14ymedio, Havana, 9 February 2025 — The Communist Party of Cuba announced on Saturday the expulsion of two of its senior officials in the province of Cienfuegos, José López Zuñet, member of the Executive Bureau, and Mayré Fornaris Soriano, first secretary. These are the first dismissals in 2025, after a fertile 2024 in layoffs, which reached the highest level of the political apparatus, such as the Minister of Economy Alejando Gil and Deputy Prime Minister José Luis Perdomo.
The brief statement, published by the local radio station Radio Ciudad del Mar, alleges that López Zuñet had presented “attitude problems towards tasks that were assigned to him,” while Fornaris Soriano made “mistakes” in the “fulfillment of his functions, which affected the control of different processes of the political organization.”
Both cadres, without further explanation, were not only “separated” from their posts, but also from the ranks of the Communist Party. Other state media did not provide more details about the specific reasons that led the Party to take such drastic measures.
Instead of Fornaris Soriano, Maykel Betancourt Dueñas was elected “to direct the work of the Party in that territory”
Instead of Fornaris Soriano, Maykel Betancourt Dueñas was elected “to direct the work of the Party in that territory,” the text concludes.
Exactly one year ago, in February 2024, Cienfuegos learned of the dismissal of another first secretary of the PCC. Marydé Fernández López was “released” from office, and Armando Carranza Valladares, a veterinarian who worked in the Provincial Bureau, took over her position.
At the meeting to report her dismissal, the secretary of the Central Committee of the PCC, Roberto Morales Ojeda, underlined “her personal qualities and the results in her performance in the forefront of the organization.” He did not explain the reasons for the dismissal, and the official press limited itself to saying that the official would be “promoted to new responsibilities.”
Two months later, Miguel Díaz-Canel approved the dismissal of the governor of Cienfuegos, Alexandre Corona, who requested his resignation “recognizing mistakes made in the exercise of his responsibility.” According to a brief statement made public by the official press, which did not detail what errors were involved, he was replaced by Yolexis Rodríguez Armada, provincial deputy governor.
Two months later, Miguel Díaz-Canel approved the dismissal of the governor of Cienfuegos, Alexandre Corona
The former first secretary of the PCC in Cienfuegos, – he held the post for a decade, from 1993 to 2003 – Manuel Menéndez Castellanos, also arrived at Miami International Airport in Florida last August. After accumulating merits on the Island, where his political career and ties to the regime led him to hold a substantial list of positions and receive distinctions, the official decided to spend his retirement in the United States, where part of his family resides.
The case of Alejandro Gil, former Minister of Economy and Planning, at the beginning of 2024, triggered a wave of dismissals in several provinces that the Party explained as an ordinary movement of cadres. The first secretaries of Holguín, Pinar del Río, Santiago de Cuba, Matanzas, Villa Clara, Ciego de Ávila, among others, left office.
Then, at the end of October, came the dismissal of Deputy Prime Minister José Luis Perdomo Di-Lella, with no further explanation than that the decision had been made “at the proposal of the President of the Republic and with prior approval of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
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