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Fidel Castro hands over Cuba reins to his brother
In his first speech as president, Raul Castro said he would continue to consult his older brother on important issues.
- Agencies
- Published: 07:31 February 25, 2008
- Raul Castro said his mandate was to continue the communist revolution
- Image Credit:
Havana: Fidel Castro handed over the Cuba reins to his brother Raul on Sunday, ending his nearly 50 years in power.
Raul Castro is a former hardliner who is feared for his ruthlessness but has adopted a softer tone in recent years.
The 76 year old vowed to continue the communist revolution.
He is expected to pursue limited economic reforms but in a sign that change is unlikely to be abrupt, Communist Party ideologue Jose Ramon Machado Ventura was named first vice president, or Cuba's number two.
In his first speech as president, Raul Castro said he would continue to consult his older brother on important issues.
"The mandate of this legislature is clear ... to continue strengthening the revolution at a historic moment," he said.
Raul Castro said he was accepting the job on the condition that his brother continued to be the "commander in chief of the revolution", a title created for him during his guerrilla uprising before seizing power in a 1959 revolution.
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