Cuba President Raul Castro To Step Down In April 2018

Cuban President Raul Castro extended his presidential term by two months.

According to a report by CNN, Cuba was still dealing with the disastrous aftermath of Hurricane Irma which swept over the country in September which resulted in postponing the retirement plans of Castro, 86, as stated by Cuban officials, Thursday.

Castro was reported to retire on Feb. 24, 2018. However, that will now take place on April. 19, the day when Castro’s successor will also be named, as reported by the Cuban state-run media at a meeting of the National Assembly on Thursday.

The report stated that the situation of the country after Hurricane Irma delayed the single-party election process which appoints the Cuban National Assembly, who in turn chooses Cuba’s next president.

On Thursday, Castro told the Cuban lawmakers: “My second and last term will have concluded,” adding “And Cuba will have a new president.”

The report also stated that although no one was pre-assigned to take over Castro’s seat, the president, for quite sometime signaled the fact that Cuban first Vice President Miguel-Diaz Canel might take over from him.

In 2013, when Castro announced his retirement in 2018, he said: “Comrade Diaz-Canel isn't upstart or an improvisation.”

He continued: “His trajectory has lasted nearly 30 years.”

The report with regards to Diaz-Canel taking charge stated that a new Cuban leader could result in a much-needed reshuffle of the U.S.-Cuba relations. Bilateral relations were improved under the former President Barack Obama's administration but those advancements were rolled back under the Trump administration.

While talking about his hardline stance on Cuba in June, President Donald Trump reportedly said Castro “is leaving now, I wonder why?”

According to the report, Diaz-Canel spoke against his countrymen who celebrated Halloween because he felt that they were adapting to the American culture. He also made a promise to take on the U.S.

The report further stated that according to Cuban officials, Castro is prepped to hand over the presidential operations to the new leader and he might spend his quasi-retirement life in a place called Santiago De Cuba which lies on the other side of the island country where his brother Fidel Castro was buried after his death in 2016.

With regards to Castro's retirement, former Cuban diplomat Carlos Alzugaray said: “I think he [Castro] will exercise some control in the background.”

“But he will basically tell Diaz-Canel, ‘This is your ballgame. You decide,’” he added.

According to a report by the New York Times in 2013, Castro, while announcing his retirement plans, said: “It represents a definitive step in the configuration of the future leadership of the nation.”

He also stated that Cuba, at that time, was in a moment of “historic transcendence.”

Castro brother and former president of Cuba, Fidel was also present at the event. Castro directed the nation towards free-market reforms since the time he succeeded his brother in 2006.