Speech by Fidel Castro on his arrival in Havana on 8 January 1959

Fecha: 08/01/1959

Fellow countrymen,

Speaking here tonight, I’m presented with perhaps one of the most difficult tasks in this long struggle, which began on November 30, 1956, in Santiago de Cuba.

The people are listening, the revolutionary fighters are listening, and the regular troops – whose fate is in our hands – are listening also.

I believe this to be a turning point in our history: the tyranny has been overthrown. The rejoicing is immense. But there is still much to be done. We mustn’t fool ourselves into believing that the future will be easy; everything may be more difficult in the future.

Telling the truth is the first duty of all revolutionaries. Deceiving the people, raising false hopes, always brings the worst consequences, and I feel it’s necessary to warn everyone against over-optimism.

How did the Rebel Army win the war? Telling the truth. How did the tyranny lose the war? Deceiving the troops.

When we suffered a setback, we announced it over Radio Rebelde, criticizing the mistakes any officer may have made, and warning all the comrades to make sure they didn’t let the same thing happen to any other unit. That was not the way with the army units. Many of them repeated the same mistakes, because the officers and troops were never told the truth.

That’s why I mean to start – or rather continue – with the same system: that of always telling the people the truth.

We have made headway, maybe taken a big step forward. Here we are in the capital, here we are in Columbia: the revolutionary forces have apparently prevailed; a government has been formed and recognized by several countries in the world; it seems the peace has been won. Nevertheless, we mustn’t be complacent. While the people were laughing today, while the people were cheering, we were worrying; and the bigger the crowds that came to welcome us, and the greater the jubilation of the people, the more we worried, because also the greater was our obligation to history and to the people of Cuba.


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The Revolution is still being led by an army in battle order. Who, now and in the future, may be the enemies of the Revolution? Who, standing before this victorious people, could be the future enemies of the Revolution? The worst enemies which the Cuban Revolution could face in the future are us, the revolutionaries.

This is what I always told the rebel fighters: when we no longer have the enemy before us, when the war is over, we ourselves are potentially the only enemies of the Revolution; that is why we said, and I repeat, that we will be tougher on the rebel soldiers than on anyone else, more demanding than with anyone else, because the triumph or failure of the Revolution will depend on them.

There are many kinds of revolutionaries. We have been hearing talk about revolution for a long time: up to 10th March, they were saying that a revolution was under way, “revolution” was on everyone’s lips, and everything was “revolutionary”. The soldiers were assembled here and were told about the “10th March Revolution” (LAUGHTER).

We’ve been hearing talk about revolutionaries for a long time. I remember my first notions of the revolutionary, before study and a certain maturity made me aware of what a revolution really was, and what a revolutionary really was. Our first impressions of revolutionaries were gained as children, and we were told: so-and-so was a revolutionary, fought in this or that engagement, or this or that operation, or placed bombs; or some other Joe was a revolutionary. “Revolutionary” even became a class. At that time there were revolutionaries who saw revolution as a living, who wanted a living based on having been a revolutionary, on having placed a bomb, or two bombs. And maybe those that talked the most were the ones who’d done least. But the fact is that they applied to the ministries for jobs, so as to live parasitic existences, to reap the rewards for what they had done at that time, for a revolution which sadly never got off the ground. It seems to me that the first revolution with a real chance of succeeding is this one, so long as we don’t let it slip through our fingers… (SHOUTS OF “No!” AND APPLAUSE).

The revolutionary of my childhood went about with a .45-calibre gun in his belt and wanted to live on the respect it commanded. He was to be feared: he was capable of killing anyone. He would arrive at the office of high officials with the air of a man who must be listened to. In reality, we wondered: where is the revolution these people fought? Because there was no revolution, and very few revolutionaries.

