Fidel Castro: It is a Privilege to Participate in Mass Rally

Havana, Sep 28. -The leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, said today it was an honor to be part of a mass rally 50 years after founding the Committees in Defense of the Revolution (CDR), the country´s largest organization.

"It is a privilege to be here with you 50 years later," the likewise first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba said, speaking before 20,000 people assembled near the former Presidential Palace, now the Museum of the Revolution.

"The immense majority of you had not yet been born; the rest were no more than 30 years old, and very few were as old as I am now," Fidel Castro said, noting that he was envious of the youth present at the rally, which was broadcast live on television and radio.

He remember details of the founding of the CDRs on September 28, 1960, and the 10 days he spent in New to participate in the United Nations General Assembly.

The CDRs are now comprised of some 8.8 million people over the age of 14.

The Revolution was brand new, but the fact that it came into being 90 miles from the United States was a test for the arrogance of the predominant superpower in the region and in a large part of the world, the Cuban leader said.

In New York I met the most important socialist leaders and other prestigious leaders from the Third World, Fidel Castro recalled, after reading a summary of the speech he gave on the night of the CDR´s founding, on the same site of Tuesday´s rally. (Prensa Latina)