Cuba falls in love again with the beard - and it's not about Fidel

Cubans and beards have gone hand in hand, or cheek by jowl, since the days of Fidel Castro's revolution, but after falling out of favour, facial hair is back - and this time, it's not political.

Cuba's old guard, for the most part, no longer sport iconic beards, but the youngsters do. Clean-shaven President Miguel Diaz-Canel's government only features one hirsute minister, vice-president Ramiro Valdes, 87.

Having a beard these days on the streets of Havana is definitely more a question of style.

"Lately there are a lot of people, especially young guys, who are letting their beards grow - it's a trend," said barber David Gonzalez, 31, as he trimmed a customer's goatee in his city center salon.

In Old Havana's Rue Obispo, Franco Manso, 24, took scissors to his own beard during a lull in business at his craft shop.

"I saw that it suited me, so as it's the fashion, I decided to keep it," he said.

Castro told US television in an interview after the revolution: "My beard means a lot of things for my country."
Over the years, the symbolism has diminished, even if young Cubans continue to be surrounded at every turn by images of Fidel and Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos - the revolution's most famous "barbudos."