Cuba’s economic czar leads new political generation that stands to inherit power from Castros - The Washington Post

When Raul Castro acknowledged recently that it was time to hand power over to younger leaders, few were expecting the 80-year-old president to name somebody even older than himself as his No. 2.

But at least one figure from Cuba’s post-Revolution Baby Boom is on the rise: Marino Murillo Jorge has been charged with implementing make-or-break economic reforms that are designed to both loosen the state’s ironclad control and save Cuban socialism. The blunt-talking, 50-year-old economist stands at the head of a very small class of relatively prominent, relatively youthful Cuban officials who have broken out of obscurity and taken up positions alongside the silver-haired generation that has ruled this island since 1959.

Murillo is Raul Castro’s economic czar, tasked with guiding Cuba through what is arguably its greatest challenge since the “special period” of the early 1990s, when billions in aid and trade from Moscow disappeared along with the Soviet Union.

Few details about Murillo are a matter of public record, including basic questions such as where he lives, whether he’s married or if he has any children. Multiple requests by The Associated Press to interview Murillo or other officials were not granted, and his bare-bones Communist Party bio gives only his date of birth, education and a brief rundown of his prior posts.

For more: Cuba’s economic czar leads new political generation that stands to inherit power from Castros - The Washington Post