The Casto family will no longer hold the reins of Cuba.

It is a real revolution in this country after six decades of power of the brothers Fidel and Raul.

This Monday marks the last day of Raul Castro at the head of the Communist Party of Cuba.

Aged 89, he will give way to a new generation.

However, if the men change, the political line should remain the same.

"I have the satisfaction of knowing that we are handing over the leadership of the country to a group of prepared leaders", who defend the "principles of the Revolution and socialism", thus launched Friday Raul Castro by opening the party congress in Havana, baptized “congress of continuity”.

A critical moment for the island

President Miguel Diaz-Canel, 60, is expected to take over as first secretary of the one party, the most powerful post in Cuba.

The handover comes at a critical time for the island, plunged into its worst economic crisis in 30 years under the effect of the coronavirus pandemic and the strengthening of the American embargo imposed since 1962.

On Sunday, the 300 party delegates (officially 700,000 members) elected the new Central Committee, a governing body made up of 114 people.

This Monday, the latter will in turn appoint the Political Bureau, the heart of power which currently has 17 members and from which the new number one and number two will come.

Ideological war

For John Kavulich, president of the United States / Cuba Economic and Commercial Council, a generational succession is essential, because "for the moment, the cumulative age of the three most important leaders of the party is approaching 300 years". A change of mentality, too, is necessary according to him: the party "does not need any more to fight for a revolution but rather to manage a country". Most Cubans are also tired of shortages and endless queues, in this island forced to import 80% of what it consumes.

But for the government, heated by four years of sanctions from the Trump administration, ideological warfare remains paramount.

"The existence in Cuba of a single party has been and always will be the target of the campaigns of the enemy [the United States], determined to fragment and divide the Cubans with the siren songs of the sacrosanct bourgeois democracy. “, Moreover proclaimed Raul Castro, calling the new generations to“ protect with zeal ”the dogma of the single party.

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