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The National Congress of Cuba on Wednesday extended the five-year term of Cuban President, Miguel Diaz-Canel, despite the dire economic conditions the communist-run island is currently witnessing under his leadership, reported CNN.
The 470-member Assembly's decision to re-elect Diaz-Canel was widely anticipated. In 2018, Diaz-Canel succeeded Raul Castro as president and first secretary in 2021 of the Cuban Communist Party, respectively. He is the first non-Castro person born after the 1959 revolution to hold both of those significant positions, according to a CNN report. Raul Castro still holds the position of Army General and a seat in the National Assembly despite having officially resigned from the office. He is seen as having significant influence over governmental issues at a distance. Diaz-Canel, a 62-year-old electrical engineer, ever since assuming office, has failed a succession of calamities that pushed Cuba even nearer to the brink of economic collapse. Former President Donald Trump quickly changed course after the Obama administration's policy of engagement with Cuba, implementing some of the toughest economic sanctions in decades, as per CNN. But the pandemic almost ended Cuba's tourism industry, exacerbating the country's already severe food and medicine shortages. The largest anti-government demonstrations since the Cuban revolution took place on July 11, 2021, when tens of thousands of Cubans flocked to the streets in protest of blackouts, a lack of personal freedoms, and deteriorating living circumstances. Diaz-Canel appeared on state-run TV, within hours, and gave supporters what he called "the order to combat," saying, "The streets belong to the revolutionaries." Several Cubans were detained and put on trial collectively. The protesters, according to Diaz-Canel, were used as pawns by the US in a scheme to overthrow the Cuban government. Further economic restrictions were implemented in response by the Biden administration, and Diaz-Canel has been urged to free the detainees. Former Cuban diplomat Carlos Alzugaray told CNN, "The sanctions hurt but severe as a scapegoat for the economic problems." "They enhance the idea that this is a city under siege, that this is a country under siege. There are many ways that Americans would look at this: 'rally around the flag,' 'circle the wagons,' so the Cuban government is very good at doing that." After getting re-elected, Diaz-Canel announced that the ministers of his government would mostly remain the same. According to law, Cuban presidential tenure must start before the president turns 60 and are limited to two terms of five years each. Yet on Wednesday, there were no notable alterations or fresh faces in the higher-ups of the government, so it remains unclear who would succeed Diaz-Canel, CNN reported. (ANI)
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