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Havana, April 1, 1965.
Fidel:
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
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