Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz [fiˈðel ˈkastɾo ˈrus ] ist ein kubanischer Revolutionär und Politiker spanischer Abstammung. Er war unter anderem Regierungschef, Staatspräsident und Vorsitzender der Kommunistischen Partei Kubas.
Castro war mit der Bewegung des 26. Juli die treibende Kraft der kubanischen Revolution gegen den Diktator Batista 1959.
Mit insgesamt 49 Jahren war Castro der am längsten regierende nichtmonarchische Herrscher des 20. und beginnenden 21. Jahrhunderts.
„Ideen brauchen keine Waffen, wenn sie die großen Massen überzeugen können.“
aus einer Rede vom 3. August 1985, cuba.cu http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/1985/esp/f030885e.html <br class="br">Original span.: "Las ideas no necesitan ni de las armas, en la medida en que sean capaces de conquistar a las grandes masas."
„Ich glaube weiterhin fest daran, dass eine bessere Welt möglich ist.“
aus einer Botschaft an das mexikanische Volk am 26. Mai 2004, kuba-info.org http://www.kuba-info.org/53763398630d33804/500159950f0a5ac12/index.html <br class="br">Original: Sigo creyendo con firmeza que un mundo mejor es posible.
„Verurteilt mich; das hat nichts zu bedeuten; die Geschichte wird mich freisprechen.“
Das Schlusswort im Moncada-Prozess im Oktober 1953 Fidel Castro Archiv http://fidelcastroarchiv.blogspot.com/2007/08/die-geschichte-wird-mich-freisprechen.html
aus einer Botschaft an das mexikanische Volk am 26. Mai 2004, cuba-si.de http://www.cuba-si.de/kuba-direkt/reden-fidel/2004/rede-00-05-2004.html
Rede in Washington am 17. April 1959 vor der American Society of Newspaper Editors, auf deren Einladung er sich auf USA-Reise befand (eigene Übersetzung aus dem spanischen Original) <br class="br">Original span.: "Lo primero que hacen los dictadores es acabar con la prensa libre, establecer la censura. No hay duda de que la prensa libre es la primera enemiga de las dictaduras." Discurso pronunciado por el comandante Fidel Castro Ruz... http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/1959/esp/f170459e.html, offizielle Webseite der kubanischen Regierung.
„Ich sterbe fast jeden Tag. Das macht mir viel Spaß und ich fühle mich dadurch nur gesünder.“
zu den ständigen Gerüchten über seinen Tod, Rheinische Post, 22. Juli 2006, S. 1
Original: Yo me muero casi todos los días (...), pero eso me divierte mucho, realmente, y me hace sentir más saludable (...); he resucitado muchas veces
Quelle: im Interview mit Venezolana de Televisión (VTV) auf dem 30. Gipfeltreffen des MERCOSUR im Juli 2006 in Córdoba/Argentinien.
Quelle: https://elpais.com/diario/2006/07/22/internacional/1153519218_850215.html elpais.com 22. Juli 2006
Quelle: https://www.diariolibre.com/actualidad/fidel-dice-le-divierten-rumores-sobre-su-muerte-CJDL103111 diariolibre.com 21.Juli 2006
in einer Rede zu Studenten über den US-Geheimdienst, November 2005, focus.de http://www.focus.de/politik/ausland/castro-beteuert-fuenf-stunden_aid_101523.html
www.stern.de http://www.stern.de/politik/ausland/:Kuba-Castro/605541.html, »Fidel Castro verabschiedet sich von der Macht«, Artikel vom 18. Dezember 2007
aus einer Botschaft an das mexikanische Volk am 26. Mai 2004, kuba-info.org http://www.kuba-info.org/53763398630d33804/500159950f0a5ac12/index.html
aus einem Brief an seine Vertraute Celia Sánchez vom 5. Juni 1958 http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qFBGyY-0KLU/SEgAKMT9MVI/AAAAAAAABS8/H6RtT6TGh0g/s1600/Fidel%27s+letter+to+Celia+Sanchez+-+June+5+1958.jpg, während der von den USA unterstützten Großoffensive des Batista-Regimes gegen die Rebellenarmee; zitiert nach Norberto Fuentes, Die Autobiographie des Fidel Castro, C.H.Beck 2006. S. 436/437 Aus dem Spanischen von Thomas Schultz <br class="br">Original span.: "Cuando esta guerra se acabe, empezará para mi una guerra mucho más larga y grande: la guerra que voy a echar contra ellos. Me doy cuenta que ese va a ser mi destino verdadero."
