Castro Far From Done At 79

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.

No official birthday celebrations were announced inside Cuba, but Castro, who assumed power after the Jan. 1, 1959, overthrow of dictator Fulgencio Batista, typically marks the day in a low-key manner, sometimes sharing a cake with schoolchildren.

State Department spokesman Adam Ereli, asked about Castro's birthday, reiterated the U.S. position that the island needs political and economic changes, saying "the Cuban people deserve democratic leadership every day of the year."

Born in eastern Cuba's sugar country where his Spanish immigrant father ran a prosperous plantation, Fidel Castro Ruz's official birthday is Aug. 13, 1926, although some say he was born a year later. His designated successor has always been his brother, Defense Secretary Raul Castro, who is five years his junior.

"After four decades in power, few Cubans know much about Fidel Castro's personal legacy - his children: Fidelito, Castro's first born son from an early marriage; Alina Fernandez, his daughter from an affair during the days of revolution, who lives in Miami; and the five children who live with him and his common-law wife, in Cuba," said Falk.

Castro maintains a busy schedule despite occasional rumors about his health and a fall last year that shattered a kneecap and broke his right arm. He used a wheelchair for several months before he began walking again in December.

The bearded leader, dressed in his trademark olive green fatigues, still appears frequently on state television, promoting the pressure cookers that officials distributed to help conserve electricity and raging for hours against the U.S. trade embargo or Cuban exile groups.

Castro has assured Cubans in recent months that "we are doing well," calling on them to be patient as the government struggles to repair the electrical network.

While Cubans complained about the blackouts, there is little doubt Castro remains firmly in control of the last communist state in the Americas and one of only five in the world. The others are China, Vietnam, North Korea and Laos.

Cuba's rubber-stamp parliament in March 2003 confirmed Castro to a sixth 5-year term as the president of the Council of State.

"I promise that I will be with you, if you so wish, for as long as I feel that I can be useful," he said at the time.