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Raul Castro for a stronger Cuba

Raul Castro

HAVANA: Cuba’s newly-elected President Raul Castro has said he would bring about changes to make the government more efficient and economy stronger.

In his first address as President to the National Assembly of People’s Power (ANPP), he said the country needed “a smaller number of central administration bodies and a better distribution of their functions. We have to make our government more efficient.” The government would focus on satisfying people’s basic needs “both spiritual and material, starting by boosting sustained economic growth.”

He was speaking after being unanimously elected by lawmakers to succeed his elder brother Fidel Castro as the country’s leader on Sunday. Mr. Raul Castro said he would be on guard against any U.S. “meddling” in the country’s internal affairs, after several U.S. presidential candidates cried for a change in Cuba days ago. — Xinhua

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