Fighter jets soared over anti-aircraft missiles on Monday as Cuba rehearsed for its first military parade in a decade to mark President Fidel Castro's 80th birthday, amid expectation that he may appear in the flesh.
Four months have passed since Castro underwent intestinal surgery and then relinquished power temporarily to his brother and defense minister, Raul Castro. Cuba postponed Fidel's birthday celebrations from Aug. 13 to Saturday, hoping his recovery might be well along.
But Cuban authorities, who do not comment in detail on Castro's health, have stopped saying Fidel will be back on the job full time.
PHOTO: AP
The celebrations have something of a farewell tone for many Cubans.
"I think he looks like he has the will to live, and he has been leading the country from his bed but at the same time preparing people for when he is no longer with us," marcher Silvia Loperon, 53, said.
Since Fidel Castro's July 26 operation, he has only been seen on television and in still photographs.
On Monday, activity was at a fever pitch and the volume was on high at Revolution Square. Military cadets turned out in formation, MiG fighters zoomed beneath the clouds and Soviet-era troop transport helicopters clattered by.
Young workers from several state industries were out marching with their co-workers, waving huge red, white and blue Cuban flags in the cool breeze.
The military parade on Saturday, at which Castro is widely expected -- though his attendance is not officially confirmed -- is the climax of almost a week of festivities.
Some 300,000 people are expected to march, and 2,000 guests from 80 countries, including presidents, ex-presidents and Nobel laureates are due on hand. Allies Bolivian President Evo Morales and Nicaraguan president-elect Daniel Ortega are to attend, as is Haitian President Rene Preval.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a staunch critic of the US and Castro's key ally in keeping his regime alive economically, has not confirmed and is up for reelection on Sunday. But organizers in Havana said they would not rule out a quick visit by Castro's close friend.
All eyes will be on the podium to see if the grey-bearded leader is present and, if he is, hazard a guess at whether he might be strong enough ever to retake the helm of Latin America's only one-party communist regime.
Whether or not Castro returns to work full time, over the past four months Cuba has grown used to the idea of life without Fidel, the only leader most Cubans have known. He took power in January 1959.
For years, Castro's visage was not seen on billboards bearing government slogans, as if to give it more weight elsewhere. Now, Fidel's face, no longer everyday currency in state media, is on billboards reassuring Vamos bien -- things are going well.
And with the baton passed to Raul Castro, 75, the public profiles of other communist leaders, such as Vice President Carlos Lage, 55, have been raised on state television. Raul Castro has kept a low profile.
Loly, a 63-year-old nurse in Havana, said privately that Fidel Castro was unlikely to return to power.
"Fidel is not coming back. When he is no longer alive, the political line is going to be the same, but let's hope the economy improves," she said.
"The people are not comunista, they are Fidelista," she said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese