The parliament of Cuba has elected the chairman of the state council Miguel Diaz-Canel as the country's new president, the National Assembly's Twitter account says.
"The President of the National Electoral Council, Alina Balseiro, reports the result of the vote. The President of the Republic is Miguel Diaz-Canel, the Vice-President of the Republic is Salvador Valdes," the National Assembly said on Twitter.
575 out of 605 members of the National Assembly took part in the voting which was broadcast live on national TV. Apart from Díaz-Canel, 17 other candidates also ran but most analysts had tipped Canel to come out on top.
The post of president was established after 73% of voters approved it during a constitutional referendum in February.