Castro hints at a younger ruler in the coming Cuba

Any resignation of that position would more likely come during a party congress, which has been overdue and much debated behind the scenes in Havana. The last congress was held in 1997, by which time Castro was already working to roll back the reforms embraced during the so-called Special Period in Peacetime that spurred a national mobilization akin to emergency wartime measures.

Castro said in his letter Tuesday that he had deliberately downplayed his likelihood of resuming full powers after his illness to soften the blow to his people should he not survive the long convalescence.

"When referring to my health, I was extremely careful to avoid raising expectations since I felt that an adverse ending would bring traumatic news to our people," he wrote.

But noting that his "dearest compatriots" had reelected him to the 614-seat National Assembly in a Jan. 20 one-party election, he made it clear that he would serve no more than a symbolic role.

"I will neither aspire to nor accept the positions of president of the Council of State and commander in chief," he told Cubans. "It would be a betrayal of my conscience to accept a responsibility requiring more mobility and dedication than I am physically able to offer."

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carol.williams@latimes.com

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Four who could be handed the reins

Raul Castro

The brother who has filled in since Fidel Castro was sidelined by illness is a pragmatist more concerned with putting food on tables than with spreading revolution abroad.

The outwardly dour 76-year-old lacks his brother's charisma and has lived in his shadow for decades. But as acting president, Raul Castro has encouraged Cubans to openly debate the shortcomings of communism.

The camera-shy army general has acknowledged that wages paid by Cuba's socialist state are too low. Yet he is not expected to follow China's example and free up a market economy, at least not while his brother is alive. And he has promised more socialism.

Since their guerrilla war and the triumph of their revolution on Jan. 1, 1959, Raul Castro has long been his brother's most trusted right-hand man.

Carlos Lage

The son of Havana laborers became a vice president of the Council of State in 1993, positioning him as the third-most powerful figure, behind the two Castros.

Lage, 56, studied medicine at the University of Havana, earning a degree in pediatrics. He has been involved in politics since his student days, becoming head of the Federation of University Students in 1975.