As a result of the enormous effort I made to visit the Argentine city of Córdoba to participate in the meeting of Mercosur, in the closing ceremony of the Summit of the Peoples at the historic University of Córdoba, and in the visit to Altagracia, the city where Che [Guevara] spent his childhood, and, along with all this, to attend immediately the commemoration of the 53rd anniversary of the assault on the Moncada and the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes barracks on July 26, 1953, in Granma and Holguín provinces, days and nights of continuous work, barely being able to sleep, my health, which has withstood all trials, was subjected to extreme stress and broke down.

This provoked an acute intestinal crisis, with sustained bleeding, that obliged me to face a complicated surgical operation. All details of this health accident are evident in the X-rays, endoscopies, and filmed materials. The operation forces me to spend several weeks of rest, away from my responsibilities and duties.

Because our country is threatened under these circumstances by the United States government, I have made the following decisions:

1. I delegate, on a provisional basis, my functions as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba to the Second Secretary, comrade Raúl Castro Ruz.
2. I delegate, on a provisional basis, my functions as Commander in Chief of the Heroic Revolutionary Armed Forces to the aforementioned comrade, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz.
3. I delegate, on a provisional basis, my functions as President of the Council of State and Government of the Republic of Cuba to the First Vice President, comrade Raúl Castro Ruz.
4. I delegate, on a provisional basis, my functions as principal promoter of the national and international program of public health to comrade José Ramón Balaguer Cabrera, member of the Political Bureau and Minister of Public Health.
5. I delegate, on a provisional basis, my functions as principal promoter of the national and international program of education to comrades José Ramón Machado Ventura and Esteban Lazo Hernández, members of the Political Bureau.
6. I delegate, on a provisional basis, my functions as principal promoter of the national program of the energy revolution in Cuba, and cooperation with other countries in this field, to comrade Carlos Lage Dávila, member of the Political Bureau and Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers.

The funds required for these three programs—health, education, and energy—must continue to be managed and prioritized, as I have been doing personally, by comrades Carlos Lage Dávila, Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers; Francisco Soberón Valdés, Minister President of the Central Bank of Cuba; and Felipe Pérez Roque, Minister of Foreign Relations, who accompanied me in these tasks and who must form a commission for that purpose.

Our glorious Communist Party, supported by the mass organizations and all the people, has the mission to assume the task recommended in this proclamation.

The Summit of the Movement of Nonaligned Nations, to be held September 11-16, must be given the closest attention by the state and the Cuban nation so it may be held with the greatest brilliance on the appointed date.

Regarding the 80th anniversary of my birth, which thousands of people so generously agreed to celebrate next August 13, I ask everyone to postpone it until December 2 of this year, the 50th anniversary of the landing of the Granma.

I ask the Party’s Central Committee and the National Assembly of People’s Power for the firmest support to this proclamation. I have not the slightest doubt that our people and our Revolution will fight to the last drop of blood to defend this and other ideas and measures that may be necessary to safeguard this historic process.

Imperialism will never be able to crush Cuba. The battle of ideas will go forward.

Long live the homeland!
Long live the Revolution!
Long live socialism!
Ever onward to victory!

s/Fidel Castro Ruz
Commander in Chief
First Secretary of the Party and President of the Councils of State and Ministers of the Republic of Cuba
July 31, 2006, at 6:22 p.m.
 
 
Related articles:
Cubans celebrate 53rd anniversary of assault on Moncada garrison
Puerto Rican independentista Rafael Cancel Miranda on Cuban Revolution
New York meeting celebrates Cuban Revolution  
 
 
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