UPDATE 9-Fidel Castro passes Cuba reins to his brother

(Adds details, reaction from former Cuban official)

By Anthony Boadle

HAVANA, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Raul Castro took over from his brother Fidel Castro as Cuban president on Sunday, ending the rule of the bearded rebel who defied the United States for five decades but vowing to continue his communist revolution.

A former hardliner feared for his ruthlessness but who has adopted a more moderate tone in recent years, Raul Castro, 76, nodded and smiled as legislators applauded his selection by the rubber-stamp National Assembly.

He is expected to pursue limited economic reforms to tackle food shortages and poor living standards but in a sign that abrupt or major change is unlikely, Communist Party ideologue Jose Ramon Machado Ventura was named to the No. 2 job of first vice president.

In his first speech as president, Raul Castro said he would continue to consult his older brother on important issues.

"The mandate of this legislature is clear ... to continue strengthening the revolution at a historic moment," he said.

Fidel Castro, 81, stepped down Tuesday due to ill health, ending his long rule of the West's last communist state.

He overthrew U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista in a 1959 revolution at the height of the Cold War and then survived assassination attempts, a CIA-backed invasion, the Soviet Union's collapse and a U.S. economic embargo to rule for almost half a century.