Eduard STOICA

El Lider Maximo, preşedintele Cubei din 1959, a anunţat în cotidianul Granma că nu va mai candida la un mandat de cinci ani pentru preşedenţia ţării şi nici nu va mai accepta nici o altă funcţie în stat, “nu voi aspira şi nici nu voi accepta funcţia de Preşedinte al Consiliului de Stat şi cea de comandant şef al armatei”. Acesta şi-a desemnat succesorul în persoana fratelui, Raul Castro, care de 19 luni ocupă funcţia de Preşedinte al Consiliului de Stat, din cauza stării precare de sănatate a lui Fidel Castro. Duminică Parlamentul Cubanez se va reuni pentru desemnarea unui nou preşedinte, evident pentru desemnarea la conducerea Cubei a lui Raul Castro.

Vă anexez scrisoarea trimisă poporului cubanez de către cel care a codus Cuba cu o mână de fier timp de 47 de ani. (Sursa CNN)

“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.

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. 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.

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.

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.

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.

Thanks.

Fidel Castro Ruz”