Letter from Fidel to Daniel Ortega

Dear Daniel:

I have just listened with great satisfaction to your excellent speeches during the 8th PETROCARIBE Summit. It was very just that the venue for this meeting should have been Nicaragua, a country that was able to overcome devious imperialist blows under the government of one of the most ignorant and cynical fraudsters selected by the U.S. oligarchy.

Using money from drugs and weapons, it extracted from Venezuelan prisons the principal terrorist in the group organized by the CIA to destroy in full flight a Cubana airlines aircraft, with 73 passengers aboard, including young Cubans who had just won the Central American Fencing Championship.

In countless nations of Our America, such as Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Panama, Mexico and others, killers on the payroll of the United States left their bloody imprint.

It would make this message interminable to include in it the host of crimes and plundering perpetrated by governments and the repressive forces of the empire and its bastard accomplices in the rest of the world.

I wish to congratulate you, Daniel and Rosario [Murillo] for today's tremendous meeting.

On a day like this, I cannot fail to mention the sincere, valiant and clear voice of Nicolás Maduro, a man of the working class, modest, honorable and poor, who never aspired to any position whatsoever, and who is now devoting himself to fulfilling the responsibility placed in his hands by the unforgettable Hugo Chávez, leader of the Bolivarian Revolution, when fate prevented him from continuing to dedicate every minute, every second to what today constitutes humanity's noblest dream.

Maduro has demonstrated the talent, integrity and energy that the great leader perceived in him.

Talent also abounds among the leaders who met in Managua. I am convinced that they, together with the homeland of Bolívar and in association with her, are fighting for the right of their peoples to health, education, development and material and moral well-being.

I cannot end my words without expressing my affinity for Rafael Correa, President of Ecuador who, at this precise moment, when the empire is threatening with wars and the possible use of sophisticated weapons the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation – two powerful nations that were never colonial powers and are currently victims of threatening attitudes on the part of the United States – has strongly rejected the threats of the President of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, if Edward Snowden is granted the political asylum he has requested of Ecuador.

A communiqué from the Presidency of the Republic states, "Ecuador does not accept pressure or threats from anyone, and does not trade with principles or subject them to mercantile interests, however important these may be."

Congratulations to everyone, Daniel. A strong embrace for you and Rosario.

¡Hasta la victoria siempre! as our Comandante Hugo Chávez would say.

Fidel Castro Ruz June 29, 2013 11:21 p.m.