SANTIAGO (AP) -- Fifty years after triumphant armed rebels descended from the mountains, communist Cuba celebrated the revolution's anniversary on Thursday.

Although the ailing Fidel Castro continued convalescing in private, the festivities were filled with praise of the bearded rebel known as the ""Leader of the Revolution.""
""We know that a man alone doesn't make history. But some men are indispensable, as they can have a decisive influence in the course of events. Fidel is one,"" President Raul Castro said of his older brother in a speech given beneath the balcony where Fidel declared victory over dictator Fulgencio Batista's government on Jan. 1, 1959.
Many here hope for improved relations with the United States when President-elect Barack Obama takes office Jan. 20 following declarations he would talk directly with Raul Castro and lift severe restrictions on family travel and remittances to the island.
""I hope he gets rid of the blockade,"" 42-year-old Ana Luisa Mas said earlier at a Havana farmers market.. ""We are very hopeful that with Obama our relatives will be able to visit us more, and send us more money.""
Raul Castro, who succeeded his older brother in February, quoted extensively from Fidel as he spoke for less than 40 minutes on a small, leafy plaza to 3,000 Communist Party faithful.
The rebels' victory a half-century ago was doubly important ""for it has been attained despite the unhealthy and vindictive hatred of the powerful neighbor,"" Castro said, referring to the United States.
No foreign leaders attended. Bolivian President Evo Morales, who originally was to attend, saluted the Cuban revolution and the older Castro from La Paz, declaring ""my respect, my admiration for Fidel.""
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced in Caracas that in honor of the 50th anniversary, the Cuban flag would fly permanently outside the Venezuelan tomb of South American independence leader Simon Bolivar.
Officials initially planned a bigger celebration but scaled back after three hurricanes this year caused $10 billion in damages.