Cuba's Castro may soon end mystery over his future

By Anthony Boadle

HAVANA (Reuters) - A year and a half after he last appeared in public, the mystery of ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro's political future could be revealed later this month.

Will the 81-year-old Castro call it a day or will he hang on to power until the end?

On February 24, Cuba's National Assembly legislature will meet to ratify the country's top executive body, the Council of State. The council's president is Cuba's head of state and the meeting could mark the end to Castro's 49-year grip on power.

He underwent emergency intestinal surgery in July 2006 and handed over control "temporarily" to his brother Raul. Since then, Castro has only been seen in video and pictures looking gaunt and frail, and could now seize the moment to formally put Raul in charge of the communist government.

Raul Castro, 76, has raised expectations of economic changes to kick-start an inefficient state-run economy and improve the daily lot of Cubans, and analysts say a formal transfer of power would allow him to push through reforms.

But they are not sure it will happen.

"I think we will see the same old faces in the same old places," said a skeptical European ambassador.

The seasoned diplomat said he expected Castro to be proclaimed president and then cede power again on an interim basis to Raul Castro.