UN General Assembly
1973

As far as we are concerned, co-operating with VietNam is a great honour. It is not you who should thank us; it is we who owe you thanks — you, the people of Viet-Nam." 196. The position of Cuba regarding the struggle for international peace and security is crystal-clear. From experience, my country knows the direct onslaughts and the whole arsenal of the ruses of imperialism, and we are always therefore on the alert. We have never yielded one iota of our sovereignty, our self-determination or our dignity. We have been isolated. We have been attacked. We have been blockaded, illegally and criminally, for the sole reason that we shook off the imperialist yoke and we chose the socialist road to development. We were even on the verge of being blasted by a North American nuclear attack. From experience also, Cuba knows what it means to have the cooperation and the assistance of the Soviet Union- and the socialist countries and the solidarity of peoples behind us.