Fidel Castro celebrates 90th birthday, criticises Obama in public letter

Cuba’s former president Fidel Castro at a celebration for his 90th birthday at the Karl Marx theatre in Havana on Saturday. Photograph: Ismael Francisco/AP 

In a letter published by state media, the former Cuban leader thanked supporters and criticised Obama’s visit to Cuba

Fidel Castro has thanked Cubans for their well-wishes on his 90th birthday (He was born on August 13, 1926, in Cuba) and criticised US president, Barack Obama, in a lengthy letter published by state media. He appeared but did not speak at a gala in his honour broadcast on state television Saturday evening.

“I want to express my deepest gratitude for the shows of respect, greetings and praise that I’ve received in recent days, which give me strength to reciprocate with ideas that I will send to party militants and relevant organisations,” he wrote.

ICuban president Fidel Castro at his 90th birthday celebration in Havana on Saturday 13 August. Photograph: Marcelo Garcia/AFP/Getty Images

“Modern medical techniques have allowed me to scrutinise the universe,” wrote Castro, who stepped down as Cuba’s president 10 years ago after suffering a severe gastrointestinal illness.

He sat in what appeared to be a specially equipped wheelchair and watched a musical tribute by a children’s theatre company, accompanied by footage of highlights from his decades in power.

He sat alongside his younger brother, President Raul Castro, and President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, along with Cuba’s highest-ranking military and civilian officials.

A sticker on a Chevrolet car in Havana, Cuba, saying ‘90 Happy’. Photograph: Enrique de la Osa/Reuters

 In his letter, Castro accompanied his thanks with reminiscences about his childhood and youth in eastern Cuba, describing the geology and plant life of the region where he grew up. He touched on his father’s death shortly before his own victory in overthrowing US-backed strongman Fulgencio Batista in 1959.

Castro returns at the end to criticise Obama, who appeared to anger the revolutionary leader with a March trip to Cuba in which he called for Cubans to look toward the future. A week after the trip, Castro wrote a sternly worded letter admonishing Obama to read up on Cuban history, and declaring that “we don’t need the empire to give us anything.”

In Saturday’s letter, he criticises Obama for not apologising to the Japanese people during a May trip to Hiroshima, describing Obama’s speech there as “lacking stature”.

Fidel Castro talks to Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro during his 90th birthday tribute in Havana while his brother and Cuban president Raul Castro sits to his right. Photograph: Marcelo Garcia/AFP/Getty Image

The Cuban government has taken a relatively low-key approach to Castro’s birthday, in comparison with the large-scale gatherings that had been planned for his 80th. Along with the Saturday evening gala, government ministries have held small musical performances and photo exhibitions that pay tribute to the former head of state.

Castro last appeared in public in April, closing the twice-a-decade congress of the Cuban Communist party with a call for Cuba to stick to its socialist ideals amid ongoing normalisation with the US.

Cuban soldiers visit the photo and audiovisual exhibition called “Fidel”, dedicated to Fidel Castro in Havana. Photograph: Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images

The need for closer economic ties with the US has grown more urgent as Venezuela, Castro’s greatest ally, tumbles into economic free-fall, cutting the flow of subsidised oil that Cuba has depended on for more than a decade. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Cubans are migrating to the United States, hollowing out the ranks of highly educated professionals.

The brightest spot in Cuba’s slowing economy has been a surge in tourism that is expected to boom when commercial flights to and from the United States resume on 31 August.
Source: THEGUARDIAN