Cuba is planning a series of potentially far-reaching changes, with a new constitution set to recognise the free market and private property, while dividing political powers between a president and a prime minister.
A Boeing 737 passenger jet carrying 105 people on a domestic flight in Cuba crashed on Friday shortly after takeoff from Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, officials and news media reported.
Miguel Díaz-Canel has been ratified on Thursday by the National Assembly of Cuba as the new president of the Council of State, the country's first leader in practice. The parliament ratified the former vice president with 99.83% of the votes of the deputies present. Diaz-Canel replaces the General Raúl Castro, who retires from power after 12 years at the head of the country. However, the new president clarified that Raúl Castro “will lead the most important decisions” for the country.
An era will end in Communist-dynastic Cuba on Thursday when President Raul Castro retires, handing over the reins to his right hand man Miguel Diaz-Canel, born the year after brothers Fidel and Raul led their 1959 leftist revolution. However after nearly 60 years of Castro rule, the change is not expected to herald sweeping reforms to the island’s state-run economy and one-party system, one of the last in the world.
Cuba is set to undergo a historic shift this week, elevating a relatively unknown Communist Party official to replace retiring President Raúl Castro. But who is Miguel Díaz-Canel? And what does his ascension to the top of Cuba's government mean for a country that has been run by the Castro brothers for nearly 60 years?
Cuba Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel, tipped to succeed President Raul Castro, accused the US yesterday of “resuming a Cold War rhetoric” and of “attacking” the Cuban revolution. Diaz-Canel spoke to state television after casting his vote in elections for a parliament that will choose Castro’s successor on April 19.
The Cuban parliament enacted a proposal that extends Raúl Castro’s term from the original February 24 deadline. The Council of the State underscored that the extension was based on the “exceptional situation” Cuba finds itself in due to costly damages Hurricane Irma inflicted on the island last September.
The Cuban government's traditional May Day parade Monday is the last to be overseen by President Raul Castro, and the first without his late brother and revolutionary predecessor Fidel.
Raul Castro was re-elected as Cuba's president Sunday, officially to his last five-year term, with a new regime number two, Council of State Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel, official media said.