February 26, 2013 -- Updated 1652 GMT (0052 HKT)
Cuban President Raul Castro announced he would step down from power in 2018, when his second term as president is set to end. FULL STORY
|
TIME TO LIFT EMBARGO?
By Patrick Oppmann, CNN
February 26, 2013 -- Updated 1433 GMT (2233 HKT)
Is this Cuba's next president?
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Raul Castro is re-elected to a second five-year term
- He will be 86 in 2018
- Miguel Diaz-Canel is tapped to be first vice president
"I would like to make
clear ... this will be my last term," he said during a nationally
televised speech at the end of a session of the country's National
Assembly.
The announcement came
shortly after lawmakers re-elected Castro to a second five-year term.
Last year, Castro said that Cuban officials, including the president,
should be limited to two terms in office.
He was officially elected president of the island nation in 2008. In 2018, he will be 86.
Castro took over from his ailing, older brother, Fidel Castro, whom he quoted liberally on Sunday.
Cuban blogger finally allowed to travel
Baseball defector returns to Cuba
"I quote: 'Revolution is
the sense of the historical moment, to change everything that must
change. It is equality and freedom. It is to treat and treat others as
human beings. It is to emancipate ourselves with our own efforts. It is
to defy powerful forces in and out of the social and national context
... It is to fight for our dream of justice for Cuba and the world, the
fundamentals of our patriotism, and socialism, and our
internationalism.' May this marvelous definition serve as a guide for
the new generations of patriots and Cuban revolutionaries," Castro said.
Illness forced the elder Castro to step down after nearly 50 years in power.
Also Sunday, lawmakers
elevated Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, 52, to the position of first vice
president, putting him next in line to succeed Castro.
He is the first member of
the generation born after the Cuban Revolution to reach the powerful
position and stands in contrast to many of the octogenarian military
officials who hold top positions in the government.
Diaz-Canel previously
served as one of five second vice presidents and as minister of higher
education. Trained as an electrical engineer, he has a reputation among
many Cubans as a plainspoken problem solver.
Castro spoke glowingly
of Diaz-Canel, saying his rise marks a "definitive step in the
configuration of the future leadership of the country, through the
gradual and organized transfer to the new generation taking over the
main roles."
While not as widely
known as other officials, Diaz-Canel last month headed a Cuban
delegation that attended a large pro-government demonstration in
Venezuela.
The event marked the day
that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was due to have been sworn in for
a new term. But Chavez missed his inauguration to receive cancer
treatment in Cuba.
Castro also announced
Sunday that Esteban Lazo Hernandez, 68, would assume the role of
president of the National Assembly. Lazo had previously served in a
variety of other roles, including second vice president.
Lazo replaces Ricardo
Alarcon de Quesada, who was the National Assembly president for 20 years
and often acted as the point person for negotiations with the United
States.
However, Alarcon's political future was clouded last year by the arrest of a top deputy on corruption charges.
Alarcon will now lead
the government's effort to free five Cuban intelligence officers
sentenced to jail in the United States, Cuban officials said.
Before his formal televised remarks on Sunday, Castro bantered with other high-ranking officials.
At one point, he said
that the National Assembly should change venues from the drab convention
center where it now meets to Havana's Capitol building.
"It's a jewel," Castro
said. "It's true there was a time during the era of capitalism that's
where all the bandits met but not any longer now that its ours."
The Capitol, a replica
of the one in Washington, was previously the seat of government in Cuba
but has mainly sat unused since the 1959 revolution.
Castro then asked how long it had taken to build the Capitol in Havana during its construction in the 1920s.
"A little more than two and a half years," replied Eusebio Leal, Havana's historian and member of the assembly.
"And how long would it
take to build today?" Castro asked, referring to the cost overruns and
inefficiency endemic to Cuban government construction projects.
"Not less than five,"
said Vice President Ramiro Valdez, who fought alongside Castro in the
revolution and now oversees government public works.
Castro disagreed, saying the current government could not erect the same building in the less than 15 years.
CNN's Mayra Cuevas contributed to this report.
TOP LATIN AMERICAN STORIES
- American couple on bike tour missing in Peru
- BP could pay billions more for Gulf spill
- Slaying highlights violence at Mexican tourist hotspot
- Mexico blamed for forced disappearances
- Mexican blogger vows to fight despite threats
- Globovision excluded from Venezuela digital plans
- Chavez still facing respiratory problems
- Police officers in Mexico suspected in alleged rape
-
Social media campaign: Colombia, not Columbia
COPY http:/http://edition.cnn.com.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário