Six days that shook the nation 

That cold morning, when some 2,000 delegates representing all sectors of society filled the Karl Marx Theater, marked a turning point in the history of the Revolution.

It is said that many of them were wearing suits and ties for the first time, and that, for this reason, there were those who made jokes before the curtains rose and the First Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) began.

Sixteen years after the triumph over tyranny, and ten years after the formation of the first Central Committee, the grand party event began with an extensive report presented by Fidel, with a historical analysis of the Revolution, in which it was clear that the generation that had finally realized the dream of a free homeland was the heir and continuator of a legacy of more than a century of struggle.

"Cuba was Spain's last colony in Latin America, and today it is the first socialist country in this hemisphere," the Commander-in-Chief began proudly, and after a thorough recounting of the wars for independence and the long road traveled, he commented that "when the United States realized that the Revolution would not retreat or bow to its pressure, it began a series of economic aggressions, while recruiting mercenaries and training them for acts of sabotage and military actions."

The report presented by Fidel also referred to the development of the Revolution and its socioeconomic and political-ideological work, and to the mistakes made in a context marked by strong pressures of all kinds from its northern neighbor.

It should be noted that economic work did not take center stage during the first ten years. In this early period of the Revolution, survival in the face of imperialist subversion, military aggression, and relentless economic blockade occupied the nation's main efforts.

"For years, we had to keep more than 300,000 men under arms to defend the country."

While acknowledging that better results could have been achieved if "we had been more capable" and "if our methods of administration and management of the economy had been more efficient," he noted that Cuba made extraordinary progress in many fields during the revolutionary period.

"The merit of this progress lies in the fact that while the United States, a powerful country with great military, economic, and political resources, did everything possible to stifle the Revolution and reestablish its corrupt, exploitative, and oppressive system, our people not only resisted and emerged victorious, but also achieved magnificent accomplishments under these difficult conditions."

The debates, resolutions, and speeches during those six intense days that shook the island half a century ago (December 17-22, 1975) would chart the immediate course.

They approved the Theses, Statutes, and Programmatic Platform of the PCC, as well as resolutions on the policy of training, selecting, placing, promoting, and improving cadres, and the Directives for economic and social development in the 1976-1980 five-year period.

The First Congress marked the beginning of the process of institutionalization of the country, which would be consolidated in the following months with the new political-administrative division, the emergence of the organs of People's Power, and the approval of the Socialist Constitution of 1976, replacing that of 1940.

There was also talk of the aid provided to the Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) in its fight against South African troops, and Cuba's policy of solidarity with progressive governments was discussed.

"We are fulfilling a basic internationalist duty when we help the people of Angola!" said Fidel, warning that Cubans in the African nation "are not looking for oil, or copper, or iron, or anything at all. We are simply applying a policy of principles."

On December 22, before one of the largest gatherings held to date in the Revolution Square, hundreds of thousands of Cubans endorsed the agreements of the grand party meeting.

"If the Party Congress met there at Carlos Marx, here in the Revolution Square the People's Congress meets to express its support for the agreements of the Congress," Fidel would say to the crowd. And, aware of the enormous strength of that heroic people who today continue to resist the onslaught of the empire, he affirmed that "we are nothing more than humble heirs of entire generations of Cubans who for more than a hundred years have fought for justice, freedom, and dignity," and that if we are still here today, without giving in, it is thanks to the efforts and struggle of millions of compatriots.