HAVANA - Here is the text of President Fidel Castro's message announcing Tuesday that he would not seek reelection as Cuba's president for the first time in decades.

"My dear compatriots:

"I promised you last Friday February 15 that in my next column I would address an issue of interest to many compatriots. So on this occasion it is going to take the form of a message.

"The time has come to nominate and elect the Council of State, its vice presidents and secretary.

"I held the honorable post of President for many years. On February 15, 1976, 95 percent of citizens eligible to vote approved the Socialist Constitution in a free, direct and secret vote. The first National Assembly was seated December 2 of that year and elected the Coucil of State and President. Previously I had held the post of Prime Minister for almost 18 years. I always had the necessary authority to move forward our Revolutionary work with the support of the overwhelming majority of the people.

"Aware of my critical health condition, many people abroad believed that the temporary ceding of the post of President of the Council of State (also that of Cuba's president), which I left in the hands of First Vice President Raul Castro Ruz, was final in nature.

"Raul himself, who additionally and worthily holds the post of Minister of the Armed Forces on his own personal merits, and other comrades in the leadership of the party and the state, were reluctant to consider me out of office, in spite of my precarious health.

"I found myself in an uncomfortable position facing an adversary that has done everything imaginable to get rid of me, and whom I did not wish to please whatsoever.

"Later, I was able to recover my full mental faculties, and have the chance to read and think a great deal, forced by my need to rest. I had enough physical strength to write for many hours, dividing my time with physical therapy and programs related to my recovery. Basic common sense told me that that activity was within my reach. On the other hand, I always was worried, when speaking of my health, about raising false hopes in case the outcome turned negative, and then having more traumatic news for our people, in the midst of battle. Preparing them for my absence, psychologically and politically, was my foremost duty after so many years of fighting. Never did I stop underscoring that this was a recovery 'not free from risks.'

"My wish always has been to fulfill my duty until my very last breath. And that is what I can offer.

"To my dear compatriots, who did me the great honor of electing me recently as a member of the (National Assembly), where important agreements on the future of our Revolution are to be made, I inform you that I will neither be a candidate nor will I accept -- I repeat -- I will neither be a candidate nor will I accept the post of President of the Council of State and Commander in Chief.

"In brief letters to Randy Alonso, director of the Round Table program on national television, which at my request were released, elements of this message which I am writing today were discreetly included, and not even the recipient of my letters knew what my goal was. I put my trust in Randy because I knew him well as a university student in journalism, I met almost every week with representatives of university students, from what was known as the interior of the country (outside Havana), at the library at Kohly House where the meetings were held. Today the whole country is one great University.

"Selected paragraphs from the letter sent to Randy December 17, 2007:

"It is my deepest conviction that answers to the current problems in Cuban society which has an average educational level near 12th grade, almost a million university graduates and the real possibility for students to study with no discrimination whatsoever, require more variations on the answers to each specific problem than there are on a chessboard. Not a single detail can be ignored, amd it is not going to be an easy road, but the human being's intelligence in a revolutionary society must prevail over its instincts.

"My essential duty is not to cling to (political) posts, much less to stand in the way of (power) passing to younger people, but rather to contribute experiences and ideas whose modest value stems from the exceptional era in which I lived.

"Like Niemeyer, I think that one has to be meaningful until the end.

"The letter sent January 8, 2008:

"I am a decided supporter of the 'united vote' (voting in uncontested balloting) ... It was what allowed us to avoid the tendency to copy what was coming from the countries of the former socialist bloc, including the idea of a single candidate ... I greatly respect that first effort at building socialism, thatnks to which we were able to continue on the chosen path.

"It was abundantly clear to me that all the glory in the world fits in a grain of corn," I reiterated in that letter.

"It would be a betrayal of my conscience to take up a post that requires mobility and total commitment that I am not in physical condition to offer. I am explaining it realistically.

"Fortunately our (Revolutionary) process still has units of the old guard, along with others who were very young when the first stage of the Revolution began. Some people who were barely older than children joined those fighting in the mountains, and later, with heroism and internationalist missions, filled the country with glory.

"They have the authority and experience to guarantee the passing of the baton.

"The Cuban Revolution "also has the middle generation that learned together with us the elements of the complex, almost unknowable art of organizing and leading a revolution.

"The road always will be difficult and will require everyone's intelligent effort. I disapprove of the seemingly easy paths of aplogies, or self-flagellation as the antithesis. One always has to prepare for the worst possibility. Being as prudent in our successes as we are firm in the face of adversity is a principle which must not be forgotten. The adversary we are up against is extremely strong, but we have kept it at a distance for half a century.

"I am not bidding you farewell. I just want to fight on as a soldier of ideas. I shall continue writing under my masthead 'Reflections of Comrade Fidel'. It will be just another weapon in the arsenal we rely on. Maybe my voice will be heard. I will be careful.

Thank you.

(signature)

Fidel Castro Ruz
February 18, 2008
5:30 pm

mdl/sg

02/19/2008 15:45 GMT