Fidel Salutes 26th of July in Message to the People

Fidel Salutes 26th of July in Message to the People HAVANA, Jul 26. – In a message read aloud during a public appearance, the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, saluted the combatants and people of Cuba on the 26th of July, Day of National Rebelliousness.

In his most recent public appearance, on Saturday July 24, the Cuban leader visited the town of Artemisa in La Habana province to lay a wreath at the Mausoleum of the 26th of July Martyrs. Wearing an olive-green jacket, he greeted museum staff and local residents and authorities and reminisced with his comrades-in-struggle before reading aloud his message. Below, Prensa Latina provides a translation of Fidel Castro's message:
Message from Fidel

To the revolutionary combatants of Artemisa and all of Cuba

Dear compañeros,

This Monday, July 26, will mark 57 years of unyielding struggle for the independence of our country.

A few of us have the privilege of being alive. In my own case, I thank the combatants of Artemisa who went in and rescued me when I was near the entrance [of the Moncada garrison], trying to block machine-gun fire against the combatants I had ordered to retreat.

Our revolutionary ideals were based on the idea of José Martí, "Homeland is humanity!" And this has not ceased evolving.

The simple fact of having maintained that struggle for so long is proof of what a small country can achieve in the face of the massive power of the empire.

[In] a year like the present one, in which we are coming closer every day to dramatic events, I feel obliged to recall the courageous comrades locked up in high-security prisons in the United States.

The hatred they arouse in those who run that empire is inconceivable, those incapable of understanding the high place of honor to which those comrades are elevated.

Those comrades, like our diplomatic representatives in that country and in many other, similarly dangerous ones, remain at the posts to which duty has assigned them, imperturbable in the face of major risks, of which they are very much aware.

The news published every day confirms our appreciations about the gravity of the threats hanging over humanity.

However, nothing can take away the right to enjoy the day of glory and happiness for our people signified by the 26th of July.

Nor can anybody deprive us of the right to dream that it is still possible for our species to survive the difficult tests that await us in the very near future.

I congratulate you, with happiness and the dignity bequeathed to us by our ancestors throughout almost two centuries of struggle!

Fidel Castro Ruz

July 24, 2010

(Prensa Latina)