As expected, Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel will continue holding the title of president of Cuba, according to the results of a vote in the National Assembly on Thursday. However, some “historical” members of the Fidel Castro-led revolution lost their positions in the government.
Salvador Valdés Mesa, currently the first vice president, was reelected. But the body reduced the previous count of five vice presidents to only one, stripping Ramiro Valdés of the title. Valdés, 87, is one of the commanders who accompanied Castro in the guerrilla fight leading to the Cuban revolution. Valdés maintains his seat in the influential Political Bureau of the Communist Party.
Another of the historical commanders, Guillermo García Frías, 91, was not reelected to the State Council, the National Assembly’s executive branch. Recently, García Frías provoked a wave of criticism by advocating on national television for ostrich breeding to alleviate food shortages on the island.
Read more at our news partner, the Miami Herald.
