Raul Castro Succeeds Brother as President of Cuba

Raul Castro, Fidel Castro's younger brother, was voted into the office of president of Cuba Sunday, February 24. Although Fidel Castro, who had ruled the island nation for 49 years, had conveyed almost all governing powers to his brother in 2006 when he became ill, the official title of president remained his until his resignation on February 19. The election by the National Assembly made it official.

Since Raul Castro was by his brother's side as First Vice-President during his reign, few see change in the way Cuba operates -- politically, economically, diplomatically -- in its future. And many analysts see the interim period, publicly stated as a period of waiting for the elder Castro to recuperate, as a mere staging for the transition of power. With Raul already president in everything but name only for two years, the interim could be used to justify his ascension to the presidency without too much infighting.

And so it went...

The younger Castro faces the same problems he's faced at his brother's side over the years: excessive poverty, poor trade options, an oppressed populace of unknowable disposition, a failing infrastructure, a debilitating trade embargo imposed on Cuba by the United States, no diplomatic relations with the United States (it's closest neighbor), etc. And many believe that he will continue his brother's militant dictatorship until Fidel's death or he is deposed.