CUBA: Cubans mark Fidel Castro's birthday with a choral concert in his honour at the Jose Marti national monument in Havana

Record ID: 328859

  • Title: CUBA: Cubans mark Fidel Castro's birthday with a choral concert in his honour at the Jose Marti national monument in Havana
  • Date: 13th August 2013
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CUBAN ARTIST, LARITZA BACALLAO, SAYING: "Us, the youth have gathered tonight to celebrate a year more of this organisation and of our commander in chief, wherever he is, thanks to him we are here free. That's for sure."
  • Embargoed: 28th August 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Cuba
  • Country: Cuba
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA64YIQED8XP3RX7RVE1SAZIB10
  • Story Text: Fidel Castro turns 87 on Tuesday (August 12), largely out of sight but not out of mind, as Cuba struggles to move on from his half-century rule and as many of his policies are reconsidered under the leadership of his younger brother Raul.
    The birthday of one of Latin America's most iconic revolutionary figures has been a low key celebration in recent years. A choral concert in his honour at the Jose Marti national monument in Havana on Monday (August 11) evening was the only official event planned.
    Castro goes about his daily activities out of the public eye, and how much influence the retired comandante still wields is unknown. He emerges every once in a while to reassure his followers that he is very much around, frustrating those who wish he was not.
    The government has staged just three media events this year for Castro: first, to vote in January for National Assembly deputies and chat with local reporters; then, in February, to attend the new parliament's opening session where his brother's possible successor, 53-year-old Miguel Diaz-Canel, was named first vice president, and more recently, to inaugurate a school near his home on the outskirts of Havana.
    During a concert in Havana in the early hours of Tuesday, Cuban artist Laritza Bacallao sang happy birthday to Castro, while Cuban residents spoke positively about the comandante.

    "His birthday is today. Let's hope it's for the best and may he may he have many more birthdays, for eternity," said Amparo Hernandez.

    "Congratulations to the comandante. The man has done a lot for Cuba and we congratulate him on his day, on his birthday," said Daniel Chrea.
    Bacallao thanked Castro for her freedom.

    "Us, the youth have gathered tonight to celebrate a year more of this organisation and of our commander in chief, wherever he is, thanks to him we are here free. That's for sure."
    Cuban boy, Elie, said Castro had a lot of support.

    "May he have more birthdays because the people support him."
    Photos of a frail-looking Castro meeting with visiting dignitaries are occasionally published, as well as some of his writings, though far fewer than his once frequent "Reflections," on global topics.
    The once-towering, broad-shouldered man is now stooped. He has trouble walking, and his famed booming oratory has softened to a near whisper.
    Castro, now referred to as "the historic leader of the revolution," lives in a modest home on the western outskirts of Havana with his wife, Dalia Soto del Valle, near his sons and grandchildren, and where he studies, writes and receives visitors.
    He is seen here greeting Pope John Paul, Venezuela's late President, Hugo Chavez and Pope Emeritus Benedict during their visits to the island.
    Cubans who have seen Fidel up close on one of his occasional ventures away from home report he remains lucid and in relatively good shape for a man who was at death's door in 2006 after undergoing repeated abdominal surgeries and reportedly having part of his colon removed.
    Castro writes that he spends much time trying to increase Cuba's agricultural production and promoting alternative animal forage plants grown at Los Naranjos.
    Raul Castro, 82, has governed the Caribbean island since his brother became ill.
    He is presiding over a sweeping plan to move the bankrupt Soviet-style economy in a less paternalistic and more market-friendly direction, like those of Vietnam and China. He has loosened regulations on travel and the buying and selling of personal property and broadened other personal freedoms, while preserving Cuba's one-party communist system.
    Raul Castro rarely speaks in public, and when he does it is invariably for less than 45 minutes, a dramatic change from the hours-long oratory of Fidel Castro. Cubans expressed mixed feelings about this difference between the brothers.
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