By Anthony Boadle
HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba's National Assembly met on Sundayto name a successor to Fidel Castro, bringing a formal end tothe rule of the bearded revolutionary who dominated the islandfor five decades of communism and confrontation with the UnitedStates.
His brother Raul Castro, who has been running Cuba sincethe 81-year-old leader was sidelined by illness 19 months ago,is widely expected to become the next president.
Whether Raul Castro will open the door to limited economicreforms is foremost in the minds of many Cubans, who arestruggling to cope with low wages and shortages of basic goods.
The 614-member legislature will announce the composition ofthe Council of State, the island's highest executive body, ataround 2:30 p.m. EST (7:30 p.m. British time).
"It is going to be Raul Castro, because he has always beenthe Number 2 and kept to the revolution's line. Continuity isguaranteed," said an employee of the army-owned tourism companyGaviota who have gave is name as Moreno.
Dressed in a dark business suit, Raul Castro led the way asthe National Assembly leadership arrived for Sunday's meeting.
Fidel Castro, transformed by illness from a tirelessfirebrand who gave seven-hour speeches under the Caribbean suninto a shuffling old man, has not appeared in public sinceundergoing intestinal surgery in July 2006.
He will retain significant but potentially waning influenceas first secretary of the ruling Communist Party.
Castro, who announced his retirement as president lastTuesday, ousted a U.S.-backed dictator in an armed revolutionin 1959 to become an icon of the left, a tyrant to his foes anda perpetual thorn in Washington's side.
Castro said he was too weakened by his undisclosed illnessto continue governing but would soldier on in the "battle ofideas" by writing articles on world affairs.
Anti-Castro exiles and U.S. President George W. Bush haveled calls for democratic reform on the island.
But in the streets of Havana, few Cubans think that, withFidel Castro gone, the West's last communist state will crumbleswiftly like many Soviet allies did. There was no increase inpolice presence.
"For me, it's like a normal day. I'm not worried becauseeverything's going to carry on the same," said Carlos, 44, ashe laid out green peppers at a corner market in the Vedadodistrict.
"Fidel was great, we won't have anyone like him."
Baker Mario Santos said low wages and a worthless currencyneeded fixing but Cuba had good things too, such as low crimeand a social safety net.
"In the United States if you don't work, you don't eat," hesaid. "Things could change, but Fidel is not dead, and peoplehere are Fidelistas, not comunistas."
Though he has faded from the public stage, staunch Castrosupporters say he is still the unquestionable "leader of therevolution" and will continue pulling the strings of power.
"He has not left power. Fidel will never resign fromrevolution and power. What he is doing is resigning his posts,like Che (Argentine revolutionary Ernesto Guevara) did," saidAlejandro Ferras, 87, who followed Castro in the near suicidalattack on the Moncada army barracks in 1953.
'BATTLE ON'
"He will continue fighting like a soldier in the Battle ofIdeas," Ferras said in his dilapidated Old Havana home, wherehe has lived for 62 years.
An army general who has lived in the shadow of his morefamous and charismatic brother, Raul Castro is seen as a goodmanager more concerned with putting food on Cuban tables thanwaging an ideological war against the United States.
As acting president, Raul Castro has fostered debate on thefailings of Cuba's state-run economy and raised expectationsthat reform may be coming. In December, the long-time defenceminister stated that Cuba has "excessive prohibitions."
But so far he has delivered little, other than relaxingcustoms rules for appliances and car parts that are much indemand and desperately short in supply in Cuba.
Many Cubans hope they will soon be allowed to freely buyand sell their homes, travel abroad and stay at hotels andbeaches where only foreigners can now set foot.
Last year, Raul Castro extended an olive branch to theUnited States, saying he was open to talks but only after Bush,who tightened economic sanctions and travel restrictions toCuba, leaves office.
Bush administration officials rejected the offer, callingRaul Castro "Fidel Lite" and denouncing what they see as thehanding of power from one dictator to another.
(Reporting by Anthony Boadle and Marc Frank, Editing byAngus MacSwan and Kieran Murray)
(For special coverage from Reuters on Castro's retirement,see: http://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/cuba)
