Cuban government undergoes massive restructuring

Cuban President Raúl Castro on Monday gave his cabinet an unprecedented, wide-sweeping shake-up that experts say shows he's moving toward doing things his way -- efficiently, and surrounded by the military brass he trusts.

Among those who lost key posts were longtime Fidel Castro loyalist Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque and Vice President Carlos Lage, the youngest and most visible members of Castro's team.

Although he will remain as vice president of the more important council of state, Lage was replaced as secretary of the council of ministers by a general who last served as Castro's chief of staff at the defense ministry. A brigade general was also named minister of the Iron and Steel Industry.

Lage's departure from the council of ministers and the recent promotions of three others close to Raúl Castro leaves the cabinet leadership entirely in the hands of members of the armed forces and people in his closest confidence. Some Cuban exile leaders in Miami fear that the dozen personnel moves announced on Cuban television's midday newscast after the sports and weather reports show Castro is closing ranks and consolidating power.

His selection of a general underscores how Castro -- Cuba's longest serving defense minister -- wants to be surrounded by members of the institution he knows and controls best: the armed forces. The Cuban American National Foundation said the moves were reminiscent of Russian Communist leader Joseph Stalin and are ''demonstrative of the regime's desire to place additional control of the government in the hands of the Cuban military.''

''I think this is Raúl definitely trying to put his own stamp on the government,'' said Sandy Acosta Cox, a political analyst at ECHO-Cuba, a Miami nonprofit that offers aid to evangelical churches on the island. 'I think this demonstrates that there were factions within the government: Fidelistas and Raúlistas. . . . Positioning key 'Raúlistas' in place, especially before the major announcement everyone is anticipating -- Fidel's death -- ensures that there won't be a power struggle between the two factions.''

Raúl Castro took over from his brother in the summer of 2006 but was not officially named president until a year ago. He took office under the pledge of efficiency, and often used his rare moments on the public stage to blast the Cuban government's notorious wastefulness.

Several of Monday's decisions appear in line with that vow to run a leaner government.

He merged the ministries of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation and also combined the ministries of the food and fishing industries.

Several of the people named to top posts are unknown technocrats, which shows Castro is trying to streamline the country's bureaucracy and put the best people forward, said Frank Mora, an expert on the Cuban military at the National War College in Washington.