06 Aug 2010 18:38:25
Cuba's iconic former leader Fidel Castro says his childhood struggle against unjust authority turned him into a rebel and revolutionary, in extracts of his upcoming autobiography published online Thursday by Cubadebate.com.
"I wasn't born a politician, although as a young child I observed events that were seared in my mind and helped me understand the world's realities," said Castro in "The Strategic Victory," one week before his 84th birthday.
Four years after stepping down as president to undergo a delicate gastrointestinal operation and passing the helm to his younger brotherRaul, 79, Castro has recovered enough to appear in public and writes regularly and extensively in official newspapers and websites.
In the first part of his two-part autobiography -- he said he is busy writing the second installment -- Castro reminisces about home life in eastern Biran, and how his childhood and adolescence shaped his spirit and mind.
In a 6,500-word chapter of his autobiography, which as yet has no publishing date, Castro covers his experience from birth to his religious schooling with the Jesuits, and his time studying law in Havana University, where he says his political life began in earnest.
He said he first recollection of "consciously" rebelling was when he was going hungry at a teacher's house where we went for pre-schooling, and later, when at 11 years of age he threw a piece of buttered bread at a teacher who hit him in class.
"I threw it in his face... and then I struck him with my hands and feet in such a way, in front of all the schoolchildren... that his authority and abusive ways left him discredited.
"It was an event that school remembered for a long time."
Castro also remembers sending a letter "full of admiration" to then-US president Franklin Delano Roosevelt, for which he received an acknowledgment message from the US Embassy in Havana.
"I wasn't born a politician, although as a young child I observed events that were seared in my mind and helped me understand the world's realities," said Castro in "The Strategic Victory," one week before his 84th birthday.
Four years after stepping down as president to undergo a delicate gastrointestinal operation and passing the helm to his younger brotherRaul, 79, Castro has recovered enough to appear in public and writes regularly and extensively in official newspapers and websites.
In the first part of his two-part autobiography -- he said he is busy writing the second installment -- Castro reminisces about home life in eastern Biran, and how his childhood and adolescence shaped his spirit and mind.
In a 6,500-word chapter of his autobiography, which as yet has no publishing date, Castro covers his experience from birth to his religious schooling with the Jesuits, and his time studying law in Havana University, where he says his political life began in earnest.
He said he first recollection of "consciously" rebelling was when he was going hungry at a teacher's house where we went for pre-schooling, and later, when at 11 years of age he threw a piece of buttered bread at a teacher who hit him in class.
"I threw it in his face... and then I struck him with my hands and feet in such a way, in front of all the schoolchildren... that his authority and abusive ways left him discredited.
"It was an event that school remembered for a long time."
Castro also remembers sending a letter "full of admiration" to then-US president Franklin Delano Roosevelt, for which he received an acknowledgment message from the US Embassy in Havana.
