvement in these participatory processes, the search for legitimacy and consensus?

Before moving on to another topic, I would like to return to a very important Law that we approved: the Food and Nutritional Sovereignty and Security Law.

We cannot separate the significance of this regulation from one of the greatest uncertainties plaguing the entire world today. The FAO recently said that it fears serious food insecurity throughout the planet: “For seven years, the FAO has noted a deterioration in the ability of countries to feed their populations. ‘We are now in what we call a perfect storm. We were already in bad shape and the pandemic was a true atomic bomb in terms of hunger. With this new crisis between Russia and Ukraine, frankly, what we are talking about now is a global and generalized crisis (…) a situation of serious food insecurity throughout the planet.”

These are statements by the representative of the United Nations body in Mexico

“In Latin America, the number of people living with hunger increased by 13.8 million during the first year of the pandemic and reached a total of 59.7 million (…) food insecurity (…) reaches 41% of the population either severe or moderate.

This dramatic reality is one of the most serious consequences of the economic and social imbalances generated by neoliberalism and about which Fidel warned so many times in his historic Reflections.

It is not, therefore, something that surprises us. There is awareness of the problem and projections to face it. And it is very important to strengthen our Plan for Food Sovereignty and Nutritional Education (SAN), which involves practically all organizations and the entire society.

We are called to train and mobilize government structures from the municipal level so that they are in a position to lead this production process with popular participation in local scenarios and also promote an intense process that reaches all local producers, both state and cooperative and private, to the state company and to the last farm, to the agro-industrial productive pole, to each local development project, favoring agroecology as a necessary alternative for agricultural production in the current circumstances.

Compatriots:

It is very gratifying and satisfying for me to confirm, before this Assembly, that the pandemic continues to be successfully controlled in our country.

As I have publicly acknowledged, more than once, Health and Science workers saved the country. Feel this recognition absolutely everyone: from the most notable doctor or researcher to the simplest operator. From the consecrated cadres who direct the prestigious scientific and hospital institutions to the tireless leaders of the political and union organizations of both sectors.

The alliances forged in the midst of the worst circumstances, the enormous effort and limitless dedication have allowed us to return to a new normality and gradually revive economic activity and social life.

We don’t stop. The Finlay Institute of Vaccines of Cuba, author of the Soberana 02 and Soberana Plus immunizers against COVID-19, today promotes two studies with the aim of protecting infants against SARS-CoV-2. According to the experts, after having vaccinated the entire pediatric population of the country with Soberana 02 from the age of two, moving the immunization to this age group has very low risk in terms of safety.

In another order of ideas we will talk about the economy, the world economy, after a period of gradual recovery in the year 2021, with a growth of 5.9%, began the year 2022 in conditions of great uncertainty, with projections in the environment of the 3.6% growth.

Disruptions in supply chains and higher food and energy prices have pushed up inflation, to which is added the contagion of COVID-19 and, more recently, the European conflict.

In the shadow of this trend, the post-pandemic stage is projected globally as a period of fragile and uneven recovery, marked by a slow revival of international trade.

Price pressures have translated into projected average inflation for 2022 of 5.7% in advanced economies and 8.7% in emerging and developing economies.

For Cuba, subjected to a tightened and criminal blockade, the scenario is additionally marked by the increase in import prices, especially fuel and food.

This complex context, which we have to impose ourselves with bold and innovative measures, adjusted to our social development model and with the greatest equity possible, implies great challenges for the management of the economy.

For this purpose, we updated the Economic-Social Strategy, on which information has been provided to the deputies and which constitutes the roadmap of the main measures to guarantee compliance with the objectives and goals of the National Economy Plan.

The extensive and documented information that Comrade Alejandro Gil gave here frees me from going into more details that would unnecessarily lengthen my words. I will only dwell briefly on what is at the center of everyone’s concerns right now: measures to contain inflation.

The Council of Ministers is working intensely with very clear objectives and tasks that would begin with a secondary exchange scheme to later advance in the recovery of the exchange market, including, as far as possible, the purchase and sale of foreign currency to the population.

We do not lose sight of the need to increase offers and steps are being taken in this direction, stimulating, above all, the contribution of national productions, but also through different channels of foreign trade.

Limits will be imposed on excessive income in state institutions and entities not subject to greater production and efficiency, and there will be a re-dimensioning of the state apparatus that will allow spending to be reduced and geared towards attention to situations of vulnerability.

Also as part of the Strategy, the process of expansion and diversification of economic actors is given continuity and it is required to accelerate the presentation of proposals with new transformations for the socialist state company, the main economic subject of our model, mainly in relation to its autonomy of management, access to resources, mission and functions of the government boards, of the OSDE, operation of micro, small and medium-sized state enterprises and affiliated companies, among others.

Another complex aspect is the level of macroeconomic imbalance, which is expressed in the increase in inflationary pressures and the depreciation of the informal exchange rate. The development in different exchange environments for the state and non-state sector implies an obstacle for the expansion of the productive chains between both sectors.

Despite the positive aspects that can be seen to date in the gradual recovery of the country’s economic and social activity, it is necessary to advance more quickly in macroeconomic stability, the increase in national production and exports, foreign investment, the effective substitution of imports and the efficiency of the investment process.

In the midst of the complex situation we are facing, the following are ratified as priorities: the gradual recovery of the Cuban peso as the center of the financial system, the confrontation with inflation, the stability of the national electricity system, prioritized attention to people, homes and communities in situations of vulnerability; the decentralization of powers based on greater autonomy in the municipalities and the transformations of the state business system.

While working on emergency care, development is not renounced. The country’s strategic planning has continued to be perfected through macro-programs, programs and projects; work system that has allowed progress in the implementation of the Guidelines approved at the Eighth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba for the period 2021-2026.

Compatriots:

The shock and loss of the last few days once again put before us a seemingly insurmountable challenge. Unity, solidarity and work have once again proved to us that together all challenges can be overcome.

Not even the most bitter adversaries of the Cuban Revolution, attacking it thoroughly and sustainably for 63 years, have been able to bring Fidel’s invincible people to their knees. And for the record, they have not given up trying to erase “this bad example” of creative resistance from the map of America; That’s why they don’t invite us to the table they have to serve. We are a rebellious mouth. And we are not the only one! (Applause.)

I was recently asked why we have been put back, for example, on a list of countries that harbor terrorism. There isn’t. There is no reason for punishment, sanction, hatred against a noble, loving, gentle and happy people like the Cubans. There are only unreasons, perversity, lack of ethics and great frustration because they have been shipwrecked from defeat to defeat for 63 years (Applause).

We have defeated them in all areas, not because we are more, because we are not. Not because we have more weapons, because we don’t have them. Not by grace or divine miracle, because we do not believe we are a chosen people. We have defeated them because they support us with just ideas, because we love love and hate hate.

Our strength lies in human values ​​inspired by Martí and Fidel; in the power of truth and in the transforming capacity of education and culture. These securities are not listed on the stock exchange, they do not depend on the fluctuations of the market. They are sown with the learning of history and are strengthened in the practice of solidarity.

Conquering all justice is the watchword and the horizon! The unity that is affirmed in diversity is the way. For it we advance!

Times are still complex and challenging, but we are already trained!

Firm and convinced:

Ever onward to victory!