HAVANA, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Cuban President Raul Castro told his people Friday that the "historic" leadership of the revolution has begun to gradually transfer power to younger generations.
"The historic generation is giving way its place to the 'new pines' quietly and with serene confidence," the 82-year-old Castro said in a televised speech marking the 60th anniversary of the start of the Cuban Revolution.
"This is still a revolution of the young," he said in the city of Santiago in eastern Cuba, where on July 26, 1953, a small group of revolutionaries led by his elder brother, Fidel Castro, attacked the Moncada Barracks in a failed assault, which is widely accepted as the beginning of the Cuban Revolution.
"Today more than 70 percent of Cubans were born after the triumph of the revolution," said Castro, who took over as president from his brother in 2008.
"There is a slow and orderly transfer of the leadership of the revolution to the new generations," he said, adding that the succession was "based on the demonstrated preparation and capacity to maintain high the flags of the revolution and socialism."
Thanking the world for its support for the Cuban Revolution, Castro said "we have never lacked solidarity and support from all the continents, especially from Latin America and the Caribbean, a region united and progressing despite its diversity."
He also highlighted the regional integration, saying the presence of Latin American leaders at the ceremony is a patient expression of solidarity with the Cuban revolutionary process.
A host of foreign dignities attended the ceremony, including heads of state of Venezuela, Uruguay, Bolivia and Nicaragua, and four small Caribbean island countries.
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