The first thing that we, the protagonists of this Revolution, must ask ourselves, is what did we expect to achieve? Whether in any of us lurked ambition, a desire to command, some ignoble purpose; whether there was an idealist in each of those who fought in this revolution, or was it someone who was using idealism as a pretext for pursuing other ends; whether we undertook this revolution thinking that as soon as the tyranny was defeated, we would take over the reins of power; whether we were all going to drive around in limousines; whether we were all going to live like kings, whether we would all have mansions, and that life for us would be a stroll in the park, on the strength of having been revolutionaries and having vanquished the tyranny; whether what we were planning was to oust certain politicians; whether what we were planning was simply to remove certain men and put others in their place; or whether we were all truly disinterested, whether we all acted out of a spirit of self-sacrifice, whether all of us were willing to give our all and receive nothing in return, and whether, beforehand, we were ready to give up everything and continue on the austere path of the genuine revolutionary (PROLONGED APPLAUSE). We must address that question, because such soul-searching could have far-reaching implications for the future destiny of Cuba, of ourselves and of the people.


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When I hear mention of columns, when I hear mention of battle fronts, when I hear mention of more-or-less heavy troop concentrations, I always think: I have our strongest column right here, our best troops – the only troops able to win the war alone – right here. Those troops are the people! (APPLAUSE).

No general is a greater asset than the people; no army is a greater force than the people. If you asked me what troops I prefer to lead, I would say I prefer to command the people (APPLAUSE), because the people are invincible. And it was the people who won this war, because we had no tanks, we had no planes, we had no heavy artillery, we had no military academies, we had no recruitment and training camps, we had no divisions, or regiments, or companies, or platoons, or even squads (PROLONGED APPLAUSE).

Well then. Who won the war? The people, the people won the war. This war wasn’t won by anyone except the people – I say that in case anyone thinks he won it, or if some troop unit thinks they won it (APPLAUSE). And so the victor’s crown goes to the people.

But there’s another thing: the Revolution doesn’t affect me as a person, or any other commander as a person; or any captain, or any column, or any company. Who the Revolution affects is the people (APPLAUSE)

It’s the people who gain or lose with the Revolution. If it was the people who suffered the horrors of these seven years, it is the people who must now consider whether in 10, 15 or 20 years they, and their children, and their grandchildren, are going to go on suffering the horrors the Republic of Cuba has suffered from its inception, crowned with dictatorships like those of Machado and those of Batista (PROLONGED APPLAUSE).

The people are greatly affected by whether we’re going to make a good job of this revolution, or if we’re going to make the same mistakes as in the last revolution, or the one before that, or the one before that. And so we’ll suffer the consequences of our mistakes, since there are no mistakes which do not affect the people, no political mistake which does not have to be paid for, sooner or later.

Circumstances alter cases. For instance, I think the present opportunity offers more chances than ever before for the Revolution to fully meet its aims. Perhaps that’s why the people are so jubilant, forgetting somewhat the toil and sweat that still lie ahead.

One of the nation’s main desires, a reflection of the past horrors of the repression and the war, is the yearning for peace, for peace with freedom, for peace with justice, for peace with rights. Nobody wants peace on other terms: Batista talked about peace, about order, but no-one wanted that peace, because its price was subjugation.


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Now the people have the sort of peace they wanted: peace without dictatorship, peace without censorship, peace without persecution (PROLONGED APPLAUSE).

Perhaps the greatest joy at this moment is felt by Cuban mothers. Mothers of soldiers, mothers of revolutionaries, mothers of any citizen, are now basking in the knowledge that their sons are finally out of danger (APPLAUSE).

The worst crime that could be committed now in Cuba, would be a crime against the peace. The thing that nobody in Cuba could forgive now would be if someone conspired against the peace (APPLAUSE).

Anyone who acts now against the nation’s peace, anyone who threatens the peace of mind and happiness of millions of Cuban mothers, is a criminal and a traitor (APPLAUSE). Anybody who is unwilling to give up something for the sake of peace, who is unwilling to give up everything for the sake of the nation’s peace at this juncture, is a criminal and a traitor (APPLAUSE).

