Miguel Diaz-Canel: Cuba’s submit-Castro president

Cuba has formally launched Miguel Diaz-Canel because the country’s recent president.

The fifty seven-year-aged father of two used to be elected president of Cuba on April 19 after Raul Castro, who led the country for 10 years, stepped down.

Political campaigning is outlawed in Cuba, so slight is identified about Diaz-Canel plans to navigate the challenges facing the island nation, along side its struggling economic system.

Nonetheless, Diaz-Canel is anticipated to proceed in the identical vein as his predecessor, nonetheless would possibly be « fragment of the process of alternate that has been going down in Cuba since 2011 », broken-down Cuban diplomat Carlos Alzugaray told Al Jazeera, along side that the alternate in vitality continues the « transition in progress to a recent social-economic model ».

Little is identified about Diaz-Canel’s interior most lifestyles, which is total of political leaders in Cuba.

He is a local of Santa Clara, a city in central Cuba identified for the 1958 Battle of Santa Clara, in which forces led by revolutionary icon Che Guevara routed troops accurate to then-dictator Fulgencio Batista.

Of us that know Diaz-Canel as a adolescence philosophize he maintained lengthy hair and listened to rock track because the major celebration secretary of Villa Clara province, the capital of which is Santa Clara, giving him a seat on the extremely efficient Central Committee of the Communist Celebration.

His mother used to be a instructor and his father an industrial engineer.

Diaz-Canel bought his college level in electronic engineering in 1982 from the Central University of Las Villasand returned there to educate it in 1985.

That identical year, he joined the Cuban Modern Air and Air Defence Power (DAAFAR).

Political Occupation

Diaz-Canel’s political profession began at some level of the economic downturn identified because the « special length » from the unhurried Eighties onwards, triggered by the autumn of the Soviet Union and the conclude of its pork as much as Cuba.

From 1987 to 1989, he served as first secretary of the Union of Young Communists, working in a foreign country in cohesion initiatives in Nicaragua.

In 1991, he used to be promoted to the Central Committee of the Communist celebration.

Two years later, Diaz-Canel joined the Young Communist League (UJC).

At the age of 33, he used to be appointed first secretary of the provincial committee for Villa Clara in 1994 – rejecting the enviornment cloth trappings of a govt-issued automobile, preferring as yet another to scamper his bicycle, as most govt officers did.

For the length of his nine-year spell accountable of the province of Villa Clara, Diaz-Canel demonstrated a revolutionary stance on social disorders, permitting Cuba’s first homosexual nightclub to dwell open.

Since then, he has advocated professional-LGBT legislation and anti-discriminatory clauses in the recent labour code.

Diaz-Canel has also spoken about rising facts superhighway access in Cuba, the biggest self-discipline for activists in the socialist nation.

In 2003, Diaz-Canel became the major secretary of the province of Holguin in southern Cuba and used to be welcomed into the top management internal Cuba.

In 2009, he became minister of greater schooling.

He became the major vice president in 2013.

Diaz-Canel « has been relatively tranquil except no longer too lengthy ago so that the final public hasn’t really heard great from him aside from about a bewitch speeches« , Marguerite Jimenez, director for Cuba the the Washington Residence of job on Latin The US (WOLA), told Al Jazeera.

« It’s top extra no longer too lengthy ago that he has turn out to be a extra public figure. »

Cuba’s future

Though he has spoken about these liberalising measures, Diaz-Canel is no longer identified to pork up changing Cuba’s govt from the one-celebration machine in declare for the explanation that revolution, a quiz from anti-Castro politicians in Washington, DC.

« Politically or no longer it’ll be refined, » said Alzugaray, along side « he has an profit, he goes to hold Raul Castro around to pork up him, to proceed to be his mentor. »

Castro will dwell the head of the ruling Communist Celebration except 2021 and is anticipated to proceed to play a mountainous role in protection choices.

Alzugaray said there would presumably be « continuity » below Diaz-Canel and a « foreign protection which is buying for the diversification of Cuba’s economic partners … China, Russia, Canada, Venezuela, Brazil, South Africa, Iran and the Arab countries ».

In step with Jimenez, « We’re also seeing the EU has taken a necessary extra proactive engagement-oriented contrivance in direction of Cuba, by shedding sanctions and establishing renewable energies and agriculture, recognising even supposing Cuba and the EU could perchance possibly additionally honest hold disagreements – there’s absolutely tranquil room for dialogue ».

« The US ought to mark that roughly contrivance … even supposing there are disagreements on any preference of disorders, there’s tranquil room for dialogue and cooperation on mutual pursuits. » said Jimenez.

On Cuban-American kinfolk, Alzugaray said: « [Diaz-Canel] will proceed the fundamental protection in direction of the USA which one can summarise as no longer accepting any stress or any imposition or negotiating something else that pertains to Cuban sovereignty. However at the identical time to be willing to cooperate with the USA on these disorders with total hobby to both sides. »

In step with Ted Piccone, a senior fellow at the Brookings Establishment, the Trump administration will possibly « double down » on its « embrace of punitive regime alternate » in Cuba.

Two currencies

Diaz-Canel is anticipated to proceed great in the identical vein as his predecessor, even supposing it has fallen to him to salvage to the bottom of the self-discipline of Cuba’s two currencies, « this year, if no longer subsequent year, » Alzugaray said.

In step with Jimenez, « out of necessity [Diaz-Canel] will be really targeted on the Cuban economic system and making some reforms to both take care of some lengthy-standing disorders for the length of the declare sector and also hunting for to rising and institutionalising parts of the non-declare sector to help the economic system grow over again ».

Two major areas of pattern are anticipated to be rising facts superhighway access and modernising the media in Cuba.

Earlier than 2015, the vast majority of facts superhighway access used to be show conceal in declare-recede accommodations or facts superhighway retail outlets. An hour of facts superhighway access used to be $1.50, or roughly five % of the fashionable Cuban monthly wage of $30.

As of 2017, over 400 WiFi hotspots hold opened in the country to sizable repute.

In step with greater access to the salvage and the facts it contains, Diaz-Canel is reportedly a proponent of additional severe media protection of the Cuban govt.

Though there are just media retail outlets, they are heavily censored by the govt. in Cuba.

Mute, Cubans hold access to world news – along side events in Cuba – by world retail outlets.

Many Cubans bag ideas of securing facts, along side by the « paquete », a digital collection of out of doors news and leisure media contained on USB drives that is extensively dispensed on the island by activists.

« At the present time, news from each and each aspect – factual or unsuitable, manipulated and precise – will get to folk. They know [what’s going on], » Díaz-Canel used to be quoted as announcing at the next schooling convention, primarily primarily based mostly on Americas Quarterly, politics-targeted newsletter. « And what’s worse, then? Silence? »

In step with Alzugaray, Diaz-Canel « has been very great mad about the process of informatisation of Cuban society ».

Alzugaray added that « he talks very overtly about the necessity of rising the usage of most up-to-date applied sciences ». 

Extra reporting by Bala Chambers