Raúl Castro’s retirement will end the Castro family’s rule of the Caribbean nation.

Since Fidel Castro’s death, his brother, Raúl has taken control of the communist party. Unlike his brother Fidel, Raúl Castro planned on resigning from his leadership position years before its announcement. Raúl, now 89 years old, will hand over his position to Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, a 61-year-old who has been president of the island nation since 2018. 

“Diaz-Canel is not the fruit of improvisation but a thought-out selection of a young revolutionary with the conditions to be promoted to superior offices,” Castro said in a speech on April 16 that announced his replacement.

After Castro described the party as “old” in 2016, the shift in power towards a younger generation is bringing hope to some Cuban citizens as the nation faces its worst economic downturn since the collapse of the USSR in 1991. This development is due to COVID-19. Cuba has struggled to recover economically due to sanctions implemented by the United States, including an embargo that has been in effect since 1962. The Cuban government estimates that the embargo costs the country $685 million a year, and as an effect, many citizens live in poverty. “There is no medicine, no food,” said Eloy Calunga, a resident of Santiago de Cuba stated. 

The possibility of mass reforms has arisen in response to the transfer of power and the current crisis. For example, some expect Diaz-Canel to deviate from the nationalized economies of Cuba and move towards freer markets in order to bring an economic upturn, but some Cubans do not believe that any substantial changes will come of this transition. Gregory Biniowsky, a lawyer who has lived in Cuba for 30 years said not to expect any radical change.  

It is hard to predict exactly what will happen in Cuba after this transition that ended the Castro family’s 60-year long rule. The reform and change many are looking for could be close, recently Cuban ministers have called on President Joe Biden to end the embargo and remove Cuba from the US’s list of state-sponsors of terror. The future of one of the last remaining Communist countries now rests in the hands of the United States.