Cubans expect few big changes in post-Castro life

HAVANA (Reuters) - As the world watches and waits for signsof change in a Cuba without Fidel Castro at the helm, fewCubans expect life to be different after a new president isnamed on Sunday.

Castro, 81, announced his retirement this week after nearlyfive decades of rule, citing the poor health that led him toprovisionally hand power to his brother Raul in July 2006.

Cuba's rubber-stamp National Assembly is expected to nameRaul Castro as president, ending the rule of the charismaticrevolutionary who turned Cuba into a one-party state and Sovietally on the doorstep of the United States.

Anti-Castro exiles and U.S. President George W. Bush haveled international calls for democratic reform on the islandsince the announcement. But in the streets of the capitalHavana, the mood is more of indifference than expectation.

"It's been the same for 50 years (and) there aren't goingto be changes. It's possible that they'll be some measuresbecause Raul is different to Fidel, but it won't be much," saidAdela, 48, a vet, who asked not to give her full name.

"There's a lot of disillusion, a lot of sadness. The peopledon't care," she added.

Since announcing he would step down, Castro has hit back atthe foreign calls for change.

Castro said in a newspaper article that reactions to hisretirement, including calls for "liberty" in Cuba, forced himto "open fire" again on his ideological enemies.

"Change, change, change!'" they cried in chorus. I agree,'change!' but in the United States," he wrote in a columnpublished by the Communist Party daily Granma on Friday.

More than 70 percent of Cubans were born after Castroseized power as a bearded revolutionary fighter in 1959, andmany say they are sad to see him go and relieved he will stillbe involved in political life to ensure a smooth transition.

ABSENCE

His long absence from public life since falling ill hasgiven Cubans time to get used to the idea that their leaderwould eventually be replaced.

Castro, who will retain heavy influence over Cuba as headof the Communist Party, said he will soldier on defending hissocialist views by writing columns in the "battle of ideas."Many analysts think Raul will be reluctant to advance reformsthat dismantle his brother's vision of an egalitarian societywhile he is still alive.

"Fidel represents balance ... Ever since he got sick,people have taken it in their stride. It's true that people arecalm, and also a little sad," said taxi driver Miguel, 36, ashe repaired his huge 1950s vintage American car in the centralHavana district of Vedado.

"People aren't ready for a drastic change ... We've been abit trapped, but change can be a mixed blessing," he added.

State-controlled media have devoted little air time toSunday's historic National Assembly meeting and it was businessas usual in Havana's thinly-stocked stores and street marketsthis week.

Cubans complain about their lack of buying power and manyhunger for more freedom to travel abroad and have Internetaccess.

Since taking charge 19 months ago, Raul Castro has fosteredopen debate over the shortcoming of Cuba's state-run economyand some Cubans hope a new president could address theircomplaints about low wages and decrepit housing.

"Everyone talks about how a waiter earns more than aprofessional, that young people don't want to study, thateducation is getting worse," said the vet Adela.

"Everyone thinks (Raul) will have to respond ... after hetakes power. Many people have this hope."

(Editing by Jeff Franks and Stuart Grudgings)