Some questions cannot be avoided

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ism), when many people don't even want to hear the word "socialism," when we are not just the only socialist country in a good part of the world, when some people think that we are listening to socialism's swan song, our people, our workers, our young people and our students raise the ideas of revolution and socialism up higher than ever and with greater morale than ever.

Many wonder why the Revolution is so strong, why there is such a close relationship between the Party and the people, why there is such a strong affinity between the socialist system and young people, why there is such a strong affinity between the Revolution and young people, between the Revolution and students—the enemy would give so much to be able to confuse our people, to confuse our workers, to confuse our young people and our students.

The reason is quite simple: this Revolution is the Revolution of our people; it is the Revolution of our young people; it is the Revolution of our students. We made it together. We defend it together. We are one and the same and we will never stop being so.

For this reason, in recent days, we have been tossing around an idea for every citizen, for every combatant, for every young person, for every student, when we exhort them to think that they are the Revolution, they are the nation, they are the honor and dignity of the nation, that they are nation's soldiers.

The Revolution has never betrayed its flag, has never betrayed its ideals, has never betrayed its principles, the Revolution has never betrayed itself. This is the secret of our unity, of the total identification of the Revolution with the people, and especially with young people and students.

Cuba said "No!"

We have to add some additional concepts to this idea. We have just gone through the Castro's speech was addressed particularly to the new generation of revolutionary youth coming of age in an especially difficult time for the Cuban revolution. Fidel alluded both to the arrogance of U.S. imperialism in the wake of its victory in the Gulf war and to grave problems of supply created by the crises of the East European and Soviet regimes.

In the face of the collapse of the "socialist camp," Fidel stressed that the Cuban regime's independent devotion to its principles was proved by its determination to continue to strive for socialism and stand up to the pressures of seemingly triumphant capitalism and imperialism.

This courageous stance highlights the difference of the Cuban revolution from the other states that belonged to the so-called socialist bloc. The regime in Cuba is based on a genuine revolution, led by sincere revolutionists. It has a perspective of worldwide struggle against imperialism.

The bureaucratic leaderships of the other Stalinized "socialist" states are a result of a partial counterrevolution in the Soviet Union fostered by the economic difficulties of an isolated revolution. As the masses were crushed by deprivation, they managed to usurp power in the name of defending the revolution. Mainly interested in exploiting their usurped positions, they always have aimed for a deal with the imperialists. This fundamental reality has been made absolutely clear in the present circumstances, and the Cubans have to confront the consequences of it.

Because the Stalinists ruled as usurpers of anticapitalist revolution, the Eastern Bloc bureaucrats have had to defend their base against the imperialists, sometimes being carried further than they intended. Such conflicts made it possible for the Cuban Revolution to receive material aid from the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc nations.

Now, the Cubans face a far more general betrayal of basic socialist perspectives and of anti-imperialist struggles at the hands of the bureaucrats.

Since revolutionary Cuba has always been directly threatened by the U.S. economic blockade and military intervention, Castro's first concerns clearly are that these menaces will sharpen. With respect to them, he issues a ringing defiance, basing himself on the power of great masses of people united in revolutionary conviction.

However, the threats facing Cuba now, like the rest of the workers and revolutionary movement, are not simply economic and military. The political challenge posed by the collapse of the "socialist camp" has to be taken up. It has to be explained why the Stalinized regimes went into crisis and collapsed, and how such problems can be avoided in the future, in order for the masses of working people to regain confidence in their ability to take control of their own fate. Here, the Cuban leadership has offered only partial answers, but it cannot continue to avoid the basic questions.

Indeed, answers to these questions-in particular, how to build workers' democracy—are essential to solving the increasing difficulties revolutionary Cuba faces.-the editors

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esSeS bout this icult nost roluicult m is n is lism vhen cialis so and conitalexperience of the Persian Gulf War; we have just seen the use of sophisticated weapons, the most modern armaments used by the United States against any country. As I have explained before, that country's leaders made enormous mistakes, it's not necessary to repeat that again, but a solution could have been found to the conflict without resorting to war.

However, the United States wanted to impose a war, it wanted to use its new weapons, to try them out, it wanted to sow terror throughout the world, it wanted to show that it owns the world, to act like the masters of the world.

Just today another resolution was approved in the UN Security Council, a monstrous, unfair resolution which violates the Security Council's own rules, violates the principles of the UN as a whole, although, to tell the truth, the UN Security Council has become a double instrument of U.S. policy.

Naturally, there was one country that said "No," as it has done many times in the clared on Jan.15 of this year.

We have witnessed the phenomenon of an institution created for peace authorizing war, and authorizing the most powerful imperialist country on earth to wage war. For this reason, Cuba today said "No". Two other countries abstained.

We have been consistent right to the end in our conduct in the UN, although we didn't hesitate to condemn the invasion and annexation of Kuwait, the taking of hostages, and all those other things which are, in our judgment, immoral and incompatible with international law. However, within that forum we knew how to maintain an attitude unprecedented for its honor, dignity, and spirit of consistency.

We witnessed that war. In that war, everything that we knew would happen happened; we had even warned the Iraqi leaders about that.

The United States had no interest in peace, because it wanted to try out its weapons, it wanted to sow terror throughout the world, it wanted to frighten everybody. I don't know how many people it did frighten, but I do know that it didn't frighten any of us, I know that it didn't frighten nor could it ever frighten Cuban revolutionaries.

"The Revolution is the people"

Because of this, I said to the students on March 13 that the Revolution is not any single one of us, the Revolution is not me, the Revolution is not the members of the Political Bureau, the Revolution is not the members of the UJC National Committee, the Revolution is not the leaders. The Revolution is the people, the Revolution is each one of us. I wanted to say and I hope many of you have understood me—-now I'm saying it more clearly-that any one of us could die a natural death or in war.

Now that we're talking about war, now that the United States has used its sophisticated weapons, I would like to say that in the case of aggression against our country, the Political Bureau could disappear, and I ask you: if the Political Bureau disappeared, would the Revolution disappear? (Shouts of "No!")

A command post could disappear, the General Staff of the army or of the armed forces could disappear in a war, but does this mean that the soldiers would stop fighting? (Shouts of "No!")

Any command post, any leadership, any leader or group of leaders could disappear in a war, but what couldn't disappear is the Revolution. As long as one combatant remains and resists, the Revolution will continue to exist.

When a people is imbued with these ideas, when a people is convinced of these ideas, that people is invincible, and no weapons, no matter how sophisticated, can conquer them. If that principle is inculcated in the Photo courtesy of Tony Ryan ...we ought to tell the United States: stop your illusions, stop vour day-dreaming, for if we are brave enough to die and shed our blood, we'll also have the courage to endure all the material suffering that may be necessary to save the Revolution... wor colo hum lion dren Tr kind justi ness brou pois sphe ciali from Thir thro live whi tion U.S. of J wha lenc wer toda thro itsel lear first inde tory and neve and TI like ther that com why culti mus ager no ( one chil sick

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