Cuba gets first prime minister in over 40 years

HAVANA, Cuba — Cuba's first prime minister in more than four decades — long-serving tourism minister Manuel Marrero — took office Saturday as the country resurrected a post last held by Fidel Castro.

The appointment of Marrero, 56, as head of government is part of a process of decentralization and generational change from the revolutionary old guard that is aimed at extending and protecting Communist Party rule.

"This proposal was duly approved by the political bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba," President Miguel Diaz-Canel said, presenting it to the country's National Assembly, which unanimously signed off.

Immediately after his presentation, Marrero received a handshake from former president Raul Castro, the leader of the Communist Party.

Marrero "is not coming to the job to transform, but rather to implement and manage. The president is the one who leads," said Cuba specialist Arturo Lopez-Levy of Holy Names University in California.


Marrero served as tourism minister from 2004, late in revolutionary hero Fidel Castro's administration, continuing in the post under Fidel's brother Raul and the current president, Diaz-Canel.

He began his career in government in 1999 as vice president of the powerful Gaviota Hotel Group belonging to the armed forces, becoming its president a year later — a post he held until 2004.

"Throughout his career... (Marrero) has been characterized by his modesty, honesty, work capacity, political sensitivity and loyalty to the party and the revolution," Diaz-Canel said.

The new premier "has led the tourism industry in a commendable fashion, which constitutes one of the main lines of development of the national economy," he added.

'Wide-ranging experience'

That is precisely why Marrero "who has all this wide-ranging experience in tourism and working with investors," is the pick, according to Lopez-Levy.

"It underscores the priority that this area holds in the country's development strategy," he said.

The position of prime minister was last held by Fidel Castro in 1976.

But the post was abolished when Castro transitioned to the presidency, taking over from Osvaldo Dorticos after the country's constitution was restructured.

Castro was a unique prime minister "given the weight of his persona," Lopez-Levy said.

"Ultimate power in the country was in Fidel's" hands during his time as prime minister from 1959-76, even though Dorticos was president and head of state, he said.

The appointment of a prime minister may signify a separation of powers but Lopez-Levy insisted that in Cuba it represents more of a "separation of functions" given the communist concept of political unity and the fact that the country is a one-party state.

Cuba's constitution required that the candidate come from the 605-member National Assembly, be at least 35, "be a Cuban citizen by birth and hold no other nationality."

The premier has the power to hire and fire state employees as well as overall control of provincial governors, another position restored under the new constitution.

Diaz-Canel also took aim at the United States on Saturday, at a time of high tensions between the superpower and the island nation.

He said that 2019 was "a year full of challenges, tension and aggression" by Washington.

The United States carried out a "brutal, insane" tightening of its long-running embargo, but "we are alive," Diaz-Canel said.

Agence France-Presse

In Havana, music stops as Cubans mourn 'father' Castro

Havana, Cuba - Cubans will likely forever remember where they were when Fidel Castro's death was announced. The music stopped across the dance-happy city and people rushed to awaken loved ones with the news.

Parties shut down and the bustling streets emptied after President Raul Castro, Fidel's 85 year-old younger brother, made the announcement on state television around midnight Friday.

"Everyone was stunned. It was a very sad moment," said Yaimara Gomez, who was working in a hotel at the time.

Unlike various occasions over the years, this time it was not a hoax: the man most Cubans grew up with as their country's leader had died.

"With great pain I appear before you to inform our people and our friends in the Americas and the world that today, November 25 at 10:29 pm, the Commander in Chief of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, passed away," the president said.

He gave no details of the cause or circumstances of the death. It was assumed Castro died at his Havana home where he lived after stepping aside from power in 2006 following intestinal surgery.

Car washer Marco Antonio Diez, 20, was out at a party when the music suddenly stopped.

"I went home and woke up everyone, saying: 'Fidel has died,'" he told AFP. "My mother was astonished."

'Like losing a father'
As the news spread, crowds danced and celebrated in the streets of Miami, home to the largest Cuban exile community and their descendants.

But in Havana, locals mourned.

"Losing Fidel is like losing a father -- the guide, the beacon of this revolution," said Michel Rodriguez, a 42-year-old baker.

He was still in his shop late at night when he heard the news on the radio.

"What can I say? Fidel Castro was larger than life. I always wanted to die before him," said Aurora Mendez, 82.

She recalled a life in poverty before Castro's revolution in 1959.

"Fidel was always first in everything, fighting for the downtrodden and the poor," she said.

Choking back tears, Irma Hierrezuelo, 65, said she had gone on medication "for my nerves" after learning the news.

"He was my second father," she said. "I owe my nursing studies -- I owe everything -- to him."

The government decreed nine days of mourning and ordered flags to be flown at half-mast.

Castro's ashes will be buried in the historic southeastern city of Santiago de Cuba on December 4 after a four-day procession through the country, it added.

Santiago was the scene of Castro's ill-fated first revolution attempt in 1953.

As the news spread around the world, local media seemed taken by surprise: even the state newspaper Granma took about five hours to put the story on its website.

'Never forgotten'
Castro was loathed by many for stifling dissent, but loved by others for providing free universal healthcare and education.

He came to power in 1959 as a black-bearded, cigar-chomping 32-year-old in a revolution against former dictator Fulgencio Batista.

"I was born under this revolution and I am truly sad," Micaela Consuegra, a street-sweeper of 55.

"He was a unique man, with his faults and his virtues. It is a great loss. He is a man who will never be forgotten, by his friends or his enemies."

Blanca Cabrera, a 56-year-old housewife, came out into her garden to smoke a cigarette after hearing the news.

"It is hard to believe that Fidel has gone," she told AFP, her face showing her distress.

She recalled Castro's last public speech, to the Communist Party congress earlier this year, when he seemed to see the end was near.

"Everyone's turn comes," Castro said at the congress in April.

"He prepared the people for this moment," Cabrera said.

"But he will still be with us for years to come. That soothes the pain."

source: interaksyon.com