video transcript

1067 / 7177 / 7173 / 7172 Cuban President Raul Castro announced Sunday he will step down from power when his current term is over in 2018. Castro made the announcement during a national assembly meeting, and left no question about his goals while in office. I was not elected to restore capitalism, he said, I was elected to continue perfecting socialism. But since taking office from his sick brother Fidel, 81 -year old Raul did make some changes. He loosened restrictions on travel and personal property and moved the economy in a more market-friendly direction. In another surprise announcement, parliament named 52-year-old Miguel Diaz-Canel as Castro's vice president, and likely successor when he steps down in 2018.