Cuba's Castro resigns, new President to be named soon

For the first time in 60 years, Cuba’s socialist government will not have a Castro in top administration.

Monday, 19th April 2021

Cuba's Castro resigns, new President to be named soon

For the first time in 60 years, Cuba’s socialist government will not have a Castro in top administration. On Friday, 18 April, Raul Castro declared that he is walking down as Cuba’s Communist party leader. The Communist party is the sole ruling party in command of Cuban affairs as per the country’s Constitution. In an address at the opening of the Eighth Congress of the governing party, Castro declared that he has ended his task as the first secretary, “with the pleasure of having performed (his duty) and trust in the future of the homeland”. He is expected to give over his resignation by Monday, 19 April, officially. The 89-year-old has not revealed who the replacement would be. However, he has supported 60-year-old Miguel Diaz-Canel in the past, whom he designated as his replacement as President of Cuba in 2018. He said that Cuba’s administration was being handed off to a younger age that is “full of passion and anti-imperialist spirit”,

Castro's Reign in Cuba

Castro took the controls from his elder brother, a former Communist revolutionist, Fidel Castro, in 2018 after he fell sick. Fidel Castro led Cuba for over 50 years after ousting dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959, where Raul worked side by side and was the world's third longest-serving head of country, after Britain's Queen Elizabeth and the King of Thailand. Fidel was strongly recognised for playing an important role during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Communist Party had declared that the new Congress would have to work on how to properly deal with political-ideological destruction on social media. The country’s administration will also largely be shaped by Cuba’s alliance with the United States. President Joe Biden had promised to reverse certain sanctions toughened under his predecessor Donald Trump during his election campaign. However, experts believe that Cuba would have to give something back in human rights reforms.