Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro turns 82

It is hard to believe that Fidel Castro, an infamous revolutionary and a defiant long-term leader of communist Cuba, is now a feeble, gray-haired man. Castro is turning 82 today, and for the first time in over thirty years he won’t be celebrating his Birthday in the Presidential Palace. Castro has officially stepped down (or more appropriately “abdicated”) as the President of Cuba in February of this year. He foresaw his health crumbling, and prudently secured Cuban presidency for his brother Raul Castro. And, although Fidel Castro is not involved in state affairs anymore and does not make many public appearances, the people of Cuba sleep better knowing that the Father of Revolution is still around. Castro’s invisible presence is a warrant that things will remain the way they have always been with minimal perturbations and changes. So, while Fidel Castro is officially gone from the political center stage, the idea that the old good Comandante is alive and well is sure at the back of every Cuban’s mind.