HAVANA: Cuba marked the end of an era on Monday with the transfer of power from the Castro clan, in charge for six decades, to the communist country’s first-ever civilian leader, Miguel Diaz-Canel.
As Raul Castro, 89, enters retirement, he handed the all-powerful position of first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba to Diaz-Canel, 60, already Cuba’s president since 2018. “April 19, an historic day,” tweeted the new leader, lauding the all-powerful PCC’s “founding and guiding” generation for handing over the reins.
Diaz-Canel’s election at a party congress, though pre-determined, marks a watershed for the country of 11.2 million people, many of whom have known no leader other than a Castro.
