Raul to stick to brother Fidel's policies in Cuba

HAVANA: In a historic milestone, Raul Castro succeeded his brother Fidel Castro as the president of Cuba Monday in a power shift expected to keep Havana firmly on its communist path, officials said. Fidel Castro, 81, who announced on Tuesday he was stepping aside after ruling for almost 50 years, was not present as the national assembly held its landmark session to select a new leader.

But the last of the cold war leaders voted for his successor in a sealed envelope and newly reelected speaker Ricardo Alarcon announced later to the assembly that 76-year-old Raul ��� the only candidate put forward to take the helm ��� had been named the new president.

���The end of one era is not the same thing as the beginning of an unsustainable system,��� Castro wrote in an editorial on Friday.

After years as Cuba���s number two and defence minister, Raul faces massive challenges: dismantling a monolithic leadership, preparing the transition to a newer generation in power, reforming the economy and resolving domestic problems.

With half of Cuba���s farmland idle; monthly salaries averaging the equivalent of $15, woefully inadequate even in a subsidised economy; shortfalls in housing and food stocks, and a shoddy bureaucracy, the outlook is not good.