The Cuban government’s presidential handover from Raúl Castro to 57-year-old Miguel Diaz-Canel has been coined as a historic feat for the country. But so too is the appointment of two Afro-Cuban women to its powerful Council of State.
Ines Maria Chapman and Beatrix Johnson are two of three women newly appointed to the 31-member Council of State, the island’s highest executive body.
According to Reuters, Maria Chapman, 52, is of Afro-Cuban descent, and rose to prominence as head of Cuba’s leaky waterworks. Her work there focused on repairing infrastructure and supervising the allocation of water during a recent prolonged drought.
Johnson, 48, is also of Afro-Cuban descent and rose to prominence in eastern Santiago de Cuba where she climbed the ladder from director of a joint venture cement plant to head of the provincial government.
Read More HERE