Official On Deck To Succeed Castros Still A Question Mark To Many Cubans
Within 10 days of Miguel Diaz-Canel's big promotion to vice president of Cuba in February, he was already being tapped as a stand-in for reticent, 81-year-old President Raul Castro. It was Diaz-Canel, not Raul or Fidel Castro, who gave Cuba's first public condolences when the communist government lost its best friend and benefactor, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
"We're saddened, but more determined than ever," Diaz-Canel said in a speech broadcast on national television. "Our tears will be worthless if they don't come with a commitment to carry on the beloved leader's vision."
Diaz-Canel's appointment makes him the designated successor to Fidel and Raul — and has put him on the Cuban equivalent of a media blitz. It's the first step in what appears to be a carefully orchestrated campaign to ready the island for an uncertain post-Castro future.
Relatively Young And Unconventional
Cubans are now wondering what sort of vision Diaz-Canel will have for their country. The island has been under the stern hand of Fidel and Raul Castro since 1959, and the vast majority of Cubans, like Diaz-Canel himself, have never lived under another leader.
“ He was known in Villa Clara because he used to sit down and drink beer and talk in the streets.