Statement by Mr. Che Guevara (Cuba) before the United Nations General Assembly on 11 December 1964

Che Guevara: industries of Cuba. I invite him to address the assembly. Thank you. Mr. President, Mr. Delegates, The representation of Cuba before this Assembly is pleased to fulfill, in the first term, the pleasant duty of greeting the incorporation of three new nations to the important number of those who here discuss problems of the world. We greet, then, the people of their President and Prime Ministers, the peoples of Zambia, Malawi and Malta, and we vote because these countries are incorporated from the first moment into the group of non-aligned nations that fight against imperialism, colonialism and neocolonialism. We also make the dominant classes of Latin American countries arrive against our revolution. In others, even sadder, is the product of the dazzling glitters of Mamón. As is well known, after the tremendous commotion called the crisis of the Caribbean, the United States contracted with the Soviet Union certain commitments that culminated in the withdrawal of a certain type of weapons that the continuous aggressions of that country such as the mercenary attack of Playa Girón and the threats of invading our homeland, forced us to place in Cuba an act of legitimate and irrefutable defense. The Americans also demanded that the United Nations inspect our territory, which we denied emphatically, since Cuba does not recognize the right of the United States nor from anyone in the world, to determine what type of weapons they may have within their borders. In this sense, we would only accept multilateral agreements with equal obligations for all parties. As Fidel Castro has said, while the concept of sovereignty exists as a prerogative of nations and independent peoples, and as the right of all peoples, nosotros no aceptaremos la exclusión de nuestro pueblo de ese derecho. Mientras el mundo se rija por esos principios, mientras el mundo se rija por esos conceptos que tengan validez universal porque son universalmente aceptados y consagrados por los pueblos, nosotros no aceptaremos que se nos prive de ninguno de esos derechos. Nosotros no renunciaremos a ninguno de esos derechos. The Secretary General of the United Nations, U Thang, understood our reasons. However, the United States intended to establish a new arbitrary and illegal prerogative, that of violating the airspace of any small country. Thus, they have been surging the air of our homeland, U-2 aircraft and other types of spy aircraft that with all impunity navigate in our airspace. We have made all the necessary warnings to stop the air violations, as well as the provocations that the Yankee Marines make against our surveillance posts in the Guantánamo area, the racing flights of planes over our ships or other nationalities in international waters, the pirate attacks on ships of different flags and the infiltration of spies, saboteurs and weapons on our island. We want to build socialism. We have declared ourselves supporters of those who fight for peace. We have declared ourselves within the group of non-aligned countries, despite being Marxist-Leninist, because the non-aligned, like us, are fighting against imperialism. We want peace. This new disposition of a continent of America is reflected and summarized in the cry that our masses proclaim day by day as an irrefutable expression of their decision to fight, paralyzing the armed hand of the invader. Proclama que cuenta con la comprensión y el apoyo de todos los pueblos del mundo y especialmente del campo socialista encabezado por la Unión Soviética. Esa proclama es patria o muerte.