Raúl Castro honored
The excerpts below are from the Cuban daily newspaper, Granma, April 17.
“Let no one doubt that as long as I live, I will be ready, with a foot in the stirrup, to defend the homeland, the Revolution and socialism,” stated Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee, who, like another Mambi or guerrilla, always ready with his horse saddled and a rifle under his pillow, reported that his task leading the political organization had reached its conclusion.
Raúl Castro Ruz at the 8th Congress of the Cuban Communist Party, April 16.
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NSCONCED IN ITS island fastness 100 miles from Florida, Cuba’s communist regime has outlasted countless premature obituaries. All remained calm when Fidel Castro was taken ill in 2006 and handed over the reins to Raúl, his younger brother. It did, too, when Raúl turned the presidency over to Miguel Díaz-Canel, his hand-picked successor, in 2018. At a Congress of the ruling Communist Party on April 16th-19th Raúl also relinquished command of the party to Mr Díaz-Canel, a 61-year-old apparatchik. A new, slightly younger leadership has seamlessly taken over, under the slogan “unity and continuity”. Yet the fact that the party had to proclaim that nothing is changing suggests that beneath the surface it worries that things might.
Raul Castro retires but Cuban Communist Party emphasizes continuity By Sarah Marsh and Nelson Acosta
FILE PHOTO: Pro-government rally in Havana
HAVANA (Reuters) -Cuba turned the page on the Castro era on Monday with the ruling Communist Party electing President Miguel Diaz-Canel to replace Raul Castro as party chief although he said he would continue to consult his predecessor on strategic decisions.
The succession marks the end of six decades of rule by brothers Fidel and Raul Castro, who led a 1959 revolution in the Caribbean island nation of 11 million, installing a Communist-run country on the doorstep of the United States.
The succession marks the end of six decades of rule by brothers Fidel and Raul Castro
Reuters
April 20, 2021
Cuba s President Miguel Diaz Canel takes part into a pro-government rally in Havana, Cuba, November 29, 2020. REUTERS
Cuba turned the page on the Castro era on Monday with the ruling Communist Party electing President Miguel Diaz-Canel to replace Raul Castro as party chief although he said he would continue to consult his predecessor on strategic decisions.
The succession marks the end of six decades of rule by brothers Fidel and Raul Castro, who led a 1959 revolution in the Caribbean island nation of 11 million, installing a Communist-run country on the doorstep of the United States.