Fidel Castro Makes Rare Appearance During Cuban Leadership Selection

[HuffingtonPost]

By By Marc Frank                

HAVANA, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Retired Cuban leader Fidel Castro  made a rare public appearance Sunday by joining the opening  session of the National Assembly, state media reported amid  speculation the gathering could give clues on planning for a  future leadership succession.                

Since falling ill in 2006 and ceding the presidency to his  brother, Fidel Castro has given up all official positions except  as a deputy in the National Assembly. At Sunday's session, he  took his seat beside brother President Raul Castro, only the  second time he has graced the assembly chambers since his  illness and the first since 2010.                

Fidel Castro's surprise appearance added to expectations,  fueled by his brother, that the usually routine session might  shed light on future leadership of the communist-run nation.                

In a back and forth with reporters on Friday, Raul Castro  joked about his eventual retirement and urged them to pay  attention to Sunday's conclave, which is closed to foreign  journalists.                

"I'm going to turn 82; I have a right to retire already," he  said. "You don't believe me? Why are you so incredulous?" he  said.                

The 612 deputies, who were elected in an uncontested vote  Feb. 3, are expected to name a new 31-member Council of State  with Raul Castro as president, despite his quip.                

The National Assembly meets for just a few weeks each year  and delegates its legislative powers between sessions to the  Council of State, which also functions as the nation's executive  through the Council of Ministers it appoints.                

Governments, Cuba watchers and Cubans will be watching to  see if there are any new, and younger, faces among the Council  of State members, in particular its first vice president and  five vice presidents, with an average age over 70.                

The new government is almost certain to be the last headed  up by the Castro brothers and the generation that has ruled Cuba  since they swept down from the mountains in the 1959 revolution  that led to a long-running feud with Washington.                

Raul Castro, 81, would begin his second term on Sunday,  theoretically leaving him free to retire in 2018, aged 86.                

Eighty percent of the parliament's 612 members, with an  average age under 50, were born after the Revolution.                                

EFFORT TO PROMOTE YOUNGER GENERATION                

Raul Castro, who officially replaced his ailing brother as  president in 2008, has repeatedly called for senior leaders to  hold office for no more than two, five-year terms.                

"Although we kept on trying to promote young people to  senior positions, life proved that we did not always make the  best choice," Castro said at a Party Congress in 2011.                

"Today, we are faced with the consequences of not having a  reserve of well-trained replacements....It's really embarrassing  that we have not solved this problem in more than half a  century," he said.                

The 2011 party summit adopted a more than 300-point plan to  "update" Cuba's Soviet-style economic system, designed to  transform it from one based on collective production and  consumption to one where individual effort and reward play a far  more important role.                

Across-the-board subsidies are being replaced by the  country's first comprehensive tax code and targeted welfare.                

Fidel Castro, these days referred to as the "historic leader  of the revolution," is no longer seen as wielding real power,  but he has maintained a public presence through his writings,  meetings with important visitors and rare appearances.                

Esteban Lazo, member of the political bureau of the Community  Party and vice president of the Council of State, 68, was named  parliament president Sunday to replace a retiring Ricardo  Alarcon, who served for 20 years.     (Reporting By Marc Frank; Editing by David Adams and Cynthia  Osterman)

Via: HuffingtonPost