Celebrations in Cuba as Fidel Castro turns 85

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]



HAVANA: Cuban revolutionary icon Fidel Castro turns 85 on Saturday amid celebrations in his honor that he so far failed to attend.

Cuba has been partying since Tuesday, with concerts, ballet performances and art exhibitions organized on behalf of the man who led the island nation for nearly 50 years before ill health led him to cede power to his brother Raul in 2006.

The celebrations culminated late Friday with a "Song of Loyalty" gala at the Karl Marx Theater, Cuba's largest with a capacity of 5,000.

Most of the events have been organized by the Guayasamin Foundation, named for the Ecuadoran painter Oswaldo Guayasamin, a close friend of Castro. The organization is often involved in planning Castro's birthday celebrations. However, the guest of honor did not show up.

Castro's public appearances are increasingly rare. The last came in April, at the ruling Communist Party's annual congress, when Raul officially succeeded his older brother as party leader. Since that time, Fidel has only been seen in video footage visiting ailing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez -- who is receiving chemotherapy treatment in Cuba.

Castro's birthday comes as Latin America, which he hoped would adopt his revolution, has swung to the left, with a wave of progressive governments taking power from Argentina to Nicaragua.

Chavez, Castro's political heir of sorts, could make an appearance at his birthday celebrations, which coincide with the Havana carnival.

Castro now spends his time writing books and "reflections" on international issues -- he has so far published 361 such works -- from his home in western Havana, which he shares with his wife Dalia Soto del Valle.

Born August 13, 1926 to a prosperous Spanish immigrant landowner and a Cuban mother who had been his housekeeper, Castro was the hero of the island's revolution which swept Fulgencio Batista from power in 1959.

A communist icon when the Cold War was at its height, the unrepentant anti-American and anti-imperialist leader is seen by supporters as a great revolutionary and by critics as a merciless dictator.

His enemies say the revolution will die with him, but Castro's illness has allowed for a smooth transition of power.

When asked what will follow his eventual death, observers can only agree on one thing -- "a historic funeral." (AFP)