Cubans in Miami don’t expect Castro’s decision to change much

MIAMI – Cuban Americans at Versailles in Little Havana said they didn’t expect Raul Castro’s announcement on Friday to make a difference on the single-party politics of the communist island.

Castro, 89, stepped down as the first secretary of the dictatorial party, a position he took in 2011. He went on to hand over the presidency to Miguel Díaz-Canel in 2018.

Raul Castro said that as long as he lives he will be ready to defend “the revolution and socialism.” He will be handing over Díaz-Canel, 60, the post as the first secretary of the party.

“This is a monolithic regime and it’s not going to change,” Jose Lopez said while standing near “La Ventanita” at Versailles.

It is the end of an era. Once Diaz-Canel takes over, it will be the first time in more than six decades that a Castro is not officially at the helm in Cuba. Fidel Castro died in 2016.

In Miami’s Little Havana, Cuban American Raul Tejero wore his Vietnam Veteran baseball cap. He said the news didn’t give him much hope. The Castros set it all up.

“Nothing is going to happen over there,” Tejero said. “They have a structure ... the communist party is the one that rules over there.”

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• Castro: Mientras viva estaré listo con el pie en el estribo
• Renuncia de Raúl Castro a partido pone fin a una era en Cuba
• Díaz-Canel, el primero al frente del PCC que no es un Castro