Heads Of State

"Using various revolutionary methods, aware of the reactionary and diehard character of our adversaries, and taking into account the expe­rience of participating in two coalitions, the Party held that the revolutionary violence of the masses was and always had been the basic means of attaining final victory, that the revolutionary strategy must always remain an offensive stra­tegy. This is why the Party considered it its basic task to strengthen and expand the revolutionary forces all round, while at the same time conti­nuing the struggle on the political, legal and diplomatic fronts."

"Our fighters, cadres and Party members used the method of "armed propaganda": while hitting the enemy, they carried on propaganda work, forming a mass base and expanding the revolutionary forces in every possible way. As a result, support bases were set up in many parts of the country, where we established revolutionary power and formed popular armed forces together with mass organisations. Gradually, stage by stage, suitable methods were applied to do away with feudal and prefeudal forms of exploitation, and an improvement came about in the material and cultural life of the peasant masses; the unity of all the nationalities grew stronger and stronger."

"Thanks to the Party's realistic rallying slogans, conscious of the dependable backing of the patriotic forces, and having gained a legal basis for struggle, various sections of the population in enemy-controlled areas and in the neutralised cities, especially workers, young people and students, who had long conceived a deep hatred for the thoroughly corrupt bureaucratic and military clique, came into motion, becoming more and more deeply and actively involved in the common struggle."

"Carefully weigh­ing its forces and the forces of its internal and external enemies, seeing that there were weak spots in the so-called "unimaginable might" of the USA, the Party reaffirmed its view that the revolution would inevitably triumph providing good use was made of the nation's potential, the advantages issuing from military cooperation with the army and people of Vietnam, and the existence of the three revolutionary streams of our time. Hence, the Party chose an offensive strategy and worked out flexible and realistic revolutionary methods and ways of struggle. In view of the new situation, it decided to raise the banner of struggle for national liberation and against American imperialism."

"We assume that the preliminary conclusions drawn from the Party's experience of applying its strategic line, tactics and revolutionary methods during the long and complicated struggle have practical significance for our revolution at the present stage, that of the consolidation of people's democracy and transition to socialism, and will possibly also contribute to the rich store of experience applying Marxism-Leninism in the revolutions of liberation today."

"I fear we (Djiboutians) will end up with a parliament indirectly controlled by Al-Shabaab because they'll have bought the support of some of the MPs."

"As a UN member state, the Kyrgyz Republic contributes to its development. Our global initiatives in the field of ecology, development of mountainous countries and preservation of historical heritage have been supported by the international community. The Kyrgyz Republic attaches special importance to strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation in Central Asia."

"We are deeply convinced that it is the parliamentary democracy that corresponds to the nature of the development of our society."

"We strive to build a prosperous society, which will be engaged in creative work, thanks to which citizens can have a decent rest, travel, and children have good health and receive a quality education."

"Education is not only our spiritual value but also a major resource for development. That is why the development of educational sphere is one of our government’s top priorities. Whether in mountainous or urban areas, providing citizens access to good education, healthcare and cultural systems has become one of our governments’ major tasks that we have been focused on."

"For us respecting the dignity of each individual, protecting the rights of children and women is tantamount to preserving the centuries-old historical heritage and spiritual values of our nation. That is exactly why we, the people of Kyrgyzstan, were the first in the Central Asian region in 1994 to sign the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

"For me, peace in Kyrgyzstan, the country’s integrity, the unity of our people and calm in society are more important than anything else. Military personnel and law enforcement agencies are obliged to use weapons to protect the residence of the head of state. In this case, blood will be shed. It is inevitable. I urge both sides not to succumb to provocations."

"I am not clinging to power. I do not want to go down in the history of Kyrgyzstan as a president who allowed bloodshed and shooting on its people. I have taken the decision to resign."

"We considerate it terrible that, because of the interests of economic and political elites, since the beginning of the legitimate presidency of Pedro Castillo, an environment of confrontation and hostility was maintained against him, leading him to take decisions that have served his adversaries to remove him."

