The Castro brothers' six-decade grip on power in Cuba approached its end Wednesday as the country's National Assembly named number two Miguel Diaz-Canel as the sole candidate for the presidency. Diaz-Canel, a 57-year-old Communist Party official and the current first vice president, is due to be confirmed Thursday as the successor to Raul Castro, who himself succeeded his elder brother Fidel.
On Wednesday, the National Assembly opened a historic two-day meeting to elect a successor to the 86-year-old Castro, ushering in a new era in the Caribbean island nation's history. "On behalf of the National Nominating Committee, I have the responsibility and honor to propose to you comrade Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel Bermudez as President of the Council of State and Ministers of the Republic of Cuba," commission president Gisela Duarte told the Assembly, effectively ending any suspense over the identity of Cuba's new leader.
Since last year, Diaz-Canel has been widely expected to take over from Castro, who made it clear his deputy was his personal choice. He will become the island's first leader born after the 1959 revolution not named Castro. On Wednesday, the two men appeared smiling and in good spirits at the opening of the inaugural session of the Assembly that was elected last month. Castro and the assembled MPs warmly applauded Duarte's announcement of his protege as the sole candidate.
Since the 1959 revolution, when Fidel Castro seized power on the Caribbean island, Cubans have only known one handover of power. Fidel, stricken by illness, passed the baton to Raul in 2006.
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