Fidel Castro, left, and his brother, Raul, at the Communist Party congress in Havana yesterda
Days after calling for fresh blood in the top tiers of the Communist regime in Cuba, Raul Castro yesterday took formal command of the party and named an 80-year-old veteran as his deputy, muddying his message of reform and change.
The appointments marked a climax to a four-day Communist Party congress in Havana that was eclipsed only by the appearance of Fidel Castro, who gingerly took his seat on stage next to his younger brother. Delegates learnt that Fidel, who led the 1959 socialist revolution, will for the first time no longer hold any party position.
That 79-year-old Raul Castro, who has effectively run the country since late 2006 because of a stomach infection that nearly killed Fidel, was appointed as first secretary of the party surprised no one. However, the choice of Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, who fought alongside Fidel to overthrow the US-backed Fulgencio Batista in 1959, as his deputy and Ramiro Valdes, 78, as his number three quashed hopes that a new generation of Cuban leaders could take on senior roles.