Greek PM Tsipras compares Cuban revolution with 1821 Greek uprising (video of full speech in Greek)

Greeks and Cubans fought common battles, Tsipras said

Speaking in front of tens of thousands of people which packed Revolution Square in Havana, Cuba’s capital, to bid farewell to the former President-dictator of the country, Greek PM Alexis Tsipras delivered a passionate speech. Tsipras made reference the common struggles of peoples throughout the world, while he compared the Cuban revolution with the 1821 Greek national uprising against the Ottoman Turks. “Freedom or death was the slogan of the 1821 Greek revolution. Patria o Muerte (Country or death) was the slogan of the 1959 Cuban revolution”, Tsipras said during his speech. The Greek PM also alluded to the negotiations with Greece’s creditors by saying the “road to socialism was not a rosy one”, while he denounced the “inhumane logic of the markets and neoliberalism”. “Fidel’s example will always be with us. In the victories and defeats. In the overthrows and our compromises”, he said. Tsipras underlined the common struggles of the Greek and Cuban people in history, who both stood their grounds and fought against strong opposition. Greece was the only European nation to be represented by its PM and the mourning ceremony. The presidents of Venezuela, Bolivia and Mexico lined up to pay tribute to Castro whose death has sent the island nation into a state of mourning. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who has faced calls to step down from his own party since Castro’s death, was among them.

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