Cuba removes Ricardo Alarcon from top Communist body

3 July 2013 Last updated at 06:18 GMT Share this pageEmailPrint

Cuba removes Ricardo Alarcon from top Communist body

Cuban leader Raul Castro has removed several senior Communists from the
party's powerful Central Committee.

They include former parliament speaker and foreign minister Ricardo
Alarcon, a close ally of ex-leader Fidel Castro.

Mr Castro said those leaving had not made any mistakes or committed any
crimes. He said the changes marked a normal course of events.

Mr Alarcon, 76, one of Cuba's most visible politicians, had been a
member of the committee since 1992.

He stepped down as speaker in February.

Among the four others removed were Jose Miguel Miyar Barruecos, 81, who
was secretary of the Council of State for three decades, and Misael
Enamorado, 60, the party chief in Santiago de Cuba.

Mr Castro played down the significance of the move in comments broadcast
on state television.

"There's a door you come in through; there's a door you go out, without
it meaning anything negative," he said.

Raul Castro became Cuba's leader when his elder brother stepped down in
2008. In February he was elected to a second five-year term, which he
said would be his last.

Source: "BBC News - Cuba removes Ricardo Alarcon from top Communist
body" - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-23157254