Saying he is no longer healthy enough to hold office, Cuban leader Fidel Castro has announced he will not seek reelection after 49 years in power and nearly 19 months sidelined by illness, marking the first official step in a long-awaited succession in the island's leadership.

îîIt would be a betrayal to my conscience to accept a responsibility requiring more mobility and dedication than I am physically able to offer,'' the 81-year-old Castro wrote in a letter published in Tuesday's editions of Cuban newspapers. îîThis I say devoid of all drama.''

Castro's not-unexpected announcement came just days before the Cuban National Assembly meets Sunday to select members and president of its Council of State. The president of the council is the official ruler of Cuba … and that's been Castro since the council was established in 1976.

And now he has made clear that he will not seek reelection, making way for a new leadership for his communist government.

îîFortunately, our revolution can still count on cadres from the old guard and others who were very young in the early stages of the process. Some were very young, almost children, when they joined the fight on the mountains and later they have given glory to the country with their heroic performance and their internationalist missions,'' he said. îîThey have the authority and the experience to guarantee the replacement.''

Now it remains to be seen whether his 76-year-old brother RaÑl … the world's longest serving defense minister and designated successor, will be named to officially take the reins of power, although Fidel Castro is widely expected to retain a strong voice in the country's strategic decisions for the time being.

But his absence from the political scene raises many new possibilities for the revolution, particularly considering that nearly two thirds of the country's 11.2 million people were born after 1959 and have known no other leader but Fidel. Castro's successor will take office amid increasing complaints against the system's shortcomings, particularly high prices and low wages.

When Castro was struck by an intestinal illness the summer of 2006, he îîtemporarily'' turned over that title and several others to RaÑl. He has not made any public appearances since then.

The government has periodically released videos and snapshots of him, at first looking frail and gaunt and later more healthy. His signature military fatigues have been replaced by track suits in the red white and blue of the Cuban flag.

The jubilation felt on the streets of Miami that summer night Castro ceded power quickly petered when RaÑl Castro's hold on the job proved firmer than exiles in Miami expected. RaÑl's 19 months in office were marked by remarkable stability, which served to underscore the strength of Cuba's military and Communist Party.

îîIt's the same dictatorship with a different person,'' said Janisset Rivero, executive director of the Democratic Directorate, a Miami exile group that works with dissidents in Cuba. îîIt's not even a new person, but one who has been around for 49 years.''

RaÑl and Fidel swept into power in 1959 after winning a guerrilla war against Fulgencio Batista. Once in office, Castro, a former lawyer, nationalized properties as the country's elite and middle class fled. He fostered strong ties to the Soviet Union, but watched his economy collapse when the Soviet bloc came apart … taking its $4 to $6 billion in annual subsidies with it.

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