By Anthony Boadle
HAVANA (Reuters) - Raul Castro took over from his brotherFidel Castro as Cuban president on Sunday, ending the rule ofthe bearded rebel who defied the United States for five decadesbut vowing to continue his communist revolution.
A former hardliner who is feared for his ruthlessness buthas adopted a softer tone in recent years, Raul Castro, 76,nodded and smiled as legislators applauded his selection by therubber-stamp National Assembly.
He is expected to pursue limited economic reforms but in asign that change is unlikely to be deep or abrupt, CommunistParty ideologue Jose Ramon Machado Ventura was named first vicepresident, or Cuba's No. 2.
In his first speech as president, Raul Castro said he wouldcontinue to consult his older brother on important issues.
"The mandate of this legislature is clear ... to continuestrengthening the revolution at a historic moment," he said.
Fidel Castro, 81, stepped down on Tuesday because of illhealth, ending his long rule of the West's last communiststate.
He overthrew U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista in a1959 revolution and then survived assassination attempts, aCIA-backed invasion, the Soviet Union's collapse and a U.S.economic embargo to rule for almost half a century.
Raul Castro said he was accepting the job on the conditionthat his brother continued to be the "commander in chief of therevolution" -- a title created for him during his guerrillauprising before seizing power in a 1959 revolution.
"Fidel is Fidel. Fidel is irreplaceable."
Raul Castro lacks the oratorical flair of his brother, buthe has encouraged ordinary Cubans in the last 19 months to airconcerns over the economy, raising hopes of modest reforms.
The U.S. government has dubbed Raul Castro "Fidel Lite" anddismisses the leadership change as the handing of power fromone dictator to another.
"If you look at the nature of the people in charge, this isthe Old Guard, it's the hard line and there is no reason for usto feel a sense from optimism for the Cuban people," U.S.Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez told Reuters on Sunday.
CAUTIOUS CHANGE
The appointment of Machado Ventura, a member of RaulCastro's inner circle, suggested that change would be subtle.
"This is about signalling continuity externally andinternally," said Julia Sweig, an expert on Cuba at the Councilon Foreign Relations think tank in Washington, although shesaid Cuba's leaders are well aware they need to address foodshortages and other problems.
"Raul is really a pragmatist and for all of them the clockon bread and butter issues starts ticking now. It's a mistaketo think there's an enormous amount of light between any ofthese people. They're all basically headed in the samedirection, with some nuances," she said.
In the ramshackle streets of old Havana, some residentshuddled around radios on Sunday but others, more concerned withcoping with day-to-day shortages and challenges than withpolitics, went about their daily business, shopping for fruitand vegetables or playing dominoes on the sidewalk.
"With Raul, people hope the economy will improve. It won'thappen quickly but maybe within 10 years the economy couldstabilize," said Jorge, 42, an electrician who asked not to befully identified.
Cuban exiles in Miami, the heartland of opposition to theCastro brothers, were not surprised at the appointments.
"It's once more depriving the Cuban people of choosingtheir destiny," said Ninoska Perez of the Cuban LibertyCouncil, a hardline anti-Castro group.
Raul Castro has led Cuba since July 2006 when his brothertemporarily handed over power after intestinal surgery.
A leftist icon in his army fatigues, cap and beard butoppressor of his people to his enemies, Fidel Castro officiallyretired on Tuesday, reduced by illness to a shuffling old man.
He has not been seen in public since his surgery, but willcontinue to wield influence as head of the Communist Party andby writing articles in "the battle of ideas".
Cuba's main benefactor, President Hugo Chavez of oilexporter Venezuela, pledged to continue supporting Cuba,dismissing speculation he does not get on with Raul Castro.
"The international campaign has already begun to makepeople believe that Raul and I are not close, that things willnow change. Nothing will change," said Chavez, who has pursuedhis own socialist revolution and become an outspoken U.S. foein Latin America.
(Additional reporting by Marc Frank and Nelson Acosta inHavana, Jeff Franks and Tom Brown in Miami, Editing by MichaelChristie and Kieran Murray)
(For special coverage from Reuters on Castro's retirement,see: http://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/cuba)
