Fidel Castro: I Thought I'd Be Dead By Now
9:28am UK, Thursday 15 August 2013
The retired Cuban leader writes in a Communist newspaper that he did not expect to live for many years after his 2006 illness.
Fidel Castro has said he never expected to see his 87th birthday after serious illness forced him from office in 2006.
Castro, who turned 87 on Tuesday, has written about being struck down by a near-fatal intestinal ailment in 2006 in an essay carried by official media.
The essay was published over three pages of the Communist Party newspaper Granma.
"As soon as I understood that it would be definitive I did not hesitate to cease my charges as president," Mr Castro wrote.
<figure class="inlinedImage inlinedPORTRAIT" style="margin: 0px 0px 14px 16px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; float: right; width: 254px; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">
<figcaption style="margin: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 1.36; color: rgb(136, 136, 136); clear: both;">Castro published his essay in the official newspaper Granma</figcaption></figure>
"I proposed that the person designated to exercise that task proceed immediately to take it up," the retired leader added, referring to his successor and younger brother Raul Castro.
"I was far from imagining that my life would be prolonged seven more years."
Castro stepped aside provisionally that year and retired permanently in 2008.
He rarely appears in public nowadays, however photos and video of him are released occasionally through official media.
<figure class="inlinedImage inlinedLANDSCAPE" style="margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">
<figcaption style="margin: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 1.36; color: rgb(136, 136, 136); clear: both;">Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro with his brother Raul</figcaption></figure>It was Castro's first essay in more than four months.
He stopped penning his semi-regular columns called "Reflections" last year, and ended a nine-month hiatus in April with a piece urging restraint amid elevated tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
In the latest essay, Castro also reflected on topics such as the death in March of his friend and close ally Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, as well as the wonders of science.
"The sciences should teach us above all to be humble, given our congenital self-sufficiency," he said.
"Thus would we be better prepared to confront and even enjoy the rare privilege of existence."
9:28am UK, Thursday 15 August 2013
The retired Cuban leader writes in a Communist newspaper that he did not expect to live for many years after his 2006 illness.
Fidel Castro has said he never expected to see his 87th birthday after serious illness forced him from office in 2006.
Castro, who turned 87 on Tuesday, has written about being struck down by a near-fatal intestinal ailment in 2006 in an essay carried by official media.
The essay was published over three pages of the Communist Party newspaper Granma.
"As soon as I understood that it would be definitive I did not hesitate to cease my charges as president," Mr Castro wrote.
<figure class="inlinedImage inlinedPORTRAIT" style="margin: 0px 0px 14px 16px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; float: right; width: 254px; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">
"I proposed that the person designated to exercise that task proceed immediately to take it up," the retired leader added, referring to his successor and younger brother Raul Castro.
"I was far from imagining that my life would be prolonged seven more years."
Castro stepped aside provisionally that year and retired permanently in 2008.
He rarely appears in public nowadays, however photos and video of him are released occasionally through official media.
<figure class="inlinedImage inlinedLANDSCAPE" style="margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">
He stopped penning his semi-regular columns called "Reflections" last year, and ended a nine-month hiatus in April with a piece urging restraint amid elevated tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
In the latest essay, Castro also reflected on topics such as the death in March of his friend and close ally Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, as well as the wonders of science.
"The sciences should teach us above all to be humble, given our congenital self-sufficiency," he said.
"Thus would we be better prepared to confront and even enjoy the rare privilege of existence."
