Castro is again picked leader of Council of State

Published Wednesday, February 25, 1998, in the Miami Herald

Castro is again picked leader of Council of State

By PABLO ALFONSO
Herald Staff Writer

In a decision that surprised no one, Cuba's National Assembly on Tuesday reelected Fidel Castro, 71, as president of the 31-member Council of State for five more years.

Almost half of the council members elected by the 595 deputies were newcomers. The top ranks of the executive branch of government remained intact, however, as the deputies reconfirmed First Vice President Raul Castro, 66, and the five other vice presidents: Juan Almeida Bosque, Abelardo Colome, Carlos Lage, Esteban Lazo and Jose Machado Ventura.

The assembly also reelected its president, Ricardo Alarcon, 60, as well as Vice President Jaime Crombet and Secretary Ernesto Suarez.

Among the most noted officials removed from the Council of State were Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina, Sugar Minister Ulises Rosales, Tourism Minister Osmany Cienfuegos, Culture Minister Abel Prieto, Public Health Minister Carlos Dotres and Prosecutor General Juan Escalona.

Lage told the press that the changes are part of a ``natural renewal,'' but that ``the political line remains the same.'' The challenge facing the council and the assembly ``is basically an economic one,'' he added.

The following council members were reconfirmed: Jose Ramon Balaguer, Vilma Espin, Armando Hart, Orlando Lugo, Pedro Miret, Jose Miyar, Felipe Perez, Marcos Portal, Pedro Ross and Rosa Elena Simeon.

Newcomers on the council include Regla Martinez, Maria Caridad Abreu and Conrado Martinez, who will oversee provincial and municipal institutions; Gen. Julio Casas; and Otto Rivero, first secretary of the Young Communists Union.

Also, Marcos Raul Aguilera, head of state enterprises; Finance Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez; Labor Minister Salvador Valdes; Justice Minister Roberto Diaz; and Sergio Corrieri, President of the Institute of Friendship With Peoples.

Other new council members are poet Roberto Fernandez Retamar and Religious Affairs chief Caridad Diego; Juan Contino, national coordinator of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution; and Manuel Valenciaga, secretary of the College Students Federation.