Raul Castro speaking in 2014
Happy Birthday to Comrade Raúl Castro born 3 June 1931!
"This blockade, which our people have faced for more than 60 years with effort, sacrifice and creativity, would have been able to devastate the economy and social stability of any country, even those that are richer and more powerful than Cuba. It is the most comprehensive, unequal and protracted economic war ever fought against any nation.
Only under the conditions of the socialist system, based on social justice, the unity of the people around the Party and the joint and supportive effort to defend the country, can an underdeveloped and relatively small nation like ours, with few natural riches, avoid collapse and even advance its development...
Another act that best describes the nature of imperialism and the escalation of its aggression against the nation is the immoral campaign against Cuba's international medical cooperation.
Our trajectory on this front has no equal in the world. It is a substantial effort of the moral principles on which Cuban society is built. It rests on the notion that we share what we have, not what we have left over. The success of having formed, with perseverance and dedication, the human resources and a robust, effective and sustainable public health system gives us that opportunity to share with others.
It is a solidarity effort that will be maintained despite the campaigns. It has saved lives, fought disease, alleviated suffering and improved the health and well-being of millions of people around the world, almost always from the most vulnerable or disadvantaged populations, in the most remote areas, sometimes in conditions of extreme difficulty and even danger. It includes important and meritorious assistance to countries that have suffered natural disasters." - Raúl Castro's Central Report to 8th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, April 2021
Che, Raul & Fidel
Ho Chi Minh and Raul Castro in North Vietnam, October 1966
Fidel Castro with brother Raul and Camilo Cienfuegos in the Sierra Maestra during the guerilla phase of the Cuban Revolution, 1957