bookrandom Chapter 902 Aid (Part 2)
Chapter 902 Aid (Part 2)
The chieftain pointed at a map of Cuba with his pointer.
"We will assist you in building a medium-sized integrated steel plant in Matanzas Province, Cuba, with an annual production capacity of 500,000 tons of steel. This includes a complete production line from coking, sintering, ironmaking, steelmaking to rolling. We will not only provide all the equipment and blueprints, but also send a team of 5,000 engineers and skilled workers to teach your own workers how to manage and operate the plant over three years. After three years, Cuba will be able to produce all the steel bars for building houses and all the steel plates for manufacturing agricultural implements and machine parts!"
Castro's breathing quickened instantly. He jumped up from his chair, staring incredulously at the dot on the map. 50 tons of steel per year? That's almost the entire current steel production of the Caribbean!
"Meanwhile," the Great Leader's pointer moved to Chile, "we will assist Comrade Allende's government in building a modern copper refinery and a supporting power plant in the port of Valparaiso, Chile. We will provide the latest 'flash smelting' technology, increasing the copper recovery rate to over 99%. We want the wealth of the Chilean people to truly be in their hands, not to be plundered by American capitalists at rock-bottom prices!"
Behind Allende's glasses gleamed an excited light. At this moment, his lifelong pursuit of "copper mine nationalization" seemed to have the most solid technical guarantee.
"And most importantly, fertilizer. We will assist in building a large-scale fertilizer plant in the coastal region of Venezuela with an annual output of 30 tons of synthetic ammonia and 50 tons of urea. With it, the grain output of the entire South America can at least double within five years! We want to make the word 'hunger' disappear completely from the South American continent!"
"Second, the spark of education."
"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Having factories alone is not enough; we must cultivate your own talent pool, equipped with advanced knowledge. Over the next ten years, China will provide a total of 100,000 full scholarships to South American countries, covering all majors from basic sciences to engineering and social management. At the same time, we will send 10,000 of our best teachers to your countries to help you establish a complete modern education system from primary school to university. What we aim to do is ensure that every child from a poor family has the right to read and write and to take control of their own destiny!"
Guevara's fist had clenched tightly without him even realizing it. He was a doctor, and he understood better than anyone the importance of knowledge and education for a nation. This, this was true internationalist aid!
"Third, the spark of health."
"Comrade Guevara, regarding the pharmaceutical issue you just mentioned, we will fundamentally resolve it. China will transfer to you free of charge the chemical synthesis technology and production lines for over two hundred basic pharmaceuticals, including penicillin, streptomycin, and quinine. We will help you establish a biopharmaceutical center in Havana, Cuba, belonging to all of Latin America. Our goal is to reduce the mortality rate from malignant infectious diseases in South America by more than 90% within five years!"
Guevara could no longer sit still. He abruptly stood up, his eyes burning with intense light. He looked at the Great Chieftain, his lips trembling. This warrior, as hard as steel, now had slightly reddened eyes.
"Of course, there's also the railway and highway network spanning the entire continent, communication base stations covering all major cities, and an electricity grid that can power every village... We can help with all of these. We don't want to control you, nor do we want to enslave you. On the contrary, we want to help you so that you can have everything you need to be independent and build a brand new nation!"
The chief put down his teaching whip, turned around, and looked again at the three revolutionary leaders who were already speechless with awe at the magnificent, almost unreal, blueprint.
His voice became more serious and firm than ever before.
"Now, let's talk about 'dealing with the US'."
"Comrades, can you imagine? When your first steel mill begins to billow smoke, when your first school echoes with the sound of students reading aloud, when your people are able to eat their fill for the first time and no longer wait in despair to die from a minor infection... what will the US do?"
"It will pounce like a shark smelling blood! It will use all its power to blockade you, punish you, buy off traitors among you, and support dictators who oppose you! It will use every despicable means to destroy all the achievements you have made!"
"When that time comes," the chief's eyes instantly sharpened like knives, "you will need to use the weapons in your hands to defend all of this! To defend your people, your factories, your schools, and your newborn nation!"
He walked over to Fang Yu and patted the young man on the shoulder.
"Therefore, our military aid is not for you to launch an offensive, but to arm you and enable you to 'defend'! Comrade Fang Yu and his team have already tailored a complete national defense system for you. From early warning aircraft and unmanned combat aircraft in the sky to automated air defense positions and 'Qilin' electromagnetic railgun tanks on the ground; from unmanned missile boats capable of blockading the coastline to special forces equipped with 'Mingguang' powered armor. Everything you saw in the parade and everything you didn't see, we can provide. We can even move the production line over there!"
"But!" The leader's tone shifted sharply, "Weapons are always secondary! What determines the outcome of war is always people! It's the millions upon millions of awakened, organized people! When your people know that they take up arms to defend the land they've just received, to defend the homes they're building, and to ensure their children can go to school in peace, the power they unleash will be boundless! That's the invincible power that the US truly fears!"
"By then, war will rage in their backyard! They will be engulfed in an endless ocean of South American people's war! They will be firmly tied down in the Western Hemisphere, unable to look eastward. This is, as I say, the ultimate way to deal with the US!"
There was deathly silence in the office.
Castro, Guevara, and Allende stood frozen in place, like three statues struck by lightning.
The powerful words of the Great Chief echoed repeatedly in their minds.
Poverty...hunger...education...industry...the vast ocean of people's war...
This is no longer a simple aid program.
This is a magnificent epic, a genealogical declaration that completely changed the fate of a continent and hundreds of millions of people!
"I...I knew it...I knew it!"
Castro, the leader of the Cuban Revolution, the tough man who hadn't flinched even when facing Batista's gun, could no longer contain his emotions. Hot tears streamed down his weathered face.
He rushed forward and, like a child who had found faith, once again, but more tightly than ever before, grasped the chief's hand.
“Mentor! You are our true mentor! You have shown us a bright path! I... I, Fidel Castro, on behalf of the Cuban people, on behalf of all the suffering people of Latin America, pay you, and to the great people of the Dragon Kingdom, my highest respect!”
He choked up, barely able to form a sentence.
And Che Guevara, the idealist who had been scrutinizing and wary from beginning to end, finally let down his guard. Looking at the old man before him, he seemed to see Marx, Lenin, and the shadows of all the revolutionary pioneers, perfectly superimposed in him.
He stood silently at attention, straightened his uniform, and then, with all his might, gave a perfectly standard and solemn military salute to the Great Leader and to this great internationalist ideal.
Not for power, not for profit, but solely for the liberation of the suffering people of the world.
This was the ultimate meaning of revolution that he had been pursuing all his life.
Allende, the gentle doctor, was trembling with excitement. He adjusted his glasses, trying to calm himself down from this immense happiness. He knew that from this moment on, the gears of history would turn in a completely new, unpredictable, yet infinitely bright direction because of this meeting.
South America, a continent that has been dormant for centuries, is about to usher in its true, burning dawn.