Since that’s how I see things, I say and I swear before my compatriots that if any of my comrades, or our movement, or I myself, prove to be the slightest obstacle to the nation’s peace, from this very moment the people may do with all of us what they will, and tell us what we must do (APPLAUSE). Because I’m a man capable of self-sacrifice, as I have demonstrated more than once in my life, and have passed on to my comrades; I believe I have earned the moral right and have the standing and authority to speak at such a moment as this (APPLAUSE AND SHOUTS OF “Long live Fidel Castro!”)

And those to whom I should speak first are the revolutionaries, in case of the need – or rather, because of the need – to get the message across early.

The decade following the Machado’s fall is not far behind us. Perhaps one of the greatest evils of that struggle was the spawning of bands of revolutionaries, which promptly started shooting at each other (APPLAUSE). And as a result, what happened was the arrival of Batista, who stayed in power for 11 years.

When the 26th July Movement was organized, also when we started this war, I thought that although the sacrifices we were making were great, although the conflict would be long – and it has been: over two years, two years that were no picnic for us, two years of hard struggle, from when we restarted the campaign with a handful of men, until we arrived at the capital of the Republic. Despite the sacrifices that awaited us, we were comforted by an idea: it was clear that that the 26th July Movement had the overwhelming support and sympathy of the people (APPLAUSE); it was clear that the 26th July Movement had the almost unanimous support of Cuba’s youth (APPLAUSE). It seemed that, this time, a large, powerful organization would be able to calm the anxieties of our people, and would forestall the terrible consequences of the proliferation of revolutionary organizations.


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I think we should all have belonged to a single revolutionary organization from the outset, either ours or someone else’s – the 26th, the 27th or the 50th or whatever. If in the last analysis we were all the same, whether we fought in the Sierra Maestra or in the Escambray or in Pinar del Río, and were young men, and men with the same ideals, what was the point of having half a dozen revolutionary organizations?

Ours was simply the first; our was simply the one which fought the first battle at the Moncada barracks, the one which landed from the ‘Granma’ on 2nd December (APPLAUSE), and which fought alone against the tyranny’s entire force for over a year (APPLAUSE); which had a mere 12 men, kept the rebel flag flying, showed the people that it was possible to fight and to win; which put paid to all the false notions in the country about revolution. Because here everyone was conspiring with the corporal, with the sergeant, or bringing weapons into Havana, which were seized by the police (APPLAUSE), until we arrived and showed that that wasn’t the way to fight, that a different approach was needed, that new tactics and strategies had to be invented, that it was the strategies and tactics which we had put into practice which led to the most remarkable victory in the history of the Cuban people (APPLAUSE).

And I want the Cuban people to tell me honestly whether or not this is true (APPLAUSE AND SHOUTS OF “Yes!”)

And another question: the 26th July Movement had a clear majority of the people’s support – is that true or not? (SHOUTS OF “Yes!”). And how did the struggle end? I’ll tell you: the Rebel Army (which is what our army is called), from what was started in the Sierra Maestra, by time of the fall of the tyranny, had taken the whole of Oriente, the whole of Camagüey province, part of Las Villas, the whole of Matanzas, La Cabaña, Columbia, the police prefecture and Pinar del Río (APPLAUSE).

The end of the conflict was determined by the coordination of our forces: not for nothing our columns crossed the Camagüey plains – pursued by thousands of troops with air support – and reached Las Villas; and because the Rebel Army had Comandante Camilo Cienfuegos (PROLONGED APPLAUSE) at Las Villas, and because it had Comandante Ernesto Guevara at Las Villas (PROLONGED APPLAUSE) on 1st January, following Cantillo’s treachery (SHOUTS OF “Down with traitors!”)… Because it had them there, on the 1st , I was able to order Comandante Camilo Cienfuegos to advance with 500 men on the capital and attack Columbia (APPLAUSE); because it had Comandante Ernesto Guevara at Las Villas, I was able to tell him to advance on the capital and take La Cabaña (APPLAUSE).

