| Prime Minister of the Republic of Cuba | |
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| Primer Ministro de la República de Cuba | |
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 Prime Minister standard | |
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| Council of Ministers of Cuba Government of Cuba | |
| Style | Mr Premier(informal) |
| Type | Head of government |
| Member of | Council of Ministers Council of State |
| Nominator | President of Cuba |
| Appointer | National Assembly of People's Power |
| Term length | 5 years |
| Constituting instrument | Constitution of Cuba (2019) |
| Precursor | President of the Council of State |
| Formation | 10 October 1940; 85 years ago (1940-10-10) |
| First holder | Carlos Saladrigas Zayas |
| Unofficial names | Premier |
| Website | www.cubagob.cu |
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Related topics |
 Cuba portal |
Theprime minister of Cuba (Spanish:primer ministro de Cuba), officially known as thepresident of the Council of Ministers (Spanish:presidente del Consejo de Ministros de Cuba) between 1976 and 2019, is thehead of government ofCuba and the chairman of theCouncil of Ministers (cabinet). The prime minister is the third-highest office in Cuba, after thefirst secretary of theCommunist Party of Cuba and thepresident of Cuba, and the second-highest state office.
The office of prime minister was first instituted in 1940 in accordance with the provisions of theConstitution of Cuba as amended in that year. The first prime minister of Cuba wasCarlos Saladrigas Zayas (1900–1957), the nephew of former PresidentAlfredo Zayas. The prime minister was also sometimes referred to as "premier" (Spanish:primer). Between 1940 and 1959, Cuba saw fifteen changes of prime minister;Félix Lancís Sánchez exercised the role twice (1944–1945 and 1950–1951) whileFulgencio Batista held the position concurrently with that of president of Cuba for one month (April 1952) following a militarycoup.Fidel Castro became prime minister in 1959, replacingJosé Miró Cardona.[1]
On 2 December 1976 a new national constitution, restructuring the government, came into force. Under that constitution, the prime minister's post was effectively merged with that of thepresident, who headed both theCouncil of State and theCouncil of Ministers of Cuba.[citation needed] The 1976 constitution created a governmental structure that partly copied that of theSoviet Union. However, unlike in the Soviet Union, where thePresidium of the Supreme Soviet and theCouncil of Ministers were chaired by different people, the Cuban Council of State and Council of Ministers were chaired by the same person. Furthermore, unlikeEnglish andRussian,Spanish does not distinguish between the terms "chairman/председатель" and "president/президент", translating both as "presidente".[citation needed]
On 24 February 2019, another constitution – Cuba's current – was adopted in areferendum. Under it, the government was again re-organized, and the separate posts of president and prime minister were restored.[2]Manuel Marrero was named prime minister for a 5-year term by PresidentMiguel Díaz-Canel on 21 December 2019, under the new constitutional provisions, and was approved unanimously by theNational Assembly to serve the same day.[3]
The position of prime minister reappears in the Cuban Constitution of 2019. Article 142 establishes that the prime minister is responsible to the National Assembly and the President of the Republic, to whom he or she is accountable and reports on his or her performance, that of the Council of Ministers, or its Executive Committee. To hold this position, one must be a deputy to the National Assembly of People's Power, be at least thirty-five years of age, enjoy full civil and political rights, be a Cuban citizen by birth, and hold no other citizenship.
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