Cuban Exceptionalism and Leader Succession: The End of Charismatic Authority in Cuba

Abstract

This article investigates the leadership succession in Cuba from Fidel Castro, who was widely perceived as a highly charismatic leader, to his younger brother Raúl Castro and then to the civilian President Miguel Díaz-Canel. This leadership succession provides us with an interesting and unusual case study of a successful transfer of authority from one type of leader to another. We examine the narratives of Cuban people through 32 semi-structured interviews, allowing us to draw insights into the Cuban people’s views of their leaders and the leadership succession. We identify themes that may explain how a crisis-free succession was possible, despite Weberian arguments that this was highly unlikely to occur.