Castro was already expected to announce his resignation at the party congress held these days. According to the 89-year-old Castro, it is time to pass on power to a younger generation. During his speech he indicated that he was ready until his death ‘to defend the fatherland, the revolution and socialism’.
Formal power
The 60-year-old Míguel Diaz-Canel will probably take over from him. Diaz-Canel also took over from him as president of the country in 2018. Castro had not been president of Cuba since 2018, but had formal power.
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With Raúl’s resignation as party leader, Castro has not been formally in power in Cuba for the first time since 1959. After sixty years there will be other rulers, but according to Latin American journalist Edwin Koopman little will change politically.
The Communist Party is the only permitted political party in Cuba and it has all the power. The goal of the new regime will be to stay in power “, Koopman said earlier against RTL News.
No freedom of speech
In Cuba, due to the decades-long regime of the Castro brothers, there is no freedom of expression. No free press and therefore only one political party is allowed, and for example, free trade is not allowed on the (international) market.
According to Koopman, it will at least remain that way in the short term: “The regime has no interest in changing these things, it is concerned with survival in terms of power.”
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