Fidel a no-show

Havana

Cuban President Fidel Castro, 80, was not in his usual position on the reviewing stand during this week’s May Day parade in Havana, despite rumors that he would make his first appearance since undergoing emergency surgery nine months ago. Acting President Raul Castro, Fidel’s 75-year-old brother, officiated at the parade. Fidel was recently photographed chatting with a visiting Chinese delegation, prompting speculation that he would use the parade to show he was on the mend. Instead, he issued a statement calling on Cubans to carry their socialist creed to “all of the poor people of the world.”