On Thursday, Cuban officials said the island was still dealing with the aftermath of the killer storm Irma and needed to postpone long-held plans for Castro, 86, to retire on February 24, 2018, when his second five-year term ends.
It was to have been the first time that Cuba was ruled by a leader not named Castro since the 1959 revolution that swept Raul Castro's older brother Fidel Castro to power.
The wrath of Irma, however, delayed the Communist-run island's single party elections process, which appoints the Cuban National Assembly that in turn selects Cuba's president.
At a meeting of the National Assembly on Thursday, Cuban state-run media announced the naming of Castro's successor will now take place April 19.
"My second and last term will have concluded," Castro told Cuban lawmakers on Thursday, "and Cuba will have a new president."
While no one seemingly has a lock on the job, a CNN reports said Raul Castro has for years indicated that Cuban first Vice President Miguel-Diaz Canel has his blessing
