Lost in History: Che Guevara's Farewell Letter to Fidel Castro

About the Letter

Che Guevara played a crucial role in the Cuban Revolution alongside Fidel Castro, from the initial stages in the Sierra Maestra mountains to the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista's regime in 1959. After the revolution succeeded, Che took on various roles in the new Cuban government.

Che always smoked the cheapest cigars possible, called cazadores.

However, Che's ideological convictions and revolutionary zeal were global. He became increasingly disenchanted with what he saw as the limitations of the Cuban Revolution, feeling that Cuba's revolutionary mission should extend beyond its borders to support other anti-imperialist struggles around the world.

Che Guevara's farewell letter to Fidel Castro in 1965 is a poignant and significant moment in the history of the Cuban Revolution. This letter, dated April 1, 1965, was written by Che to bid farewell to his friend and comrade-in-arms, Fidel Castro. Castro read this letter on October 3, 1965, in the presence of Guevara's wife and children.

Read Che's Farwell letter to Castro below:

Fidel:

At this moment, I remember many things: when I met you at Maria Antonia's house when you proposed that I come along, and all the tensions involved in the preparations.

One day they came by and asked who should be notified in case of death, and the real possibility of it struck us all. Later, we knew it was true that in a revolution, one wins or dies (if it is a real one). Many comrades fell along the way to victory.

Today, everything has a less dramatic tone because we are more mature, but the event repeats itself. I feel that I have fulfilled the part of my duty that tied me to the Cuban revolution in its territory, and I say farewell to you, to the comrades, and to your people, who now are mine.

I formally resign my positions in the leadership of the party, my post as minister, my rank of commander, and my Cuban citizenship. Nothing legal binds me to Cuba. The only ties are of another nature—those that cannot be broken, as can appointments to posts.

Reviewing my past life, I believe I have worked with sufficient integrity and dedication to consolidate the revolutionary triumph. My only serious failing was not having had more confidence in you from the first moments in the Sierra Maestra and not having understood quickly enough your qualities as a leader and a revolutionary.

I have lived magnificent days, and at your side, I felt the pride of belonging to our people in the brilliant yet sad days of the Caribbean [Missile] crisis.

Seldom has a statesman been as brilliant as you were in those days. I am also proud of having followed you without hesitation, of having identified with your way of thinking, and of seeing and appraising dangers and principles.

Other nations in the world summon my modest efforts of assistance. I can do that which is denied to you due to your responsibility as the head of Cuba, and the time has come for us to part.

You should know that I do so with a mixture of joy and sorrow. I leave here the purest of my hopes as a builder and the dearest of those I hold dear. And I leave a people who received me as a son. That wounds a part of my spirit. I carry to new battlefronts the faith that you taught me, the revolutionary spirit of my people, and the feeling of fulfilling the most sacred of duties: to fight against imperialism wherever it may be. This is a source of strength, and it more than heals the deepest of wounds.

I state once more that I free Cuba from all responsibility, except that which stems from its example. If my final hour finds me under other skies, my last thought will be of these people, and especially of you. I am grateful for your teaching and your example, to which I shall try to be faithful up to the final consequences of my acts.

I have always been identified with the foreign policy of our revolution, and I continue to be. Wherever I am, I will feel the responsibility of being a Cuban revolutionary, and I shall behave as such. I am not sorry that I leave nothing material to my wife and children; I am happy it is that way. I ask nothing for them, as the state will provide them with enough to live on and receive an education.

I would have many things to say to you and to our people, but I feel they are unnecessary. Words cannot express what I would like them to, and there is no point in scribbling pages.

Transcription: Brian Baggins (marxists.org, Che Guevara Internet Archive)

Edited by: Gaurav Juyal

You can also read the alternate translation of the letter here.

Watch the video of Fidel Castro reading Che's farewell letter to him.

Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, 1959

In conclusion, Che Guevara's farewell letter to Fidel Castro in 1965 was a momentous event that symbolized his unwavering commitment to global revolution and his readiness to sacrifice personal comfort for the cause. It marked the beginning of his internationalist phase, during which he sought to ignite revolutionary movements in other parts of the world.