ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FROM FIDEL CASTRO

A month and a half ago I mailed Fidel a copy of my book, HAVANA HARVEST, and wished him Happy Birthday. Of course, I never expected a reply.

I was wrong!

When I returned from Spain last week I found a hand-delivered envelope in the pile of correspondence that had accumulated in my absence.

It contained an acknowledgement of my gift and a signed extract from Fidel’s marathon speech delivered on July 29, 2000, the forty-seventh anniversary of Castro’s attack on the Moncada barracks.

I found it difficult to translate the Spanish text because I felt I needed to render the meaning of what was written accurately without rewriting the material in colloquial English. I did not want to lose the cadence of the original writing.

click here to display the letter with English TRANSLATION

The Spanish text is most elegant and eloquent, as are the thoughts expressed, though seriously flawed by being politically biased.

click here to display the letter with English TRANSLATION