Cuban President names tourism minister to be first PM since 1976

Havana, Dec 21: Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Saturday named Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz as the country's first prime minister since 1976. Marrero, 56, has been tourism minister for 16 years, presiding over a rise in visitors and a hotel construction boom that has made tourism one of the most important sectors of the Cuban economy.

Diaz-Canel cited Marrero's experience in negotiating with foreign investors as one of his prime qualifications, according to state media.

Marrero's confirmation by the National Assembly was expected later Saturday. The position of prime minister was held by Fidel Castro from 1959 to 1976, when a new constitution changed his title to president and eliminated the post of prime minister.

Castro and his brother Raúl held the presidential post along with Cuba's other highest positions, like Communist Party leader, until this year, when Raúl Castro stepped down as president and a new constitution divided the president's responsibilities between Castro's successor, Miguel Diaz-Canel, and the new post of prime minister.

The new constitution envisions the prime minister as responsible for the daily operations of government as head of the Council of Ministers. The prime minister has a five-year term and is nominated by Diaz-Canel and approved by the National Assembly, which unanimously approves every proposal put before it, with one known exception in recent history.