Manuel Marrero Cruz (born 11 July 1963) is a Cuban politician currently serving as the

Prime Minister of Cuba The prime minister of Cuba (), officially known as the president of the Council of Ministers () between 1976 and 2019, is the head of government of Cuba and the chairman of the Council of Ministers (cabinet). The prime minister is the third-hi ...

, and the first since re-establishment of the office of Prime Minister in December 2019 after the 43-year abolition of the position dating from 1976. The last Prime Minister before the abolition of the office was

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

. Marrero is the first person to hold the position of Prime Minister of Cuba in 43 years. A member of the

Communist Party of Cuba The Communist Party of Cuba (, PCC) is the sole ruling party of Cuba. It was founded on 3 October 1965 as the successor to the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution, which was in turn made up of the 26th of July Movement and Popu ...

, he served as the country's long-time Minister of Tourism from 2004 until his appointment to the office of Prime Minister in December 2019. During his tenure as minister for tourism, Cuba underwent a massive boost in tourism. Marrero is an architect and worked in Gaviota, the tourism arm of the Cuban military, where he also held the rank of colonel.

Early life and career

Manuel Marrero Cruz was born in July 1963, in the eastern province of

Holguín Holguín (, ) is a municipality-city in Cuba. After Havana, Santiago de Cuba, and Camagüey, it is the List of cities in Cuba, fourth largest city in Cuba. History Before Christopher Columbus, Columbus, the Taino people settled in huts made fro ...

. He is an architect by training and joined the tourism industry in 1990. He began as an investor in the Gaviota Group and later was head of the technical investment group, deputy director and general director of the Río de Luna hotel and then deputy delegate of Gaviota for the eastern provinces. He was general director of the Varadero Azul hotel complex, first vice president and finally president of Gaviota. In 2004, he took over the Ministry of Tourism, appointed by Fidel Castro. He remained in office until December 2019 when he was named Prime Minister of Cuba. His successor in the Ministry of Tourism was Juan Carlos García Grada.

Prime Minister of Cuba (2019–present)

Appointment

Following the

2019 Cuban constitutional referendum A constitutional referendum was held in Cuba on 24 February 2019. Voters were asked whether they approved of a new constitution passed by the National Assembly of People's Power in July 2018.

, the office of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

of Cuba was reinstated for the first time since

last occupied it in 1976. President

Miguel Díaz-Canel Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (; born 20 April 1960) is a Cuban politician and engineer. He has served as the 8th First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba since 2021 and as the 17th president o ...

formally nominated Marrero to serve as Prime Minister, and his nomination as PM was unanimously ratified by 594 deputies of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

. Soon after his appointment, controversy arose due to his son's opulent lifestyle, which contrasted with the daily life of the Cuban population. The term limit for prime ministers under the new Cuban constitution is five years. Four years later he was also re-elected to the

National Assembly of People's Power The National Assembly of People's Power () is the supreme organ of power of the Republic of Cuba. It is the only branch of government in the state, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs are subservient to it. It is currently ...

. At the first session, in the spring of 2023, he was again re-elected as head of the Cuban government.

Notes

References

External links

Twitter

Biography by CIDOB
(in Spanish) 1963 births Living people Communist Party of Cuba politicians Government ministers of Cuba Prime ministers of Cuba Tourism ministers of Cuba {{Cuba-politician-stub