First clues emerge about Cuba's future under new president

By Michael Weissenstein and Andrea Rodriguez Associated Press

Friday, April 20, 2018 12:05 AM

HAVANA (AP) Miguel Diaz-Canel has been the presumptive next president of Cuba since 2013, when Raul Castro named the laconic former provincial official to the important post of first vice president and lauded him as "neither a novice nor an improviser," high praise in a system dedicated to continuity over all.

Castro said nothing about how a young civilian from outside his family could lead the socialist nation that he and his older brother Fidel created from scratch and ruled with total control for nearly 60 years.

Exiles in Miami said Diaz-Canel would be a figurehead for continued Castro dominance. Cubans speculated about a weak president sharing power with the head of the communist party.

The first clues to the mystery of Cuba's future power structure were revealed on Thursday.

First clues emerge about Cuba's future under new president

Cuba's new president Miguel Diaz-Canel, left, and former president Raul Castro, salutes, after Diaz-Canel was elected as the island nation's new president, at the National Assembly in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, April 19, 2018. Castro left the presidency after 12 years in office when the National Assembly approved Diaz-Canel's nomination as the candidate for the top government position. (Alexandre Meneghini/Pool via AP)

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Outgoing President Raul Castro raises his arms in celebration after Miguel Diaz-Canel was elected as the island nation's new president, at the National Assembly in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, April 19, 2018. Castro passed Cuba's presidency to Diaz-Canel, putting the island's government in the hands of someone outside the Castro family for the first time in nearly six decades. He remains head of the powerful Communist Party that oversees political and social activities. (Adalberto Roque/Pool via AP)

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Cuba's new president Miguel Diaz-Canel is projected on a screen as he addresses the National Assembly in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, April 19, 2018. Raul Castro stepped down as president of Cuba on Thursday, handing power to a 57-year-old successor he said would hold power until 2031, a plan that would place the state the Castro brothers founded and ruled for six decades in the hands of a Communist Party official who remains little known to most people on the island. (Alexandre Meneghini/Pool photo via AP)

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Cuba's new president Miguel Diaz-Canel delivers his speech, as the image of former President Raul Castro is displayed on a monitor after Diaz-Canel was elected as the island nation's new president, at the National Assembly in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, April 19, 2018. Castro left the presidency after 12 years in office when the National Assembly approved Diaz-Canel's nomination as the candidate for the top government position. (Adalberto Roque/Pool via AP)

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Cuba's new president Miguel Diaz-Canel, right, and former president Raul Castro embrace after Diaz-Canel was elected as the island nation's new president, at the National Assembly in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, April 19, 2018. Castro left the presidency after 12 years in office when the National Assembly approved Diaz-Canel's nomination as the candidate for the top government position. (Alexandre Meneghini/Pool via AP)

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Cuba's outgoing president Raul Castro walks down a set of stairs as new President Miguel Diaz-Canel applauds at the National Assembly in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, April 19, 2018. Castro said Thursday that he expected the 57-year-old Diaz-Canel to serve two five-year terms as president and eventually take Castro's place as head of the Communist Party, potentially dominating Cuban politics until 2031. (Adalberto Roque/Pool via AP)

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Cuba's new president Miguel Diaz-Canel applauds, after being elected as the island nation's new president, at the National Assembly in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, April 19, 2018. Raul Castro left the presidency after 12 years in office when the National Assembly approved Diaz-Canel's nomination as the candidate for the top government position. (AP Photo/Desmond Boylan)

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Cuba's former president Raul Castro delivers a speech, after Miguel Diaz-Canel was elected as the island nation's new president, at the National Assembly in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, April 19, 2018. Castro left the presidency after 12 years in office when the National Assembly approved Diaz-Canel's nomination as the candidate for the top government position. (AP Photo/Desmond Boylan)

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Cuba's new president Miguel Diaz-Canel, center, sits after being elected as the island nation's new president, at the National Assembly in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, April 19, 2018. Raul Castro left the presidency after 12 years in office when the National Assembly approved Diaz-Canel's nomination as the candidate for the top government position. (AP Photo/Desmond Boylan)

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Cuba's former president Raul Castro delivers a speech after Miguel Diaz-Canel was elected as the island nation's new president, at the National Assembly in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, April 19, 2018. Castro left the presidency after 12 years in office when the National Assembly approved Diaz-Canel's nomination as the candidate for the top government position. (AP Photo/Desmond Boylan)

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In this May 26, 2017 photo released by the government-run Bolivian Information Agency, Cuba's Miguel Diaz-Canel, left, and Bolivia's President Evo Morales raise their arms during the inauguration of a sports coliseum in Pucarani, Bolivia. One year later, on Thursday, April 19, 2018, Diaz-Canel became the new president of Cuba, after Raul Castro stepped down. (Reynaldo Zaconeta/Bolivian Information Agency via AP)

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Former president Raul Castro acknowledges the crowd of legislators after Miguel Diaz-Canel was elected as the island nation's new president, at the National Assembly in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, April 19, 2018. Castro left the presidency after 12 years in office when the National Assembly approved Diaz-Canel's nomination as the candidate for the top government position. (Alexandre Meneghini/Pool via AP)

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Cuba's new president Miguel Diaz-Canel, center, looks as the a honor guard marched in, as he stands, from left, beside First Vice-President Salvador Antonio Valdes Mesa, Commander of the Revolution Ramiro Valdes, Vice-President Roberto Morales, Vice-President Gladys Bejerano, Vice-President Ines Maria Chapman, and Vice-President Beatriz Jhonson, at the National Assembly in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, April 19, 2018. Raul Castro left the presidency after 12 years in office when the National Assembly approved Diaz-Canel's nomination as the candidate for the top government position. (Adalberto Roque/Pool via AP)

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