We will fight, we will struggle, we will resist, we will transform, and above all adversity and imperial threats, we will rise and triumph! 

(Shorthand versions — Presidency of the Republic)

Dear Comrade Esteban Lazo Hernández, President of the National Assembly of People's Power and of the Council of State;
Comrades:
Today, February 24th, we are gathered for a date that transcends the calendar. In the history of Cuba, this day is laden with profound meanings that intertwine like threads of the same fabric: that of our sovereignty.
On February 24th, 1895, the necessary war resumed with the cry of "Independence or Death," thus fulfilling José Martí's vision. On that same day, but in 1899, General Máximo Gómez victoriously entered Havana, and in 1956, José Antonio Echeverría founded the Revolutionary Directorate. Two years later, in 1958, Radio Rebelde began broadcasting from the heart of the Sierra Maestra; and in 1976, the first socialist constitution of the continent was born. In 2008, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz assumed the presidency of the Councils of State and Ministers. And in 2019, the people ratified the new Constitution of the Republic at the polls.
Exactly half a century ago, on this very day, the Local Bodies of People's Power were established. With them, an essential principle of the Revolution took concrete form: that power emanates from the people, is exercised in their name, and owes its allegiance, first and foremost, to their needs and hopes.
It was and remains the most authentic expression of socialist democracy and of the will for citizens, from their communities, to decide the destiny of the nation.
This is a day to look back with profound respect, but above all, to look forward with the clarity that these times demand, because in today's world, a 50th anniversary celebration can never be an exercise in nostalgia; it must be, first and foremost, a call to action.
The historic decision of 1976 was not an isolated act; it was the organic continuation of a tradition of struggle and participation, rooted in the independence movements, in resistance against adversity, and in the deepest conviction that the nation's destiny is built through the voice and actions of the people. It is a concrete expression of the political thought of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz.
The Bodies of People's Power were created to be schools of citizenship, spaces for debate, and platforms for collective solutions. For five decades, these Bodies have served as the direct link between the aspirations and demands of each neighborhood and state policies.
Half a century ago, we set in motion a profound idea: that power, to be legitimate, must originate from the neighborhood, the People's Council, the block, and the community.
Our local bodies are not merely an administrative design of the chosen form of government. They are our answer to the essential question of how to build a democracy where the people are the true and undisputed protagonists of their own destiny.
We celebrate half a century. May these many years of hard work not be a burden that leads to inertia, but rather a motivation that propels us toward the future we deserve! We want a People's Power that is more agile, more participatory, bolder, more inclusive, and younger. A People's Power that has the capacity to hear even the faintest whisper of its citizens and the sensitivity to act swiftly in response to their legitimate demands.
The people don't ask us for miracles. They ask us for honesty, effective management, and above all, that we never lose their step, that we march together, shoulder to shoulder, through thick and thin.
We live in a complex national context, marked by economic difficulties, within a turbulent global landscape. There is accumulated suffering in our neighborhoods, legitimate grievances, and impatience burdened by the weight of the intensified criminal blockade and our inclusion on a spurious and manipulated list of countries that supposedly support terrorism; the maximum economic pressure to suffocate us, the application of unilateral coercive measures, and the aggressive pressure of hatred as a fundamental component of the relentless media war that seeks to discredit and divide us. The issuance of a genocidal Executive Order that aims to deprive the country of important vital energy supplies, and, along with that long list of attacks and threats, our own errors and shortcomings that we are obliged to recognize and amend without excuses, because what is first looked at head-on and with total honesty can only be transformed.
We will fight, we will struggle, we will resist, we will transform, and above all adversity and imperial threats, we will rise and triumph! (Applause.)
The anniversary we celebrate invites us to reflect on the enduring relevance of that project of love for the nation, based on unity. It reminds us that democracy is not an abstract concept, but a daily practice that is strengthened by the active participation of all and for the good of all, with transparency in governance and shared responsibility.
People's Power is, in essence, the certainty that no problem is too great if it is faced with unity, solidarity, and confidence in our own strength.
Celebrating these 50 years is also about renewing our commitment to the future. It is about recognizing that the Cuba we dream of is built from the ground up, from each People's Council, from each delegate who listens and acts, from each citizen who contributes ideas and effort. It is about reaffirming that social justice, equity, and dignity are inalienable values ​​and fundamental guides on the path to the prosperity we deserve.
In accordance with this commitment, this Solemn Session is called to transcend the well-deserved act of remembrance and tribute. It cannot be a succession of slogans. It must be, above all, an exercise in conscience and commitment.
Today we pay tribute to the founders, to the delegates of these five decades, to those who, almost always without resources and tirelessly, have knocked on doors, listened to complaints, stood up in difficult assemblies, and defended, from the modesty of their districts, the grand idea that no one can be left to their own devices in a revolutionary and socialist state.
And the best tribute we can offer them is not a diploma or applause, but the will to do better what we are called to do now.
What do 50 years of People's Power mean at this moment in our history?
First: it means valuing the essence of closeness.
In these 50 years, the delegate has not only been a representative, but has been the voice of a small community within the larger statistics. In today's Cuba, that role is more vital than ever. Citizens should find in their delegate not a facilitator, but a community leader who decisively and boldly heads the way to confronting common problems, from the anxieties about missing supplies at the bodega, the pothole in the street, the transformer failure, or the worries about young people who are neither studying nor working and the elderly without close family support. Our strength lies not in grand pronouncements, but in the ability to resolve the small, yet enormous and always challenging, everyday issues.
