Cuban President Raul Castro faces deep problems in 2017

In this Dec. 3, 2016 file photo, a soldier of the Revolutionary Armed Forces stands guard next to the tomb of Cuba’s late leader Fidel Castro at Santa Ifigenia cemetery in Santiago, Cuba. Fidel’s brother Raul must manage economic and diplomatic challenges during his last full year as president without his older brother whose presence endowed the system he created with historical weight and credibility in the eyes of many Cubans.