LatinNews Daily - 05 February 2024

*Cuba’s council of state, which is led by President Miguel Díaz-Canel, has sacked Economy Minister Alejandro Gil, replacing him with Joaquín Alonso Vázquez, the president of the central bank (BCC). Gil, who had been in the post since 2018, was dismissed following delays to the implementation of new price rises for fuel and transportation, which were due to take effect on 1 February but postponed following reports of a cyber-attack from outside the country. The decision threw into disarray an economic stabilisation plan unveiled in December by the Communist government as part of efforts to revive the island’s faltering economy which remains affected by the impact of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, US economic sanctions, and devastation wreaked last year by hurricanes, among other things. As well as Gil’s replacement, the government announced two other ministerial changes. Science, Technology & Environment Minister Elba Rosa Pérez, who had been in the post for over 11 years, was replaced by Eduardo Martínez Díaz, the current president of Cuban pharmaceutical group Grupo Empresarial BioCubaFarma. State mouthpiece Granma also reported that the food industry minister, Manuel Santiago Sobrino, has been replaced by Alberto López, the current governor of Villa Clara province, who is also a national legislator. Juana Lilia Delgado Portal, a former deputy economy minister who has held various posts in the BCC, has been named as the central bank’s new president.