New York, Mar 18 (EFE).- Cuban dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez said here Monday that while the heir apparent to President Raul Castro appears to be a "continuer," she wouldn't dismiss the possibility that once in power he might become a reformer like Mikhail Gorbachev. The writer of the renowned Generacion Y blog described Miguel Diaz-Canel, 52, who was recently designated as Cuba's senior vice president, as a "grey man" who will be unable to govern like Fidel or Raul Castro" because he lacks "that historical status."

Cuba began this week to transit slowly towards rule by someone whose last name is not Castro and who is too young to have fought alongside Fidel in the revolution that ushered in communism in 1959. As Cuba tinkers with market-based economic reforms, the man to watch is the new number two guy in the regime, 52-year-old Miguel Diaz-Canel. Diaz-Canel is a former electronic engineer who has long been active in the communist party at the provincial level and who by 2003 had worked his way up to the party Politburo under the wing of the current president Raul Castro.

Miguel Diaz-Canel became the face of generational change in Cuba, as Communist Party leaders on Sunday tapped him to succeed Raul Castro as president in five years' time. Diaz-Canel, 52, was formally elected first vice president of Cuba's Council of State, putting him first in the line of succession to the presidency. If Diaz-Canel takes office as planned in 2018, he would be the first leader in more than a half-century not to have the surname Castro.

* Cuban National Assembly picks top leadership * Castro elected to second 5-year term, to be his last * Miguel Diaz-Canel next in line for presidency (Adds quote from Miami lawyer, Alfredo Duran) By Marc Frank HAVANA, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Cuban President Raul Castro announced on Sunday he will step down from power after his second term ends in 2018, and the new parliament named a 52-year-old rising star to become his first vice president and most visible successor.