Miguel Diaz-Canel, a suit-and-tie wearing, tech-savvy Beatles fan, is a staunch party disciple. HAVANA: Cuba marked the end of an era on Monday with the transfer of power from the Castro clan, in charge for six decades, to the country's first-ever civilian leader in Miguel Diaz-Canel.
The pre-determined power transfer at a four-day PCC congress in Havana, marks a watershed for the country of 11.2 million people, many of whom have known no leader other than a Castro. The PCC congress was held 60 years after Fidel Castro declared Cuba a socialist state, setting up decades of conflict with the United States, which has had sanctions against the country since 1962.
In his final address to the party last Friday, Castro affirmed a"willingness to conduct a respectful dialogue and build a new kind of relationship with the United States". Cuba faces constant shortages and imports 80 per cent of what it consumes for lack of sufficient local production."And no one dies of hunger, it's true," he adds. But today,"we are a little stuck, and it's a shame that Fidel is dead because he solved all our problems".The internet, which arrived on mobile phones on the island in 2018, has been an engine of social change, even used to organise protest, previously unheard of in the country.
Even as the congress was underway, a group of activists, independent journalists and artists claimed police were preventing them from leaving their homes in a bid to stop them from gathering.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
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