Raul Castro steps out from Fidel's shadow

HAVANA — Raul Castro doesn't enjoy his older brother's appeal, but as he takes over the leadership of communist Cuba, he can count on the power he amassed during a half-century as the island's No. 2 man.

Even before Monday's announcement that Fidel Castro has temporarily relinquished power to his brother while recovering from intestinal surgery, Raul Castro had been emerging from the shadows, appearing prominently in a state media campaign to better acquaint Cubans with the man chosen long ago to be their next leader.

Granma, the Communist Party daily, republished a tribute to Raul Castro, calling him "the chief, the leader, the comrade, the man" who "has brought us great affection and instruction across the decades."

State television has repeatedly showed the bespectacled defense minister in his olive green uniform and cap — a head shorter than his brother, beardless with a graying mustache, addressing troops and reviewing military parades.

Even if his presidency becomes permanent, it is seen as unlikely to foreshadow the leap into democracy that U.S. policy envisions for Cuba after Fidel.

While sure to preserve the communist state founded in 1959, Raul Castro has indicated greater flexibility on the state-controlled economy.

He oversaw experiments with limited market reforms after the Soviet Union's collapse and on a 1997 visit to China, expressed interest in its free-enterprise socialism. He has also called for more cooperation with the United States on terrorism, drug trafficking and immigration.

The apparent readying of Fidel Castro's brother for the succession is a reminder that two of the world's remaining communist regimes, Cuba and North Korea, are family affairs, in which the public has no real say in who rules them.

Fidel Castro made it clear just three weeks after seizing power that he wanted his brother to succeed him.

"I do it not because he is my brother — the whole world knows how much we hate nepotism — but because on my honor I consider him to have sufficient qualities to replace me tomorrow in case I die in this struggle," he said in a quote from Jan. 21, 1959, resurrected in the Granma tribute.

In a note read on Cuban television Monday night, Fidel Castro said his health was "ruined" by gastrointestinal bleeding due to the stress of recent public appearances. While the note said the handover was "provisional," it also said celebrations of his 80th birthday on Aug. 13 will be postponed until December, suggesting that Raul Castro may remain in power for months at least.