In a widely-expected outcome, incumbent Miguel Diaz-Canel, leader of the Communist Party in Cuba, was easily re-elected for another five-year term by lawmakers today. 

Diaz-Canel, leader of the Communist Party — the country’s only recognized political movement — won a landslide vote of 97.66% of the National Assembly, all of whose 470 members are aligned with the party or sympathetic to it.

“We must assume this gigantic challenge without slowing down,” said Diaz-Canel in a televised speech, reaffirming his administration’s commitment to Fidel Castro’s revolution.

Among the crowd was Raul Castro, 91, the late Fidel’s brother, who vigorously shook Diaz-Canel’s hand upon announcement of the results in a show of support.

The assembly also re-elected Salvador Valdes as Cuba’s vice president and Manuel Marrero as prime minister.

Diaz-Canel was the first civilian to be elected president in 2018 since the Cuban revolution in 1959. His 91-year-old predecessor Raul Castro, the late Fidel’s brother and also a lawmaker, was present for the morning session, which was broadcast on state-run television. 

Lawmakers and newly-elected leaders will face daunting challenges during their coming five-year term. Inflation has soared and tourism has floundered since the coronavirus pandemic, and long lines for fuel, medicine and food have raised tensions, fanning unrest that led to the largest protests in decades in July 2021.

Hundreds of thousands have migrated off the Caribbean island in the past year.

“All these problems remain unsolved so [Diaz-Canel] has a very difficult road ahead,” said William LeoGrande, a Cuba expert with American University. “There’s a certain lack of confidence in the government’s ability to solve these problems that [he] has to try to overcome to restore people’s faith.”

—Reuters/Herald