Raúl Presents New Politburo of the CC of the PCC

Army General Raúl Castro, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party, presented today in this capital the 17 members of the Political Bureau and the Secretariat of the PCC.

In the presence of the delegates and guests to the 7th Cuban Communist Party Congress, the closing session of which was attended by the historic leader of the Revolution, Fidel Castro, Raúl informed that José Ramón Machado Ventura will continue his work as Second Secretary.

Raul said that Miguel Díaz-Canel, Esteban Lazo, Ramiro Valdés, Salvador Valdés, Leopoldo Cintra, Bruno Rodríguez, Marino Murillo, Mercedes López, Álvaro López and Ramón Espinosa were reelected members of the Politburo.

Meanwhile, Ulises Guilarte de Nacimiento, Roberto Morales, Miriam Nicado, Teresa Amarelle and Marta Ayala are the new members of the Politburo.

In addition to Raul and Machado Ventura, Abelardo Álvarez, José Ramón Balaguer, Olga Lidia Tapia, Jorge Cuevas and Omar Ruiz, also make up the Secretariat.

According to Article 49 of the PCC Statutes, between the two congresses the Central Committee is the highest body of direction of the organization and is precisely entitled to determine the number of members of the Politburo and choose from it the First and Second secretaries and other members of it.

The Central Committee has the responsibility to implement, in the five-year period, the policy outlined, resolutions and agreements approved by Congress, with the help of the Political Bureau and the Secretariat.

For its part, the Political Bureau, under Article 52 of the Statutes, is responsible for directing all PCC work, to implement the agreements of congresses, conferences and plenary sessions of the Central Committee, to which it has to account for its work.

For three days, nearly a thousand delegates and 280 guests reached a consensus on the main documents and resolutions of the four working committees, and in plenary meeting participants approved on Monday a resolution on the Central Report presented during the opening session by Army General Raúl Castro.