Official Note from the Cuban Council of State

Agrees on movement of cadres and reorganization of agencies. 

In accordance with proposals by the President of the Councils of State and Ministers, General of the Army Raúl Castro Ruz, in the constitutional session of the 8th Legislature of the National Assembly of People’s Power on February 24, 2008, regarding the fact that "a more compact and functional structure is required today, with fewer agencies under the Central State Administration and a better distribution of their duties," the Council of State, on the proposal of its president, after consulting with the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Party, agreed in a meeting today to make the following movements of cadres and to reorganize a number of agencies under the Central State Administration: 

To release José Luis Rodríguez García from the posts of vice president of the Council of Ministers and minister of economy and planning. 

To appoint Marino Murillo Jorge to the posts of vice president of the Council of Ministers and minister of economy and planning and to release him from his responsibilities as head of the Ministry of Domestic Trade. 

To release Otto Rivero Torres from his responsibilities as vice president of the Council of Ministers, taking into account that the transfer of programs he attended to the respective investment agencies has concluded. The vice president of government, Ramiro Valdés Menéndez, will be in charge of their coordination and control. 

To merge the Ministry of Foreign Trade and the Ministry of Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation, and to appoint Rodrigo Malmierca Díaz as head of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, a designation that includes the country’s economic cooperation activities. 

To release Raúl de la Nuez Ramírez from his responsibilities as minister of foreign trade. 

To merge the Ministry of the Food Industry and the Ministry of the Fishing Industry and to appoint María del Carmen Concepción González, who previously had been released from her post as member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Party, as head of the Ministry of the Food Industry, a designation that includes the activities of the fishing industry. 

To release Alejandro Roca Iglesias and Alfredo López Valdés from their posts as ministers of the food industry and minister of the fishing industry, respectively. 

To release Felipe Pérez Roque from his responsibilities as minister of foreign affairs and to promote the current first deputy minister, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, to occupy that post. 

To release Georgina Barreiro Fajardo from the post of minister of finances and prices and to appoint in her stead Lina Pedraza Rodríguez, also released from her post as member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of PCC, in which she attended the overall agencies of the economy. 

To release Fernando Acosta Santana from his post as minister of the iron, steel and heavy machinery industry and promote in his stead Major General Salvador Pardo Cruz, who occupied the post of general director of the Union of Military Industry. 

To promote Jacinto Angulo Pardo from first deputy minister to minister of the Ministry of Domestic Trade. 

To release Alfredo Morales Cartaya from the post of minister of labor and social security and to promote in his stead Margarita Marlene González Fernández, currently first deputy minister of that ministry. 

To appoint as minister of science, technology and the environment, a ministry to which attention to the scientific complex is transferred, José M. Miyar Barrueco, who was released for that purpose from his post as secretary of the Council of State. 

To appoint on an interim basis, subject to ratification by the National Assembly of People’s Power in the upcoming ordinary session period, Deputy Homero Acosta Álvarez to the post of secretary of the Council of State, with the duty of assisting and aiding the president, the first vice president, the vice presidents and other members of the Council of State in fulfilling the attributions of that body as defined in articles 89, 90 and 93 of the Constitution of the Republic. 

The post of secretary of the Council of State is not in and of itself an authority with State decision-making powers nor does is it in any way play a central role in the leadership of the State. 

To release Carlos Lage Dávila from his post as secretary of the Council of Ministers and to appoint in that post the current head of the Secretariat of the Ministry of the FAR (Revolutionary Armed Forces), Major General José Amado Ricardo Guerra, with the duty of assisting and aiding the president of the Council of Ministers, the first vice president and the other members of its Executive Committee in its activities, in accordance with Article 97 of the Constitution of the Republic and current legislation, and therefore, that post does not legally constitute an authority with government decision-making powers, nor does it in any way play a central role in the leadership of the government. 

In the framework of these decisions, the Political Bureau and the Council of State ratified the validity of the statements of Raúl Castro on February 24, 2008 when he said, "…Institutionalism is one of the pillars of the Revolution’s invulnerability in political terms, which is why we must work to constantly perfect it. We should never believe that what we have made is perfect." 

In accordance with the above, it was agreed that it is necessary to continue studying the government’s current structure with the objective of gradually reducing its magnitude and increasing its effectiveness. 

Translated by Granma International