Dear Nicolás

I know your intestines knotted and your head spun around full circle when I decided to name you President. It could have been somebody else, but you were the only one I felt would be unable to make a decision without consulting with Raúl.

Photograph: The day I named you my heir 

But I didn´t realize that Raúl himself would be turned into an indecise old man because the communist cadres in Cuba would put up resistance, and refuse to accept Fidel´s Revolution had failed.

Photograph: Raul wearing a hat like yours 

Do you know who is to blame for the mess I left behind? Rafael Ramirez. That son of a gun kept telling me year after year oil production would go higher and higher, and we would have all the money we had to have. Fidel, Raul and I didn´t know that much about the oil business, and we believed him…we thought he could deliver the cash, and all we got was excuses.

Photograph: Rafael Ramirez bullshiting 

Now all you can do is clamp down on the people and hang on. You just keep getting rid of the communists, jail the troublemakers and encourage the others to leave. And have patience because this is going to take a little time. You have to wait for Fidel to die so Raul can straighten out his own people and then you can have the new version of Socialism of the 21st Century. When I was dying Raúl told me he decided he had to go the Chinese route all the way, because Chinese style market socialism and the alliances with multinationals sure seemed to work.

Signed: Your Eternal Leader

PS: Don´t forget to rub Bolivar´s finger bone on your forehead every morning.

Painting: Simón Bolivar before he died 

Written in Response to Dear Hugo