lostsoul
4th June 2003, 16:25
here's a part of it:
I cannot speak at length here, it would not make sense under these
circumstances, but I can say a few things. I have been asked to
speak about Che. (Shouts) I spoke about him this morning in front
of the statue of San Martn, because I will remember him always as
one of the most extraordinary personalities I have ever met.
Che did not join up with our troop as a soldier; he was a doctor.
He was in Mexico by chance. He had been to Guatemala, and had
traveled through many places in the Americas. He had been in mining
areas, where the work is very hard. He had even been in the Amazon,
working as a doctor in a leper hospital.
But I will discuss one of Che's characteristics, one of those that
I admired the most, of the many that I much admired. Every weekend,
he tried to climb to the top of Popocatpetl, a volcano on the
outskirts of Mexico City. He would get his gear together -it is a
very high mountain, cap in snow year-round- start climbing, make a
colossal effort, and never reach the top. His asthma always kept
him from making it. The following week he would once again try to
climb to the top of "Popo", as he called it, and would not make it.
But he would keep going back to try again, and he would spent his
entire life trying to climb the Popocatpetl, even if he never reached
the peak. (Applause and shouts) This gives you an idea of his
determination, his spiritual strength, his perseverance, which was
one of the characteristics I most admired in him.
What was the other? The other was that whenever a volunteer was
needed, back when we were still a very small group, to carry out a
certain task, Che was always the first person to step forward.
(Applause)
As a doctor, he stayed with the sick and wounded, because under
certain circumstances, in the outdoors, when we were in forested
mountain areas and being pursued from different directions, the
main force would have to keep moving, leaving a visible trail so
that the doctor could stay behind with the people he was caring for
somewhere nearby. There was a time when he was the only doctor,
until other doctors came forward to join us, so there he was.
Since you are asking for anecdotes, I remember an action that was
extremely hazardous for everyone. News had reached the spot where
we were gathered in the mountains of a landing on the north coast
of the province. We recalled the ordeals and the suffering we went
through in the first days after our own landing, and as an act of
solidarity with those who had landed now, we decided to undertake
a rather daring action. From a military point of view, it was not
a wise decision: to attack a unit that was well entrenched on the
coast.
I will not go into the details. As a result of that battle, which
lasted three hours, and we were really quite lucky, because we had
managed to cut off communications, but after three hours, at the
end of that battle where, as usually, he had shown exemplary conduct,
a third of the participants in the fighting were either dead or
wounded. This was highly unusual. And so he, as a doctor, attended
to the enemy's wounded. There were enemy soldiers who were not
wounded, but there were also a large number who were wounded and
he attended to them, along with our own comrades. (Applause)
You cannot imagine the sensitivity of that man! (Applause) There
is something I remember: one of our comrades was fatally wounded,
and he knew it. We had to get out of the area quickly, immediately,
because we did not know when the first planes would start to arrive.
Miraculously, none had showed during the battle because the first
ones usually arrived within 20 minutes, but luckily we had managed
to wipe out their communications with a few well-aimed shots. We
had gained some extra time, but we needed to attend to the wounded
and withdraw right away. And I will never forget --he told me about
it later-- when one of our comrades was inevitably going to die...
he could not be moved. Sometimes when men are seriously wounded,
they cannot be moved, and you simply have to trust --since you have
treated the enemy's wounded, and have taken a number of prisoners,
prisoners whom we always treated with respect; there was never a
single case, ever, of a prisoner taken in combat being mistreated
or executed. (Applause) We sometimes even gave them our own medicines,
which were extremely scarce.
This policy, truly, contributed a great deal to our success in the
war, because in any struggle, you must earn the respect of the
enemy. (Applause) In any struggle -I will repeat it again - those
who defend a good cause must behave in such a way as would allow
them to earn the respect of the enemy.
On that occasion, we had to leave behind a number of wounded comrades
who could not be evacuated, and some were very seriously wounded.
But what was most striking for me was when he told me later, with
great sorrow, was that moment when he realized that this one comrade
had no hope of surviving, and he bent down and kissed him on the
forehead, this wounded comrade whom he knew would inevitably die.
(Applause)
These are some of the things I can tell you about Che as a man, as
an extraordinary human being.
He was, as well, an extraordinarily cultured man, a man of great
talent. I have already spoken of his persistence, his determination.
Any task assigned to him, after the triumph Revolution, he was more
than willing to accept. He was the director of the National Bank
of Cuba, where a revolutionary was needed at that moment; and at
any other moment, of course, but the Revolution had just triumphed,
and its resources were very scant, since the country's reserves had
been stolen.
Our enemies joked about it; they always make jokes, and we make
jokes as well. According to this particular joke, which had a
political intent, I announced one day, "We need an economist," and
Che raised his hand, but it turned out that he had been confused,
he thought I had said that we needed a communist, and that is why
he ended up being chosen. (Applause) Well, Che was a revolutionary,
a communist, and an excellent economist. (Applause) Because being
an excellent economist depends on the idea of what should be done
by the person in charge of this sphere of the country's economy,
the National Bank of Cuba, and he did it as both a communist and
an economist. It is not that he had a degree, but rather that he
had read a lot and observed a lot.
It was Che who promoted the idea of voluntary work in our country,
because he himself went out to do voluntary work every Sunday. One
day he would do farm work, another day he would test out new
machinery, another day he would do construction work. He left us
this legacy of a practice that millions of Cubans came to adopt,
following his example.
