“When we have united, history has shown that we have always achieved victory” 

"The best way to prevent aggression is for imperialism to have to calculate the price of attacking our country. And that has a lot to do with how prepared we are for this type of military action." This was stated last Saturday by the President of the National Defense Council, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, at the start of a day of combat exercises on National Defense Day.
The first event was a tactical demonstration exercise at the Great Tank Unit of Combat Glory Rescate de Sanguily, in which the Head of State was accompanied by Army Corps General Álvaro López Miera, Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR); Army Corps General Roberto Legrá Sotolongo, First Deputy Minister and Chief of the General Staff of the FARs—both members of the Political Bureau—as well as Army Corps General and Deputy Minister of the FAR Joaquín Quintas Solá, among other military leaders.
At the end of the exercise, the President of the National Defense Council congratulated the combatants and stated: "This takes on particular importance at the present time." He said this in reference to the changes that the world has undergone since the early hours of January 3, "as a result of the hegemonic offensive being carried out by the United States government."
Before the assembled troops, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba emphasized that the country, as part of its defense preparations and in the interests of the war effort of the entire people, has been conducting exercises involving combined forces from regular units, the Territorial Troop Militias, and the Production and Defense Brigades.

The president recalled that this phase of preparation and demonstration began three weeks ago. In this regard, he praised as admirable the levels "of preparation, cohesion, and cooperation among different types of components of the territorial defense system."
This, he said, "confirms that this intense, systematic, and rigorous program of preparation for the defense of the entire territorial defense system is already yielding concrete results. It also heightens our patriotism, our anti-imperialism, and our unity.
"By participating in this way, preparing ourselves for the defense of the homeland, unity is achieved, and when we have united, history has shown that we have always achieved victory," emphasized the President of the National Defense Council.

Díaz-Canel highlighted "the success of this exercise" and congratulated the commanders and officers who organized it, "as well as all our combatants, both in the Revolutionary Armed Forces and in the Territorial Troop Militias and the Production and Defense Brigades, for the levels of preparedness they have demonstrated."
Later, at the Large Tank Unit, he observed university students practicing shooting, who are honing their skills in assembling and disassembling rifles, using mines, and performing other combat actions. The dignitary emphasized to them:
"This level of preparation that you are developing in these times is very important to us, because we have to truly prepare ourselves," said the Head of State, who underscored the idea that "the best way to avoid aggression, as Fidel and Raúl have always warned us, is to be prepared for defense."
He also commented to the university students on the significance of their willingness, as it constitutes an expression "of support for the Revolution." The president asked the young people if they felt they had made good use of these hours and if everything they had practiced had been done with quality.
From the group, a girl emphasized: "No one surrenders here!" And once again, the collective expression of "Fatherland or Death! We shall overcome!" emerged, along with the endearing "No one surrenders here!" and "Until victory, always!" In all of Cuba's universities, future professionals will have training experiences like the one on Saturday.
The next stop on the itinerary was an air defense unit. There, the head of state learned details about the living conditions of the combatants, corroborated the excellent state of combat technology, and witnessed demonstrations in the field of what Cuban forces would do in the event of an enemy attack.