I have always said to workers that they have to work hard, to produce more and better. In Chile, we need to achieve an average annual income of US$2,000, and to do that we need to increase production.

There can be leftist groups that have not matured politically.

I have been to Cuba many times. I have spoken many times with Fidel Castro and got to know Commander Ernesto Guevara well enough. I know Cuba's leaders and their struggle. It has been difficult to overcome the blockade. But the reality in Cuba is very different from that in Chile. Cuba came from a dictatorship, and I arrived at the presidency after being senator for 25 years.

First fulfill your academic obligations and then you will have the right to call yourself a leader of the left.

If the U.S. is going to defend itself, why shouldn't we do the same? We only want to be treated equally, nothing more.

Only an organized and conscious people can bring about a different kind of society.

I can't spend my whole day talking to people.