Cuba gets new leader as last Castro retires

— Cuba marked the end of an era Monday with the official transfer of power from the Castro clan, in charge for six decades, to the communist country’s first civilian leader, Miguel Diaz-Canel.

The transition, while hugely symbolic, is unlikely to result in dramatic policy shifts in the one-party system that Diaz-Canel, 60, has vowed to safeguard.

“The most revolutionary thing within the Revolution is to always defend the party, in the same way that the party should be the greatest defender of the Revolution,” he said on Monday.

Diaz-Canel added the outgoing leader, 89-year-old Raul Castro, would still be consulted on “strategic decisions.”

From retirement, Castro would give “direction and alert to any error or deficiency, ready to confront imperialism as he first did with his rifle,” said the new leader.

Already Cuba’s president since 2018, Diaz-Canel has now also taken the most senior position of first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC).

The pre-determined power change at a four-day PCC congress in Havana, marks a watershed for the country of 11.2 million people, many of whom have not known a leader who was not a Castro.

Fidel Castro, still revered as the country’s father and savior, led the country from 1959 to 2006, when he fell ill and his brother took over.

Diaz-Canel was born after the revolution led by the Castro siblings in the 1950s, leading in 1959 to the overthrow of dictator Fulgencio Batista.

The PCC congress was held 60 years after Fidel Castro declared Cuba a socialist state, setting up decades of conflict with the United States, which has had sanctions against the country since 1962.

Diaz-Canel takes the reins as Cuba battles its worst economic crisis in 30 years, sky-high inflation, biting food shortages, long lines for basic necessities and growing disgruntlement over limited freedoms.

Cuba, one of just five communist countries in the world, faces constant shortages and needs to import 80 percent of what it consumes.

“Since I was born, I have only known one party,” said Miguel Gainza, a 58-year-old in Havana.

AFP-Yonhap A photo released by Cuban News Agency (ACN) shows the outgoing First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC), Raul Castro, right, raising Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel’s hand as he was elected as the new First Secretary during the 8th Congress of the Cuban Communist Party at the Convention Palace in Havana, Monday.