Esteban Lazo is elected president of the National Assembly and the Council of State

October 10, 2019

In an extraordinary session, the National Assembly of People's Power (ANPP) elected Esteban Lazo Hernández on Thursday, October 10 as president of that body and of Cuba's Council of State, who will assume office until 2023.

Lazo Hernández, 75 years old, has been a deputy since 1981. On February 24 he assumed the presidency of Parliament, until now.

Gathered at the Palace of Conventions in Havana, the legislators also elected, by direct and secret vote, the other 18 members of the Council of State.

Upon taking office, Lazo Hernández expressed, on behalf of those elected, "the willingness to comply with and enforce the Constitution of the Republic and other laws, with personal disinterest and following patriotic conviction."

"We are grateful for the confidence placed in us," said the head of the ANPP and Council of State, who reaffirmed that "only unity and action will guarantee the triumph of the socialism we have set out to achieve."

He emphasized that the leadership of the National Assembly will have ahead an intense workload as a consequence of the legislative schedule provided for in the new Constitution, ratified by the people in March 2019.

Ana María Mari Machado and Homero Acosta Álvarez were also elected as vice president and secretary of the ANPP, respectively. Both will also hold that position in the Council of State.