The new man

Cuba's leaders

The new man
The Castros unveil their successor
Mar 2nd 2013 | HAVANA

EVER since Raúl Castro replaced his ailing brother, Fidel, as Cuba's
president in 2008, he has made clear that his overriding aim is to
organise an orderly political and economic transition to ensure that the
ruling Communist Party remains in power after both men die. Progress
towards that goal has been painstakingly slow, and sometimes crablike.
But another step was taken at the opening of a newly installed National
Assembly on February 24th, when Raúl began a second presidential term.
Not only did he repeat that it would be his last. He also hailed the
appointment as first vice-president of Miguel Díaz- Canel, a former
higher-education minister, saying this represented "a defining step in
the configuration of the country's future leadership".

"Who's he?" was how one Havana resident greeted the news. Mr Díaz-Canel
may not be exactly a household name in Cuba but he has been tipped for
the top for several years. He has stood in for Raúl on a couple of
recent foreign visits. Aged 52, his elevation means that the Castros,
both of whom are in their 80s, are at last passing the baton to a
generation born after the 1959 revolution. (Fidel gave a short speech at
the assembly, in a rare public appearance which could be read as giving
his blessing to the new appointment.)

Mr Díaz-Canel is an electrical engineer who spent 15 years as a
provincial party secretary before becoming a minister and, last year,
vice-president of the Council of Ministers. He is unexpressive in
public, but is said to be affable and accessible, with a quick wit and
sharp mind. Until fairly recently he wore his hair long, another
reminder of the fact that he is a child of the 1960s, not the 1930s. He
is known to be a fan of the Beatles, an enthusiasm once frowned upon by
the regime.

Whereas Fidel liked to surround himself with young acolytes, Raúl has
long shown that he values the practical experience of provincial party
officials, to whom he has devolved some powers. Another rising star,
Mercedes López Acea, the Havana party secretary, was promoted to the
rank of vice-president as well.

As higher-education minister Mr Díaz-Canel expanded a scheme under which
Cubans taught students from Venezuela, Cuba's chief benefactor. He
forged close ties with Venezuela's leaders, including Nicolás Maduro,
the de facto president. With Mr Chávez seemingly dying of cancer, it is
vital for Cuba's leaders that Mr Maduro should succeed him and continue
to provide subsidised oil.

Raúl once praised Mr Díaz-Canel for his "ideological firmness". The new
man's private views are unclear. In the 1990s he was linked to a group
of communist reformers that surrounded the then foreign minister,
Roberto Robaina, who openly argued for economic liberalisation in Cuba.

Raúl Castro has allowed Cubans to buy cars and homes, to lease farmland
and to set up small businesses. Last year he scrapped curbs on foreign
travel. As a result, this month Yoani Sánchez, a blogger and opponent of
the regime, has been able to visit Brazil—though she has faced protests
organised by the Cuban Embassy in Brasília and members of Brazil's
ruling Workers' Party.

There are signs that Raúl is running out of reformist steam. His tone in
his speech to the assembly seemed at times almost resigned. "I was not
chosen to be president to restore capitalism to Cuba" he stressed (Mr
Díaz-Canel nodded in agreement). He announced no new economic reforms.
It will be Mr Díaz-Canel's job to get to grips with the "issues of
greater scope, complexity and depth" that Raúl said the government was
grappling with. First among these is allowing private wholesale markets.

Various putative dauphins were raised up by Fidel only to fall from
grace, accused of corruption or of excessive ambition. One of them was
Mr Robaina, sacked in 1999. He now spends his days painting and running
a restaurant in Miramar, an elegant district of Havana. Mr Díaz-Canel is
presumably aware of the risks involved in his elevation. But this time
it looks as if the chosen successor may be the one who actually succeeds.

http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21572817-castros-unveil-their-successor-new-man