By Esteban Israel
HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba's legislature will ratify a newleader on February 24, and for the first time in almost half acentury that person may not be Fidel Castro.
But few Cubans appear to be aware of the prospect of theailing 81-year-old leader, who has not appeared in public for19 months, actually retiring from the political scene and thosewho are aware say it will not change their lives.
"I had no idea. I'm disconnected from that world. I don'twatch the news," said Jose Carlos, 15, a student lying in thesun on the Malecon, Havana's weather-beaten sea wall.
Even if Jose Carlos had been watching the news, he wouldnot have gleaned much about Cuba's political future.
As Cuba prepares for the National Assembly meeting thatcould make Castro's brother Raul, or a younger leader, thecountry's next head of state, there is no discussion or even amention of the alternatives in Cuba's media.
Apathy and resignation reign in the communist island nationwhere waiting for slow public transport or finding deals on theblack market to supplement low wages or pay for costly andscarce consumer goods are major pastimes.
"This system has good things and bad things, but I don'tsee a future for myself in Cuba, and I'm not speaking badlyabout the government. It's a reality," he said.
Jose Carlos will not have to pay a cent to study to be anengineer at university, or for universal free health care, buthe complains his father had to pay $15 (7.50 pounds),equivalent to the average monthly salary, for the flip-flops heis wearing.
"Everyone knows that nothing is going to happen. Everythingwill continue the same," said his sister Zuleyma, 22, a medicalschool student.
Like 70 percent of Cubans, she was born after Castro seizedpower in a 1959 revolution and has known no other leader. "I'veno idea what it will be like without him," Zuleyma said.
A few blocks away, on the stairway of Havana Universitywhere Castro made his first speeches as a law student in thelate 1940s, Communist Youth leader Carlos Rangel says gettingpeople involved in politics is an uphill battle today.
"That is one of our challenges. People are not aware ofwhat we are going through ... they are more concerned withtheir own economic situation than the direction of thecountry," said the student leader.
Rangel, 21, said Cubans have not fathomed yet the "deep"meaning of Raul Castro's speeches as acting president.
RAUL RAISES HOPES
Since Fidel Castro underwent intestinal surgery anddelegated power to him in July 2006, Raul Castro has encourageddebate among Cubans on the inefficiencies of Cuba's socialistsystem and what should be done to fix it.
In July last year, the younger Castro, 76, acknowledgedthat wages were "clearly insufficient" in the Cuban economy,which is more than 90 percent owned by the state.
Though he has delivered little so far, his comments raisedexpectations of economic improvements among Cubans such asMaylin, an accounting student at Havana University.
"The question is will it be Fidel or Raul. I think this isa decisive moment," she said, hitching a lift to class.
Maylin has pinned her hopes on Raul Castro, who she sayshas shown a "different line" and could bring some changes.
Older Cubans expect little in the one-party state born ofCastro's 1959 revolution.
"This system will not collapse and can't be fixed, so onejust has to fend for oneself," said retired professor Angel,64, who struggles to feed himself. "I won't believe in changeuntil I see it on my table."
Pepe Berros, who mends punctures for 50 cents a tire,cannot see Raul Castro mending Cuba's economy enough to abolishits main injustice: Cubans get paid in pesos but have to buyconsumer goods in a second currency worth 24 times more.
Once a revolutionary who was beaten up by the police ofU.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista, Berros lives with eightother families in a dilapidated mansion built by a count inHavana's Miramar neighbourhood.
At 76, he is ready to throw in the towel and join a growingnumber of Cubans emigrating illegally by sea to Miami, where hebelieves it would be easier to work, even at his age.
"They don't let people do anything here. Cubans want towork, build, repair ... if only the state would let them."
(Editing by Doina Chiacu)
