Cuban President Fidel Castro. The APSP sends well wishes to Comandante Fidel Castro and the revolutionary party of the Cuban people.
As The Burning Spear was going to press, we learned that Cuban President Fidel Castro has temporarily relinquished his presidency and other posts pending his recovery from intestinal surgery.
We are reprinting here messages from Fidel Castro concerning his health and decisions related to his incapacity as reported by the Cuban government.
There have been televised reports of dancing in the streets of Miami by Cuban Gusanos and other reactionaries, in hopes that Castro’s reported illness may result in his imminent demise.
The U.S. government has also gone to work with highly publicized legislation and other preparations for some kind of U.S. intervention upon the death of the Cuban president who has been the object of U.S. assassination attempts for most of the forty odd years he has been in power.
On the other hand, there have been millions of people and organizations of the oppressed peoples around the world that have sent expressions of solidarity and well wishes to the Cuban people and to Comandante Fidel.
We all recognize that the Cuban revolution is hated by all reaction and especially by the U.S. imperialist cutthroats because it is an example of the capacity of the people to overthrow their neocolonialist overlords, to defy and actually defeat imperialism and to build a society in the interests of the workers and toiling masses.
The African People’s Socialist Party joins with the peoples of the world and the Cuban people in expressing our well wishes to Comandante Fidel Castro and the revolutionary party of the Cuban people.
We know that Fidel Castro has reached an old age, notwithstanding all the attempts by the imperialists to send him to an early grave. We know that there is a possibility that Comadante Fidel may succumb to his current illness. We also, know that as a man approaching 80 years, we cannot rely on having his presence for many more years even under the best of circumstances.
However, having said all that, we also know that the prognosis for Comandante Fidel is far more favorable than the prognosis for imperialism that is even now writhing in death agony.
Moreover, unlike imperialism, Fidel will live forever in the hearts of the struggling peoples of the world.
I cannot make up good news, because that would be unethical, and if there were bad news, this will only be of benefit to the enemy. Given the specific situation facing Cuba and the plans designed by the empire, the information about my health condition becomes a State secret that cannot be continuously disseminated, and my compatriots should understand that. I cannot let myself be trapped by the vicious circle of the health parameters that are constantly changing during the day.
I can say that my condition is stable, but only with time could I speak about the true evolution of my health status. The best I could say is that my condition will remain stable for many days to come before I could give a verdict.
I very much appreciate all the messages sent by our compatriots and by many people in the world. I feel sorry for having caused so much concern and bother to our friends in the world. I feel in a very good spirit.
The important thing is that everything in our country is going on and will continue to go on very smoothly. The Revolutionary Armed Forces and the people are ready to defend the country.
Our compatriots will have a complete information in due time, as was the case when I fell down in Villa Clara. We must struggle and work.
Due to the enormous effort made to visit the Argentine city of Córdoba, participate in the Mercosur meeting, in the closing session of the Summit of the Peoples at the historical University of Córdoba and the visit to Altagracia, the city where Che lived as a child, and in addition to that, immediately attending the commemoration of the 53rd anniversary of the assault on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes garrisons on July 26, 1953 in the provinces of Granma and Holguín, compounded by days and nights of continuous work with barely any sleep have all resulted in my health — which has stood up to every test — being subjected to extreme stress and breaking down.
This provoked an acute intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding which obliged me to undergo a complicated surgical operation. All of the details of this health accident are confirmed by X-rays, endoscopies and filmed material. The operation has obliged me to take various weeks of rest, at a remove from my responsibilities and duties.
Given that our country is threatened in circumstances like this by the government of the United States, I have taken the following decision:
1) I provisionally delegate my functions as first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba to the second secretary, comrade Raúl Castro Ruz.
2) I provisionally delegate my functions as Commander in Chief of the Revolutionary Armed Forces to the abovementioned comrade, General of the Army Raúl Castro Ruz.
3) I provisionally delegate my functions as president of the Council of State and the government of the Republic of Cuba to the first vice president, comrade Raúl Castro Ruz.
4) I provisionally delegate my functions as the principal instigator of the National and International Public Health Program to member of the Political Bureau and Minister of Public Health, comrade José Ramón Balaguer Cabrera.
5) I provisionally delegate my functions as the principal instigator of the National and International Education Program to comrades José Ramón Machado Ventura and Esteban Lazo Hernández, members of the Political Bureau.
6) I provisionally delegate my functions as the principal instigator of the National Program of the Energy Revolution in Cuba and cooperation with other countries in this sphere to comrade Carlos Lage Dávila, member of the Political Bureau and secretary of the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers.
The funds corresponding to these three programs: Health, Education and Energy, should continue being managed and prioritized, as I have been doing personally, by comrades Carlos Lage Dávila, secretary of the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers; Francisco Soberón Valdés, minister president of the Central Bank of Cuba; and Felipe Pérez Roque, minister of foreign affairs, who have accompanied me in these matters and who should constitute a committee for that objective.
Our glorious Communist Party, supported by the mass organizations and all the people, has the mission of assuming the task entrusted in this announcement.
The Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, scheduled for September 11-16, should receive the greatest attention of the Cuban state and nation to take place with the maximum brilliance on the agreed date. I would ask everyone to postpone the anniversary of my 80th birthday, which thousands of personalities so generously agreed to celebrate on August 13, to December 2 of this year, the 50th anniversary of the Granma Landing.
I ask the Central Committee of the Party and the National Assembly of People’s Power to give their firmest support to this announcement. I do not harbor the slightest doubt that our people and our Revolution will fight until the last drop of blood to defend these and other ideas and measures that are necessary for safeguarding this historical process.
Imperialism will never be able to crush Cuba. The Battle of Ideas will continue advancing.
¡Viva la Patria!
¡Viva la Revolución!
¡Viva el Socialismo!
¡Hasta la Victoria Siempre!
