Rasoolpuri
14th October 2007, 18:20
Che's Farewell Letter To Fidel Castro
Havana, April 1, 1965
AT this moment I remember many things — when I met you in Maria Antonia's
house, when you proposed I come along, all the tensions involved in the
preparations. One day they came by and asked who should be notified in case
of death, and the real possibility of it struck us all. Later we knew it was
true, that in a revolution one wins or dies (if it is a real one). Many
comrades fell along the way to victory.
Today everything has a less dramatic tone, because we are more mature, but
the event repeats itself. I feel that I have fulfilled the part of my duty
that tied me to the Cuban revolution in its territory, and I say farewell to
you, to the comrades, to your people, who now are mine.
I formally resign my positions in the leadership of the party, my post as
minister, my rank of commander, and my Cuban citizenship. Nothing legal
binds me to Cuba. The only ties are of another nature-those that cannot be
broken as can appointments to posts.
Reviewing my past life, I believe I have worked with sufficient integrity
and dedication to consolidate the revolutionary triumph. My only serious
failing was not having had more confidence in you from the first moments in
the Sierra Maestra, and not having understood quickly enough your qualities
as a leader and a revolutionary.
I have lived magnificent days, and at your side I felt the pride of
belonging to our people in the brilliant yet sad days of the Caribbean
crisis." Seldom has a statesman been more brilliant as you were in those
days. I am also proud of having followed you without hesitation, of having
identified with your way of thinking and of seeing and appraising dangers
and principles.
Other nations of the world summon my modest efforts of assistance. I can do
that which is denied you due to your responsibility at head of Cuba, and the
time has come for us to part.
You should know that I do so with a mixture of joy and sorrow. I leave here
the purest of my hopes as a builder and the dearest of those I hold dear.
And I leave a people who received me as a son. That wounds a part of my
spirit. I carry to new battlefronts the faith that you taught me, the
revolutionary spirit of my people, the feeling of fulfilling the most sacred
of duties: to fight against imperialism wherever one may be. This is a
source of strength, and more than heals the deepest of wounds.
I state once more that I free Cuba from all responsibility, except that
which stems from its example. If my final hour finds me under other skies,
my last thought will be of this people and especially of you. I am grateful
for your teaching and your example, to which I shall try to be faithful up
to the final consequences of my acts.
I have always been identified with the foreign policy of our revolution, and
I continue to be. Wherever I am, I will feel the responsibility of being a
Cuban revolutionary, and I shall behave as such. I am not sorry that I leave
nothing material to my wife and children; I am happy it is that way. I ask
nothing for them, as the state will provide them with enough to live on and
receive an education.
I would have many things to say to you and to our people, but I feel they
are unnecessary. Words cannot express what I would like them to, and there
is no point in scribbling pages.
Ever onward to victory!
Homeland or Death!
I embrace you with all my revolutionary fervour.
Che
Havana, April 1, 1965
AT this moment I remember many things — when I met you in Maria Antonia's
house, when you proposed I come along, all the tensions involved in the
preparations. One day they came by and asked who should be notified in case
of death, and the real possibility of it struck us all. Later we knew it was
true, that in a revolution one wins or dies (if it is a real one). Many
comrades fell along the way to victory.
Today everything has a less dramatic tone, because we are more mature, but
the event repeats itself. I feel that I have fulfilled the part of my duty
that tied me to the Cuban revolution in its territory, and I say farewell to
you, to the comrades, to your people, who now are mine.
I formally resign my positions in the leadership of the party, my post as
minister, my rank of commander, and my Cuban citizenship. Nothing legal
binds me to Cuba. The only ties are of another nature-those that cannot be
broken as can appointments to posts.
Reviewing my past life, I believe I have worked with sufficient integrity
and dedication to consolidate the revolutionary triumph. My only serious
failing was not having had more confidence in you from the first moments in
the Sierra Maestra, and not having understood quickly enough your qualities
as a leader and a revolutionary.
I have lived magnificent days, and at your side I felt the pride of
belonging to our people in the brilliant yet sad days of the Caribbean
crisis." Seldom has a statesman been more brilliant as you were in those
days. I am also proud of having followed you without hesitation, of having
identified with your way of thinking and of seeing and appraising dangers
and principles.
Other nations of the world summon my modest efforts of assistance. I can do
that which is denied you due to your responsibility at head of Cuba, and the
time has come for us to part.
You should know that I do so with a mixture of joy and sorrow. I leave here
the purest of my hopes as a builder and the dearest of those I hold dear.
And I leave a people who received me as a son. That wounds a part of my
spirit. I carry to new battlefronts the faith that you taught me, the
revolutionary spirit of my people, the feeling of fulfilling the most sacred
of duties: to fight against imperialism wherever one may be. This is a
source of strength, and more than heals the deepest of wounds.
I state once more that I free Cuba from all responsibility, except that
which stems from its example. If my final hour finds me under other skies,
my last thought will be of this people and especially of you. I am grateful
for your teaching and your example, to which I shall try to be faithful up
to the final consequences of my acts.
I have always been identified with the foreign policy of our revolution, and
I continue to be. Wherever I am, I will feel the responsibility of being a
Cuban revolutionary, and I shall behave as such. I am not sorry that I leave
nothing material to my wife and children; I am happy it is that way. I ask
nothing for them, as the state will provide them with enough to live on and
receive an education.
I would have many things to say to you and to our people, but I feel they
are unnecessary. Words cannot express what I would like them to, and there
is no point in scribbling pages.
Ever onward to victory!
Homeland or Death!
I embrace you with all my revolutionary fervour.
Che