'This Is Not My Farewell...'

Dear compatriots:

Last Friday, February 15, I promised you that in my next reflection I woulddeal with an issue of interest to many compatriots. Thus, this now is rather amessage.

The moment has come to nominate and elect the State Council, its President,its Vice-Presidents and Secretary.

For many years I have occupied the honorable position of President. OnFebruary 15, 1976 the Socialist Constitution was approved with the free, directand secret vote of over 95% of the people with the right to cast a vote. Thefirst National Assembly was established on December 2nd that same year; thiselected the State Council and its presidency. Before that, I had been a PrimeMinister for almost 18 years. I always had the necessary prerogatives to carryforward the revolutionary work with the support of the overwhelming majority ofthe people.

There were those overseas who, aware of my critical health condition, thoughtthat my provisional resignation, on July 31, 2006, to the position of Presidentof the State Council, which I left to First Vice-President Raul Castro Ruz, wasfinal. But Raul, who is also minister of the Armed Forces on account of his ownpersonal merits, and the other comrades of the Party and State leadership wereunwilling to consider me out of public life despite my unstable healthcondition.

It was an uncomfortable situation for me vis-à-vis an adversary which haddone everything possible to get rid of me, and I felt reluctant to comply.

Later, in my necessary retreat, I was able to recover the full command of mymind as well as the possibility for much reading and meditation. I had enoughphysical strength to write for many hours, which I shared with the correspondingrehabilitation and recovery programs. Basic common sense indicated that suchactivity was within my reach. On the other hand, when referring to my health Iwas extremely careful to avoid raising expectations since I felt that an adverseending would bring traumatic news to our people in the midst of the battle.Thus, my first duty was to prepare our people both politically andpsychologically for my absence after so many years of struggle. I kept sayingthat my recovery "was not without risks."

My wishes have always been to discharge my duties to my last breath. That'sall I can offer.

To my dearest compatriots, who have recently honored me so much by electingme a member of the Parliament where so many agreements should be adopted ofutmost importance to the destiny of our Revolution, I am saying that I willneither aspire to nor accept, I repeat, I will neither aspire to nor accept thepositions of President of the State Council and Commander in Chief.

In short letters addressed to Randy Alonso, Director of the Round TableNational TV Program, --letters which at my request were made public-- Idiscreetly introduced elements of this message I am writing today, when not eventhe addressee of such letters was aware of my intention. I trusted Randy, whom Iknew very well from his days as a student of Journalism. In those days I metalmost on a weekly basis with the main representatives of the Universitystudents from the provinces at the library of the large house in Kohly wherethey lived. Today, the entire country is an immense University.

Following are some paragraphs chosen from the letter addressed to Randy onDecember 17, 2007:

"I strongly believe that the answers to the current problems facing Cuban society, which has, as an average, a twelfth grade of education, almost a million university graduates, and a real possibility for all its citizens to become educated without their being in any way discriminated against, require more variables for each concrete problem than those contained in a chess game. We cannot ignore one 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 my own experience and ideas whose modest value comes from the exceptional era that I had the privilege of living in.

"Like Niemeyer, I believe that one has to be consistent right up to the end."

Letter from January 8, 2008:

"…I am a firm supporter of the united vote (a principle that preserves the unknown 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 towards Cuba. I deeply respect that first attempt at building socialism, thanks to which we were able to continue along the path we had chosen."

And I reiterated in that letter that "…I never forget that 'all of theworld's glory fits in a kernel of corn."

Therefore, it would be a betrayal to my conscience to accept a responsibilityrequiring more mobility and dedication than I am physically able to offer. ThisI say devoid of all drama.

Fortunately, our Revolution can still count on cadres from the old guard andothers who were very young in the early stages of the process. Some were veryyoung, almost children, when they joined the fight on the mountains and laterthey have given glory to the country with their heroic performance and theirinternationalist missions. They have the authority and the experience toguarantee the replacement. There is also the intermediate generation whichlearned together with us the basics of the complex and almost unattainable artof organizing and leading a revolution.

The path will always be difficult and require from everyone's intelligenteffort. I distrust the seemingly easy path of apologetics or its antithesis theself-flagellation. We should always be prepared for the worst variable. Theprinciple of being as prudent in success as steady in adversity cannot beforgotten. The adversary to be defeated is extremely strong; however, we havebeen 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 thebattle of ideas. I shall continue to write under the heading of 'Reflections bycomrade Fidel.' It will be just another weapon you can count on. Perhaps myvoice will be heard. I shall be careful.

Thanks.

Fidel Castro Ruz
February 18, 2008
5:30 p.m.