Havana, (EFE).- Miguel Díaz-Canel, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC, the only legal one), was appointed by a majority this Wednesday as president of this socialist republic for a second and last term of five years.
Díaz-Canel, 62, was elected with 97.66% of the votes of the deputies on the day of the constitution of the National Assembly of Popular Power (ANPP), the highest legislative body in the country.
The Cuban president, who headed the only candidacy proposed by the ANPP presidency, obtained the ballot of 459 of the 462 deputies present, according to the official count offered by the National Electoral Council (CEN).
Salvador Valdés Mesa was also re-elected as Vice President of the Republic, who had already held the second position of the Island Executive in the first legislature of Díaz-Canel (2018-2023). He obtained 93.4% of the ballots (439 of 462).
As soon as he was appointed, Díaz-Canel proposed to the ANPP Manuel Marrero Cruz as prime minister, who has already held this position for the last five years.
A second term in the midst of the crisis
The first term of both was marked by the serious crisis that the country is going through, due to the combination of the consequences of the pandemic, the tightening of US sanctions and the errors in internal economic and monetary policy.
The crisis is evident in the shortage of basic products -food, medicine and fuel-, galloping inflation, frequent blackouts and unprecedented migration.
Before electing the President and Vice President of the Republic, the ANPP elected its management structure. The previous leadership was re-elected without change and almost unanimously.
As president of the ANPP, Esteban Lazo, 79, a member of the political bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) and in office since 2013, was re-elected. He obtained 443 of the 462 possible votes, 96.1%.
Ana María Mari Machado and Homero Acosta -also a member of the PCC political bureau-, were in turn re-elected as vice president and secretary of the ANPP, respectively, with 99.13 and 98.26% of the ballots.
For its part, the Council of State, the permanent body of the ANPP between its two annual sessions, was partially renewed, although the main figures remained. Its 21 members obtained between 98 and 100% of the votes.
On March 26, the 470 candidates for the parliamentary elections were elected to the same number of positions in the ANPP. The vast majority are members of the PCC.