Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro said in a letter read on state television Monday that he does not intend to cling to power forever or stand in the way of a younger generation, but invoked the example of a renowned Brazilian architect who is still working at 100.
"My elemental duty is not to cling to positions, or even less to obstruct the path of younger people, but to share experiences and ideas whose modest worth comes from the exceptional era in which I lived," Castro wrote in the final paragraph of a lengthy letter discussing the Bali summit on global warming.
Castro's thoughts about power and making way for younger leaders were similar to past comments, including those before he fell ill.
The 81-year-old Castro has not said when — or even if — he will permanently step aside after temporarily ceding his powers to his younger brother Raul, 76, 16 months ago. He has not been seen in public since he made that announcement in July 2006 after undergoing emergency intestinal surgery.
Castro remains the president of Cuba's Council of State, making him the country's head of government. Several times a week he pens essays, many of them on international issues, that are read on state media.
"I think like [Oscar] Niemeyer that you have to be of consequence up to the end," Castro wrote in Monday's essay, referring to the Brazilian architect who was honoured around the world as he turned 100 on Saturday.
Niemeyer helped design the UN headquarters and the main buildings of Brazil's capital, and in 1988 won the Pritzker Architecture Prize — dubbed the Nobel of architecture.
In an essay over the weekend, Castro paid homage to Niemeyer, a lifelong communist who was exiled for several years during Brazil's 1964-85 military dictatorship.
Related
Video
- Neil Macdonald reports for CBC-TV (Runs: 2:39)
- Play: Real Media »
- Play: QuickTime »
More World Headlines »
- Obama, Huckabee win Iowa caucuses
- Democratic Illinois Senator Barack Obama and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee have been declared the winners of their presidential caucuses in Iowa, the first test in the race for the White House.
- Kenyan protesters set to march again Friday
- Kenya's opposition party said it will try again Friday to hold a banned anti-government rally in the country's capital, after hundreds of protesters at Thursday's planned march were met with tear gas and water cannons.
- Musharraf not 'fully satisfied' with Pakistani probe of Bhutto's death
- Pervez Musharraf denied accusations the military or intelligence services were involved in the killing of Benazir Bhutto, but said he was not satisfied with Pakistan's probe into her death.
- At least 9 Palestinians reported killed as Israeli troops enter Gaza
- Israeli troops and air strikes killed at least nine Palestinians on Thursday, including three civilians, according to witnesses and Palestinian medics, in an operation the Israeli military said was aimed at curbing rocket attacks from the southern Gaza Strip.
- DNA evidence frees Texas man jailed 26 years for rape
- A Texas man who spent 26 years in jail for raping his neighbour was released from a Dallas prison on Thursday after a DNA test cleared his name.
World Features
Blog Watch
Most Blogged about CBC.ca Articles