Cuba's Raul Castro announces retirement in 5 years
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Cuba's President Raul Castro, waves after voting during a session of the National Assembly in Havana, Cuba, Sunday, Feb 24, 2012. Cuba’s President Raul Castro accepted a new five-year term that will be, he said, his last as Cuba's president and tapped rising star Miguel Diaz-Canel, 52, as vice-president and first in the line of succession. Diaz-Canel has risen higher than any other Cuban official who didn't directly participate in the 1959 Cuban revolution. -- PHOTO : AP
HAVANA (AP) - Mr Raul Castro announced on Sunday that he will step down as Cuba's president in 2018, following a final five-year term, for the first time putting a date on the end of the Castro era.
He tapped rising star Miguel Diaz-Canel as his top lieutenant and first in the line of succession.
The 81-year-old also said he hopes to establish two-term limits and age caps for political offices, including the presidency - an astonishing prospect for a nation led by Mr Castro or his older brother Fidel since their 1959 revolution.
Mr Diaz-Canel, 52, is now a heartbeat from the presidency and has risen higher than any other Cuban official who did not directly participate in the heady days of the revolution.
