Miguel Diaz-Canel | The successor of the Castros

Cuba’s new leader faces reform pressure from the economy and young citizens

When Miguel Diaz-Canel, the newly designated first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba and who has been the President of the country since October 10, 2019, was born on April 20, 1960, it was barely a year since the revolutionary movement led by Fidel Castro had won power by overthrowing Fulgencio Batista’s regime. Fidel’s brother Raul Castro, who gave way to Mr. Diaz-Canel as the first secretary after a 10-year tenure, was then Defence Minister, a post he held till February 2008. When Mr. Diaz-Canel became a member of the Central Committee of the CPC in 1994, after having taught engineering at Villa Clara University and having worked his way up the party’s ranks in Villa Clara province, Cuba was three years into the “special period” — an economic crisis that began after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Fidel had then allowed the functioning of a limited private sector and opened up Cuba to tourism and Mr. Diaz-Canel was in charge of the works in the province. His work during his period propelled his rise further in the party to first secretary in Holguin province in 2003 and the appointment to the Politburo in the same year. In 2009, he became the Minister of Higher Education.