Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz

Cuban politician. He was Vice Prime Minister from 2019 until his death in 2025. Minister of Economy and Planning, a position he held from 2016 to 2018. Deputy to the National Assembly of People's Power for the municipality Marianao, La Habana, ratified on April 18 of 2018 in the Constitutive Session of the IX Legislature held at the Palacio de Convenciones de La Habana. He received the honorary title of Hero of Labor of the Republic of Cuba in 2024.

A figure of vast experience and preparation, demonstrated through the exercise of responsibilities in Government and the fulfillment of important missions, including the direction of the Cuban external debt restructuring process.

After completing secondary school, he joined the Movement 26 of July, led by Fidel Castro. Subsequently, he participated in the revolution against the regime of Fulgencio Batista. After Batista's fall in 1959, he joined the General Directorate of Intelligence (DGI) and, after working as an operations officer, he directed the DGI representation in Canada for several years.

On July 13 of 2016 he was appointed Minister of Economy and Planning, a position he held until July 21, 2018 when he was ratified as vice president of the Council of Ministers in the First Ordinary Period of Sessions of the IX Legislature of the National Assembly, being succeeded in the position by Alejandro Gil Fernández. He is a member of the National Union of Public Administration Workers (SNTAP).

First Vice Minister

On December 21 of 2019, at the proposal of the President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, he was appointed by the National Assembly of People's Power, in the IV ordinary period of sessions corresponding to the IX Legislature, First Vice Minister^[4]

He held this responsibility concurrently with that of Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment until May 23, 2024, when he was relieved of the latter, maintaining his position as vice prime minister of the Government.

He died on September 16 of 2025 at the age of 88 years old.

Awards and Recognition

• In 2024 he was granted the honorary title of Hero of Labor of the Republic of Cuba.

• In 2025 he was presented with the "Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun," the highest distinction granted by Emperor Naruhito of Japan, to foreign citizens, for his contribution to the development of bilateral relations between both countries.