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Raul Castro sets Cuban agenda as President
Raul Castro took over from his brother Fidel Castro as Cuban president on Sunday, ending the rule of the bearded rebel who defied the United States for five decades.
- Reuters
- Published: 21:20 February 25, 2008
- A man walks past a billboard depicting Raul, left, and Fidel Castro on the Santiago-Havana road - known as "Carretera Central" - near the town of Jiguani in Cuba.
- Image Credit: AP
Havana: Raul Castro took over from his brother Fidel Castro as Cuban president on Sunday, ending the rule of the bearded rebel who defied the United States for five decades.
A former hardliner feared for his ruthlessness but who has adopted a more moderate tone in recent years, Raul Castro, 76, nodded and smiled as legislators applauded his selection by the rubber-stamp National Assembly.
He is expected to pursue limited economic reforms to tackle food shortages and poor living standards but in a sign that abrupt or major change is unlikely, Communist Party ideologue Jose Ramon Machado Ventura was named to the No. 2 job of first vice president.
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.
Fidel Castro, 81, stepped down on Tuesday due to ill health, ending his long rule of the West's last communist state.
Revolution
He overthrew US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista in a 1959 revolution at the height of the Cold War and then survived assassination attempts, a CIA-backed invasion, the Soviet Union's collapse and a US economic embargo to rule for almost half a century.
He won support at home by providing health and education services for all Cubans but he also jailed his opponents and critics accuse him of imposing a dictatorship.
Raul Castro said he was accepting the presidency on the condition his brother continued to be the "commander in chief of the revolution" - a title created for him during his guerrilla uprising. "Fidel is Fidel. Fidel is irreplaceable."
Raul Castro lacks the oratorical flair of his brother, but he has encouraged ordinary Cubans in the last 19 months to air concerns over the economy, raising hopes of modest reforms.
The US government has dubbed Raul Castro "Fidel Lite" and dismisses the leadership change as the handing of power from one dictator to another.
"If you look at the nature of the people in charge, this is the Old Guard, it's the hard line and there is no reason for us to feel a sense of optimism for the Cuban people," US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said.
The appointment of Machado, a member of Raul Castro's inner circle, suggested change would be subtle.
"This is about signalling continuity externally and internally," said Julia Sweig, an expert on Cuba at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank in Washington, although she said Cuba's leaders are well aware they need to address food shortages and other problems.
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