长期担任劳尔·卡斯特罗副手的米盖尔·迪亚斯-卡内尔星期四将成为古巴新总统。这将是近60年来第一次由卡斯特罗家族以外的人担任总统。
在古巴的两天选举程序中，现任第一副总统米盖尔·迪亚斯-卡内尔星期三被提名为唯一的总统候选人。古巴全国代表大会星期四将表决，然后正式宣布结果。
这次的程序与过去不同。全国代表大会过去在确定总统人选后会在当天做出宣布。投票几乎肯定会按照古巴最高层的意愿秘密举行。
美国国务院发言人希瑟·诺尔特说，川普政府对古巴的权力过渡“极为关注”，因为这并不是民主的程序。
她说：“我们希望公民能够对他们的政治结果拥有发言权，这显然不像是能让普通民众有发言权。他们基本上没有真正的、有意义的选择，因为这不是一个民主的程序。”
诺尔特说，川普政府希望看到“一个更加自由和民主的古巴”，但“并不过于乐观”。
新主席将接替86岁的劳尔·卡斯特罗。劳尔·卡斯特罗在两个五年任期届满后退休。他已故的哥哥菲德尔·卡斯特罗在1959年古巴武装革命后一直担任部长会议主席和国务委员会主席，直到2006年生病退休。
迪亚斯-卡内尔似乎是一位社会自由派人士。参加过古巴革命战争的老一代正在退休的领导人认为他是可以接受的接班人。
全国代表大会将选择该立法机构的领导人，然后再选择古巴政府最高行政机构国务委员会的主席和其他成员。
这一程序将推出新一代更为年轻的领导人，他们面临着振兴经济和繁荣国家的重任。古巴现在的经济规模要小于1985年得到前苏联支持时的经济规模。
由于卡斯特罗和其他老一辈革命人物仍然控制着共产党，虽然全国代表大会推出新一辈领导人，老人们预计仍将保持他们的权力。卡斯特罗仍然是党的领导人。
A longtime deputy of Raul Castro is set to become Cuba's new president Thursday, becoming the country's first president outside the Castro family in nearly 60 years.
First Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel was named the only candidate for president on Wednesday as part of a two-day process that finishes Thursday with a vote by members of the National Assembly and the official announcement of the result.
The procedure is a departure from the past, when the legislature has generally chosen the president and made the announcement the same day. The votes are almost always done in secrecy, in keeping with the will of the country's top leadership.
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the transition is "of great concern" to the Trump administration because it is not democratic.
"We would like citizens to be able to have a say in their political outcomes, and this certainly does not seem like regular folks will have a say. They basically don't have a real and meaningful choice because it's not a democratic process."
Nauert said the administration would like to see "a more free and democratic Cuba," but is "not overly optimistic."
The new president will succeed 86-year-old Raul Castro, who is resigning after two five-year terms. His late brother Fidel served as prime minister and president after the armed Cuban Revolution in 1959 until he became ill in 2006.
Diaz-Canel appears to be socially liberal and is considered an acceptable successor to the retiring elderly leaders who fought in the revolution.
Congress will select leaders of the legislature before choosing the president and other members of the Council of State, Cuba's top government body.
The process will usher in a new group of younger leaders who face pressure to bring greater prosperity to the country and revitalize its economy, which is smaller than it was in 1985 when it was supported by the former Soviet Union.
While the assembly promotes younger leaders, Castro and other older revolutionaries are expected to retain their power, due to their hold on the Communist Party. Castro will remain party leader.
