Juan Esteban Lazo Hernández

Member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba. Founder of the Association of Rebel Youth. Literacy worker. He worked as a Party activist in Jovellanos, then served on the Municipal Party Committee in that territory. In 1966 he attended the Party's Higher School "Ñico López". He was First Secretary of the Party in the provinces of Matanzas, Santiago de Cuba and Havana. Since 2003 he has served as a member of the Political Bureau overseeing the Ideological sphere. He holds a degree in Economics.

In 2006, when the Secretariat of the Central Committee was established, he was elected a member of that body. Delegate to all five Party Congresses, a deputy since 1981 and Vice President of the Council of State since 1992. On February 24, 2013 he was elected President of the National Assembly of People's Power, reelected to the position on April 18, 2018 by unanimous vote in the Constitutive Session of the IX Legislature, at the Palace of Conventions in Havana.

He completed his early studies at the rural school in the neighborhood where he was born in the municipality of Jovellanos, province of Matanzas, reaching the 5th grade. He was unable to continue his studies due to economic circumstances and the need to work in agricultural labor to help support his family.

At the triumph of the Revolution he was 14 years old and began working at the rice mill "La Isabel" and later at the rice dryer, alternating with agricultural work until 1963.

He joined the Association of Rebel Youth (AJR) from its founding, serving as responsible for that organization in the area, and of the Union of Young Communists (UJC), until his admission to the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) in 1963.

He was a literacy worker at "La Isabel" and an activist in the Literacy Campaign. In 1961 he joined the National Revolutionary Militias. In 1962 he was Organizer of the Union Section at his workplace and a member of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) from their founding.

In May 1963 he began working as a Party activist in Jovellanos, in the work of the School Proficiency Test. At the end of that year, upon completing the Provincial School, he was assigned by the Party in the municipality to lead a commission for the organization of the first brigades of manual cutting and mechanized loading.

In January 1964 he served as a member of the Municipal Committee of the PCC in Jovellanos and was responsible for Education.

At the end of 1965 he became an Organizer in the municipality, until 1966, when he was assigned to attend the Party's Higher School "Ñico López". Upon completing it, in November 1967, he remained for two months at the Central Committee in the Commission to review Industrial Efficiency plans.

In 1968 he was appointed First Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee in San Pedro de Mayabón (Los Arabos) and at the beginning of 1969 he was promoted to Organizer of the Regional Party Bureau in Colón, overseeing the Livestock sphere and later First Secretary of the PCC in that territory.

In 1971 he was promoted to the Provincial Bureau of Matanzas. In 1979 he was appointed Provincial Delegate of the Ministry of Agriculture in Matanzas and member of the Provincial Party Bureau. In 1980 he was elected Second Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee in Matanzas and in 1981 promoted to First Secretary of the province.

From 1986 he served as First Secretary in the province of Santiago de Cuba until 1994, when, due to the results obtained, he was appointed First Secretary of the PCC in Havana.

He was a Delegate to the I, II, III, IV and V Party Congresses. Since 1981 he has been a Deputy to the National Assembly of People's Power and since 1992 Vice President of the Council of State. At the II Congress of the PCC he was elected alternate member of the Central Committee, at the III Congress member of the Political Bureau, a position that was ratified at the IV and V Congresses. On February 24, 2013 he was elected President of the National Assembly of People's Power.

He has participated in various national and international congresses and forums such as:
Congresses of the Central Organization of Cuban Workers (CTC)
Congresses of the PCC
African National Congress (ANC) and of the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA)
Bicentenary of the Independence of the Argentine Republic, in Buenos Aires.
World Conference of Peoples on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth.
Presidential Summit on Sovereignty and Food Security, Food for Life, held on May 7, 2008, in Managua, Nicaragua.

He has made various trips abroad for work matters and reasons, among which are:
Exchange on PCC work in construction (Poland, 1972).
Course at school (GDR, 1975).
Agriculture Agreement (France, 1979).
PCC Work (Grenada, 1982).
6th Anniversary of the Triumph of the Revolution (Nicaragua, 1985).
Presidential Inauguration (Brazil, 1990).
Presidential Inauguration (Haiti, 1991).
Work Exchange (Nigeria and Ghana, 1993).
6th Anniversary of the Triumph of the Revolution (Namibia, 1995).
Work Exchange (China, Vietnam, Laos, 1996 and 2006).
Work Visit (Uganda, Ethiopia, Angola, Congo, Gabon, 2004).
Work Visit (Eritrea, Kenya, South Africa, Eswatini, Namibia, 2005).
He presided over the Delegation to the UN General Assembly to represent Cuba at the head of the NAM, in November 2006.

At present he is a Member of the Central Committee of the Party since 1980 and a Deputy to the National Assembly of People's Power since 1981.
Since 2003 he has served as a member of the Political Bureau overseeing the ideological sphere. In 2006, when the Secretariat of the Central Committee was established, he was elected a member of that body.
On February 24, 2013 he was elected President of the National Assembly of People's Power in its VIII Legislature.
On April 18, 2018 he was reelected by unanimous vote as President of the National Assembly of People's Power in its IX Legislature.

He has held the following positions:
Worker at Rice Mill and Dryer in Jovellanos.
In the Party he was Secretary of Education and Organization of the Municipal Committee in Jovellanos.
Member of the Organization Commission of the Provincial Committee in Matanzas.
First Secretary of the Municipal Committee in San Pedro de Mayabón.
Organizing Secretary of the Regional Committee in Colón.
First Secretary of the Regional Committee in Cárdenas.
Member of the Provincial Bureau.
Provincial Delegate of the Ministry of Agriculture.
Second and First Secretary of the Provincial Committee in Matanzas and First Secretary of the Provincial Committee in Santiago de Cuba and City of Havana.

Decorations
For his arduous work he has received the following decorations:
Commemorative Medal "XX Anniversary of the FAR"
Literacy Medal.
Diploma for 35 Years as a PCC Official.
Distinction XX Years of Security.
National Order of Mali, in the category of Grand Officer. Awarded by the Prime Minister of that country, Cissé Mariam Kaidama Sidibe, this order constitutes the highest honor granted, in different degrees, by the government of Mali.