Since stepping back, Fidel has made only a few taped television appearances.
 
On Monday night, a letter from Fidel Castro was read aloud during a news roundtable programme on Cuban television.
 
"My fundamental duty is not to cling on to positions, and much less to block the path of younger people, but rather to contribute my experiences and ideas, the modest value of which corresponds to the exceptional era that I lived in," Castro said in the text.
 
The statement was seen as opening the door to an eventual, permanent power change.