(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) –Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has appointed the country’s first prime minister in more than 40 years – the tourism minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz.
The post of prime minister was scrapped in 1976 by the then revolutionary leader Fidel Castro.
It was reinstated under the rules of a new constitution for the communist-run island passed earlier this year.
Mr Marrero, 56, will take on some of the responsibilities that currently fall to the president.
“The head of government will be the administrative right hand of the president of the republic,” state-run online news outlet Cubadebate said.
However, critics say any such changes are purely cosmetic as the Cuban Communist Party and the military remain the only two real decision-making institutions on the island.
