René Pérez Gallego, who will have “other responsibilities,” will be replaced by Walter Simón Noris
EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, April 20, 2024 — The Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) reported this Friday the dismissal of its first secretary in the province of Las Tunas, Manuel René Pérez Gallego. The official was “liberated” from his tasks – a euphemism commonly used to refer to the dismissal of officials – after a meeting of the provincial committee in Las Tunas, chaired by the secretary of organization of the Central Committee of the PCC, according to a statement by the Party. “The dedication of Pérez Gallego to the tasks of the partisan organization in the province for 19 years was recognized, and he will be assigned other responsibilities,” it added, without specifying his new designation.
Walter Simón Noris, 54, a graduate in Physical Culture, who until now was a member of the executive bureau in the Party committee in the province of Camagüey, will be the new first secretary in the province.
Noris has “30 years of experience in political management, where he has had an upward transition”
According to the report, Noris has “30 years of experience in political management and has had an upward transition.”
This new replacement in a position of provincial leadership of the Communist Party is in addition to those carried out in recent weeks in Havana, Matanzas, Santiago de Cuba, Cienfuegos and Ciego de Ávila.
The last to be dismissed, at the beginning of April, was the first secretary of Mantua, in Pinar del Río, Liusmara Rodríguez Soriano. 14ymedio’s source in the municipality said that he was removed because of mismanagement in the territory. “He made a lot of mistakes. Homes affected by floods and hurricanes have been added in recent years in the municipality; there are still people who have been asking for materials and help to repair their houses for ten years and more,” he said.
“In the distribution of materials, Liusmara privileged his people, gave power to people who used cement and roofs as if this were a private farm. There was a lot of discomfort and strong rumors of the diversion of resources destined for those affected,” he added, so his dismissal could be a consequence of that “dubious management.”
In recent months there has been an unusual number of changes in political figures in Cuba
In recent months there has been an unusual number of changes in political figures in Cuba, both within the party and in several ministries, although the regime assures that this is “standard” operating procedure for updating positions.
In February alone, three ministers were dismissed, and one of them -the prime minister of Economy, Alejandro Gil – is under investigation for an alleged crime of corruption, as announced a month later.
Likewise, in recent weeks, the president of the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP), a trade union organization in the orbit of the PCC, was also replaced.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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