Cuba’s Castro Publishes Memoirs

Cuban leader Fidel Castro has published two volumes of his autobiographical memoir entitled “Time Guerrilla,” according to news agencies.

The 1000-page memoir was launched in Havana today, with Castro making a rare public appearance.

The BBC reported that the books relate to his childhood and rise to power in the Cuban Revolution.

Fidel Castro, 85, said it was every Cuban’s duty to fight until the last moment, for Cuba, the planet, and humanity.

Communist Party newspaper Granma said the launch at the Havana Convention Centre lasted more than six hours, BBC reported.

Castro’s recollection of events is reported through conversations with journalist Katiuska Blanco, according to the AFP.

“I have to seize the opportunity now because my memory is spent,” the 85-year-old Castro told guests at a presentation Friday at the Palace of Conventions in Havana. Among the guests was Abel Prieto, Cuba’s cultural minister; Miguel Barnet, president of the Union of Writers and Artists; and Blanco, the book’s author.

“I’m willing to do everything possible to convey what I remember well,” Castro was quoted as saying in the official newspapers Granma, Young Rebel and on the website Cubadebate. “I’ve been expressing all the ideas I had and the feelings that I went through. I am aware of the importance of telling all this to pass it so that it can be useful.”

During the conversations with Blanco, which span 1,000 pages in the book, Castro said, “I prefer an old clock, old eyeglasses, old boots and in politics, everything new.”

Blanco, who also authored the first official biography of Castro and his family, presents his memoirs in the form of questions and answers.

The book is similar to “One Hundred Hours with Fidel,” a book of conversations between Castro and Spanish journalist Ignacio Ramonet, published in late 2006, just after the Cuban leader turned over power to his brother, Raul, amid a health crisis.

Since then, Castro has dedicated himself to publishing a book that narrates his experiences during the Cuban revolution and writing columns in the media titled “Reflections.” The columns expound on his views on current events.

Castro gave copies of his two-volume memoirs to Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff during her visit to Cuba this week, according to diplomatic sources in Brazil.

The memoirs are published by Editora Abril and illustrated with photographs and drawings by the Cuban painter Ernesto Rancano.

Castro spoke about international politics during his presentation at the Palace of Conventions.

He said he closely follows events in Venezuela under the government of his friend, Hugo Chavez.

“No one did more for the people of Venezuela, the Bolivarian Movement,” he said.

He also referred to the Chilean student protests demanding free and quality education under the guidance of their leader Camila Vallejo.

“We should support the ideas of the young Chilean in the sense of fighting for education available equally to all,” Castro said. “It shouldn’t be just general education and free, but we should also worry about what is taught,” he added.

Regarding the politics of Latin America and the Middle East, Castro said, “There is no longer room only for national interests. Instead, they should be framed under world interests.”

“Our duty is to fight until the last minute for our country, for our planet and for humanity.”

Castro also congratulated the families of five Cuban agents convicted of espionage in the United States. The Cuban government refers to them as “heroes” and “anti-terrorists” for their work in monitoring anti-Castro groups in Miami.

“You have to see what these men have endured,” he said.