Raul Castro, younger brother of the late Fidel Castro, will be stepping down as first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba at the forthcoming party congress. Raul had taken over from his brother in 2006, moving into the presidency in 2016 after Fidel’s death. Raul will hand over to his designated successor Miguel Diaz Canel, who moved into the presidency in 2018 in accordance with a carefully laid out succession plan.
Raul’s departure will bring to an end the “historic generation” of revolutionary veterans. His retirement ends more than 60 years of rule by the Castro brothers since they seized power in 1959 by overthrowing the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista.