"People are tired of so much damn fraud."

"If the price of imported gas rises, we will shift to using non-gas fired electric plants to provide needed electricity."

"Such vision Commander Fidel Castro had! While the neoliberals [in Mexico] were preventing the training of doctors, in Cuba they were driving the training of doctors, and consolidating one of the best health systems in the world . . . Conservatives in Mexico and around the world can say whatever they want, but they will never, ever be able to counteract the teaching, the example of solidarity, of brotherhood that the revolutionary movement and its leaders have left Cuba."

"In our time, there is still a mixture of oligarchy and democracy, or a simulated and mediated democracy. That is to say, in some countries, the oligarchy reigns with the façade of democracy. For example, how can we talk about democracy if the elites dominate, and not the majorities? How can we talk about democracy if there is no separation of economic power and political power? How can we talk about democracy if, in recent times, there has been the most offensive concentration of wealth in a few hands in the history of the world? The fortune of a minority has increased without limits, without any moral concern, while there are a billion human beings who live on less than a dollar a day."

"I did not see that op-ed, but I think that Jorge puts it very well there, that — you know, that this was something that Mexico agreed to. And to me, that was surprising, given the history of López Obrador and what I thought he would stand for and do once he was in office."

"what did the Washington Post say about all this? It compared López Obrador to Josef Stalin, literally, in print, saying that he had used Stalin’s methods of terrorizing the population in order to get in power. Huh? What? And the New York Times editorial was not much better. It accused him of gross, grave irresponsibility. The man is demanding a count of the vote to prove who won, since even with the first election commission, it was still only at 0.5 percent, less than 0.6 percent — less than 1 percent. I mean, it doesn’t take a whole lot of cheating to do that...I don’t think López Obrador is any raging radical. I mean, his politics are not super radical. I think he’s probably a populist, more accurately described, but he certainly is leaning to the left, and he’s certainly, I think, a better — [he] would take more steps to end the poverty and so forth in Mexico than Calderón would."

"There was a strange aftertaste to many of the calls for grand social reform in 2020. As the coronavirus crisis overtook us, the left wing on both sides of the Atlantic, at least that part that had been fired up Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders, was going down to defeat. The promise of a radicalized and reenergized left, organized around the idea of the Green New Deal, seemed to dissipate amidst the pandemic. It fell to governments mainly of the center and the right to meet the crisis. They were a strange assortment. Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil and Donald Trump in the United States experimented with denial. For them climate skepticism and virus skepticism went hand in hand. In Mexico, the notionally left-wing government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador also pursued a maverick path, refusing to take drastic action. Nationalist strongmen like Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, Narendra Modi in India, Vladimir Putin in Russia, and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey did not deny the virus, but relied on their patriotic appeal and bullying tactics to see them through. It was the managerial centrist types who were under most pressure. Figures like Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer in the United States, or Sebastián Piñera in Chile, or Cyril Ramaphosa in South Africa, Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel, Ursula von der Leyen, and their ilk in Europe. They accepted the science. Denial was not an option. They were desperate to demonstrate that they were better than the 'populists.' To meet the crisis, very middle-of-the-road politicians ended up doing very radical things. Most of it was improvisation and compromise, but insofar as they managed to put a programmatic gloss on their responses—whether in the form of the EU's Next Generation program or Biden's Build Back Better program in 2020—it came from the repertoire of green modernization, sustainable development, and the Green New Deal."

"Donbas should be part of the Russian empire. I don't see anything bad in imperialism."

"We are interested in further promotion of good relations between Tajikistan and Japan in all areas of mutual interest and positively assess their prospects. We are ready to jointly continue to take all necessary measures to enrich them with new content."

"The Tajik president said that agricultural workers in Tajikistan must use what water they have as efficiently as possible; but if the shortfalls in precipitation are as great as he says, they face real challenges if they are to produce as much food as they have in the past. And any food shortages could both trigger more outmigration and political instability."

