Cuba's new leader has placed two army generals in key positions in his new government, giving the armed forces an even bigger grip on the civilian power structure, The National Assembly also filled the government's No. 2 position -- first vice president of the ruling Council of State -- with 77-year-old José Ramón Machado Ventura, a very hard-line communist.
This is a gerontocracy, Castro's inner circle is dominated by people into their 70s. Only 56-year-old Carlos Lage represents a younger generation in the upper echelon of power.
The new names indicate Castro was not likely to embark on the kind of profound political changes sought by the United States and other nations.
The National Assembly on Sunday elected Castro as president of its Council of State, the government's top body. It also elected the council's first vice president, five second-line vice presidents and one secretary, as well as 22 rank-and-file members.
Machado Ventura's recent duties have included making sure that communist ideology is integrated into education programs. Fidel Castro put him in charge of Cuba's education programs -- at home and abroad -- when he took sick in July 2006. Also advancing were key members of the armed forces and top subordinates of Raúl Castro, one of the world's longest-serving defense ministers.
Gen. Julio Casas Regueiro, 72, was promoted from rank-and-file member to one of the council's five vice presidencies, replacing Machado Ventura. Casas is vice minister of the armed forces and chairman of GAESA, the big military conglomerate that controls 60 percent of the economy, from hotels to domestic airlines.
And Gen. Leopoldo Cintra Frías, 66, a longtime Castro ally who has commanded the Western army -- one of three main military regions -- since 1990, was elected as a new rank-and-file member of the council.
No comments:
Post a Comment