Cuba’s National Assembly has named Raul Castro president and successor to his brother Fidel. Raul has essentially been running the country since Fidel had major surgery in 2006. Although he was expected to throw a bone to a younger generation of leaders, he named another septuagenarian veteran of the revolution his vice president.

BBC:

But the real shock came when he chose 78-year-old Politburo hardliner Machado Ventura as vice-president, says the BBC’s Michael Voss in Havana.

There had been speculation that Raul Castro, aged 76, would name one of Cuba’s younger generation of communist leaders as his number two.

But he instead opted for one of the original leaders of Cuba’s communist revolution.

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