Castro Far From Done At 79

Cuban Leader Celebrates Birthday, Legal Victory Against Adversaries

(CBS/AP)  Fidel Castro, the world's longest ruling head of state, turns 79 Saturday, celebrating a key political and legal victory over his enemies in exile after a U.S. appeals court ordered a new trial in the high-profile case of five alleged Cuban spies.

Castro, who has led the communist-run island for 47 years, shows no indication of being ready to retire.

"Every year on Castro's birthday, people take note because with no plans to leave office, Castro's life expectancy is his term limit," said CBS News Foreign Affairs Analyst Pamela Falk, "and at 79, Castro has been in power in Cuba through the terms of ten U.S. Presidents, from President Dwight D. Eisenhower to President George W. Bush, remaining the longest ruling leader in the world and surpassing even Cuba's 77 year life expectancy."

The U.S. court ruling gave him a boost as Cubans face tough domestic problems, including a housing crisis and an antiquated electrical grid that had frequent and stifling power outages earlier this summer.

Since the men's conviction four years ago as unregistered agents of a foreign government, Cuba has campaigned on their behalf, calling them heroes in the island's most important ideological battle since Castro's successful 2000 fight for the return of castaway Elian Gonzalez.

While admitting being Cuban agents, the defendants said they were only spying on "terrorist" Cuban exile groups and not the U.S. government.

Castro has not publicly commented on Tuesday's ruling by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. But other communist officials called it a "happy day" when the court, citing prejudicial publicity, threw out the convictions and ordered that the five men be retried outside Miami, where Cuban émigrés abound and anti-Castro sentiment runs high.

A Cuban delegation to a youth congress in Venezuela, including many of the defendants' relatives, planned a major celebration in Caracas on Friday night marking Castro's birthday.