A Look at the new Council of Ministers

I realized that not much attention has been paid to Cuba's new Council of Ministers. Raul announced just one change to it: Jose Ramon Machado Ventura would be the new First Vice President. But not much else has been said about it.

I must say that this might be because not much has changed. There have been 3 (4 if you count the fact Fidel isn't heading it up) changes in its structure:

1. As previously mentioned, Machado Ventura, who was not in the Council of Ministers, is the new First VP
2. Otto Rivero Torres, also not previously a member, is a VP
3. Wilfredo Lopez Rodriguez, formerly a Minister of Government, is no longer part of the Council of Ministers.

I find it interesting that the Council of State was changed far more than was the Council of Ministers. It's possible that Raul had more of a say in the constitution of the latter beforehand. Although maybe he's just waiting to make more changes. I don't know why he wouldn't have made them already, though.

Just wanted to leave some brief observations from today.

Oh, and to echo a point I've made before: keep an eye on Rivero Torres. He's young (39) and is part of the Councils of State and of Ministers and is also part of the Central Committee of the PCC.