Raul Castro has confirmed that he is resigning as head of Cuba’s Communist party, ending an era of formal leadership by him and his brother Fidel Castro that began with the 1959 revolution.

The 89-year-old Castro made the announcement on Friday in a speech at the opening of the eighth congress of the ruling party.

“I believe fervently in the strength and exemplary nature and comprehension of my compatriots, and as long as I live I will be ready with my foot in the stirrups to defend the fatherland, the revolution, and socialism,” Castro told hundreds of party delegates gathered at a convention center in Havana.

He said he was retiring with the sense of having “fulfilled his mission and confident in the future of the fatherland”.

Castro did not say who he would endorse as his successor as first secretary of the Communist party.