19.2.2008
An
ailing Fidel Castro resigned as Cuba's leader today (19)
, ending nearly a half-century of rule that outlasted
10 US presidents and survived many alleged assassination
attempts by his detractors abroad. Castro, 81, announced
his decision in a letter posted in the online edition
of the Communist Party daily Granma, which has been his
main form of communication since July 2006, when a crippling
illness rendered him too weak to appear in public.
His
brother Raul Castro, 76, has run Cuba on a day-to-day
basis since Fidel became sick, an arrangement that is
likely to continue for now.
"I
will not aspire to nor accept — I repeat, I will
not aspire to nor accept — the post of President
of the Council of State and Commander in Chief,"
read a letter signed by Castro published early Tuesday
in the online edition of the Communist Party daily Granma.
Fidel
Castro and the Cuban Revolution as well as the life of
its most charismatic leader, Ernesto Che Guevara, have
inspired tens of thousands of youth across all continents
throughtout Castro's long tenure just as he earned the
wrath of Washington's many leaders who came and went while
he ruled Cuba.
Even
toward the end of his tenure, Castro inspired some hemispheric
leaders, as the region experienced another cycle of left-leaning
governments. Hugo Chàvez, the populist president
of oil-rich Venezuela, regularly visits Havana and hosted
Castro in Caracas. The friendship earned Cuba a new patron
and precious oil imports.
"This
is not my farewell to you. My only wish is to fight as
a soldier in the battle of ideas," Castro's letter
published Tuesday states. "Perhaps my voice will
be heard. I shall be careful."
The
full text of his letter is given below:
Dear
compatriots:
Last
Friday, Feb. 15, I promised you that in my next reflection
I would deal with an issue of interest to many compatriots.
So this reflection comes in the form of a message.
The
time has come to nominate and elect the State Council,
its president, its vice presidents and its secretary.
For
many years I occupied the honorable position of president.
On Feb. 15, 1976, the Socialist Constitution was approved
with the free, direct and secret vote of over 95% of eligible
voters. The first National Assembly was established on
Dec. 2 that same year, and it elected the State Council
and its presidency. Before that, I had been a prime minister
for almost 18 years. I always had the necessary prerogatives
to carry forward the revolutionary work with the support
of the overwhelming majority of the people.
There were those overseas who, aware of my critical health
condition, thought that my provisional resignation, on
July 31, 2006, from the position of President of the State
Council, which I left to First Vice President Raul Castro
Ruz, was permanent. Raul, who is also minister of the
Armed Forces because of his personal merits, and the other
comrades of the Party and State leadership were unwilling
to consider me out of public life despite my precarious
health.
It
was an uncomfortable situation for me vis-a-vis an adversary
which had done everything possible to get rid of me (referring
to the United States), and I felt reluctant to comply.
Later,
I was able to recover the full command of my mind and
could do much reading and meditation, required by my retreat.
I had enough physical strength to write for many hours,
which I shared with rehabilitation and recovery programs.
Basic common sense indicated to me that such activity
was within my reach. On the other hand, when referring
to my health I was extremely careful to avoid raising
expectations since I felt that an adverse ending would
bring traumatic news to our people in the midst of the
battle. Thus, my first duty was to prepare our people
both politically and psychologically for my absence after
so many years of struggle. I kept saying that my recovery
"was not without risks."
My
wishes have always been to discharge my duties to my last
breath. That's what I can offer.
To
my dearest compatriots, who have recently honored me so
much by electing me a member of the Parliament where so
many agreements should be adopted of utmost importance
to the destiny of our Revolution, I am saying that I will
neither aspire to nor accept — I repeat, I will
neither aspire to nor accept — the positions of
President of the State Council and Commander in Chief.
In
short letters addressed to Randy Alonso, Director of the
Round Table program on National Television — letters
which at my request were made public — I discreetly
introduced elements of this message I am writing today,
when not even the addressee of such letters was aware
of my intention. I trusted Randy because I knew him well
from his days as a journalism student. In those days I
met almost on a nearly weekly basis with the main representatives
of the university students from the provinces at the library
of the large house in Kohly where they lived. Today, the
entire country is an immense university.
Here
are selected paragraphs from the letter sent to Randy
on Dec. 17, 2007:
"I
strongly believe that the answers to the current problems
facing Cuban society, which has on average a 12th grade
education, almost 1 million university graduates, and
real opportunities for its citizens to study without facing
discrimination, require more variables for each concrete
problem than those contained in a chess game. We cannot
ignore a single detail; this is not an easy path to take,
if the intelligence of a human being in a revolutionary
society is to prevail over instinct.
"My
elemental duty is not to cling to positions, much less
to stand in the way of younger persons, but rather to
contribute experience and ideas whose modest value comes
from the exceptional era in which I lived.
"Like
(Brazilian architect Oscar) Niemeyer (who turned 100 on
Dec. 15), I believe that one has to be consistent right
up to the end."
Letter
from Jan. 8, 2008:
"...
I am a firm supporter of a unified vote (a principle that
preserves ignored merits), which allowed us to avoid the
tendency to copy what came to us from countries of the
former socialist bloc, including the portrait of the one
candidate, as singular as his solidarity toward Cuba.
I deeply respect that first attempt at building socialism,
thanks to which we were able to continue along the path
we had chosen."
I
reiterated in that letter that "... I never forget
that all the world's glory fits in a kernel of corn."
Therefore,
it would be a betrayal of my conscience to accept a responsibility
requiring more mobility and dedication than I am physically
able to offer. This I say devoid of all drama.
Fortunately,
our process can still count on cadres from the old guard
and others who were very young in the early days of the
Revolution. Some were very young, almost children, when
they joined the fight on the mountains and later they
filled the country with glory with their heroism and their
internationalist missions. They have the authority and
the experience to guarantee the replacement. There is
also the intermediate generation which learned with us
the basics of the complex and almost unattainable art
of organizing and leading a revolution.
The
path will always be difficult and require everyone's intelligent
effort. I distrust the seemingly easy path of apologetics
or its antithesis of self-flagellation. We should always
be prepared for the worst possibilities. We cannot forget
the principle of being as prudent in success as steady
in adversity. The adversarx to be defeated is extremely
strong, but we have been able to keep it at bay for half
a century.
This
is not my farewell to you. My only wish is to fight as
a soldier in the battle of ideas. I shall continue to
write under the title, "Reflections of Comrade Fidel."
It will be another weapon you can count on. Perhaps my
voice will be heard. I shall be careful.
Thank
you.
Fidel
Castro Ruz
Feb.
18, 2008-5:30 p.m.
Courtesy
- Government Information