All the regiments, all the significant military strongholds, were in the hands of the Rebel Army. And nobody gave them to us; nobody said to us:”Go there, go there, go there”. It was our efforts and our sacrifice, our experience and our organization, which led to those results (APPLAUSE).

Does this mean the others didn’t fight? No. Does this mean that the others deserve no credit? No. Because we all of us fought, because the whole people fought. There was no Sierra in Havana, but there are hundreds of dead comrades, murdered for doing their revolutionary duty. There was no Sierra in Havana, but even so the general strike was a decisive factor in the completeness of the Revolutionary victory (APPLAUSE).

In saying this, all I’m doing is putting things in context: the role of the 26th July Movement in this struggle, how it guided the people in those moments when elections and electioneering were talked about here. Once I had to write an article from Mexico entitled “Frente a Todos”, because we were at odds with the general opinion, defending our revolutionary manifesto, the strategy of this revolution, which was drawn up by the Movement; and the culmination of this revolution, which was the crushing defeat of the tyranny, with its key strongholds in the hands of the Rebel Army, organized by the 26th July Movement.


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The 26th July Movement not only devised the guidelines for war but also established how the enemy was to be treated during the hostilities. This has been perhaps the first revolution in history in which not a single prisoner of war has been murdered (PROLONGED APPLAUSE); in which no wounded have been abandoned, in which no-one has been tortured (APPLAUSE); because that was the standing order established by the rebel Army. And another thing: this is the only revolution in the world which has not produced a general (APPLAUSE) or even a colonel, because the rank I took or my comrades assigned to me was that of comandante , and I haven’t changed it, despite our having won numerous battles and having won the war; I’m still a comandante, and I don’t want any other rank (APPLAUSE).

And the moral effect, the fact that we who started this war chose a particular rank within the military hierarchy, was that no-one dared to rank themselves above the level of comandante – although by the look of things, this has resulted in a surfeit of comandantes.

I think the people agree with my not mincing words, because having fought as I have for the rights of every citizen at least gives me the right to tell the truth out loud (APPLAUSE). And also because the interests of the homeland are in play: I won’t countenance the slightest compromise with risks threatening the Cuban Revolution (APPLAUSE).

Does everyone have the same moral right to speak? I say that those to whom more credit is due have more right to speak than those less meritorious. I think that men who seek equality of moral prerogatives should first earn equality of merit. I believe the Revolution has culminated as it should, with Comandante Camilo Cienfuegos – veteran of two years and one month of fighting – (APPLAUSE), as the chief of Columbia; with comandante Efigenio Ameijeiras, who lost three brothers in this war and is a veteran of the ‘Granma’ and comandante by virtue of the battles he has waged (APPLAUSE), as the Republic’s Chief of Police; and with Ernesto Guevara – true hero, member of the ‘Granma’ expedition and veteran of two years and one month of fighting in Cuba’s highest and toughest mountain terrain – as chief of La Cabaña (APPLAUSE); and with each regiment in the various provinces commanded by the men who have sacrificed most and fought hardest for this revolution. And if that’s the way things are, no-one has the right to object.

First and foremost, merit must be recognized; those who do not recognize merit are mere upstarts (APPLAUSE), lacking the merits of others but seeking the same prerogatives.

The Republic, or the Revolution, is entering a new stage. Would it be right for ambition or the cult of personality to emerge and threaten the destiny of the Revolution? (SHOUTS OF “No!”). What is it that interests the people, because it is the people who have the last word here? (SHOUTS OF “Freedom! Freedom!”). They are interested first and foremost in freedoms, in the rights they were deprived of, and in peace. And they’ve got them, because they now have all the freedoms, all the rights that the tyranny took from them, and they have peace (APPLAUSE).

