Cuba After Castro | Turkey Snap Election | Puerto Rico Blackout

Council on Foreign Relations Newsletter If you are unable to see the message below, click here to view. April 19, 2018 Daily News Brief   TOP OF THE AGENDA Cuba Enters Post-Castro Era President Raul Castro is expected to step down, making way for his vice president to become the first Cuban leader not from the Castro family in nearly six decades. First Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel was the only candidate put forward by the ruling Communist Party to succeed Raul (Reuters), who took over from his brother Fidel as president in 2008. Lawmakers are expected to announce the result of their vote on the presidency today. Cuba does not hold direct presidential elections; the more than six hundred members of the National Assembly, who were elected in March, all ran unopposed (Guardian). ANALYSIS "Even though Raul Castro is stepping down from the presidency, he will continue as the leader of the party, which represents the real power," Lidia Hernandez-Tapia writes for Americas Quarterly. "[After Castro steps down] I do not expect any changes under the Trump administration, whose policy toward Cuba is being guided by a desire to isolate and coerce changes from the government. The Cuban government does not take kindly to coercion," Christopher Sabatini says in a CFR interview. "Cuba is still recovering from Hurricane Irma, struggling to adapt to a major reduction in subsidies from Venezuela, and facing continuing economic constraints from the U.S. embargo, which, under the administration of President Donald Trump, is not likely to end soon," Marguerite Jimenez writes for Foreign Affairs. PACIFIC RIM U.S. to Discuss Prisoner Release With North Korea Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe secured a promise from U.S. President Donald J. Trump to raise the abduction of several Japanese citizens (Japan Times) by North Korea during the 1970s and 80s when he meets with leader Kim Jong-un. The United States is also expected to push for the release of three U.S. prisoners. CFR's Sheila A. Smith discussed the stakes for Abe at Mar-a-Lago. MALAYSIA: Malaysia's benchmark stock index closed at an all-time high (Bloomberg) on Thursday as investors have been encouraged by strong economic growth figures ahead of May elections. SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA Pakistan Shifts to China to Buy Weapons U.S. weapons exports to Pakistan dropped from $1 billion in 2010 (FT) to $21 million last year as China became the country's largest weapons supplier, selling $514 million in arms last year. China's sales to Pakistan have also dropped, though less dramatically. BANGLADESH: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called on foreign business leaders to invest in her country (Dhaka Tribune), which she called one of Asia's most robust foreign direct investment incentive regimes. Hasina also advocated for boosting trade among Commonwealth nations. This CFR Backgrounder looks at the Commonwealth of Nations. MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA Libyan Military Leader in Hospital, France Says France's foreign minister confirmed that Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar, who opposes the UN-backed government in Tripoli (Al Jazeera), is receiving treatment at a Paris hospital. An unnamed European diplomat told media that Haftar had suffered irreversible brain damage. SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Arabia opened its first movie theater (SPA), in Riyadh, with an invitation-only screening of the Hollywood film Black Panther, ending a thirty-five-year ban on movie theaters (CNN). In Foreign Affairs, F. Gregory Gause III discusses the Saudi crown prince's social reforms. SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA South Sudan Shutters BBC Radio Stations Juba said it made the decision to close local stations of the broadcasting service, which claims an audience (BBC) of more than four hundred thousand listeners in the country, over unpaid bills (Sudan Tribune) to the state broadcasting corporation. MALAWI: Malawi could be on track to eradicate AIDS (Reuters) due to effective prevention and treatment campaigns, one of the researchers who helped identify the HIV/AIDS virus in the 1980s said while visiting the country. EUROPE Turkey to Hold Snap Election President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he made the call to hold parliamentary elections in June (Hurriyet), seventeen months ahead of schedule, to "remove the uncertainties in front of us" amid what he called an intensification of Turkey's "internal and external agenda." BELGIUM: Three Belgian firms are being prosecuted for selling sanctions-restricted chemicals to Syria (Guardian) that could have been used to produce sarin gas. AMERICAS Ecuador Suspends Mediation of Colombia-ELN Talks President Lenin Moreno said Ecuador will no longer act as a mediator (AP) in peace talks between the Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN), the country's last major rebel group, due to continued attacks by the ELN. UNITED STATES Puerto Rico Suffers Island-Wide Blackout Hours after the power authority announced it had restored power to all but 3 percent of the island's 3.4 million residents, seven months after Hurricane Maria, an electrical fault knocked out power (NYT) to the entire U.S. territory. Authorities said it may take up to thirty-six hours to restore. Three members of a militia known as the Kansas Security Force were convicted for a plot to bomb in late 2016 (Kansas City Star) a mosque and an apartment complex used mainly by Somali immigrants.         Council on Foreign Relations — 58 East 68th Street — New York, NY 10065 CFR does not share email addresses with third parties. Forward This Email | Subscribe to CFR Newsletters | Unsubscribe - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  

From: dailybrief@e.cfr.org

Date: April 19, 2018 at 10:06PM