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The South African Communist Party (Sacp) congratulates the Communist Party of Cuba, the Cuban Revolution and the Cuban people for the properly managed, unifying and democratic leadership transition marked on Wednesday, 19 April 2018 by the election of Comrade Miguel Mario Díaz Canel Bermúdez as the President of the Council of State.

The Sacp congratulates Comrade Miguel for his election as the new President of Cuba and Comrade Raúl Castro, the outgoing President for the good leadership example he has set, working under the principle of collective leadership and accountability handed over from the leadership of Comrade Fidel Castro as the Commander and President of Cuba.

The Sacp further congratulates the Cuban people for programmatic continuity and strategic consistency, for their unflinching determination to forge ahead with the development trajectory of their democratic choice – that is socialism. The Sacp is looking forward to continued and deepening solidarity and international relations with Cuba under the leadership of Comrade Miguel as the new President. Comrade Miguel was in South Africa and met with the leadership of the Sacp Central Committee led by General Secretary Comrade Blade Nzimande on 16 March 2015.  

Comrade Miguel Mario Díaz Canel Bermúdez, brief profile
(The Granma, 18 April 2018)
 
Comrade Miguel, 57 was born in the province of Villa Clara and graduated as an Electronics Engineer in 1982. He was a member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, and a professor at Martha Abreu Central University of Las Villas.
 
During the 1980s, he was a Young Communist League cadre and in the early 90s, began his work as a Party cadre. In 1994 he was elected second secretary of the Young Communist League Central Committee, and the then first secretary of the organisation in Villa Clara.

Member of the Communist Party of Cuba Political Bureau and was the First Vice President of the Councils of State and Ministers of Cuba before his election as President. He is a long standing member of the Communist Party of Cuba and the Committee for the Defence of the Revolution

What Comrade Raúl Castro had to say about Comrade Miguel in welcoming his nomination?
(The Granma, 19 April 2018)
 
Regarding Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, the new President of the Councils of State and Ministers of Cuba, highlighted his career as an engineer, and his work as an officer of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR). He was later put forward as a professional cadre of the Young Communist League (UJC), from where he gradually worked his way up through the PCC ranks to be promoted as a professional Party cadre.
 
Raúl noted that during the Special Period and coinciding with the most severe stage, Díaz-Canel was a member of the Provincial Party Committee in Villa Clara, where he spent nine years. He then spent six years representing the Party in Holguín. “He was born in Villa Clara, where he spent a good amount of time, as it was a territory he knew well; and it was after that that he was sent to one of the great eastern provinces, Holguín, as we did with more than a dozen young people, most of whom arrived to the Political Bureau, but we failed to materialise their training. He was the only survivor, I would say, exaggeratedly,” Raúl explained.
 
He also stressed that Díaz-Canel has been a member of the Party Central Committee since 1991, and was promoted to the Political Bureau 15 years ago. He fulfilled a mission in Nicaragua and graduated from the National Defence College. In 2009, he was appointed Minister of Education. Five years ago he was elected First Vice President of the Councils of State and Ministers; and since then “a group of members of the Political Bureau had the feeling that we had hit the nail on the head,” Raúl noted, referring to Díaz’s aptitude to assume the current position, as the basis of which he highlighted his work as in the ideological sphere of the Party Central Committee.
 
Raúl added: Talking with compañero Machado, I told him that we have to criticise ourselves, because we failed to guarantee the better training of other comrades so that they could occupy leadership positions in the Party and the government. I told him that, at 15 years old, [Díaz-Canel] could have spent 3 years in 5 provinces of the country, so that he would know each better. Thus, we must pay more attention to the training of our cadres.
 
Raúl immediately pointed out that the election of Díaz-Canel is no accident: “due to his preparation, he is the best, and we know that due to his dedication he will have absolute success in the task entrusted to him by our supreme People’s Power body.” Comrade Díaz-Canel is not an improvised candidate; over the years he has demonstrated his work capacity, ideological solidity and commitment to the Revolution. His growth has not been the result of haste. His case has not been like others, where we made the mistake of accelerating the process, Raúl stressed.
 

Issued by Sacp