The “millionaire psychologist” has been named the first secretary of the PCC in Villa Clara.
14ymedio, Havana, 12 June 2025 — Just over a year after stepping down as First Secretary of the Communist Party in Matanzas to serve on the Party’s Central Committee, Susely Morfa has been reappointed as the highest authority in a province: Villa Clara. The psychologist will replace Osnay Miguel Colina Rodríguez, who “will be assigned other responsibilities.”
Roberto Morales Ojeda, who had been in charge of orchestrating the dismissals and promotions within the Central Committee in recent years, presided over the plenary session in which Colina was removed from office “at the request of the Political Bureau.” The meeting participants, the PCC said in a statement, applauded the work of the official, who was in charge of Villa Clara for three years, and his “fulfillment of the priorities defined by the Party during this period.”
The official note briefly outlines Morfa’s career: a graduate in Psychology, 42 years of age of which 21 years—exactly half—have been dedicated to “political leadership activities”; former secretary of the National Committee of the University Student Federation; former first secretary of the PCC in Matanzas; member of the Party’s Executive Bureau; deputy to the National Assembly; and, in her last position, head of the Department of Attention to the Social Sector.
The brief resume does not summarize Morfa’s combative career, having tried by all means to demonstrate that she is a “reliable figure.”
This brief resume doesn’t summarize Morfa’s combative career. She has tried by all means to demonstrate that she is a “reliable figure” for the Party, and her meteoric rise over the last decade proves that her efforts have paid off.
In 2015, the psychologist burst onto the Cuban political scene after her performance at the Summit of the Americas in Panama, where she led several protests and called the Cuban activists and exiles who participated in a parallel event with civil society “lackeys, mercenaries, self-financed, and underpaid by imperialism.”
During that performance, after being questioned by a journalist from a Florida media outlet, she claimed she had spontaneously traveled to Panama to protest, paying for her stay and travel with her salary as a psychologist. Following that response, people on social media began calling her “the millionaire psychologist.”
Barely a year after the Summit, Morfa was elected to the National Assembly of People’s Power and a member of the Council of State. She was also immediately appointed leader of the Union of Young Communists (UJC), after having held various positions in the youth organization, first in her hometown of Rodas (Cienfuegos) and later as a provincial leader.
After leaving Matanzas, Morfa was hailed as a “great leader” when she received a barrage of praise from representatives of official organizations.
After leaving Matanzas, Morfa was hailed as a “great leader” after receiving a barrage of praise from representatives of official organizations in the province. Osmar Ramírez Ramírez, secretary general of the Cuban Workers’ Union, even noted that the psychologist was “proof that the future of the Revolution is guaranteed.” “During highly complex events such as the fire at the Supertanker Base, the floods in Carlos Rojas, or during the events of 11 July 2021, she has always been on the front lines, something that undoubtedly makes her a great leader,” he added.
Morfa has steadily climbed the political ladder in the country, and some, like journalist Reinaldo Escobar, even believe she could become a presidential candidate when Miguel Díaz-Canel leaves the government in 2028. Furthermore, she has been one of the few high-ranking Party officials to survive the recent waves of dismissals. The latest of these changes occurred last May, when the Party dismissed Yuniasky Crespo, its representative in Mayabeque.
Crespo’s departure, after three years in office and a long career associated primarily with student institutions, follows those carried out in the provinces of Las Tunas and Camagüey in 2025, which were preceded by at least a dozen “cadre movements” – as the regime calls them – the previous year, which the Party has attributed to a routine “renewal” of its members.
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