Diaz-Canel likely to replace Castro

HAVANA: Miguel Diaz-Canel was proposed in Cuba’s parliament on Wednesday as the sole candidate to replace Raul Castro as president, which will make him the island’s first non-Castro leader since the 1959 revolution. Castro, 86, is stepping down after 10 years in office. The National Assembly was due to vote later in the day on the proposal to replace him with Diaz-Canel, a 57-year-old engineer who is currently first vice president. Diaz-Canel, a stalwart of the ruling Communist Party, he is considered a safe bet to inherit the ideological mantle of Castro and other elderly leaders who helped Fidel Castro oust US-backed ruler Fulgencio Batista. — Reuters