The younger generation

Marino Murillo

Murillo is known as the czar of the economic reforms implemented under Raul Castro that represent a relatively small opening to private enterprise.

He was an obscure figure until 2009, when he was appointed minister of economy and planning and later vice-president of the Council of Ministers. In 2012, media outlets in Florida reported that a daughter, Glenda Murillo, had moved to the US. It was an uncomfortable situation for a senior government official with oversight of the island’s economy but family members said she left for personal, not political reasons.

Born February 19, 1961, he has been a professor at the Central University of Las Villas.

He has been involved with the Communist Party since the 1990s.

Bruno Rodriguez

Rodriguez is well-known outside Cuba because he has served as foreign minister in recent years and has defended the island in international forums.

Born January 22, 1958, in Mexico, Rodriguez is the son of a high-ranking Cuban official who held various posts during the Cuban revolution. He studied law at the University of Havana and held posts with the Young Communists and the Federation of University Students, a base of support for the government. In 1993-2004, he served as ambassador to the UN and then as deputy minister of foreign affairs.

Mercedes Lopez

A forestry engineer by training, Lopez is the only woman among the top ranks of the new leadership. She served as first secretary of the powerful Communist Party of Havana and as a vice president of the Council of State.

She is one of the younger members of the senior leadership, born on September 1, 1964. She previously served as director of the Union of Young Communists in western Pinal del Rio province.

Like many senior officials, her public biography is brief. But in recent years she represented Cuba in various tours in African nations.