# Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel Bermúdez

**Date of birth:** April 20, 1960

**Categories:** Society, politician

Miguel Díaz Canel. He is a Cuban engineer and politician. Member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba. On February 24, 2013 he was elected first vice president of the State and Ministers Councils. On April 19, 2018 he is elected President of the State and Ministers Councils of Cuba, succeeding General Raúl Castro Ruz in that position. Three years later at the 8th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba he is designated First Secretary.

Born in Manicaragua province of Villa Clara, he is the son of Miguel Díaz-Canel, a lathe mechanic, and Aída Bermúdez, a teacher. He has a successful academic record in different educational levels, in which he held positions in the Organization of Pioneers, the FEEM and the FEU.

He completed secondary and pre-university education in countryside schools in the Yabú area of Villa Clara. In 1982, he graduated as an electronic engineer from the Marta Abreu Central University of Las Villas, beginning his professional career as an officer of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) in Military Unit 3875. As a member of the UJC, he held different responsibilities, from the grassroots to the National Directorate.

He was First Secretary of the UJC Committee of the Central University of Villa Clara (UCLV) and member of the Provincial Bureau. He graduated as an Electronic Engineer and later as a Master in Management.

Recently he defended his doctoral thesis titled: "Government Management System Based on Science and Innovation for Sustainable Development in Cuba".

During the first years after graduation he completed his military service in anti-aircraft rocket units of the FAR and later took on teaching work at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at UCLV.

He held the positions of First and Second Secretary of the Provincial UJC Committee in Villa Clara, and Second Secretary of the National Committee until 1993, when he was promoted to work in the PCC as a member of the Provincial Bureau in Villa Clara. In 1994 he assumed the position of First Secretary in that province.

In 1997, he directed the organization of the arrival to the island of the remains of Ernesto Che Guevara, and their transfer to the Santa Clara Plaza, where they were placed in a mausoleum.

During the 5th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba he was elected member of the Central Committee. In 2003 he was appointed First Secretary of the PCC in the province of Holguín, and was elected member of the Political Bureau, due to his merits and comprehensive qualities.

During the first and harshest years of the special period Díaz-Canel "was First Secretary of the Provincial Committee of Villa Clara for nine years and held the same responsibility in the province of Holguín for another six, in both cases with satisfactory results".

In 2009, according to his official biography published on the Presidency website, he was appointed Minister of Higher Education and, in 2012, he was elected Vice President of the Council of Ministers. In 2013 he was promoted to First Vice President of the State and Ministers Councils and ratified as a member of the Political Bureau at the 6th and 7th Congress of the PCC.

He was an international cooperator in Nicaragua from 1987 to 1989. He attended the Ñico López Superior School and completed a Postgraduate in World Economics, as well as graduated from the First Level Diploma in Preparation for Defense at the National Defense College.

In the year 2000 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He holds, among other recognitions, the medals Vanguard of the FEU, Distinguished Service of the FAR, Vanguard of the DAAFAR, International Cooperator and the Félix Elmusa Distinction.

As a member of the Political Bureau and President of the Republic for the last three years, he has been performing with good results.

"In these last three years Díaz-Canel has known how to form a team and has fostered cohesion with the superior bodies of the Party, the State and the Government," pointed out Army General Raúl Castro.

During the I Plenary Session of the Central Committee, held on the morning of April 19, 2021, Díaz-Canel was elected First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba.

Díaz Canel was married to Marta Villanueva (dentist) and from that marriage are his children Jenny Díaz-Canel Villanueva and Miguel Díaz-Canel Villanueva.

Miguel Díaz Canel has been married since 2009 to Lis Cuesta Peraza from Holguín, who is a university professor and works in the cultural sphere.