Category — Politburo

Cuban generals in line.

Mexico’s La Journada has an article on the ascent of Cuban military generals who honed their careers with the triumph of the revolution and have made their way into the echelons of power in Cuba under Raul Castro’s government.

The designation of Army Corps General Leopoldo Cintra Frías as the new number two of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR), consolidates the ascension of the first line of command in Cuba under an experienced military generation of sexagenarians, maturing as young recruits in the revolution at the end of the 1950’s, active in domestic defense in the 1960’s, alumnus of the Soviets in the 1970’s, and victorious chiefs in Central and Southern Africa in the 1980’s.

[H/T: Penultimos Dias]

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Army General Raul Castro wearing a white guayabera gave a televised address before the National Assembly (Cuban Parliament) yesterday addressing critical issues befacing the country.

The BBC calls Castro’s address his most sombre assessment of Cuba’s economic situation since he succeeded his brother Fidel in February.  He said would have to lift restrictions on salaries more slowly than anticipated and key reforms could be affected by global rises in food and oil prices.

Castro said “the salary problem” was being studied and would be addressed “gradually and according to priorities” but that quick action may not be possible.

Castro’s speech was preceded this week by National Assembly meetings in which government officials warned that belt-tightening would be needed due to rising prices for fuel and imports.  They also said the government would decentralize a sagging construction sector to make it more efficient and consider raising the retirement age to help Cuba cope with an aging population.

[Photo: AFP]

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Cuban media reports Army General Raul Castro presided over a joint meeting of the Politburo and Council of State.  The economic and social situation of the country were analyzed.  Food production and rise in the main branches of productive activity and services were among other topics of discussion.

Also debated were some issues to be discussed at today’s session of the National Assembly (Cuban Parliament).

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Political structure
May 6th 2008
From the Economist Intelligence Unit
Source: Country Report

Official name

Republic of Cuba

Form of government

Centralised political system, with close identification between the PCC and the state

Head of state

The president, Raul Castro, took over from his brother, Fidel, on February 24th 2008

The executive

The Council of Ministers is the highest executive body; its Executive Committee is composed of the president, the first vice-president and the vice-presidents of the Council of Ministers

National legislature

National Assembly of People’s Power; 614 members elected by direct ballot; the Assembly meets twice a year, and extraordinary sessions can be called

Legal system

A People’s Supreme Court oversees a system of regional tribunals; the Supreme Court is accountable to the National Assembly

National elections

Provincial and national assemblies: last elections January 20th 2008; next elections due in January 2012. Municipal elections: last held October 2007; next due in April 2010

National government

The organs of the state and the PCC are closely entwined, and power devolves principally from the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers

Main political organisation

The Partido Comunista de Cuba (PCC) is the only legal political party

President of the councils of state & ministers: Raul Castro Ruz

First vice-president: Jose Ramon Machado Ventura

Vice-president: Carlos Lage Davila

President of the National Assembly: Ricardo Alarcon de Quesada

Key ministers

Agriculture: Maria del Carmen Perez

Armed forces: General Julio Casas Regueiro

Audit & control: Gladys Maria Bejerano Portela

Basic industry: Yadira Garcia Vera

Communications & informatics: Ramiro Valdes Menendez

Culture: Abel Prieto Jimenez

Economy & planning: Jose Luis Rodriguez Garcia

Education: Ana Elsa Velazquez

Finance & prices: Georgina Barreiro Fajardo

Foreign investment & economic co-operation: Marta Lomas Morales

Foreign relations: Felipe Perez Roque

Foreign trade: Raul de la Nuez Ramirez

Government: Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz

Justice: Maria Esther Reus Gonzalez

Labour & social security: Alfredo Morales Cartaya

Light industry: Estela Dominguez Ariosa

Public health: Jose Ramon Balaguer

Science, technology & the environment: Fernando Gonzalez Bermudez

Sugar: Ulises Rosales del Toro

Tourism: Manuel Marrero Cruz

Transport: Jorge Luis Sierra Cruz

Central Bank president

Francisco Soberon Valdes

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Via Washington Post:

Cuba will convene a Communist Party congress next year to establish guidelines, including for “when the historic generations are no longer around,” President Raúl Castro announced Monday.

The congress, Cuba’s sixth and the first since 1997, follows a series of minor social changes Castro has decreed to make life easier and less restrictive for ordinary Cubans.

“We have worked hard in these past few months,” the president said during a Central Committee gathering in Havana, aired on state television.

The congress is likely to replace some officials of the 25-member party Politburo, and it could replace Fidel Castro as head of the party. Fidel Castro, 81, has not been seen in public since July 2006, and he stepped down as Cuba’s president in February.

Raúl Castro also announced that he had commuted death sentences for several inmates but added that capital punishment would remain on the books.

According to Granma — before the end of the VI Plenary of the Cuban Communist Party held yesterday — Raul Castro announced the proposal by the Politburo to celebrate the VI Party Congress in the final months of 2009. Full text of his speech in Spanish can be read here.

Also announced:

• Commander of the Revolution Ramiro Valdes, Salvador Valdes Mesa, and Army Corps General Alvaro Lopez Miera have been elected as members of the Politburo;

• José Ramón Fernández Álvarez (Vice-President, Council of Minister) and member of the revolutionary old guard will “attend, control, and coordinate”work on education;

• Commute death sentence of several prisoners to a life sentence;

• Politburo’s proposal to establish a Commission, with a reduced number of participants, to make more operational and functional the decision making process, which requires rapid attention and at the same time, permit a collective evaluation. The Commission will be comprised of Raúl Castro Ruz, José Ramón Machado Ventura, Juan Almeida Bosque, Abelardo Colomé Ibarra, Carlos Lage Dávila, Esteban Lazo Hernández y Julio Casas Regueiro, whom coincide with the president, first vice-president, and the vice-presidents of the Council of State;

• Plenary ratified the Politburo’s proposal to perfect Cadres Commission of the Central Committee of the Party as an instrument to fortify the control over the application of policy;

• Plenary also agreed to create seven permanent commissions subordinate to the Politburo, operationally overseen by the Central Committee Secretariat and presided in all cases by its secretary.

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Via Prensa Latina:

Cuba’s Council of State, on a proposal of the Politburo, has appointed Ana Elsa Velazquez Cobiella as new Education Minister, an official note reports Tuesday. Velazquez substitutes Luis Ignacio Gomez Gutierrez. Before her appointment, she was head of the Frank Pais Higher Pedagogical Institute in the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba.

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