For the first time in 40 years, a non-Castro will run Cuba

Cuba is bringing forward the start of the national assembly session where a new president to succeed Raul Castro will be selected, Cuban state-run Radio Rebelde said on Monday.

The assembly had originally been set to meet on Thursday but will now meet on Wednesday.

"This decision has been adopted to facilitate the development of the steps that a session of such importance requires," Radio Rebelde wrote on its website.

On Thursday, 86-year-old Raúl Castro will step down as Cuba's president, the first time in more than 40 years the country won't be led by a Castro brother. Founders of Cuba's 1959 communist revolution, both Raúl and his older brother Fidel Castro directly shaped the country's history and its role in power dynamics across the globe.

Now all eyes are on Miguel Díaz-Canel — seen by many as Raúl’s hand-picked successor as the nation's next leader, NBC News reported. Experts say that Díaz-Canel served as the country's vice-president without any hiccups, so his elevation is only natural.

Díaz-Canel headed the Communist Party of Cuba in Villa Clara province from 1994 to 2003, at a time when the country was suffering from a severe economic crisis after the fall of the Soviet Union, which had heavily subsidized the island nation.

"Some have speculated on Díaz-Canel’s moderate views but, in the past year, he has taken an increasingly hard line, emphasizing the continuation of Cuba’s single-party political system and centrally planned economy," the NBC report added.

With Reuters inputs