Change is not on agenda in Cuba

The last time Cuba experienced a change of president, Dwight Eisenhower was in the Oval Office and a young politician called Jack Kennedy was getting ready to seek his party's nomination.

Now another Castro has taken power and a young politician seeking the Democratic nomination reminds people of JFK.

The 76-year-old defence minister, Raul Castro, took power in a choreographed ceremony which cast his unseen brother in the role of state icon, but no longer the public face of the revolution.

The more they change in Cuba the more they stay the same and at least for the next few months there is very little change on the agenda.

Raul must show that he is capable of running the country with a degree of competence, hardly the time to usher in sweeping change. That will come with another generation of political leadership in both Havana and Washington.