Dmitry Medvedev congratulates Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez on his election as President of Cuba
http://government.ru/en/news/38082/
The Prime Minister’s message reads, in part:
“I am sure the path towards strengthening the independence and sovereignty of Cuba as well as major reforms in all areas of socioeconomic development will continue under your leadership.
I would like to note the importance of implementing Russian-Cuban agreements reached at our recent talks in Havana. I believe that further developing the entire range of bilateral cooperation and promoting promising joint projects in various areas fully meet the interests of Russia and Cuba.
I have warm recollections of our meetings, which are always held in a constructive and trust-based atmosphere. I will be glad to continue our communication.”
Miguel Díaz-Canel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Díaz-Canel
Miguel Díaz-Canel (American Spanish: [miˈɣel ˈdi.as kaˈnel]; born 20 April 1960, full name Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel Bermúdez) is a Cuban politician currently serving as the President of Cuba. He was previously First Vice President from 2013 to 2018. He has been a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Cuba since 2003, and he served as Minister of Higher Education from 2009 to 2012; he was promoted to the post of Vice President of the Council of Ministers (deputy Prime Minister) in 2012. A year later, on 24 February 2013, he was elected as First Vice President of the Council of State.
He was selected to succeed Raúl Castro as the candidate for President of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers on 18 April 2018, and sworn into office the following day after nationwide polling. His two predecessors in the role were brothers, by blood, and notably his succession from Raúl Castro represents a clearly non-dynastic form of succession for the Communist Party as well as the Republic of Cuba. Díaz-Canel is therefore the first president to not be a Castro family member since Osvaldo Dorticós in 1976 and the first leader of the government who is not a Castro since José Miró Cardona in 1959. Miguel Díaz-Canel is likely to succeed Raúl Castro as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba in 2021
Díaz-Canel was born on 20 April 1960 in Placetas, Villa Clara, to Aída Bermúdez, a schoolteacher, and Miguel Díaz-Canel, a mechanical plant worker in Santa Clara. Of direct paternal Spanish (Asturian) descent; his great-grandfather Ramón Díaz-Canel left Castropol, Asturias for Havana in the late 19th century.
He graduated from Central University of Las Villas in 1982 as an electronics engineer and thereupon joined the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces. Beginning in April 1985, he taught at his alma mater. In 1987, he completed an international mission in Nicaragua as First Secretary of the Young Communist League of Villa Clara
As First Vice President of the Council of State, Díaz-Canel acted as deputy to the President, Raúl Castro. In 2018, the 86-year-old Castro stepped down from the presidency, though he retained the powerful position of First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba and the commander-in-chief of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces. On 18 April 2018, Díaz-Canel was selected as the only candidate to succeed Castro as president. He was confirmed by a vote of the National Assembly on 19 April and sworn in on the same day. He is a party technocrat who was little-known to the public before becoming president. Policy experts expected him to pursue cautious reform of his predecessors' economic policies, while preserving the country's social structure. He is the first president born after the 1959 Cuban Revolution and the first since 1976 not to be a member of the Castro family.
He received Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro just 2 days after his inauguration. He met with Maduro again in May of 2018 in Caracas, during first official foreign visit as head of state. In his first multinational political trip since becoming President, Díaz-Canel traveled in November 2018 to visit all of Cuba's Eurasian allies. Diplomatic meetings were held in France, Russia, North Korea, China, Vietnam, and Laos. A brief stopover in the United Kingdom also included a meeting with British parliamentarians.
In March 2019, Díaz-Canel and his wife hosted Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall in Havana as the first British royals to visit the island.
Díaz-Canel has two children with his first wife, Martha. He currently resides with his second wife, Lis Cuesta.
Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to Havana’s National Capitol Building
http://government.ru/en/news/38010/
Dmitry Medvedev visits Havana University
http://government.ru/en/news/38012/
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was awarded the title, Honourary Doctor of Political Sciences of the University of Havana
Award ceremony: Dmitry Medvedev receives the title, Honourary Doctor of Political Sciences of the University of Havana
Dmitry Medvedev giving a speech at the University of Havana
The University of Havana, established by the Dominicans in 1728, is Cuba’s largest and oldest university. At present, about 25,000 students study 32 professions at its 18 faculties. It has 1,273 professors; over half of them have scientific degrees.
The university has 15 scientific centres that conduct research in economics, exact sciences, and the natural, social and humanitarian sciences.
The central library has a wealth of books. It holds over 700,000 rare books that were published in the 15th-18th centuries.
The university maintains broad international ties with education and scientific institutions in more than 30 countries, including Russia.