President Fidel Castro's 81st birthday marks a year of transition, of change but no change. No longer at the helm, the government still pays reverential homage to the spirit of Fidel, while the physically frail 81-year-old leader has stopped all public appearances during his prolonged recuperation in a secret medical facility.

His younger brother, 76-year-old Raúl Castro, defence minister and now acting president, makes far fewer and much shorter speeches than his brother, but his economy of words has raised hopes, because he has focused on tackling bread-and-butter issues. He has spelt out a simple basic truth: that state salaries are inadequate. Most Cubans officially earn less than $20 a month, totally out of synch with prices for cooking oil and other basics, forcing many Cubans to moonlight, pilfer and barter to make ends meet.