Cuban Communist Party stalwart Miguel Diaz-Canel has replaced Raul Castro as president on Thursday, a new chapter for the island after nearly 60 years of rule by the Castro brothers but a change that is aimed at preserving Cuban socialism.
The National Assembly swore in Diaz-Canel, with 603 out of 604 lawmakers present voting for the 57-year old, marking a generational shift from 86-year-old Castro.
However, after nearly 60 years of Castro rule, the change is not expected to herald sweeping reforms to the island's state-run economy and one-party system, one of the last in the world.
The transition, while a historic shift from an era that started with Fidel and Raul Castro's 1959 revolution, was not expected to herald sweeping changes to the island's state-run economy and one-party system, one of the last in the world.
Diaz-Canel is seen as a loyalist of the Communist Party, which is designated by the constitution as Cuba's guiding political force, and he has worked his way up the party's ranks over three decades.
Castro, who was president from 2008 when he took over from his ailing older brother Fidel, will retain considerable clout as he will remain head of the Communist Party until a congress in 2021.
For many Cubans, struggling with economic hardships, the transition in leader is seen as merely symbolic.
"We always wish the symbolic would translate into real and concrete actions for our lives," said Jose Jasan Nieves, 30, the editor of an alternative news outlet to the state-run media monopoly. "But this isn't the case."
Lawmakers will gather at 0900 ET at a convention center in a leafy Havana suburb to announce the results of their vote on the unopposed candidacy of Diaz-Canel, put forward by a party-backed commission on Wednesday. He will be immediately sworn in.
The results of votes for unopposed candidates for the vice presidents and members of Cuba's council of state, its top executive body, will also be announced.
Cubans hope the next government can resurrect one of the world’s last Soviet-style centrally planned economies that has failed to improve under limited market reforms by Castro.
Those domestic economic woes have been exacerbated over the last year by a decline in aid from ally Venezuela and a partial rollback of the US-Cuban detente, dampening a tourism boom.
Analysts say it will be tricky for Diaz-Canel to get the party and government to deepen the reform process, given his predecessor struggled to do so despite his clout as one of the revolutionary leaders.
Cuba's relationship with the United States, that has nosedived since Donald Trump was elected US President, is another major challenge Diaz-Canel will inherit.
Washington has reduced staffing at its Havana embassy to its lowest level since the 1970s due to a spate of unexplained illnesses among its diplomats – a political move to justify unraveling the detente, critics say.
US Sees No Greater Freedom Under New Rule
The Trump administration does not see the Cuban people gaining greater freedoms under Cuba's newly installed president and has no intention of softening its policy toward the island's Communist government, a White House official said on Thursday.
“The United States has no expectation that the Cuban people will see any greater freedoms under Castro’s handpicked successor,” the official said after Miguel Diaz-Canel was sworn in to replace Raul Castro as president.
Castro will retain the powerful post of Communist Party head.
"We will continue to stand in solidarity with the Cuban people as they call for freedom and prosperity," the official said. "In support of this, our stated policy to channel funds toward the Cuban people and away from Cuba’s military, security and intelligence services is not expected to change."
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