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No foreign leaders attended. Bolivian President Evo Morales saluted the Cuban revolution from La Paz, declaring "my respect, my admiration for Fidel." Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced that in honor of the 50th anniversary, the Cuban flag would fly permanently outside the Venezuelan tomb of South American independence leader Simon Bolivar. Fidel Castro's health is a state secret, but the 82-year-old released a brief statement on the anniversary's eve congratulating "our heroic people." The 77-year-old Raul Castro, meanwhile, has made some changes but has yet to introduce the major reforms to the communist system many had hoped for when he came to power. While Cuba has praised for advancing health care and literacy, its human rights record has been criticized. The Havana-based non-governmental Cuban Commission for Human Rights and Reconciliation last counted 219 political prisoners on the island, down from as many as 15,000 in 1964.
[Associated
Press;
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