What do the people want? An honest government. An honest government: isn’t that what the people want? (SHOUTS OF “Yes!”). They have it here: an upright judge as President of the Republic (APPLAUSE). What do they want – young and honest men as ministers in the revolutionary government? (SHOUTS OF “Yes!”). They have them here: examine the ministers of the revolutionary government one by one, and tell me whether there’s a thief or a criminal or a scoundrel among them (SHOUTS OF “No!”).

There are many men eligible to be ministers in Cuba by virtue of their integrity and ability, but they can’t all be ministers, because there can be only 14, 15 or 16. And the people don’t care who so-and-so is, but that whoever he is, that he is young and honest (APPLAUSE). And here the important thing is that those who’ve been appointed have those qualities, and not whether so-and-so is in or out, because the so-and-so’s don’t matter a damn at this juncture, to the Revolution or to the Republic (APPLAUSE).


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Can anyone, aspiring to be a minister, seek to shed blood in this country? (SHOUTS OF “No!”). Can any group, having been denied three or four ministries, shed blood in this country or undermine the peace? (SHOUTS OF “No!”). If the governing team which the Cuban people have now is no good, the people will have the opportunity of throwing it out – not voting for it at the polls, but ousting it in an election (APPLAUSE). This isn’t a case where the way to get rid of a mediocre government team is for someone start a revolution or carry out a coup d’état, since everybody knows that elections will be held and if the administration is no good, the people will have the last word, without let or hindrance. Not doing what Batista did, 80 days before an election, saying that he was fighting the government and making a series of accusations against that government, saying that it was his mission to get rid of it and that this was the patriotic thing to do. Coups d’état and attacks on the constitution and rule of law are gone forever from here (APPLAUSE).

These things need to be said, to prevent the emergence of demagoguery and misinformation and attempts to divide us; to ensure that the first sign of vaunting ambition by anyone is recognized at once by the people (APPLAUSE). And for my part, I say that since who I want to command is the people, because they are the best troops, and that I prefer the people to all the armed columns put together; I say that the first thing I will always do when I see a threat to the Revolution, is to call on the people (APPLAUSE). Because by talking to the people, we can avoid bloodshed. Because here, we should call on the people a thousand times before firing a shot, and talk to the people so that the people, without shoot-outs, solve the problems. I have faith in the people, and I know what the people can do and I believe I have demonstrated it; and I say that if the people so choose, there will never be another shot fired in this country (APPLAUSE). Because public opinion has tremendous strength and has tremendous influence, especially when there’s no dictatorship. Under dictatorship, public opinion is nothing; in times of freedom, public opinion is everything, and the guns must yield and kneel before public opinion (APPLAUSE). How am I doing, Camilo? (SHOUTS OF “Long live Camilo!”)

I am speaking to the people in this way because I have always liked to look ahead, and I think that talking to the people ahead of events can protect the Revolution from the only remaining future threats; while these are not great, I want to make sure that the Revolution can take root without the shedding of another drop of Cuban blood (APPLAUSE).

My main concern is that abroad, where the Revolution has caught the imagination of the whole world, it must not be said that, within three weeks, or four weeks, or a month, or one week, more Cuban blood has been shed to consolidate this Revolution, because in that case this Revolution would not be an example (APPLAUSE).


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I would not have talked like this when we were a group of 12 men, because when we were a group of 12 men all we had to look forward to was fighting, fighting, fighting. And in those circumstances, fighting was right. But now, when we’ve got the planes, the tanks, the artillery and the immense majority of men under arms, and a navy, several army companies and enormous military power (SHOUTS OF “And the people!” “And the people!”) People … What I’m saying is: now that we have all that, I’m alarmed by the idea of fighting, because now there’s no merit in fighting. I’d rather go back to the Sierra Maestra, with 12 men, to fight all the tanks, than come with all the tanks to shoot at anyone here (APPLAUSE).

