Cuba names prime minister in move to lighten presidential load

[rooster59]

Cuba names prime minister in move to lighten presidential load

By Marc Frank and Nelson Acosta

 

Tourism minister Manuel Marrero Cruz, named as the country's first prime minister a role created by the new constitution, gestures during the ordinary session of the National Assembly in Havana, Cuba, December 21, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer

 

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Saturday named tourism minister Manuel Marrero Cruz as the country’s first prime minister in decades, under a new constitution that seeks to decentralise former leader Fidel Castro’s job.

 

Manuel Marrero Cruz, 56, an architect and whose nomination was ratified by the National Assembly, is a former functionary of the military-run Gaviota tourism corporation whose hotels have been sanctioned by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

 

Marrero, tourism minister for 15 years, presided over the growth of the industry into Cuba's most important, with dozens of partnerships with foreign companies and broad connections with the growing private sector.

 

Unlike many other countries where prime ministers often play central, political roles, the post involves day-to-day supervision of the Council of Ministers (cabinet) and the implementation of policy.

 

"The head of government will be the administrative right hand of the president of the republic," the state-run Cubadebate online news outlet said.

 

William LeoGrande, a professor of government and Cuba expert at American University in Washington said the post was different than in a multiparty system.

 

"It's a division of responsibilities rather than a division of authority," he said.

 

Castro was prime minister until 1976 when the post was abolished. The iconic revolutionary became head of the Communist Party and president of the Council of State and Council of Ministers.

 

Castro, who ceded power in 2006 to his brother Raul, died in 2016. He was famous for micromanaging the Caribbean island nation.

 

Raul Castro stepped down as president in 2018, but remains head of the Communist Party.

 

Now, under the constitution passed earlier this year, the President of the Republic Diaz-Canel no longer heads-up either the Council of State, presided over by the president of the National Assembly Esteban Lazo, or Council of Ministers, though he maintains ultimate authority.

 

Cuban officials say changes in government structure aim to improve accountability and administration of the bureaucracy and state-run economy.

 

(Reporting by Marc Frank; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-12-22

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[spidermike007]

Yes. This is an important development. The tasks of locking up political dissidents, locking up women who are plying the streets trying to make a living, locking up men who stop to speak with a foreigner, continuing to cooperate and support the Colombian drug cartel trans-shipments, and the continuance of a completely failed agricultural system requires alot of work. Not alot has changed in Cuba. The hospitals may have alot of low paid doctors, but they still do not have basics like band-aids, aspirin, and other vital medicine, and Raul may not be quite as bad as "la gran cucaracha", but he is pretty bad. And the people there still have a very rough life. I have traveled there many times, and have alot of Cuban friends. They all say the same thing. Not much has changed, except more development. Not much money has trickled down to those that need it the most. And the bone headed decision to pander to the conservative Cubans in Miami, and shut down relations again, has done nothing but bring more suffering to the people of Cuba. 

 

It is a very rich culture, and the people can be quite lovely. My heart goes out to them. 

 

Access to the internet continues to be extremely limited in Cuba today. There is no internet in houses; it is only available in some public squares. Even in the sprawling metropolis that is Havana, there are only 5 parks where you can purchase internet access. Moreover, internet costs are high; it costs 1.5 euro per hour, which makes it out of reach on a Cuban salary.

 

https://www.bizevdeyokuz.com/en/life-in-cuba-today/

 

 

The government controls virtually all media outlets in Cuba and restricts access to outside information.  A small number of journalists and bloggers who are independent of government media manage to write articles for websites or blogs, or publish tweets. The government routinely blocks access within Cuba to these websites and only a fraction of Cubans can read independent websites and blogs because of the high cost of, and limited access to, the internet. In September 2017, Cuba announced it would gradually extend the home internet service to all the provinces in the country.

 

https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2018/country-chapters/cuba

[mogandave]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

Yes. This is an important development. The tasks of locking up political dissidents, locking up women who are plying the streets trying to make a living, locking up men who stop to speak with a foreigner, continuing to cooperate and support the Colombian drug cartel trans-shipments, and the continuance of a completely failed agricultural system requires alot of work. Not alot has changed in Cuba. The hospitals may have alot of low paid doctors, but they still do not have basics like band-aids, aspirin, and other vital medicine, and Raul may not be quite as bad as "la gran cucaracha", but he is pretty bad. And the people there still have a very rough life. I have traveled there many times, and have alot of Cuban friends. They all say the same thing. Not much has changed, except more development. Not much money has trickled down to those that need it the most. And the bone headed decision to pander to the conservative Cubans in Miami, and shut down relations again, has done nothing but bring more suffering to the people of Cuba. 

 

It is a very rich culture, and the people can be quite lovely. My heart goes out to them. 

 

Access to the internet continues to be extremely limited in Cuba today. There is no internet in houses; it is only available in some public squares. Even in the sprawling metropolis that is Havana, there are only 5 parks where you can purchase internet access. Moreover, internet costs are high; it costs 1.5 euro per hour, which makes it out of reach on a Cuban salary.

 

https://www.bizevdeyokuz.com/en/life-in-cuba-today/

 

 

The government controls virtually all media outlets in Cuba and restricts access to outside information.  A small number of journalists and bloggers who are independent of government media manage to write articles for websites or blogs, or publish tweets. The government routinely blocks access within Cuba to these websites and only a fraction of Cubans can read independent websites and blogs because of the high cost of, and limited access to, the internet. In September 2017, Cuba announced it would gradually extend the home internet service to all the provinces in the country.

 

https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2018/country-chapters/cuba

What do you think the US should do? 

[spidermike007]

21 hours ago, mogandave said:

What do you think the US should do? 

Stick with the easing of the sanctions, that Obama wisely started. Open up trade. We trade with alot of despot nations. Why single out the Cubans? Long held humiliation? Time to wise up. Most other nations are trading with them. Why the double standard hypocrisy? It is part and parcel of American foreign policy, and it is inane. 

 

Are we really going to force them to become a democracy, after 61 years of the regime? Where are the level heads in this administration?

[toast1]

The sanctions are there to deny them the wealth and power to spread the bacillus of communism, something which they have done for decades, causing misery and oppression. The people of Venezuela know about this, the Cubans are currently helping to keep them in serfdom. 

 

Most despotic regimes do not do this and where countries like Iran, do, sanctions are the only method of containment, except war.

 

I feel sorry for the people of Cuba, but the evil that their government promotes around the world must be kept back, by any means available.

 

I have been to Cuba and seen the poverty and degradation of communism.

 

 

Sanctions are working.