Second: It means understanding that participation is not just another name on the list of attendees at an event. It is the engine of collective progress.
For too long, we have sometimes confused People's Power with a mere transmission belt for decisions already made. The 50th Anniversary demands that we take a qualitative leap in this narrow interpretation of a genuine, quintessentially Cuban achievement, one that is greater than ourselves.
We need the municipalities, the true guarantors of the rights enshrined in our Constitution, to exercise their autonomy. The country is saved from the local level, from the capacity of each territory to find its own solutions, to foster its own initiatives, to manage its culture and economy creatively and without unnecessary constraints.
Third: It means honesty in analysis and courage in criticism.
We cannot look back on the path we have traveled without questioning our shortcomings. We suffer greatly from the consequences of formalism and improvisation, which so often distort and undermine strategic planning. And we are still held back too much by centralism—that is, the excessive centralization that stifles the creative initiative of individuals, groups, and municipalities. Recognizing this is not a weakness; it is a strength. True Revolution is the one that constantly critiques itself in order to avoid becoming outdated.
Fourth: It means safeguarding hope.
In the midst of external hostility, the blockade that tries to suffocate us, the noise and manipulation that seek to weaken us, the work of People's Power is the most effective antidote. Because when a delegate manages, when neighbors participate, when a community organizes to clean a vacant lot or restore a daycare center, we are demonstrating that here there is a project of social justice capable of constantly renewing itself with its own strength.
We are not a democracy for show; we are a democracy of the trenches, built with enormous sacrifices, it is true, but also with impressive creativity and unsurpassed dignity in the heat of the most difficult battle: the one of day by day and hour by hour.
In this context, the call is clear.
To the delegates:
It is not enough to be elected; we must be chosen every day through the respect and trust of our fellow citizens, our neighbors. We must be more out in the streets than behind a desk, more in line than in meetings, more listening than speaking. We must transform every complaint into concrete action, every criticism into a proposal, every problem into an opportunity to unite efforts and move forward, to move forward tirelessly. We will not always have resources, but we can always have the sensitivity and will to change what needs to be changed. And the truth, even when it hurts, always builds more than silence or automatic justification.
To the local administrations: People's Power is not a formality or a signature at the end of a resolution. Government management must be aligned with the priorities that emerge from local bodies, municipal assemblies, people's councils, and direct analysis with the community. We cannot allow bureaucracy, routine, or lack of oversight to render agreements born from the popular will meaningless. Serving the people means governing transparently, providing accountability with data and results, explaining when necessary, and correcting mistakes.
To our people:
Today, it is also important to look inward. Participatory democracy is not limited to voting when the ballot boxes are set up. It is exercised in accountability assemblies, in volunteer work, in neighborhood meetings where residents organize to maintain peace and quiet in their communities and mobilize to support the most vulnerable. Criticism is necessary, but it is more powerful when accompanied by a willingness to get involved, to propose solutions, and to collaborate. The power of the people is not an abstract concept; it is built with names and faces, with concrete individuals, with hands that get to work, hands that are all the more valuable the more adverse the circumstances.
Fifty years later, we can proudly say that the system of People's Power has been a genuinely our own creation, born from the experience and political thought that sustains the Revolution, from José Martí's legacy, and from the ideas of the Commander-in-Chief and the Army General. But we must also humbly admit that it is an unfinished work, which needs to be perfected and adapted to the challenges of our time: population aging, migration, new technologies, new ways of participating, and the new ways in which human groups form their opinions and expectations.
The Local Bodies of People's Power must be able to engage in dialogue with a country that is not the same as it was in 1976, and to do so without abandoning their founding principles.
Let this 50th Anniversary be a turning point, not the end goal. A moment to reaffirm that we will not renounce the idea that the people should decide, control, demand, and participate. A moment to say, calmly and firmly, that we are willing to change everything that needs to be changed in the way institutions function, as long as it strengthens social justice, equity, and conscious participation.
In the name of all those who have dedicated their lives to public service in their districts, all those who have shouldered the concerns of their neighborhoods, all those who have opened their doors in the early hours to attend to the emergencies of others, let us reaffirm today a simple yet profound commitment:
Never lose touch with the people.
Embrace the pain of others as your own.
Do not settle for explanations that do not solve anything. Insist on finding solutions.
Do not relinquish the ideal that, despite the difficulties, power in Cuba will continue to belong to the people.
Honor to those who began this journey fifty years ago!
Responsibility to those of us who continue it today.
May history, fifty years from now, look back on this moment and recognize that we rose to the challenge.
May this anniversary, then, be a call to revitalize participation, to defend sovereignty, and to keep alive the hope for a better tomorrow.
People's Power is not just a structure. It is the expression of a people who, with their history and their will, continue to be the protagonists of their own destiny.
For these 50 years of shared history; for the delegate who walks the neighborhood every day, transforming spaces and mindsets, tirelessly working even under the scorching sun; for the people who are the sole sovereign:
Long live People's Power! (Exclamations of: "Long live!")
Long live Fidel and Raúl! (Exclamations of: "Long live!")
And so that it may always be so, let us reaffirm our unwavering conviction:
Socialism or Death!
Homeland or Death!
We shall overcome! (Applause.)