And those I ask to give us much help, those I beg to help me, are the people (APPLAUSE), public opinion, so as to disarm the power-hungry, to denounce immediately those who are now beginning to show their true colors (APPLAUSE).

I’m not today going to embark on personal or specific attacks, because it’s early days, too soon to start public controversies – although when the time comes, I don’t mind, because I have no inhibitions about plain speaking when it’s necessary – and because the people are rejoicing, and because among the body of fighters – I’m not saying among all their leaders, but certainly most of their leaders – and there’s Carlos Prío Socarrás, for example, who came to Cuba with the aim of helping the Revolution with no strings attached, as he says, absolutely without any ulterior motive (APPLAUSE); he has made no protest about what’s happened, not the slighted protest, has not made the least complaint, or expressed the least disagreement regarding the cabinet; he knows the cabinet is composed of honest men and of young men, who well deserve a vote of confidence in their work.

And then there are the leaders of other organizations, equally prepared. And there’s another thing: the bodies of fighting men, the men who fought and who were motivated solely by ideals, the men who fought, in all the organizations: they are figures of high patriotism, with strongly revolutionary, noble sentiments, who will always think the way the people think; I’m sure that whoever commits the lunacy of trying to spark a civil war will incur the condemnation of the entire people (APPLAUSE) and will lose the support of the rank-and-file fighters, who will not follow him. And it would be lunacy indeed, to challenge not only our forces in their present condition, but also to defy reason, the law of the land and the entire Cuban people (APPLAUSE).

And I’m saying all this because I want to ask the people a question: I want to ask the people a question that interests me greatly, and interests the people greatly; so tell me: To what end, at this juncture, are clandestine weapons being stockpiled? Why are weapons being hidden in various parts of Havana? What are weapons being smuggled in for, at this juncture? What for? I’m telling you there are elements of a certain revolutionary organization who are hiding weapons (SHOUTS OF “Let’s find them!”), who are stockpiling arms and are smuggling arms. All the arms captured by the Rebel Army are in the barracks, where not a single weapon has been touched, nobody has taken any home, or hidden any. They are in the barracks under lock and key. It’s the same in Pinar del Río, in La Cabaña, in Columbia, in Matanzas, in Santa Clara, in Camagüey, and in Oriente. Nobody has loaded up trucks with weapons to hide them anywhere: these weapons are in the barracks.

I’m going to ask you a question, because speaking frankly and analyzing problems is how you solve them, and I’m ready to do everything in my power to solve them as they should be solved: with reasoning and intelligence, and with the influence of public opinion, which is in charge, and not with force. Because if one believes in force, if problems had to be solved by the use of force, there would be no need to talk to the people, or to put this problem to them, but to go and look for those arms (APPLAUSE).

And what we must try to do here is persuade the revolutionary fighters, the idealists, who could be misled by such machinations, to turn their backs on the treacherous honchos who are involved in these activities, and align themselves with those they serve first and foremost – the people.

I’m going to ask you a question: Weapons for what purpose? To fight whom? To fight the revolutionary government, which has the support of the entire people? (SHOUTS OF “No!”). Is the Republic’s present Urrutia administration the same as the Batista administration? (SHOUTS OF “No!”). Weapons for what purpose? Is there a dictatorship here? (SHOUTS OF “No!”) Are they going to attack a free government that respects the rights of the people? (SHOUTS OF “No!”) Now, when there’s no censorship, when the press is completely free, freer than it’s ever been, and has the certainty of knowing that it will always be free, that censorship is gone forever? (APPLAUSE). Now, when the whole people can assemble freely? Now, when there’s no torture, no political prisoners, no murders, no terror? Now, when there’s nothing but joy, when all the traitorous union leaders have been sacked and we’re on the point of holding elections in all the unions? (APPLAUSE). When all the citizen’s rights have been restored, when elections are to be called as soon as possible – arms for what? Hiding arms to what end? To blackmail the President of the Republic? To

Hastakshep