As thousands of Cuban nationals gather long Havana’s seafront celebrating retired Cuban leader Fidel Castro turning 90 today, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has congratulated Castro for what it calls the selfless, inspirational and revolutionary contribution he has made in advancing a free world.
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He then heaped thanks on the Cuban people for their support he said allows him to continue his work.
“I want to express my most profound gratitude for the shows of respect, the greetings and gifts I have received the days, which give me the strength to reciprocate through ideas”, wrote Castro, as reported by Reuters.
In Saturday’s letter, Castro also criticized Obama for not apologizing to the Japanese during his trip to Hiroshima in May, saying his speech there was “lacking stature”. “It is important to tirelessly talk about the necessity to preserve peace”, Castro’s article published on Granma reads.
State media showed images of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro arriving in Havana and a tribute was planned at a Havana theatre for Sunday evening.
Mr Castro, who stepped down as president in 2006 due to ill health and appointed his brother Raul in his place, also used the occasion to lambast America for its repeated attempts to assassinate him during Havana’s long Cold War stand-off with Washington.
Both loved as a hero and hated as a dictator, Mr Castro is one of the giant figures of modern history.
“He lacked the words to ask for forgiveness for the killings of hundreds of thousands of people”, Castro wrote.
Mr Castro reminisced about his youth and his father who died before the revolution.
Recalling his half-a-century confrontation with the United States, the leader wrote in the article: “I nearly laughed at the Machiavellian plans of US presidents”.
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Castro, who took power in Cuba’s 1959 revolution and ruled for almost half a century, was often seen puffing on his favoured, long and thin lancero model until he quit in 1985. So far, they have released no new photos or videos of Fidel Castro and he is not expected to make any public appearances. For a time, many even speculated that he had died and his brother Raul was keeping it a secret for fear that the news might incite a new Cuban Revolution overthrowing the nearly six-decade-old one-party system the Castro brothers have historically controlled.
