Castro era in Cuba to end as Raul confirms he’s retiring

Raul Castro confirmed he was handing over the leadership of the Cuban Communist Party to a younger generation at its congress that kicked off on Friday, ending six decades of rule by himself and older brother Fidel. 

In a speech opening the four-day event, Castro, 89, said the new leadership would be party loyalists with decades of experience working their way up the ranks and were "full of passion and anti-imperialist spirit."

Castro had said at the previous party congress in 2016 it would be the last one led by the "historic generation" who fought in the Sierra Maestra to topple a US-backed dictator in the 1959 leftist revolution.

He already handed over the presidency in 2018 to protege Miguel Diaz-Canel, 60, who ran the party in two provinces before joining the national government.

The new generation of leaders, which did not forge itself through rebellion, has no easy task. The transition comes as Cuba faces the worst economic crisis since the collapse of former benefactor the Soviet Union, while there are signs of growing frustration, especially among younger Cubans.

"I believe fervently in the strength and exemplary nature and comprehension of my compatriots, and as long as I live I will be ready with my foot in the stirrups to defend the fatherland, the revolution and socialism," Castro told hundreds of party delegates gathered at a convention center in Havana.

The congress, the party's most important meeting, held every five years to review policy and fix leadership, is a closed-door event but excerpts are being broadcast on state television.

Castro himself became acting president when Fidel fell ill in 2006 and later in 2011 party leader, launching a raft of social and economic reforms to open up one of the world's last Communist-run countries that later stalled.

Older Cubans said they would miss having a Castro at the helm, although most acknowledged it was time to pass on the baton.

"It's another stage," said Maria del Carmen Jimenez, a 72-year old retired nurse, "but without a double we will miss him."

Castro denounced renewed US hostility under former President Donald Trump. Incumbent President Joe Biden has vowed to roll back some of Trump's sanctions, although the White House said on Friday a shift in Cuba policy was not among his top foreign policy priorities.

Castro said Cuba was ready for a "new type of relationship with the United States without ... Cuba having to renounce the principles of the revolution and socialism."

Government critics like "artivist" Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara, whom Havana accuses of being part of a US-backed soft coup attempt, say the death knell is sounding for the revolution.

"Raul is passing over the power to someone with little charisma and who does not have much popular support," he said. "This takes us one step closer to democracy."