GENERAL of the Army Raúl Castro, Cuban first vice president, affirmed Wednesday (June 14) that the cost of any U.S. aggression against the island would be greater than what Washington is willing to pay.

The likewise minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) remarked on the Cuban people’s success in preparing its defense, and particularly congratulated the Western Army on the 45th anniversary of its founding.

Assurance of victory is based on the blood of the fallen and on the rivers of sweat of Cubans who have worked to bring about our main goal – preventing war, the leader said during a ceremony commemorating the Western Army’s creation.

"However, if the enemy dares to attack us, every corner of our country would become a terrible hornet’s nest that would result in a number of enemy casualties far higher than U.S. public opinion would be willing to accept," he warned.

Raúl, also second secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) said that after Bastion 2004 (the largest military exercise in Cuba in recent years, which took place late that year), "a qualitative leap was demonstrated in the nation’s defensive abilities."

The "War of the All the People" military doctrine is a reality today, he affirmed.

Cuba’s defense system is based on the "War of All the People," which means that protecting national territory is not entrusted solely to the armed forces, but to all of the population fit for defense.

It is that principle — that every Cuban has a place, a way and a means to confront any possible aggression — upon which the country’s defense is based.

The FAR minister commented that what President Fidel Castro noted during the Central Report of the 1st Congress of the PCC (December 1975) remains "valid and permanent."

At that time, the Cuban president said that "as long as imperialism exists, the (Cuban) Party, state and people will give their utmost attention to the services of defense."

Likewise, he affirmed that Cuba would never let down its revolutionary guard, because "history teaches with more than enough eloquence that those who forget this principle do not survive their error."

"And that is how it will be," Raúl emphasized, "so that we can always shout in the empire’s face, ‘¡Viva Cuba Libre!’"

During the celebration of the Western Army’s 45th anniversary, certificates of recognition were given to founding members and to generals and officers with outstanding service records.