Former Cuban president Raul Castro announced on Friday that he is resigning as head of Cuba's Communist party. Raul Castro made the announcement in a speech at the opening of the eighth Congress of the Communist Party in Havana.
The statement by 89-year-old Raul means an era in Cuba's history is ending. His brother, Fidel Castro, had taken over as Cuba's leader with the revolution of 1959 that heralded the rise of Communism in the country. Fidel took over as chief of the Communist party formally in 1965. He stepped down as president in 2008, ceding the post to Raul, and as head of the Communist party in 2011. Fidel died in 2016.
Raul resigned as Cuba's president in 2018, handing over power to Miguel Diaz-Canel.
The BBC reported, "he is handing over the leadership to a younger generation 'full of passion and anti-imperialist spirit'". "I believe fervently in the strength and exemplary nature and comprehension of my compatriots," Raul was quoted as saying by the BBC.
Raul's successor to the party post is expected to be elected at the end of the four-day party Congress. It is widely speculated Diaz-Canel will be named to the post.
Diaz-Canel is expected to continue focus on tentative economic reforms he had initiated as the island nation battles its worst economic crisis since the fall of the Soviet Union. The crisis had been attributed to sanctions imposed by the Donald Trump administration and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Cuban economy shrank 11 per cent last year as a result of a collapse in tourism and remittances, Associated Press reported.