Communist leader Fidel Castro, who led Cuba for a half century and became known worldwide for decades of Cold War-era clashing with the United States, has celebrated his 86th birthday.
Officially, there have been no plans to publicly honour Cuba’s one-time “commander-in-chief,” who tightly orchestrated public life there from January 1959 until he suffered a health crisis in 2006 and delegated his duties to his brother Raul Castro.
Youth organizations marked not the anniversary of Castro’s birth but rather that of Rene Gonzalez, one of five Cuban secret service agents imprisoned in the United States considered “heroes of the war on terror” in their homeland.
Fidel Castro has kept a low profile for months. The father of the Cuban revolution last appeared in public in March, when he met Pope Benedict XVI on the pontiff’s visit to the Caribbean country.
The longtime leader has also fallen behind in his once prolific publications.
His long “reflections” — totaling 398 to date — were once regularly published in state media. Now, he pens just several lines every few months on topics that leave even his most loyal supporters perplexed.
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