{"id":14743,"date":"2018-04-19T13:04:45","date_gmt":"2018-04-19T17:04:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=14743"},"modified":"2018-04-19T13:04:45","modified_gmt":"2018-04-19T17:04:45","slug":"cuba-elects-new-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/cuba-elects-new-president\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuba elects new president"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A new era dawned in Cuba on Thursday when 57-year-old Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel was sworn in as the new president of the communist country, replacing Ra\u00fal Castro who decided to bring to an end the Castro family\u2019s decades-long rule on the island.<\/p>

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D\u00edaz-Canel had been serving as first vice-president for the past five years.<\/p>\n

\"President<\/a>
President Miguel Diaz-Canel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The National Assembly, the country\u2019s legislative body, nominated D\u00edaz-Canel even as political observers say Castro will remain in a powerful position staying on as the head of the Communist Party until its next congress in 2021.<\/p>

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In his inaugural speech,\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>D\u00edaz-Canel said that his mandate was \u201cto ensure the continuity of the Cuban revolution at a key historic moment\u201d and assured the members of the National Assembly that \u201cthe revolution continues its course\u201d.<\/p>

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He also said that the country\u2019s foreign policy would remain \u201cunaltered\u201d and that any \u201cnecessary changes\u201d would be decided by the Cuban people, adding that there was \u201cno room in Cuba for those who strive for the restoration of capitalism\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cCuba needs you\u201d, he said, \u00a0prompting the more than 600 National Assembly members to rise to their feet and give the 86-year-old former leader a standing ovation.<\/p>

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In 2013, Diaz-Canel was regarded as Castro\u2019s right-hand man and for the \u00a0past five years, he has been groomed for the presidency and the handover of power.<\/p>\n

He studied electrical engineering and began his political career in his early 20s as a member of the Young Communist League in Santa Clara.<\/p>

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While teaching engineering at the local university, he worked his way up the ranks of the Young Communist League, becoming its second secretary at the age of 33.<\/p>

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However, \u00a0he faces a challenging period in office. Cuba\u2019s economy is weak, and he needs to implement policies to reinvigorate the economy by pushing ahead with the controversial economic reform programme launched by his predecessor. Relations with the United States and President Donald Trump have deteriorated.<\/p>\n

In June 2017, Trump declared he was \u201ccancelling\u201d some Obama-era Cuba political reforms and re-tightening parts of the decade\u2019s economic embargo that Washington imposed soon after Fidel Castro overthrew the Batista government in 1959.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new era dawned in Cuba on Thursday when 57-year-old Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel was sworn in as the new president of the communist country, replacing Ra\u00fal Castro who decided to bring to an end the Castro family\u2019s decades-long rule on the island. D\u00edaz-Canel had been serving as first vice-president for the past five years. President Miguel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":14745,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regional"],"yoast_head":"\nCuba elects new president - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/cuba-elects-new-president\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cuba elects new president\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A new era dawned in Cuba on Thursday when 57-year-old Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel was sworn in as the new president of the communist country, replacing Ra\u00fal Castro who decided to bring to an end the Castro family\u2019s decades-long rule on the island. D\u00edaz-Canel had been serving as first vice-president for the past five years. 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