Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Saturday named Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz as the country's first prime minister in decades.

Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz gestures during the ordinary session of the National Assembly in Havana, Cuba, December 21, 2019. (Photo: CGTN)

Marrero was appointed on Saturday as Cuba's prime minister at the proposal of President Miguel Diaz-Canel.

Marrero has been serving as minister of tourism and becomes the first official to hold the prime minister position in 43 years.

The position was abolished in 1976, but the administration of Diaz-Canel reinstalled it in accordance with the new constitution.

The new prime minister, 56 years old, is an architect engineer and began his career in 1990 as an investor at the Gaviota Tourism Group in the eastern Holguin province.

In 2004 he was appointed minister of tourism, a position he has performed to date.

In his new position, Marrero will be accompanied by six deputy prime ministers, including Commander Ramiro Valdes, one of the historical leaders of the Cuban revolution and close collaborator of former presidents Fidel and Raul Castro.

The other deputy prime ministers are hitherto the vice presidents of the Council of Ministers or cabinet, Roberto Morales Ojeda, Ricardo Cabrisas, Ines Maria Chapman and Jose Luis Tapia.

The team is completed with the current Minister of Economy and Planning Alejandro Gil, who maintains that portfolio.

Marrero's appointment is considered another step in the generational replacement of the island's leadership since the founding fathers of the Cuban revolution are aged 80 and older.