"Ecowas (the west African bloc), the African Union and the international community to work together for a peaceful and non-violent solution to the political crisis (2022 Burkinabé coup d'état) in Burkina Faso."

"The existence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is essential for the sovereignty of Turkey. With no outcome reached in 50 years, it is no longer possible to hold negotiations on a federal structure in Cyprus."

"I am confident that the strong bonds of friendship and strategic partnership between Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan, based on a centuries-old common history and closeness of spiritual and cultural values, will continue to deepen in the fundamental interests of our peoples."

"We cannot do (creating a common space for socio-economic development under the 2014 Russo-Abkhaz 'Treaty of Alliance and Strategic Partnership') without Russian support and investment in infrastructure."

"Will 2022 be easier? I do not know the answer to this. But I know that together we will make it."

"It is our sacred duty to give the new generation a safe, happy, beautiful and prosperous Bangladesh."

"We (Ecuador) may be a small territory... but the planet (earth) is also ours."

"It is a democratic decision not only because it (his decision to dissolve the National Assembly) is constitutional but because it returns to the Ecuadoran people the possibility to decide."

"Our policies in favor of young people will continue with force and vigor during the next mandate."

"(It is) the Russian world we are fighting for, and in this sense, each of us is Russian."

"Why would foreign sovereigns seek to relate to another sovereign state through NGOs (non-governmental organizations)?"

"Zimbabwe's debt overhang continues to weigh down heavily on our (country) development efforts. We have no access to new lines of credit, including from the multilateral banks, such as the World Bank Group.”"

"Tt is unimaginable how much the peoples of the region pay for the failure of a strong, efficient and integrated Maghreb union."

"The country needs peace, the country needs reconciliation and development. We will move forward with this peace implementation."

"We want to correct the paths of the revolution and history."

"The solution we concluded is not what we wanted but is the least painful under the circumstances, ... I bear the political cost for this, in order to limit as much as possible the consequences for the economy and for our fellow Cypriots."

"The personalisation of political life is over. We will no longer entrust politics to one man (Alpha Condé). We will entrust it to the people (of Guinea)."

"We acknowledge human suffering. But at the same time, we must take measures against efforts to alter the demographic character of our country,"

"I want to create new educational and work opportunities for young professionals in our country. I want them to gain experience and to become educated and trained to be owners and managers of all sectors of our society. While, at this time, we must rely on foreign know-how in the oil and gas sectors, the ground must be readied now for young Guyanese to assume those positions, regardless of their race, color or creed."

"Our little children who are differently abled, they too must enjoy a good life, they too must enjoy a prosperous life, they too must be able to experience the joys of life in a comfortable environment, in an environment in which they are safe, protected, their parents can find comfort in having their children there. We are showing that in the world, we have a common commitment to ensure equity in access so notwithstanding the schools that were already budgeted for this year, we now can expand the program with this gift of love from the UAE (United Arab Emirates)."

"Our first line of defense is diplomacy. But we are also preparing for the worst case scenario ... We are preparing with our allies, with our friends, to ensure that we are in a position to defend what is ours."

"He (Imam Shaheed Mohamed) was instrumental in building the (Queenstown) mosque. He took from his pocket and asked the Muslim community to donate so that the mosque could have been completed. The Muslim community, matter in fact, the community at large is poorer without him."

"We must win the fight against abject poverty and suffering to spare humanity the dramatic consequences"

"The lessons of this peacekeeping operation, recognized as one of the rare successes of our world Organization in maintaining peace over the past several decades must inspire the United Nations further in initiatives in favour of peace"

"It is important for everyone to know that we (Laurent Gbagbo and I) have decided to restore trust and ensure that Ivorians reconcile and trust each other as well. The past events have been painful. Too many died and we must try to put that behind us."

"I have made it very clear that on the issue of the border controversy (with Venezuela), Guyana's position is non-negotiable."