Fulgencio Batista, says he cannot, participate in a counterrevolution against Fidel Castro, who ousted him as dictator of Cuba in 1959. But he encourages friends to act without him.

Batista stated his position in a letter from exile in the Madeira Islands to his 29-year-old son Ruben. The son, of Coral Gables, released the letter Thursday. It said in part:

"Persecuted and slandered, in the unjust isolation to which I am sentenced, I cannot make politics or raise the banner. I limit myself to the sacred right that every man has to defend himself from slander, and every governing person to reestablish the truth about his work in government . . .

"My present friends, those who were and still feel reflections of my thoughts, the ex-collaborators who contributed to the greatness of our government, and any who believe that in some way I could intervene in activities to free our country, have obligations they cannot elude, even without my direct guidance.

"The liberation task belongs to others, not to me . . ."