University of Havana address (2005)
Kontext: Man is born egotistical, a result of the conditioning of nature. Nature fills us with instincts; it is education that fills us with virtues. Nature makes us do things instinctively; one of these is the instinct for survival which can lead to infamy, while on the other side, our conscience can lead us to great acts of heroism. It doesn’t matter what each one of us is like, how different we are from each other, but when we unite we become one.
It is amazing that in spite of the differences between human beings, they can become as one in a single instant or they can be millions, and they can be a million strong just through their ideas. Nobody followed the Revolution as a cult to anyone or because they felt personal sympathy with any one person. It is only by embracing certain values and ideas that an entire people can develop the same willingness to make sacrifices of any one of those who loyally and sincerely try to lead them toward their destiny.
University of Havana address (2005)
Kontext: Here is a conclusion I’ve come to after many years: among all the errors we may have committed, the greatest of them all was that we believed that someone really knew something about socialism, or that someone actually knew how to build socialism. It seemed to be a sure fact, as well-known as the electrical system conceived by those who thought they were experts in electrical systems. Whenever they said: “That’s the formula”, we thought they knew. Just as if someone is a physician. You are not going to debate anemia, or intestinal problems, or any other condition with a physician; nobody argues with the physician. You can think that he is a good doctor or a bad one, you can follow his advice or not, but you won’t argue with him. Which of us would argue with a doctor, or a mathematician, or a historian, or an expert in literature or in any other subject? But we must be idiots if we think, for example, that economy is an exact and eternal science and that it existed since the days of Adam and Eve, and I offer my apologies to the thousands of economists in our country.
“After a week, I decided religion wasn't for me.”
As quoted in The Atheist's Bible (2007) edited by Joan Konner, p. 62
Kontext: When I was a young boy, my father taught me that to be a good Catholic, I had to confess at church if I ever had impure thoughts about a girl. That very evening, I had to rush to confess my sin. And the next night, and the next. After a week, I decided religion wasn't for me.
University of Havana address (2005)
Kontext: I would dare say that today this species is facing a very real and true danger of extinction, and no one can be sure, listen to this well, no one can be sure that it will survive this danger.
Well, the fact that the species would not survive was discussed about 2,000 years ago. I remember that when I was a student I heard of the Apocalypse, a book of prophesy in the Bible. Apparently, 2000 years ago someone realized that this weak species could one day disappear.
“I feel my belief in sacrifice and struggle getting stronger.”
Letter from prison (19 December 1953)
Kontext: I feel my belief in sacrifice and struggle getting stronger. I despise the kind of existence that clings to the miserly trifles of comfort and self-interest. I think that a man should not live beyond the age when he begins to deteriorate, when the flame that lighted the brightest moment of his life has weakened.
Fidel Castro Reader, pp. 238
Words to Intellectuals (1961)
“Capitalism—and I say it with such gusto—capitalism is so obsolete that it is dying by itself.”
Comments on Latin American Debt (15 September 1985) http://info.lanic.utexas.edu/la/cb/cuba/castro/1985/19850915 <br class="br">Kontext: Let us yield a bit. Let us grant socialism a few more years. Socialism is so obsolete, it is dying by itself.… Did I say socialism? I assure you on my honor this was not a mental slip. This was a slip of the tongue. Do not forget that. Capitalism—and I say it with such gusto—capitalism is so obsolete that it is dying by itself.
“Revolution is the sense of the historical moment; it is changing everything that must be changed”
As quoted in Speech by Dr. Fidel Castro Ruz, President of the Republic of Cuba, at the mass rally called by the Cuban youths, students and workers on the occasion of the International Labor Day at the Revolution Square http://www.fidelcastro.cu/en/discursos/speech-mass-rally-called-cuban-youths-students-and-workers-revolution-square-occasion (May 1, 2000) <br class="br">Kontext: Revolution is the sense of the historical moment; it is changing everything that must be changed; it is full equality and freedom; it is being treated and treating others like human beings; it is emancipating ourselves, by ourselves and with our very own efforts; it is challenging the dominant powerful forces within and outside of the social and national arena; it is defending the values one believes in at the cost of any sacrifice; it is modesty, selflessness, altruism, solidarity and heroism; it is fighting with audacity, intelligence and realism; it is never telling a lie or violating ethical principles; it is the profound conviction that there is no force on earth that can crush truth and ideas. Revolution is unity, it is independence, it is fighting for our dreams of justice for Cuba and the world that is the basis of our patriotism, our socialism and our internationalism.
