Fidel Castro Quotes

A revolution is a struggle to the death between the future and the past.

A revolution is not a bed of roses.

Capitalism is using its money; we socialists throw it away.

How can we help President Obama?

I am a Marxist Leninist and I will be one until the last day of my life.

I am and we have come to liberate Cuba.

I am not a communist and neither is the revolutionary movement.

I began revolution with 82 men. If I had to do it again, I do it with 10 or 15 and absolute faith. It does not matter how small you are if you have faith and plan of action.

I find capitalism repugnant. It is filthy, it is gross, it is alienating... because it causes war, hypocrisy and competition.

I never saw a contradiction between the ideas that sustain me and the ideas of that symbol, of that extraordinary figure, Jesus Christ.

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.

I would not vote for the mayor. It's not just because he didn't invite me to dinner, but because on my way into town from the airport there were such enormous potholes.

Men do not shape destiny, Destiny produces the man for the hour.

More than 820 million people in the world suffer from hunger; and 790 million of them live in the Third World.

No thieves, no traitors, no interventionists! This time the revolution is for real!

North Americans don't understand... that our country is not just Cuba; our country is also humanity.

The revenues of Cuban state-run companies are used exclusively for the benefit of the people, to whom they belong.

The revolution is a dictatorship of the exploited against the exploiters.

The universities are available only to those who share my revolutionary beliefs.

They talk about the failure of socialism but where is the success of capitalism in Africa, Asia and Latin America?

Cuba encourages private enterprise. It's not just capitalism that is broken...

4 Years ago I visited Cuba, renowned for its communistic and highly centralised economy. I was surprised to find that actually around 15% of Cubas work force were not employed by the state but instead were allowed to run taxis, cafes and market stalls. This was apparently allowed to help support the growing tourist industry that was developing in Cuba.

One night in Varadero I decided to go off of the hotel complex we were staying in and instead visit a small night club that conveniently sold beer at around 10% of the price of a pint in the UK. The bar was full of local Cubans who worked in the tourist industry all with western clothes and disposable income to drink beer with. It was clear to me that since the introduction of foreigners and foreign currency a significant black market was starting to develop. In addition to this black market global forces such as the credit crunch were affecting Cubas economy. The price of one of its major exports nickel has dropped and tourist revenues have decreased as people don't travel so far afield on their holidays.

I believe this black market has continued to grow and grow and the state has no way of taxing it. Cuba has recently announced that it will be removing 1,000,000 state jobs over the coming year - encouraging people to start their own businesses and form a larger private sector sector. I estimate that if these reports are true then private enterprise will in future make up 35% of the Cuban workforce. People will be able to start their own businesses and even employ people (with a permit of course.) and best of all for the Castro administration they will be able to tax people. Businesses will be able to open bank accounts and even borrow money for land, and equipment - let's hope the Cubans act a little more responsibly than we did when it comes to private banking.

Hopefully these recently announced reforms will help to end the trade embargo with the United States bringing with it the possibilities of cheap grain imports and more income from tourism.

Venezuela has announced that it is building a fibre optic Internet link to the island which should be operational by 2012. These are massive changes for the Cuban people, possibly the biggest changes since the 1959 revolution.

Part of me is sad that one of the final bastions of communism is slowly moving right. But if Cuba can by making these reforms improve the quality of life of its citizens then it should. At a time when many in the western world believe that capitalism is broken countries like China and Cuba seem to be moving further in that the capitalist direction. Maybe it's not capitalism that's broken after all. Maybe this is just the end of the western empire.