Raul against radical change

Raúl Castro, who has labored in the shadow of his brother Fidel since the days of...

Raúl Castro, who has labored in the shadow of his brother Fidel since the days of their revolution, became Cuba’s new president on Sunday, ending his brother’s 49-year rule and washing away hopes on this Communist island that a younger generation might take power.

In his first words as president, Castro made it clear that he would make no radical changes and promised to consult his brother on every important decision. He said that his brother was still alive and alert, and that the time had yet to come when the leaders of the revolution in the 1950s had to pass the baton to a new generation.

“Fidel is Fidel, you know that well,” he said to the National Assembly shortly after it voted him president. “He is irreplaceable, and the people will continue his work even though he is not physically here.”

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Yet the moment marked a turning point in Cuban history. For the first time since Fidel Castro seized power in January 1959, the government is in the hands of a different leader, a pragmatic military officer who lacks his charisma and ego. Raúl Castro has a reputation as a consensus builder, a man who listens closely to his advisers, delegates authority and holds his underlings accountable for their decisions.

The trappings of leadership had also changed if the message did not. Fidel, ever the revolutionary, usually wore olive green fatigues; Raúl, 76, addressed the Assembly in a dark gray suit, a steel-colored tie and gold-rimmed glasses. Raúl spoke calmly for half an hour, a contrast with his brother’s fiery lectures, which often rambled on for hours.

He made it clear no government institution was sacred. “We should never believe that what we have done is perfect,” he said.

Despite those hints of change, other actions by the Assembly ensured the continued power of Cuba’s old guard. It picked another veteran of the revolution, José Ramón Machado Ventura, 76, as the first vice president. A former health minister, Machado Ventura has a reputation as a Communist hard-liner fiercely loyal to the Castros.

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Perhaps the most important challenge facing the new president is the struggling economy. Since becoming acting president in July 2006, when his brother became ill, Raúl Castro has raised expectations among Cubans that he might make it easier to earn a decent salary within the state-run system.

But many Cubans greeted the news with a shrug, doubtful that Raúl would improve their lives anytime soon.

“Fidel was here, now the brother comes,” said Jose Clemente Calvo, 58, a retired janitor. “There is no difference.”

“The same nonsense continues, there’s no doubt,” said Jolando, 79, a former driver who asked his last name not be used. He said he fought in the revolution but long ago became disenchanted with the Castros.