Parties in Cuba for Castro's 85th birthday

Cuba: Cuba on Tuesday kicks off birthday celebrations Tuesday for revolutionary icon Fidel Castro, who will turn 85 years old this weekend, though it was still unclear whether the guest of honor would appear.

The parties are set to peak late Friday into Saturday - Castro's actual birthday - when a "Song of Loyalty" gala will be dedicated to the former leader at the Karl Marx Theater, Cuba's largest with a capacity of 5,000.

On Tuesday, the festivities will begin with a concert in Havana featuring a number of Latin American artists from Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, as well as the Cuban duo Buena Fe and Vicente Feliu. Most of the events have been organized by the Guayasamin Foundation, named for the Ecuadoran painter Oswaldo Guayasamin, who is a close friend of Castro. AFP