[NYTr] After the referendum, Fidel's Notes to Hugo Chavez

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Granma International - Dec 4, 2007
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2007/diciembre/mar4/mensage.html



Fidel’s messages to Chávez

Dear Hugo:

I send you revolutionary congratulations on your speech early today. It
was an ‘I came, I saw, I conquered’ of dignity and ethics.

Fidel Castro Ruz
December 3, 2007
10:00 a.m.

Dear Hugo:

I try to be as succinct as possible in my reflections. These are
directed at the public. I have to take into account the space that the
news agencies and the international press dedicate to events that take
place in the world every 24 hours and the maximum time that people give
to one idea among thousands. Moreover, their perception is influenced
by the speed at which an announcer reads over the radio or following
the teleprompter on television.

The culture and educational level of any country, as well as its role
in the possible solution of the grave problems overwhelming the world,
also have to be considered.

This is to explain why, on many occasions, I write something to inform
our people, who are also yours, as they have shown you since your first
public contact.

Today, Monday, the Cuban people are anxious for news about the
Venezuelan people and their leader, their destiny and their risks. For
that reason, it is my duty to recall my reflection "A People Under
Fire," which contains arguments and sentences that anticipated the
events. I also expressed an opinion that I ratify here: "the
assassination of the president or a civil war in Venezuela, with its
enormous hydrocarbon reserves, would lead to an explosion of the
globalized world economy."

Following your valiant and wise decision, I shall send a copy of this
second message to "Roundtable," the Cuban national and international
television program.

The ideas of Bolívar and Martí will overcome!

A strong revolutionary embrace,

Fidel Castro Ruz
December 3, 2007
2:37 p.m.

Translated by Granma International •