Special Address by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and president of the Councils of State and of Ministers, to party, state and government and Union of Young Communist leaders, representatives of grassroots and official organizations, officers and rank and file members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and from the Ministry of the Interior, and to relatives and surviving victims of the empire's terrorist attacks on our country.
"Year of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas".
Dear fellow Cubans:
"Voting began at 7:00 a.m. in all 37,280 polling stations. At 11:00 a.m., 6, 288, 965 voters had already cast their vote, which is 75 percent of the total, a figure that is 4.3 percentage points higher than at the same time in the 2002 elections.
"At 3.00 p.m., 7, 782, 779 voters had already voted, that is 92.09 percent of the total, a figure similar to the one achieved at this time in the last election.
"At 6:00 p.m., voting concluded in all polling stations. The preliminary information about the total number of voters is being processed and will be made public within the next few hours.
"Votes are being counted right now. The final information is expected and will be corroborated in the early hours of the morning. Signed, the National Electoral Commission. Time, 7:25 p.m."
We kept our word, we voted and now we are here to go on with the battle (APPLAUSE).
One of the objectives of this meeting is to inform the people about what is going on and to provide a better understanding of problems, so that our people can look at each thing, and analyze each thing that happens. That is to say, each of these battles will enrich our people's political knowledge.
A lot can be learned in circumstances like these, just as we all learned a lot from the battle for the return of that little boy, Elián González. We all took part in that battle and we could feel satisfied with the results.
That was a long, very long battle. Some have said that this situation is similar to the one existing back then. This one may not go on as long, because the US government must take some decision and positions.
[...]
Don't forget that thing about the transition, etc. and if anything happens to me, then immediate intervention.
I recommend that we are all more on the alert than ever and especially our Revolutionary Armed Forces and our Ministry of the Interior because as the bandits say that they have to take advantage of the transition, but the transition could be by natural death, it could be by accident or it could be by an unnatural death, because they are experts in that sort of thing. Yes, since they have spent their time studying the science of killing.
But we are ready here, if I faint, or have a heart attack or something like that, well then everyone knows they have to waste no time in going and getting their weapons. The whole country on a state of total alert, immediately, so they don't get any ideas, or try to take advantage, if anything should happen.
Our duty is always to prevent and look ahead and not give them the tiniest opportunity, not the tiniest, or any chance so there are no opportunities or chances.
No, the fact is they don't know whom they are up against, and it's not me, it's the people, it's the Party, it's our Revolutionary Armed Forces, it's the Ministry of the Interior and it's the millions of fighters who know how to use weapons. (Applause)
[...]
It's 10:59 PM. I was about to conclude and now they're brining me a sheet of paper. The election results are in. There is a not, it reads:
"The following preliminary information was gathered at 6:00 PM, after the polling stations had been closed: 8,168,253 people exercised their right to vote, 96,27% of the population (Prolonged applause), a figure higher than that of the past elections for delegates to the municipal assemblies of the People's Power, which was 95,75%".
Bear in mind that anyone outside of their municipality cannot vote. There are hundreds of thousands of people outside of their municipalities. Nancy here wasn't able to vote, and I suspect others who are outside of their municipality weren't able to do so either. It's an impressive figure, and almost everyone voted early in the day.
"The final election results will be announced tomorrow once they have been legally verified. Signed, the National Electoral Committee".
"Time: 10:30 PM".
Patria o Muerte!
Venceremos!
(Ovation)
If you're not tired, we may be seeing each other again tomorrow at 6:30 (Applause). In any event, read the paper in the morning, there'll be news there most likely. It's tough, things are heating up, and a day with no news leaves us in the dark. There are plenty of interesting things to follow, I'm sure. So, most probably, we'll be seeing each other.
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