Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, Miguel, 1960–, Cuban political leader. Trained as an electrical engineer, he served (1982–85) as a radio specialist in the armed forces and taught at the Villa Clara provincial university. Active in Communist youth groups, he later rose in party ranks, becoming a member of the central committee in the early 1990s and the politburo in 2003. Acquiring a reputation as a manager, he was first secretary for the provinces of Villa Clara (1994–2003) and Holguín (2003–9). In 2009 Díaz-Canel was appointed minister of higher education and four years later was named first vice president of the council of state, Cuba's second-highest office. In 2018 he succeeded Raúl Castro as president of Cuba; Castro remained head of the Cuban Communist party and the armed forces.
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