HAVANA: Cuba’s President Diaz-Canel is poised to win a second term in office after a parliamentary vote on Wednesday. Diaz-Canel, the only candidate in the election, took over as Cuba’s first civilian leader in 2018, promising cautious economic liberalization while pledging to “always defend the party.”
Despite his efforts, Diaz-Canel’s first term was marked by the worst economic crisis in thirty years and a widely criticized response to anti-government protests, which led to a tightening of US sanctions.
Under Diaz-Canel, Cuba has partly opened its economy to small businesses in sectors previously under exclusive state control.
However, most companies in Cuba remain state-controlled, and the economic reforms “have not meant a complete and comprehensive transition to a mixed economy,” according to analyst Arturo Lopez-Levy.
Cubans continue to face daily shortages of food, fuel, and medicine, and since the arrival of mobile internet facilities in 2018, they have widely taken to social media to voice their concerns.
In 2021, the largest protest was met with a harsh response from the government that left one dead, dozens wounded, and over 1,300 imprisoned, according to rights observers.
Cuba’s candidate for presidency announcement on Wednesday
“The poor handling of the large protests” was the biggest black mark on Diaz-Canel’s administrative record, said analyst Jorge Duany. However, Duany also noted that Diaz-Canel’s biggest achievement was overseeing “the transition to a regime headed by a new generation that does not bear the Castro name.”
Cuba’s electoral authorities will formally announce the sole candidate for the presidency today and another candidate for the vice-presidency.
The PCC-aligned National Assembly will then hold a special session to approve the selection and elect 21 members of its own executive Council of State. Under Cuban law, a president can serve no more than two successive terms.
