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<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/02/19/world/0219-CASTRO_index.html" eudora="autourl">
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/02/19/world/0219-CASTRO_index.html</a>
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Good slideshow from NY Times<br><br>
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<img src="http://www.plenglish.com/pictures/feb08/fide_23.jpg" width=100 height=132 alt="Fidel Castro will neither aspire to nor accept reelection">
<font size=3><br>
</font><font size=5 color="#FF0000">Fidel Castro will neither aspire to
nor accept reelection<br>
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<a href="http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID={F17D2E0E-E484-45E8-A92F-0C9CB237AF65})&language=EN" eudora="autourl">
http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID={F17D2E0E-E484-45E8-A92F-0C9CB237AF65})&language=EN<br>
<br>
</a>Havana, Feb 19 (Prensa Latina) Cuban President Fidel Castro announced
he will not aspire to nor accept the positions of President of the State
Council and Commander in Chief at the Parliament session scheduled for
February 24th.<br><br>
“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 heading of
‘Reflections by comrade Fidel.’ It will be just another weapon you can
count on. Perhaps my voice will be heard. I shall be careful,” stressed
the leader of the Cuban Revolution in a message released
Tuesday.<br><br>
Prensa Latina published the full text of Fidel Castro´s statement:
Message from the Commander in Chief Dear compatriots: Last Friday,
February 15, I promised you that in my next reflection I would deal with
an issue of interest to many compatriots. Thus, this now is rather a
message.<br><br>
The moment has come to nominate and elect the State Council, its
President, its Vice-Presidents and Secretary.<br><br>
For many years I have occupied the honorable position of President. On
February 15, 1976 the Socialist Constitution was approved with the free,
direct and secret vote of over 95% of the people with the right to cast a
vote. The first National Assembly was established on December 2nd that
same year; this 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.<br><br>
There were those overseas who, aware of my critical health condition,
thought that my provisional resignation, on July 31, 2006, to the
position of President of the State Council, which I left to First
Vice-President Raul Castro Ruz, was final. But Raul, who is also minister
of the Armed Forces on account of his own personal merits, and the other
comrades of the Party and State leadership were unwilling to consider me
out of public life despite my unstable health condition.<br><br>
It was an uncomfortable situation for me vis-à-vis an adversary which had
done everything possible to get rid of me, and I felt reluctant to
comply.<br><br>
Later, in my necessary retreat, I was able to recover the full command of
my mind as well as the possibility for much reading and meditation. I had
enough physical strength to write for many hours, which I shared with the
corresponding rehabilitation and recovery programs. Basic common sense
indicated 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 all I can offer.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
In short letters addressed to Randy Alonso, Director of the Round Table
National TV Program, --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, whom I knew very well from his days as a student of
Journalism. In those days I met almost on a 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.<br><br>
Following are some paragraphs chosen from the letter addressed to Randy
on December 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.<br><br>
“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.<br><br>
“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 the world’s glory fits in a kernel of corn.”
Therefore, it would be a betrayal to 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.<br><br>
Fortunately, our Revolution can still count on cadres from the old guard
and others who were very young in the early stages of the process. Some
were very young, almost children, when they joined the fight on the
mountains and later they have given glory to the country with their
heroic performance and their internationalist missions. They have the
authority and the experience to guarantee the replacement. There is also
the intermediate generation which learned together with us the basics of
the complex and almost unattainable art of organizing and leading a
revolution.<br><br>
The path will always be difficult and require from everyone’s intelligent
effort. I distrust the seemingly easy path of apologetics or its
antithesis the self-flagellation. We should always be prepared for the
worst variable. The principle of being as prudent in success as steady in
adversity cannot be forgotten. The adversary to be defeated is extremely
strong; however, we have been able to keep it at bay for half a
century.<br><br>
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 heading of
‘Reflections by comrade Fidel.’ It will be just another weapon you can
count on. Perhaps my voice will be heard. I shall be careful.<br><br>
Thanks.<br><br>
Fidel Castro Ruz February 18, 2008 5:30 p.m.<br><br>
PL-1<br><br>
<br><br>
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