Reuters: Cuba holds one-party vote as post-Castro era looms
Cubans went to the polls on Sunday in a one-party vote, the last step before a new president is selected next month, as the Communist-ruled island prepares to be led for the first time since the 1959 revolution by someone whose last name is not Castro.
Cubans are asked to endorse two official lists of candidates for the national and provincial assemblies. The government depicts the vote, which takes place every five years, as a symbolic show of unity in the face of U.S. hostility.
This year, though, the new national assembly will select a president to replace 86-year-old Raul Castro on April 19. Starting with Raul’s late older brother Fidel, the Castros have ruled the Caribbean island for nearly six decades.
Leaders of the Cuban exile community in the United States, including Republican U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, have called on President Donald Trump not to recognize the election results, saying the process is a fraud designed to legitimize a dictatorship.
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WNU Editor: The new leader of Cuba is publicly promising to lead a more responsive governemnt .... Cuba’s likely next president pledges more responsive gov’t (AP). But privately he is sending an entirely different message .... Video offers rare glimpse of hardline ideology from presumed next leader of Cuba (Miami Herald). What is remarkable about this leaked video is that someone within the Party made the decision to leak it on social media, and to have it spread throughout Cuba. This tells me that there is dissension in the Party, and some are not happy with the decision to select Miguel Diaz-Canel as the new Cuban President.
More News On Cuba's One-Party Vote, And The End Of The Castro Era
Cuban vote begins end of Castro era -- News24
Cubans go to polls in legislative elections -- Xinhuanet
Explaining how Cuba's election system works -- CGTN
Factbox: Cuba's one-party socialist system among last in world -- Reuters
