On April 16, 1961, while speaking at the mourning farewell ceremony for those who had fallen as a result of an artful attack by planes from abroad on several Cuban military airports, Commander in Chief Fidel Castro proclaimed the socialist character of the Cuban Revolution.

The ceremony takes place very close to the main entrance of the Colón Cemetery, at the intersection of 23rd and 12th Streets, in Vedado, Havana.

Due to its historical transcendence, this site of the Cuban capital was conferred years later the condition of National Monument.

Fidel explained to the people that the crews of the pirate planes had carried out simultaneous attacks against three sites in the national territory, Havana, San Antonio de los Baños and Santiago de Cuba.

He specified that in addition to dropping bombs of high destructive power and rockets, the crews of those planes had fired machine gun shots.

Fidel pointed out that it was an attack similar to those that the vandalistic governments of Nazism and Fascism had carried out against various countries in other stages. 

In the emotional speech he delivered on that occasion Fidel also stressed: "Because what the imperialists cannot forgive us is that we are here, what the imperialists cannot forgive us is the dignity, the integrity, the courage, the ideological firmness, the spirit of sacrifice and the revolutionary spirit of the people of Cuba That is what they cannot forgive us, that we are there under their noses and that we have made a socialist Revolution under the very noses of the United States!"

He then assured: "And that we defend that socialist Revolution with those rifles; and that we defend that socialist Revolution with the courage with which yesterday our anti-aircraft gunners riddled the aggressor airplanes with bullets!"

Before the declaration of the socialist character of the Revolution a multitude of militiamen present at the event raised their rifles as a sign of support for the pronouncements made by Fidel and as a reflection of the decision of the Cuban people to confront any type of aggressors.

And this became a reality in the following days when the mercenary invasion that landed at Playa Giron on April 17 was destroyed in less than 72 hours.

On another April 16, in this case in 2001, on the same stage at the intersection of 23rd and 12th in Vedado, Havana, Fidel spoke again on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the declaration of the socialist character of the Revolution.

Fidel then analyzed what socialism had meant for the Cuban people.

He stated, for example, that without socialism we would not have been able to reduce the illiteracy rate to zero, nor would we have schools and teachers for all children without exception, even in the most remote corners of the country, nor special schools for all those who need them, nor vocational schools of exact sciences, nor pre-university schools, nor other educational centers in different specialties.

He also detailed that without socialism Cuba would not have been able to guarantee the development of spheres related to health, culture, sports, nor in the struggle for the full equality of Cuban women.

He also mentioned that without socialism Cuba would not have achieved the development of important mass organizations that group and represent the majority of the Cuban people and play a decisive role in the revolutionary process and in the truly democratic participation of all citizens in the direction and destiny of the country.

He assured that without socialism Cuba would not occupy today a prominent place in its growing, tenacious and sustained struggle for the preservation of the environment, nor would it have been able to resist years of hostility, the blockade and the economic war of imperialism.

In that speech delivered on April 16, 2001 in Havana Fidel went on to cite other concrete examples and, among the aspects exposed, he pointed out: "Without socialism hundreds of thousands of Cubans would not have fulfilled internationalist missions, nor would our homeland have been able to contribute a single grain of sand in the struggle against colonialism in Africa, nor would its children have shed a single drop of their blood fighting against the seemingly invincible forces of the opprobrious system of apartheid, racism and fascism."

He also stressed that without socialism tens of thousands of health workers would not have rendered their noble internationalist collaboration in dozens of countries nor would comprehensive health plans have been implemented in nations of Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa thanks to the immense human capital created by the Revolution.

And he emphasized: "Without socialism Cuba, although without intending it, would not have become an example for many people in the world and the loyal and constant spokesman of the most just causes; a small country that enjoys the enviable privilege of being almost the only one that in any international forum or tribune can denounce with complete freedom, without any fear of reprisals and aggressions, the unjust economic order and the insatiable and rapacious, hypocritical and immoral policy of the government of the hegemonic superpower".

After recalling some of the statements he made and the dialogue held with the participants in the act of mourning farewell to the victims, on April 16, 1961, Fidel said in the speech delivered on this day in 2001: "Today we have not come to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the proclamation of the socialist character of the Revolution; we have come to ratify it, we have come to swear again.  And he added: "Using exactly the same words of that unforgettable day 40 years ago, I ask you: 'Workers and peasants, humble men and women of the homeland, do you swear to defend to the last drop of blood this Revolution of the humble, by the humble and for the humble?"

Those present at the ceremony, many of them also dressed in militia uniform and with their rifles held high, ratified, in the name of all the people of Cuba , the historic oath that remains in full force today.