Havana: Cuba's first prime minister in more than four decades - long-serving tourism minister Manuel Marrero - has taken office as the country resurrected a post last held by Fidel Castro.
The appointment of Marrero, 56, as head of government is part of a process of decentralisation and generational change from the revolutionary old guard that is aimed at extending and protecting Communist Party rule.
"This proposal was duly approved by the political bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba," President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on Saturday, presenting it to the country's National Assembly, which unanimously signed off.
Immediately after his presentation, Marrero received a handshake from former president Raul Castro, the leader of the Communist
Party.
Marrero "is not coming to the job to transform, but rather to implement and manage. The president is the one who leads," said Cuba specialist Arturo Lopez-Levy of Holy Names University in California.
Marrero served as tourism minister from 2004, late in revolutionary hero Fidel Castro's administration, continuing in the post under Fidel's brother Raul and the current president, Diaz-Canel.