He left us so many memories, and that is why I say that he is one
of the most noble, most extraordinary, and most selfless people I
have ever met. And this would be of no significance if I did not
believe that there are millions and millions and millions of people
like him among the masses. (Applause)
I cannot speak at length here, it would not make sense under these
circumstances, but I can say a few things. I have been asked to
speak about Che. (Shouts) I spoke about him this morning in front
of the statue of San Martn, because I will remember him always as
one of the most extraordinary personalities I have ever met.
Che did not join up with our troop as a soldier; he was a doctor.
He was in Mexico by chance. He had been to Guatemala, and had
traveled through many places in the Americas. He had been in mining
areas, where the work is very hard. He had even been in the Amazon,
working as a doctor in a leper hospital.
But I will discuss one of Che's characteristics, one of those that
I admired the most, of the many that I much admired. Every weekend,
he tried to climb to the top of Popocatpetl, a volcano on the
outskirts of Mexico City. He would get his gear together -it is a
very high mountain, cap in snow year-round- start climbing, make a
colossal effort, and never reach the top. His asthma always kept
him from making it. The following week he would once again try to
climb to the top of "Popo", as he called it, and would not make it.
But he would keep going back to try again, and he would spent his
entire life trying to climb the Popocatpetl, even if he never reached
the peak. (Applause and shouts) This gives you an idea of his
determination, his spiritual strength, his perseverance, which was
one of the characteristics I most admired in him.
What was the other? The other was that whenever a volunteer was
needed, back when we were still a very small group, to carry out a
certain task, Che was always the first person to step forward.
(Applause)
As a doctor, he stayed with the sick and wounded, because under
certain circumstances, in the outdoors, when we were in forested
mountain areas and being pursued from different directions, the
main force would have to keep moving, leaving a visible trail so
that the doctor could stay behind with the people he was caring for
somewhere nearby. There was a time when he was the only doctor,
until other doctors came forward to join us, so there he was.
Since you are asking for anecdotes, I remember an action that was
extremely hazardous for everyone. News had reached the spot where
we were gathered in the mountains of a landing on the north coast
of the province. We recalled the ordeals and the suffering we went
through in the first days after our own landing, and as an act of
solidarity with those who had landed now, we decided to undertake
a rather daring action. From a military point of view, it was not
a wise decision: to attack a unit that was well entrenched on the
coast.
I will not go into the details. As a result of that battle, which
lasted three hours, and we were really quite lucky, because we had
managed to cut off communications, but after three hours, at the
end of that battle where, as usually, he had shown exemplary conduct,
a third of the participants in the fighting were either dead or
wounded. This was highly unusual. And so he, as a doctor, attended
to the enemy's wounded. There were enemy soldiers who were not
wounded, but there were also a large number who were wounded and
he attended to them, along with our own comrades. (Applause)
You cannot imagine the sensitivity of that man! (Applause) There
is something I remember: one of our comrades was fatally wounded,
and he knew it. We had to get out of the area quickly, immediately,
because we did not know when the first planes would start to arrive.
Miraculously, none had showed during the battle because the first
ones usually arrived within 20 minutes, but luckily we had managed
to wipe out their communications with a few well-aimed shots. We
had gained some extra time, but we needed to attend to the wounded
and withdraw right away. And I will never forget --he told me about
it later-- when one of our comrades was inevitably going to die...
he could not be moved. Sometimes when men are seriously wounded,
they cannot be moved, and you simply have to trust --since you have
treated the enemy's wounded, and have taken a number of prisoners,
prisoners whom we always treated with respect; there was never a
single case, ever, of a prisoner taken in combat being mistreated
or executed. (Applause) We sometimes even gave them our own medicines,
which were extremely scarce.
This policy, truly, contributed a great deal to our success in the
war, because in any struggle, you must earn the respect of the
enemy. (Applause) In any struggle -I will repeat it again - those
who defend a good cause must behave in such a way as would allow
them to earn the respect of the enemy.
On that occasion, we had to leave behind a number of wounded comrades
who could not be evacuated, and some were very seriously wounded.
But what was most striking for me was when he told me later, with
great sorrow, was that moment when he realized that this one comrade
had no hope of surviving, and he bent down and kissed him on the
forehead, this wounded comrade whom he knew would inevitably die.
(Applause)
These are some of the things I can tell you about Che as a man, as
an extraordinary human being.
He was, as well, an extraordinarily cultured man, a man of great
talent. I have already spoken of his persistence, his determination.
Any task assigned to him, after the triumph Revolution, he was more
than willing to accept. He was the director of the National Bank
of Cuba, where a revolutionary was needed at that moment; and at
any other moment, of course, but the Revolution had just triumphed,
and its resources were very scant, since the country's reserves had
been stolen.
Our enemies joked about it; they always make jokes, and we make
jokes as well. According to this particular joke, which had a
political intent, I announced one day, "We need an economist," and
Che raised his hand, but it turned out that he had been confused,
he thought I had said that we needed a communist, and that is why
he ended up being chosen. (Applause) Well, Che was a revolutionary,
a communist, and an excellent economist. (Applause) Because being
an excellent economist depends on the idea of what should be done
by the person in charge of this sphere of the country's economy,
the National Bank of Cuba, and he did it as both a communist and
an economist. It is not that he had a degree, but rather that he
had read a lot and observed a lot.
It was Che who promoted the idea of voluntary work in our country,
because he himself went out to do voluntary work every Sunday. One
day he would do farm work, another day he would test out new
machinery, another day he would do construction work. He left us
this legacy of a practice that millions of Cubans came to adopt,
following his example.
He left us so many memories, and that is why I say that he is one
of the most noble, most extraordinary, and most selfless people I
have ever met. And this would be of no significance if I did not
believe that there are millions and millions and millions of people
like him among the masses. (Applause)