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| Castro misses birthday ceremony | Castro misses birthday ceremony |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| Frail Cuban leader Fidel Castro has stayed away from the opening ceremony of his 80th birthday celebrations in Havana on doctors' orders. | |
| A message apparently written by Mr Castro was read out saying he was not yet strong enough to attend the event. | |
| President Castro underwent emergency intestinal surgery at the end of July and has not been seen in public since. | President Castro underwent emergency intestinal surgery at the end of July and has not been seen in public since. |
| He then temporarily handed over power to his brother Raul, and was last seen in a video on 28 October. | He then temporarily handed over power to his brother Raul, and was last seen in a video on 28 October. |
| The festivities had been originally scheduled for August but were postponed. | The festivities had been originally scheduled for August but were postponed. |
| They were rescheduled around 2 December, the 50th anniversary of the day Mr Castro and others landed in Cuba to start a guerrilla movement and eventually seize power in a 1959. | |
| Among those expected to attend are Bolivian President Evo Morales and the Colombian Nobel laureate, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. | Among those expected to attend are Bolivian President Evo Morales and the Colombian Nobel laureate, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. |
| 'Challenging engagement' | |
| Up to 5,000 people were packed into Havana's Karl Marx theatre for the start of several days of events marking Mr Castro's 80th birthday. | |
| I sign off with the great pain of not having been able to personally give you thanks Note by Fidel Castro The build-up to the celebrations were dominated by concerns over whether the president would be able to appear in public. | |
| But in a note read from the stage to widespread applause, Mr Castro said his doctors had advised him not to appear before such a large crowd. | |
| "It was only in the Karl Marx theatre that all guests could be seated but, according to the doctors, I was not yet ready for such a challenging engagement," he said. | |
| The note did not rule out the possibility of appearing at one or more of the many smaller events planned for later this week. | |
| "I sign off with the great pain of not having been able to personally give you thanks and hugs to each and every one of you," the note read. |