Cuba’s nation embarked on political transition after nearly 60 years of Castro rule.
Cuba’s new president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, began his term on Thursday with a promise to defend the socialist revolution led by the Castro brothers since 1959, giving a sober speech that also emphasized the need to modernize the island’s economy.
The son of a teacher and a mechanical plant worker, Miguel Diaz-Cane was only two years old when the Cuban missile crisis erupted and seven when Che Guevara was executed at a schoolhouse in La Higuera, Bolivia.
He graduated from the Central University of Las Villas in 1982 as an electronics engineer and joined the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, where he served until 1985.
“The mandate given by the people to this house is to give continuity to the Cuban revolution in a crucial historic moment.” Diaz-Canel, 57, told the assembly in his first speech as president.
Castro will retain considerable clout as the head of the Communist Party until a congress in 2021. Diaz-Canel, praising the reforms he ushered in as president, said Castro would remain the leader of the revolution and would be involved in major decisions.