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Edition: U.S. Article Comments (0) Save Email Print Reprints Most Popular Most Shared BP cuts ruptured oil pipe | Video 4:32pm EDT Whirlpool recalls 1.7 million dishwashers 1:46pm EDT Caffeine addicts get no real perk from morning cup 02 Jun 2010 "Golden Girls" actress Rue McClanahan dies of stroke 1:00pm EDT Fed should raise rates to 1 percent: Hoenig 2:39pm EDT Powerful Cyclone Phet barrels toward Oman 02 Jun 2010 Chile nabs Dutch man linked to Aruba mystery 3:05pm EDT Turks mourn dead as Israel offers probe | Video 3:14pm EDT RPT-SCENARIOS-The future for BP after the oil spill 2:56am EDT Hole opens in Guatemala neighborhood, 3 missing 23 Feb 2007 "Golden Girls" actress Rue McClanahan dies of stroke 1:00pm EDT Caffeine addicts get no real perk from morning cup 02 Jun 2010 Whirlpool recalls 1.7 million dishwashers 1:46pm EDT BP cuts ruptured oil pipe | Video 4:32pm EDT Powerful Cyclone Phet barrels toward Oman 02 Jun 2010 U.S. reverses stance on treaty to regulate arms trade 14 Oct 2009 Book asks: Is Internet ruining our minds? 12:52pm EDT Half doses of diabetes drugs can prevent disease 02 Jun 2010 Obama extends benefits for gay federal employees 02 Jun 2010 Obese Sydney bird sent to birdy bootcamp 02 Jun 2010 Raul Castro turns 79 with eyes on future Jeff Franks HAVANA Thu Jun 3, 2010 2:41pm EDT Cuba's President Raul Castro attends the Mayday parade in Havana in this May 1, 2010 file photo. Credit: Reuters/Desmond Boylan Related News Cuban political prisoners moved closer to home Tue, Jun 1 2010 Cuba moving political prisoners closer to home Tue, Jun 1 2010 "Ladies in White" say Cuba prisoner plight goes on Sun, May 30 2010 Fearful Cuba watches, waits for BP oil spill Fri, May 28 2010 HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban President Raul Castro turned 79 on Thursday, showing no signs of slowing down as he works to assure that Cuban communism survives beyond his generation. World | Cuba His birthday was not mentioned in Cuba's state-run newspapers, possibly because the topic is a sensitive one for the country's aging leaders. They have no obvious younger successors, but Castro, who replaced ailing older brother Fidel Castro in February 2008, appears to be in good health and in no mind to leave office anytime soon. While opponents in the United States and elsewhere have long said the system installed after Cuba's 1959 revolution would die with the Castros, Raul Castro has made clear that he plans to keep Cuba communist long after he and his brother are gone. "There are those in U.S. ruling circles who say they will wait for the disappearance of the revolution's historic generation, a sinister bet on the so-called 'biological factor,' or the death of Fidel and all of us," he said in speech to Cuba's National Assembly in August. "Those who think like that are doomed to failure." Cuban leaders are at work on "the ongoing upgrading of our economic model in order to set the foundations of the irreversibility of Cuban socialism," Castro told the Young Communist League in April. The task is not easy because it is a fight against time and a powerful inertia that has settled over the Cuban system through its five decades of existence. Castro, the former defense minister, has tried to tackle the latter by filling many positions in the Council of Ministers, effectively his cabinet, with military men whom he trusts to follow his orders. He has made a number of tweaks to the economic system with the aim of providing financial incentives for harder work while at the same time modestly reducing the state's role. LARGER REFORMS So far, the known changes include mostly small but symbolically important things such as allowing barbers and bus and taxi drivers to operate more like their own small businesses, and giving private farmers and cooperatives greater freedom from reliance on the government. But larger reforms in the retail and service sectors are being hinted at in public discussions in state media, and perhaps in Castro's private conversations. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Cuba's closest ally, said on Venezuelan television last week that Castro confided to him -- as a warning not to do the same thing -- that Cuba had "committed many errors" in its development of communism. Chavez quoted Castro as saying: "Here we nationalized even the funeral home, the barber shop, the sale of ice cream. That doesn't have any reason to belong to the state." Castro also has launched a crackdown on corruption and said Cubans must become less dependent on government handouts. "What we are seeing is that Raul Castro is much more pragmatic than Fidel. What remains to be seen is how far he will go with his reforms and whether they will be sufficient," said a western diplomat based in Havana. Castro has spoken about future leaders only in general terms, saying in speeches there are many young Cubans who will maintain the revolution in coming years. But time is becoming a precious commodity for the country's leaders. Castro's immediate successor, first vice president Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, will turn 80 in October and the average age of all six vice presidents on the Council of State is 71.6 years. They are all younger than Fidel Castro, who is 83 and has not appeared in public since undergoing intestinal surgery in 2006, but remains the head of the party. Speculation on who will lead once this generation is gone ranges from younger members of the Castro family to younger military men now in high positions. "But there are no obvious candidates, nor any who are clearly being groomed," said another western diplomat. The two men thought to be the most likely younger successors, former Vice President Carlos Lage and former Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, were dismissed in a cabinet shake-up last year after they were secretly taped speaking ill of their elderly bosses and hinting at changes to come. (Editing by Mohammad Zargham) World Cuba Add a Comment *We welcome comments that advance the story directly or with relevant tangential information. We try to block comments that use offensive language or appear to be spam and review comments frequently to ensure they meet our standards. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. © Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters Editorial Editions: Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom United States Reuters Contact Us Advertise With Us Help Journalism Handbook Archive Site Index Video Index Analyst Research Mobile Newsletters RSS Podcasts Widgets Your View Labs Thomson Reuters Copyright Disclaimer Privacy Professional Products Professional Products Support Financial Products About Thomson Reuters Careers Online Products Acquisitions Monthly Buyouts Venture Capital Journal International Financing Review Project Finance International PEhub.com PE Week FindLaw Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

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