Havana, August 14: Former Cuban president Fidel Castro marked his 83rd birthday on Thursday with a gloomy warning about the global economic crisis, which is hitting his country hard, and a vow to “carry on”.
Castro, the leader of Cuba’s 1959 revolution that brought communism to the Caribbean island, has remained out of public view for the last three years and in 2008 handed over the presidency to younger brother Raul Castro for health reasons.
But while he leaves day-to-day running of the government to Raul Castro, he remains influential behind the scenes and writes regular commentaries for state-run media.
In a column published in the Communist Party newspaper Granma on Thursday, Fidel Castro expressed scepticism about perceptions in the United States and in Europe that the world recession may be easing.
“The tendency among American politicians is to believe that as soon as the banks make available enough money to grease the machinery of the productive apparatus, everything will be on track toward an idyllic world beyond our dreams,” he wrote.
“Some say that the economic crisis is the end of imperialism … Maybe it must be wondered if it does not mean something worse for our species,” he said in the commentary.
Closing his column on a more upbeat note, he said, “In my judgment, it will always be best to have a just cause to defend and the hope to carry on.”
Although he has handed over the reins to Raul Castro, who is 78, Fidel Castro has stayed defiant against what he portrays as continuing US efforts to end the socialist system in Cuba he led and defended for nearly half a century.
He has said Cuba will not surrender, playing down cautious steps taken this year by US President Barack Obama to improve ties with Havana.
Obama has said he will keep the 47-year-old US trade embargo on the island to press the Cuban leadership to improve human rights and grant political freedoms.
Although the two governments have agreed to talk on migration and other issues, Fidel and Raul Castro have made clear that Washington should not expect concessions from Havana, and that they will not shift Cuba to capitalism.
–Agencies