Cuba's Communist party has selected a new leader for the country after Raul Castro stepped down at age 80.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba chose Miguel Diaz-Canel to succeed Castro as president.

This is the first time in the 60-year history of Communist Cuba that someone outside of the Castro family is leading the country.

HAVANA, Cuba: Cuba's Communist party has selected a new leader for the country, after Raul Castro stepped down at age 80.Castro was the brother of Fidel Castro.The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba chose Miguel Diaz-Canel to succeed Castro as president.This is the first time in the sixty-year history of Communist Cuba that someone outside of the Castro family has led the country.Diaz-Canel is a 60-year-old party veteran, who served three years in the Cuban army. As a young man, he was appointed party secretary in Villa Clara and in Holguin, later being promoted to minister of higher education.Raul Castro appointed him vice president in 2012.In a congratulatory note sent on Tuesday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un welcomed Diaz-Canel, calling him "comrade."