| First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba | |
|---|---|
| Primer Secretario del Partido Comunista de Cuba | |
 Logo of theCommunist Party of Cuba | |
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| Central Committee | |
| Style | Comrade(formal) |
| Type | Party leader |
| Member of | Central Committee,Politburo,Secretariat |
| Seat | Palace of the Revolution Havana,Cuba |
| Appointer | Central Committee |
| Term length | Five years, renewable once |
| Constituting instrument | Statute of the Communist Party of Cuba |
| Formation | 18 August 1925; 100 years ago (1925-08-18) |
| First holder | José Miguel Pérez |
| Deputy | Second Secretary |
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Related topics |
 Cuba portal |
TheFirst Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba is the top leader ofCuba. The first secretary is the highest office within theCommunist Party of Cuba, which makes the officeholder the most powerful person in theCuban party-state. Incommunist states thefirst or general secretary of a ruling communist party is typically thede facto leader of the country and a more powerful position than state offices such asPresident (head of state) orPrime Minister (head of government), when different individuals hold those positions.[1]
The officeholder of the post of first secretary presides over the work of theCentral Committee of theCommunist Party of Cuba (PCC), which is designated as "the organised vanguard of the Cuban nation" and as "the superior driving force of society and the State" by Article 5 ofCuba's constitution.[2] The PCC Central Committee, the Party's highest political-executive organ between convocations of theparty congress, has the right to elect and dismiss the first secretary at one of its sessions. The first secretary is responsible for leading the work of theSecretariat, the Party's highest executive organ, and chairing the sessions of thePolitburo, the Party's highest political organ. The current first secretary isMiguel Díaz-Canel, elected by the 1st Session of the8th Central Committee on 19 April 2021, and he concurrently serves aspresident of Cuba.
The first forerunner organisation to the present-day PCC was formedon 18 August 1925, and it elected the Spain-bornJosé Miguel Pérez as its leader. Due to repressive actions by the Cuban state ofGerardo Machado, Pérez was kicked out of the country thirteen days later, on 31 August.[3] This brought the newly established party into turmoil, andJosé Peña Vilaboa took over Pérez's position and kept the position until his death on 13 March 1927. Due to his health struggles,Miguel Valdés García served as acting general secretary for most of Peña Vilaboa's tenure.[4] Valdés García continued to do so until April 1927, whenJoaquín Valdés Hernández was elected general secretary.[4] State repression and bad organisation brought party work to a standstill until theCommunist International (Comintern) appointedJorge Abilio Vivó d’Escoto as party general secretary in 1930.[5] In August 1933, a general strike took place in Havana that called for Machado's removal. Vivó is said to have misjudged the revolutionary situation, and he was forced to step down on the Comintern's orders at the2nd Congress, held on 20–22 April 1934.[6]
Blas Roca Calderio was elected in Vivó's place and stayed in office until 24 June 1961 when the party merged with the26th of July Movement and theRevolutionary Directorate of 13 March Movement to form the Integrated Revolutionary Organizations (IRO), which electedFidel Castro as its first secretary.[7] The IRO was transformed into the United Party for the Socialist Revolution of Cuba (PURSC) on 26 March 1962. Three years later, on 3 October 1965, the PURSC convened the1st Congress of the newly established Communist Party of Cuba. The1st Central Committee, which had been elected by the 1st Congress, convened for its 1st Session on 3 October 1965 and elected Fidel as first secretary.[8] He remained in office for 49 years until the convocation of the 1st Plenary Session of the6th Central Committee on 19 April 2011, which elected his brotherRaúl Castro to succeed him in office.[9] Raúl remained in office for two electoral terms and was succeeded by Miguel Díaz-Canel on 19 April 2021.[10]
| Title | Established | Abolished | Established by | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Secretary of the Central Committee of theCommunist Party of Cuba Spanish:Secretario General del Comité Central del Partido Comunista de Cuba | 18 August 1925 | 13 August 1939 | 1st Congress | [11] |
| General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Communist Union Spanish:Secretario General del Comité Central de la Unión Comunista Revolucionaria | 13 August 1939 | 22 January 1944 | Central Committee of the 3rd Congress | [12] |
| General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Popular Socialist Party Spanish:Secretario General del Comité Central del Partido Socialista Popular | 22 January 1944 | 24 June 1961 | 4th Congress | [13] |
| First Secretary of the National Directorate of the Integrated Revolutionary Organizations Spanish:Primer Secretario de la Dirección Nacional de Organizaciones Revolucionarias Integradas | 26 July 1961 | 26 March 1962 | ? | |
| First Secretary of the Central Committee of the United Party for the Socialist Revolution of Cuba Spanish:Primer Secretario del Comité Central del Partido Unido para la Revolución Socialista de Cuba | 26 March 1962 | 3 October 1965 | ? | [8] |
| First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba Spanish:Primer Secretario del Comité Central del Partido Comunista de Cuba | 3 October 1965 | Present | 1st Congress | [3] |
| No. | Officeholder | Took office | Left office | Tenure | Term | Birth | PM | Death | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | José Miguel Pérez | 18 August 1925 | 31 August 1925 | 13 days | 1st (1925–34) | 1896 | 1925 | 1936 | [3] |
| 2 |  | José Peña Vilaboa | September 1925 | 13 March 1927 | 193 days years | 1st (1925–34) | 1891 | 1925 | 1927 | [4] |
| 3 | | Joaquín Valdés | April 1927 | ? | ? years | 1st (1925–34) | ? | 1925 | ? | [4] |
| 4 | | Jorge Vivó | 29 March 1930 | 22 April 1934 | 4 years, 24 days | 1st (1925–34) | 1906 | 1927 | 1979 | [14] |
| 5 |  | Blas Roca | 22 April 1934 | 24 June 1961 | 27 years, 2 days | 2nd–? (1934–1961) | 1908 | 1930 | 1987 | [15] |
| 6 | .jpg) | Fidel Castro | 26 July 1961 | 19 April 2011 | 49 years, 267 days | PROV–5th (1961–2011) | 1926 | 1955 | 2016 | [9] |
| 7 | .jpg) | Raúl Castro | 19 April 2011 | 19 April 2021 | 10 years | 6th–8th (2011–21) | 1931 | 1953 | Alive | [16] |
| 8 | .jpg) | Miguel Díaz-Canel | 19 April 2021 | Incumbent | 4 years, 302 days | 8th–present (2021–present) | 1960 | 1985 | Alive | [10] |
"I confirm to this assembly that Raul Castro, as first secretary of the Communist Party, will lead the decisions about the future of the country," Diaz-Canel said.
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