On March 5, 1960, in the act of farewell mourning for the victims of the sabotage of the French ship La Coubre, which took place the day before in the port area of Havana, Fidel made clear in a brief but significant phrase, the determination of the Cuban people to defend the Revolution at whatever cost was necessary.

In that act, which took place very close to the main entrance of the Colon Cemetery, Fidel emphasized: "And without being fazed by the threats, without being fazed by the maneuvers, remembering that one day we were only twelve men and that compared to our strength with the strength of the tyranny, our strength was so small and so insignificant that nobody would have believed it possible to resist, nevertheless, we believed that we resisted then, as we believe today that we resist any aggression. And not only that we will know how to resist any aggression, but that we will know how to defeat any aggression and that once again we would have no other dilemma than that with which we began the revolutionary struggle, that of freedom or death; only now freedom means something else still, freedom means Homeland, and our dilemma would be: homeland or death".

When the day before the French ship La Coubre exploded in the port of Havana, Fidel and other leaders of the Revolution, as well as thousands of people arrived at the port facility.

In spite of the great confusion and the danger posed by the prevailing situation, the reaction of the people was evident in the immediate rescue of many of those who had been seriously wounded.

In total, the sabotage of La Coubre caused the death of more than a hundred people, including more than thirty missing, as well as several hundred wounded and great damage in the area.

And in the farewell act of mourning Fidel emphasized: "Whoever saw what the Cubans did yesterday; whoever saw the soldiers and the people advance towards danger to rescue the wounded, to rescue the victims in a burning ship, in an area that was burning, when they did not know how many more explosions were going to occur; whoever knew of those waves, swept away by the explosions, who died, not in the first, Whoever saw the people behave the way they behaved yesterday; whoever saw the people direct the traffic; whoever saw the people establish order; whoever saw the people advance towards that explosion that left behind it, like a fungus, reminiscent of the fungus of nuclear explosions; whoever saw the people advance towards that fungus without knowing what it was, can be sure that our people is a people capable of defending itself, a people capable of advancing even against the fungus of nuclear bombs".

And after having made reference to the historical dilemma that the Cuban people had before them and which he summarized in the phrase Homeland or Death, he emphasized when evoking the fallen in that artful sabotage: "And as we bid them farewell at the threshold of the cemetery, a promise that more than a promise of today, is a promise of yesterday and always:  Cuba will not flinch, Cuba will not back down; the Revolution will not stop, the Revolution will not back down, the Revolution will go forward victoriously, the Revolution will continue its march unwaveringly. "

And what Fidel said more than 60 years ago remains extraordinarily valid in the face of new dangers, threats and maneuvers the Revolution, with the firmness of the people, continues and will continue forward.