Alva Review-Courier -

HAVANA (AP) — For most of his life, Raul Castro played second-string to his brother Fidel — first as a guerrilla commander, later as a senior figure in their socialist government. But for the past decade, it's Raul who has been the face of communist Cuba, its defiance of U.S. efforts to oust its socialist system — and its efforts to forge a rapprochement with its longtime foe.

The younger Castro, now 89, formally announced Friday that he would step down as first secretary of the island's Communist Party, leaving the Caribbean nation without a Castro in an official position of command for the f...