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<div align="center"><font size=3><b><i>Reflections by the Commander in
Chief<br>
</i></b> <br>
<b>CHE<br>
</b></div>
<br>
I make a halt in my daily struggle to bow my head in respect and
gratitude to the exceptional combatant who fell in combat on October
8<sup>th</sup>, forty years ago; for the example he passed on to us as
leader of his Rebel Army Column, crossing the swampy grounds of the
former provinces of Oriente and Camagüey, while being chased by enemy
troops. He was the liberator of the city of Santa Clara and the
mastermind of voluntary work; he accomplished honorable political
missions abroad and served as messenger of militant internationalism in
East Congo and Bolivia. He built a new awareness in our America and
the world.<br>
<br>
I thank him for what he tried and failed to do in his home country,
because he was like a flower prematurely severed from its stem.<br>
<br>
He left to us his unmistakable literary style. He was elegant, swift and
true to every detail of whatever happened to cross his mind. He was
a predestinate, but he didn’t know it. He still fights with us and
for us.<br>
<br>
Yesterday, we commemorated the 31<sup>st</sup> anniversary of the killing
of all passengers and the crew of a Cubana airliner blown in mid-air, and
we are on the threshold of the tenth anniversary of the cruel and unjust
imprisonment of the five Cuban anti-terrorist heroes. We likewise
bow our heads in respect to them all.<br>
<br>
It was with great emotion that I watched and heard the commemoration
ceremony on TV.<br>
<br>
Fidel Castro Ruz<br>
October 7, 2007<br>
3:17 pm <br><br>
<br><br>
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