Category — Jose Ramon Machado Ventura

Foreign Policy magazine has published a list of The World’s 10 Oldest Leaders which includes Cuba’s own Raul Castro:

Raúl Castro

Date of birth: June 3, 1931

Years in power: 2 (president since February 2008, but had been de facto president since July 2006 when his brother, Fidel Castro, transferred power to him due to failing health)

Rank on Failed States Index: No. 77, “borderline”

Progeny: 3 daughters and 1 son; 8 grandchildren, according to a June 2007 New York Times obituary about Raúl’s wife

Health status: Raúl is addicted to alcohol and has been a heavy drinker since his teenage years, according to research by Brian Latell, an expert on Cuba at the University of Miami.

Next in line: Some names floated after Fidel stepped down from power include Carlos Lage, Ricardo Alarcón, Felipe Pérez Roque, Ramiro Valdés, and Esteban Lazo, all of whom have held high-level government positions.

Related posts

• US intel analyzes video of Fidel (0)
• The comandante’s last move (0)
• Raúl’s rise (0)
• Issues discussed in Politburo & Council of State meeting (0)
• Fidel’s Last Riddle (0)

Cuban state media reports: Jose Ramón Machado Ventura, vice president of the Councils of State and Ministers, traveled to Paraguay at the head of an official Cuban delegation that is to attend the investiture of the country’s new president-elect, Fernando Lugo, which takes place Friday in Asunción.

Related posts

• No related posts.

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).

Related posts

• Fidel’s Final Abdication (0)
• Upsurge in violence (0)
• Raúl’s rise (0)
• Parliament and Provincial Elections to be held in January (0)
• One of the world’s oldest leaders (0)

From Xinhua:

The new leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) is ready to work with Cuba to promote further development of relations between the two parties and the two countries, a senior CPC official said.

He Guoqiang, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks in his talks with Jose R. Machado Ventura, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba.

He, also secretary of the CPC’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, said the new CPC leadership attaches great importance to and treasures the traditional friendship between China and Cuba.

Since China and Cuba established diplomatic relations 48 years ago, the two countries have witnessed steady growth of friendly cooperation, frequent exchanges of high-level visits, growing economic and trade exchanges as well as fruitful results of bilateral reciprocal cooperation, He said.

He arrived in Havana Sunday evening on a four-day goodwill visit to Cuba, the first leg of his four-country visit that will also take him to Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil and Angola.

Related posts

• Will Cuba Become a Global Ethanol Player? (0)
• The Monroe Doctrine: Circling the Drain (0)
• Patchy blockade (0)
• Foreign investors keen on sugar production (0)
• Cuba-China Trade Increases (0)

The Cuban Communist Party’s (PCC) Assembly in Havana held a meeting on Sunday to discuss the increase of production in food, which was presided by Cuban Vice-President Jose Ramon Machado Ventura. In attendance were also members of the Central Committee’s Secretariat. Ulises Guilarte D’ Nacimiento was selected as First Secretary of Havana province. He replaces Iván Ordaz Curbelo, who was removed from his position because of errors he committed, which were incompatible with his responsibilities.

Most notable were the comments made in the meeting by a member of the Secretariat reported by Granma, which follows:

In summarizing the meeting, Maria del Carmen Concepcion, member of Secretariat of the Central Committee, stressed the role that should characterize the Party and its strength in all challenges to be faced by habaneros, and called “to work with urgency to get better results in the economy, basically in food production, as well as to increase savings, efficiency and import-substitution.”

After underlining the importance of preparing the new generations, calls to perpetuate the work of the Revolution and highlight the urgent need to multiply the ideological political work person to person, Maria del Carmen Concepcion made it clear that you can not repeat the mistakes: “Either resolve problems or self-destruct the Revolution that has cost us so much blood and sweat.”

[H/T: penúltimos días & The Cuban Triangle]

Related posts

• No related posts.

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

Related posts

• No related posts.