The general did not attend the presentation but did attend the ceremony for the anniversary of the Central Committee of the Party
14ymedio, Havana, October 4, 2025 — With the publication this Friday of his Obras escogidas [Selected Works], Raúl Castro intends to go down in history, imitating his brother not only as a political leader but also as a thinker. In nine volumes, said one of the editors, Cubans can approach “the personality, ability and sensitivity of Raúl.” However, the general did not show up at the presentation of the books, although he did appear at the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the creation of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, supporting Miguel Díaz-Canel and banishing for the umpteenth time the rumors of his death that were circulating in September.
Castro’s books are, as expected, privileged among the few Cuban publications. According to Cubadebate, the volumes have “a quality commensurate with the historical significance they capture.” Their selection was very careful and each one contains an analytical index and “QR code that refers to images corresponding to the period described, thereby incorporating contemporary technological resources.”
Soon, reported the media, they will be available in libraries and institutions, which will allow access to “more than 500 documents” and “2,000 specific situations and contexts.” Digital versions are also available on the Party’s official website. If this publication feat was possible on an island without paper and with few functional printing presses, it is because China financed a run of 3,000 copies.
The publication blackout in Cuba is represented in numbers: While in 2023 more than 6,000,000 pages were printed in Cuba, in 2024 that figure dropped dramatically to 1,355,500. The shortage is not only of paper but also of political will. However, the legacy of the historic figures of the Revolution has always had priority.
The Selected Works are also promoted by Díaz-Canel, who attended the presentation at the José Martí Memorial
In the words of Abel Prieto, director of Casa de las Américas, with these books Editions Celia is making available to Cubans “70 years of an exemplary and heroic life, which we now have as a formidable guide of ethical behavior in revolutionary action.”
The Selected Works are also promoted by Díaz-Canel, who attended the presentation at the José Martí Memorial of the Plaza de la Revolución along with other high officials of the PCC: the Secretary of Organization of the Central Committee, Roberto Morales Ojeda; Vice-President Salvador Valdés Mesa and Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz.
The books contain unpublished documents, speeches, letters and the campaign diary that Castro wrote in the Sierra Maestra, divided by years in each volume.
In Prieto’s hand, the books became a “compass” for “teachers, professors and student organizations” to combat the “phenomenon of dumbing things down and the erasure of memory.” Castro, he said, constantly addresses the issue in those pages, which warn against the “misrepresentation of history.”
“Prieto specifically referred to counterrevolutionary materials circulating on social networks, where artificial intelligence is used to show a Havana embellished with symbols such as a “giant McDonald’s” in the case of the Revolution’s defeat,” highlights Cubadebate, quoting the director of Casa de las Américas when he calls this a phenomenon of “illness” or “primitive fascism.”
Prieto also urged reporters to spread the book’s ideas. “You, the journalists, must work hard, see what ideas of these can be used for short audiovisuals and post them on the networks”
“An ethical sensibility runs through the whole book, from the first pages, when Raúl was very young, to the last. I discovered Raúl again with this collection and am very grateful. He was in all the battles: in the construction of the Party, in the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR),” said the official.
Prieto also urged reporters to spread the book’s ideas. “You, the journalists, must work hard, see what ideas of these can be made into short audiovisuals and post them on the networks. We must work with the networks to create a daily vindication of Cuba,” he ordered.
The leader raised the tone even more: “We are in the midst of a very serious cultural and ethical crisis. The main victims of these offensives are the new generations. Their memory is being erased, along with their national identity, their origins, their sense of belonging to a culture. Therefore, texts such as that of Raúl’s diary and, in general, these Selected Works, are weapons in this contemporary war,” he insisted.
Raúl, for his part, did not attend the book presentation. His attention was directed to the celebrations of the Communist Party, where his frequent presence is intended to calm — in addition to the rumors of his illness and death — the discontent towards the government.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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