Fidel Castro
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Apr 15, 2021 · When Raul Castro announced three years ago that he would step down in 2021 as head of Cuba’s all-powerful communist party, he surely envisioned the island on firmer economic footing and the...
Apr 16, 2021 · Raúl Castro says he is resigning as Cuban Communist Party leader, ending his family's six decades in power. Mr Castro, 89, told a party congress that he is handing over the leadership to a ...
- 14 min
- Overview
- Need for economic reform
Raul Castro confirmed Friday he is stepping down as the head of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most powerful position on the island.
During a speech on the first day of the Communist Party's eighth congress, he said he would hand over power to a younger generation that is "full of passion and anti-imperialist spirit."
"I believe fervently in the strength and exemplary nature and comprehension of my compatriots, and as long as I live, I will be ready with my foot in the stirrups to defend the fatherland, the revolution and socialism," Castro told party delegates at the closed-door meeting at a convention center in Havana.
He was retiring, Castro said, with the sense of having “fulfilled his mission and confident in the future of the fatherland.”
Though there are few expectations of significant change among Cubans, it is however a historic move — Castro and his late brother, Fidel Castro, have been in power since the 1959 revolution.
Though Castro did not name his successor during the speech, it's expected that a subsequent vote will ratify President Miguel Díaz-Canel as the next party secretary-general and set policy guidelines.
But some experts believe Castro's move is important in order to speed up economic reforms. This involves strategic decisions in order to keep the public more content without ceding the tight grip the party has over society.
Arturo López-Levy, a professor at Holy Names University in California, thinks the economic reforms will gain traction once the pandemic is under control.
“What is happening now is a new generation is consolidating control,” he said. “Now they will be forced to make important reforms, because their legitimacy doesn't come from a revolutionary background, but from being capable of showing better performance.”
He said there aren’t high expectations among Cubans because the country “will remain a Leninist system and that basically means the political monopoly of the Communist Party.”
Fabio Fernández, a history professor at the University of Havana, often quoted in the Communist Party newspaper Granma, says it’s important for the party to move forward, fulfill the economic reforms it promised over a decade ago, and make political changes without abandoning its socialist system.
“A new concept of Cuban socialism is what we need to adopt because the old one no longer works,” he said.
Apr 16, 2021 · Raúl Castro says he is resigning as Cuban Communist Party leader, ending his family's six decades in power. Mr Castro, 89, told a party congress that he is handing over the leadership...
Apr 17, 2021 · HAVANA (AP) — Raul Castro said Friday he is stepping down as head of Cuba’s Communist Party, ending an era of formal leadership that began with his brother Fidel and country’s 1959 revolution.
Apr 16, 2021 · Raul Castro says he is resigning as head of Cuba's Communist Party, ending an era of formal leadership by he and his brother Fidel Castro that began with the 1959 revolution.
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Apr 16, 2021 · Raul Castro said Friday he is stepping down as head of Cuba’s Communist Party, ending an era of formal leadership that began with his brother Fidel and country’s 1959 revolution.
