Raul Castro announced his resignation as first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba. The announcement of the former president, Fidel Castro’s 89-year-old younger brother, was expected at the party congress that began today.
Castro made the announcement in a speech at the opening of the meeting. He did not say who he will support as his successor as first secretary general, but he previously indicated that he would like to hand over power to Miguel Diaz-Canel, who succeeded him as president in 2018.
In resigning, Castro called for a “respectful” dialogue between Cuba and the United States. Confirming that he wanted to hand over the helm “to a new generation” of leaders, during his last congress as president of the Cuban Communist Party, he stressed that he wanted “a new type of relationship with the United States” but without “renouncing the principles of the revolution and socialism ”.