Cuban President Fidel Castro turned 76 on Tuesday, presiding over school openings and saluting newly minted doctors, defying the United States as he has almost every day for decades.
One million Cubans took to streets and squares around the country in a state-organised protest against the policies of US President George Bush.
The Cuban parliament has voted unanimously to approve an amendment entrenching socialism in the country’s constitution.
Cuban President Fidel Castro has accused Russia of betraying Cuba by abandoning its bilateral commitments after the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
Cuba for the first time has acknowledged ties to the former senior US intelligence analyst, Ana Belen Montes, sentenced this week to 25 years jail for spying for Havana’s communist government.