Raul castro
Raul Castro: Cuba's pragmatist who emerged from Fidel's shadow
When his charismatic older brother handed over the presidency in 2006 due to illness, Raul, more used to the back stage, was reluctantly forced out into the...
Raul Castro, 89, is stepping down as PCC first secretary -- the most powerful position in Cuba -- ending a near six-decade family hold on power that started in 1959 under his revolutionary brother, Fidel, who died in 2016.
The Communist Party-proposed overhaul will be discussed in 35,000 workplaces and community meetings across the Caribbean island scheduled to stretch into November.
All except one of the former vice presidents on the council of ministers - Marino Murillo, the head of the Communist Party’s reform commission - will remain in place.
Cuban officials and many foreign tourism experts maintain Cuba is one of the safest destinations in the world.
Cuba’s economy is struggling, dragged down by the dual-currency system Fidel Castro adopted in 1994 to attract cash remittances from Cuban expats.
A stalwart of the ruling Communist Party, Miguel Diaz-Canel was sworn in to replace Raul Castro by the National Assembly in a carefully managed new chapter for the Caribbean island.
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.
Seeking to make socialism sustainable, Castro introduced some market reforms to the state-run economy and secured a historic detente with the United States.
The government depicts the vote as a symbolic show of unity.
Castro, 86, was originally set to step down in February after two consecutive terms, ending nearly 60 years of Castro brothers’ rule.
The vote comes the day after the first anniversary of revolutionary leader Fidel Castro’s death.
But Fidel Castro’s image will not be immortalised with statues nor will public places be named after him.
The foundation's director Nishaan Bolten says Castro was a champion for African liberation movements.
Obama said he was in Cuba to extend a hand of friendship and bury the last remnant of the Cold War.
Obama arrived in Cuba on a trip that comes 15 months after he & Castro agreed to end 50 years of animosity.
The pair will have their 4th meeting, likely their most substantial, at the Palace of the Revolution.
The three-day trip is the culmination of a diplomatic opening announced by Obama & Raul Castro in 2014.
Raul Castro spoke to top government and party leaders in an address broadcast on state TV.