Miguel Diaz-Canel Re-elected as Cuba's President

Havana, April 20 (IANS) Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel has been re-elected for a fresh five-year term during the opening session of the new Parliament at Havana's Palace of Conventions.

Diaz-Canel's re-election by the 470 member Assembly was widely expected.

The 62-year-old replaced Raul Castro as President in 2018 and as First Secretary of the Cuban communist party in 2021.

He is the first person born after the 1959 revolution and not named Castro to hold both of those powerful titles.

"The government must focus on increasing the national production of food and the flow of hard currencies to the country as well as on improving the performance of the state-operated socialist enterprises," Xinhua news agency quoted Diaz-Canel as saying on Wednesday while addressing the audience.

The President added that fighting inflation and promoting foreign investment are paramount priorities for the Cuban economy.

Also on Wednesday, Cuban lawmakers reelected Salvador Valdes as the Vice President of the Caribbean nation and Esteban Lazo as the president of National Assembly of People's Power (ANPP).

Meanwhile, Manuel Marrero was re-appointed as the Prime Minister at the proposal of the President.

The ANPP, Cuba's unicameral legislative body, was elected in March.

This is the 10th legislature of Cuba's ANPP, which will be in office for the next five years.