Editorial Board

Cuba After the Castros

The country and its broken economy need a fresh start.

April 18, 2018 at 12:00 PM UTC

By The Editorial Board

The Editorial Board publishes the views of the editors across a range of national and global affairs.

One, two, three — eyes on me!
Photographer: Jaime Blez/AFP/Getty Images

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When Cuba's President Raul Castro hands over power today, the change will be more symbolic than substantive. The 86-year-old Castro will remain party leader until 2021 -- and his handpicked successor, Miguel Diaz-Canel, wasn't chosen for his determination to dismantle Cuba's police state or abandon its socialist economic system.

Nonetheless, the end of the Castros' era is an opportunity for change, and Diaz-Canel has every reason to try to seize it.