Cuba proposes Miguel Diaz-Canel to replace Castro as president

STR | AFP | Getty Images

Cuban President Raul Castro (L) waves next to First Vice-President Miguel Diaz-Canel (C) during a National Assembly session that will select Cuba’s Council of State ahead of the naming of a new president, in Havana on April 18, 2018.

Cuba on Wednesday proposed Miguel Diaz-Canel as sole candidate to replace Raul Castro as president, which will make him the island’s first non-Castro leader since the 1959 revolution.

The proposal is subject to a vote later in the day by the national assembly and the result will be formally announced on Thursday. Such votes are usually unanimously or nearly unanimously ratified.