In a speech during the first day of the Eighth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, 89 year-old First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Raúl Castro announced his resignation as the Cuban Communist Party Leader. The resignation marks the end of the 6 decade leadership by Raúl and his brother Fidel Castro, which started with the 1959 Cuban Revolution. While Mr. Castro did not yet say who he would endorse as his successor, he announced that he will hand over the leadership to a younger generation "full of passion and anti-imperialist spirit".  

As of now, some media outlets suggest that current Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel is widely seen as a potential successor to Raúl Castro, though Mr. Castro's successor will be voted in and confirmed by the end of the 4-day-long congress. The change of Cuban leadership comes at a time when the nation is combating one of its most serious economic situations in years. Alongside Covid-19 restrictions and financial reforms, restrictions imposed by the former United States Trump administration have devastated Cuba's economy, which dropped by over 10% last year.

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