University of Havana address (2005)
Kontext: Man is born egotistical, a result of the conditioning of nature. Nature fills us with instincts; it is education that fills us with virtues. Nature makes us do things instinctively; one of these is the instinct for survival which can lead to infamy, while on the other side, our conscience can lead us to great acts of heroism. It doesn’t matter what each one of us is like, how different we are from each other, but when we unite we become one.
It is amazing that in spite of the differences between human beings, they can become as one in a single instant or they can be millions, and they can be a million strong just through their ideas. Nobody followed the Revolution as a cult to anyone or because they felt personal sympathy with any one person. It is only by embracing certain values and ideas that an entire people can develop the same willingness to make sacrifices of any one of those who loyally and sincerely try to lead them toward their destiny.
University of Havana address (2005)
Kontext: All sense of dialectics is lost when someone believes that today’s economy is identical to the economy 50 or 100 or 150 years ago, or that it is identical to the one in Lenin’s day or to the time when Karl Marx lived. Revisionism is a thousand miles away from my mind and I truly revere Marx, Engels and Lenin.
“The important thing is the revolution!”
Speech at the memorial service http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/1967/esp/f181067e.html of Che Guevara (8 October 1967) <br class="br">Kontext: Warfare is a means and not an end. Warfare is a tool of revolutionaries. The important thing is the revolution! The important thing is the revolutionary cause, revolutionary ideas, revolutionary objectives, revolutionary sentiments, revolutionary virtues!
Speech on the second anniversary of the triumph of the revolution (2 January 1961) http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/1961/esp/f020161e.html
Speech at the International Conference on Financing for Development (March 2002) http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/2002/ing/f210302i.html
The Second Declaration of Havana (1962)
Original Spanish: "Compañeros obreros y campesinos, esta es la Revolución socialista y democrática de los humildes, con los humildes y para los humildes. Y por esta Revolución de los humildes, por los humildes y para los humildes estamos dispuestos a dar la vida."
On 16 April 1961, in a funeral oration in Vedado for victims of the air raids the day before, Fidel Castro referring to the January 1959 Cuban Revolution. Quoted in José Ramón Fernández. 2001. Playa Giron/Bay of Pigs: Washington's First Military Defeat in the Americas, p. 56
The Second Declaration of Havana (1962)
Words to Intellectuals (1961)
On Behalf of the Movement of Nonaligned Countries (1979)
Speech after Raul was re-elected as head of the Communist party http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fidel-castro-gives-speech-saying-hes-nearing-the-end-of-his-life/
“I am a Marxist-Leninist, and I will be a Marxist-Leninist until the last days of my life.”
Speech on the anniversary of the Granma landing (2 December 1961) <br class="br">Variant translation: I am a Marxist-Leninist and will be one until the day I die. <br class="br">As quoted in "Chavez Would Abolish Presidential Term Limit" in The Washington Post (11 January 2007) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/10/AR2007011000468.html
“Condemn me, it does not matter: history will absolve me.”
History Will Absolve Me (1954) http://www.marxists.org/history/cuba/archive/castro/1953/10/16.htm, a summary of arguments Castro made in the trial of the Moncada Barracks attack
Speech at the Conference on Foreign Debt in Latin America and the Caribbean (3 August 1985) http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/1985/esp/f030885e.html
Words to Intellectuals (1961)
Speech in Havana (8 January 1959) http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/1959/esp/f080159e.html
19 April 1971 in Havana, according to 20 April 1971 New York Times article https://www.nytimes.com/1971/04/20/archives/castro-rejects-new-ties-to-us-premier-in-havana-speech-also.html
Words to Intellectuals (1961)
On Behalf of the Movement of Nonaligned Countries (1979)
