Does New Cuban Leadership Signify Change?

FEATURING NETFA FREEMAN – After ten years at the helm of Cuba’s government, Fidel Castro’s brother Raul has stepped down. In his place the Cuban National Assembly voted to promote a man named Miguel Diaz-Canel as Cuba’s new President. The transition marks the first time since the Cuban revolution that a Castro is not President.

Raul Castro remains the head of the Communist Party of Cuba, which some argue is a position that rivals the presidency in political power.

Does this transition represent political change in Cuba? Diaz-Canel said in his inauguration speech, “Cuban foreign policy will remain unchanged and we reiterate that no one will be able to weaken the Revolution, nor make the Cuban people yield because Cuba does not make concessions against its sovereignty and independence.”

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Netfa Freeman, Institute for Policy Studies, an organizer at the International Committee for Peace, Justice and Dignity who has worked in the U.S. Cuba solidarity movement for years.