Raul Castro’s Possible Successor Visits Putin in the Kremlin
HAVANA TIMES — If everything goes as the script has it, in 2018 Raul Castro will retire as president of Cuba and pass on the baton to his First Vice President, Miguel Diaz Canel, currently on a visit to Russia to meet with President Vladiimir Putin and other top authorities.
It would be the first time in 60 years that someone other than a Castro ruled the country.
While less visible than the Communist Party’s number two man, Juan Ramon Machado Ventura, Diaz Canel has taken part in many protocol assignments both in Cuba and abroad.
In a routine press release the Kremlin said that Putin and Diaz Canel “discussed the outlook for trade and economic cooperation between the two countries, among them the transport infrastructure, telecommunications and communications, biopharmaceuticals, and civil aviation. In addition, attention was paid to Russian-Cuban cooperation in the fields of tourism, sports, culture and education.”
On Thursday, DÌaz-Canel met with Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev. Like the meeting with Putin, no details were available from the talks other than the routine protocol of saying the leaders discussed their countries’ “prospects for further improvement” in their “already positive economic relations.”
Correction: the last free election in Cuba was in 1948. Batista’s coup interrupted the scheduled election of 1952. Elections in 1955 and 1958 were heavily manipulated and widely boycotted.
Castro had promised free & fair democratic elections after the Revolution, but then once he got his hands on power he quickly scrapped that promise.
How would we possibly know Miguel Diaz Canel will be Raul Castro’s successor?
The Cuban people haven’t yet voted through that perfect instrument of popular democracy, Poder Popular.
Unless, of course, Cuban elections are a farce and all real decisions happen behind closed doors, decided by the Castro clique.
Cuba isn’t my country so what I think isn’t that important however Miguel Diaz Canel has that thousand mile stare that reminds me of the old Russian Politburo. Still think Tony Castro would be a great choice as he did a great job aligning the baseball game a few months ago with US vs. Cuba.
Under Communist rule, you had better believe that voter turnout approaches 100%.
Not only that, but the electoral system is so perfect and the people so enthusiastic about their wonderful leaders that, on one or two occasions, the final results have actually been announced before the voting was over.
Now that’s True Democracy! — to know the unanimous will of the People before they have expressed it. Don’t laugh … the results that were announced were absolutely correct, being the same, down to the last decimal point, as the results that were achieved later when the votes were actually counted.
Don’t you know that the dictatorship which you so love no longer uses the word ‘democracy’? You are obviously out of date Ermle.
I know all about elections in Cuba and every approved candidate being a member of the Communist Party of Cuba.
I know everything about “Cuban democracy”, in the free world its called dictatorship.
You make a huge error when you assume without basis that “The People” and the Castros as communist dictators are synonymous.
Viva Cuba libre!
Every election has been free. You know nothing about Cuban democracy. The People rule. Democracy is alive and well throughout the land.
Isn’t it interesting that the most politically repressive countries enjoy the highest voter turnout. I believe that North Korea enjoys 100% voter participation. I wonder why that is?
At long last the world has found a worthy successor to Bob Hope!
Cuba has not had an open free election since the Castro regime achieved power and control in 1959.
Where have you been, obviously not in Cuba. There are elections all the time and the people propose candidates in every level of government, and vote freely with a secret ballot. You seem to only know about multi party elections in very divisive countries. In Cuba there is what is known as People’s Democracy, and the people have a direct say, and the people govern this society with economic, political, and social democracy.
Your back to being a comedian!
“Even more glorious”? Lol…..tell that to the Cubans who risk their lives to flee that glory or yours.
There is a democratic means of electing those who will govern cuba in the future it’s called voting and I have yet to see this applied in cuba yet nor will we in the future the next U.S president may not be as diplomatic as Obama was and relationships could once again be put aside
That is not true. The successor was chosen democratically. He will lead the Cuban nation into an even more glorious day. He has the support and backing of the nation. Forward Ever! Backward Never!
The economically blind leading the blind.
There are 11.1 million Cubans in Cuba, but only one decided who would be his successor as President in 2018.
Such is the voice of the people!