Communist stalwart Miguel Diaz-Canel becomes Cuba's president, ending decades of Castro rule

Miguel Diaz-Canel has replaced Raul Castro as Cuba's president, marking a new chapter for the Communist-run island.

Diaz-Canelbegan his term with a promise to defendthe socialist revolution led by the Castro brothers since 1959, giving a strident speech that also emphasized the need tomodernize the island's economy.

"The mandate given by the people to this house is to givecontinuity to the Cuban revolution in a crucial historic moment," Diaz-Canel told the the National Assembly in his first speech aspresident.

The assembly swore inDiaz-Canel, with 603 out of604 lawmakers present voting for the 57-year-old, marking agenerational shift fromRaul Castro, 86.

But the transition after nearly 60 years of Castro ruleisnot expected to herald sweeping reforms to the island's state-run economy and one-party system, one of the last in theworld.

Diaz-Canelis seen as a stalwartof the Communist Party, designated by the constitution as Cuba'sguiding political force, who has worked his way up the party'sranks over three decades.

Castro, who becamepresident in2008 when he took over fromhis ailing older brother Fidel, will retain considerable clout as he will remain head of the Communist Party until a congressin 2021.

For many Cubansstruggling with economic hardships, thetransition in leader is seen as merely symbolic.

"We always wish the symbolic would translate into real andconcrete actions for our lives," said Jose Jasan Nieves, 30, editor of an alternative news outlet to the state-run mediamonopoly. "But this isn't the case."

Lawmakers gathered at 9 a.m.ET at a convention centre in aleafy Havana suburb to announce the results of their vote onthe unopposed candidacy of Diaz-Canelthat wasput forward by aparty-backed commission on Wednesday.

Cubans hope the next government can resurrect one of theworld's last Soviet-style centrally planned economies that hasfailed to improve under limited market reforms by Castro.

Those domestic economic woes have been exacerbated over thelast year by a decline in aid from ally Venezuela and a partialrollback of a detente with the U.S., which has maintained an economic embargo on the islandin the years since the Cold War to try to pressureHavana into change.

Analysts say it will be tricky for Diaz-Canel to get theparty and government to deepen the reform process, given his predecessor struggled to do so despite his clout as one of therevolutionary leaders.

Dealing with Trump

Cuba's relationship with the United States hasnosedived since Donald Trump was elected president,another major challenge Diaz-Canel will inherit.

Washington has reduced staffing at itsembassy in Havana to itslowest level since the 1970s due to a spate of unexplainedillnesses among its diplomats a political move to justifyunraveling the detente, critics say.

The U.S.-Cuba detente, under U.S. President BarackObama in 2014, was one of the highlights of Castro's presidencyand part of his broader opening of the island in order topreserve Cuban socialism beyond his "historic generation."

Castro allowed Cubans to travel more freely and to owncellphones and property, while expanding internet access, albeitcontinuing to limit public dissent.

There is no profitable economy in the world with two currencies.- Jose Luis Gomez, waiter in Havana

On the economic front, he encouraged the creation of smallprivate businesses, from hairdressers to restaurants,while encouraging more foreign investment.

But he did not get around to implementing most of hisplanned reforms, including key ones such as the unification of Cuba's dual currency system. Thosewill fall now to Diaz-Canel.

For more than two decades, two currencies have legallycirculated in Cuba at multiple exchange rates, distorting the economy. The peso is used to pay most wages and local goods,while the CUC is used in the tourism industry, foreign trade andupscale eateries, and stores carrying imported goods.

"People are waiting for a solution to the monetary duality,"said Jose Luis Gomez, a waiter at a Havana restaurant. "There isno profitable economy in the world with two currencies."