Cuba selects nine new ministers, but Castro's old guard remains



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The Council of Ministers approved Saturday to serve under Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel includes nine new members, but there is also a lot of continuity with the advice of his predecessor Raúl Castro.

Díaz-Canel, 58, who was elevated to the Cuban presidency on April 19 when Castro retired, was born after the Cuban Revolution of 1959, but the new Council of Ministers shows that his government does not believe it. is not ready to leave the old guard yet. He still understands aging "historicos" who fought in the revolution.

Díaz-Canel serves both as Chairman of the Council of Ministers and the State Council, and observers from Cuba had anticipated his ministerial choices to measure whether he could start to get out of the country. shadow cast by Castro, who is still at the head of the Cuban Communist Party

The National Assembly of People's Power, the Cuban parliament, approved the selection on Saturday of Salvador Valdes Mesa, who was also chosen as the first Vice President of the State Council in April. A former labor leader, he joined the ranks of the revolutionaries as a teenager.

Reserved of the Council of Ministers of Castro who were retained as vice-presidents were: Ramiro Valdés, an 86-year-old revolutionary commander who also serves as vice-president of the State Council; Gen. Ulises Rosales del Toro, 76, founder of the Communist Party of Cuba; and Ricardo Cabrisas, 81, who had been Minister of Economy and Planning

Another soldier, José Amado Ricardo Guerra, remains secretary of the Council of Ministers.

Inés María Chapman, a water engineer who ran the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources, and Roberto Morales Ojeda, a physician who had been Minister of Public Health since 2013. Chapman and Morales have has also been promoted to the position of Vice President. elevated to the post of Vice President of the State Council in April

José Ángel Portal Miranda will join the Council of Ministers. which replaces Morales as Minister of Public Health, and Antonio Rodríguez Rodríguez who takes over the former work of Chapman as president of the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources.

Abel Prieto, 67, who had been Minister of Culture twice more recently since July 2016 – will be replaced by Alpidio Alonso Grau, 54. a poet and publisher.

The other new members of the Council of Ministers are:

Iris Quiñones Rojas, Minister of the Food Industry

] Betsy Díaz Velázquez, Minister of Internal Trade

Alejandro Gil Fernández, the former deputy of the economy and

Raúl García Barreiro, Minister of Energy and Mines

Jorge Luis Perdomo Di-Lella, Minister of Communications. [19659002] Oscar Manuel Silv eira Martínez, Minister of Justice

In addition to the Vice-Presidents and the Secretary, 17 members of the Council of Ministers of Return were approved by the National Assembly .

Among departures from the Council of Ministers Marino Murillo, former vice president who was known as the tsar for the stalled economic reforms of Castro. He also lost his position at the State Council in the spring.

The National Assembly of Cuba meets at the Havana Convention Center to debate a new constitution affirming not only the socialist character of the revolution but also the irrevocability of Cuban politics. economic model. A draft new constitution will be submitted to the Cuban people for consultation before being approved.

Among the constitutional reforms under discussion is the creation of the post of Prime Minister, who would be responsible for the Council of Ministers and administer the government in collaboration with a president and a vice-president.

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