Esteban Lazo Hernández

Juan Esteban Lazo Hernández (born 26 February 1944) is a Cuban politician who has served as the 18th President of the Council of State since 2019, and a member of the National Assembly of People's Power since 1981. Prior to his presidency of the council he was vice president from 1992 to 2013.

Early life and education Juan Esteban Lazo Hernández was born in Jovellanos, Cuba, on 26 February 1944. He grew up in a rural environment and attended school until the 5th grade as his family was unable to afford to further his education. He worked as a farmer to support his family and was a 14 year old working at a rice mill when Fidel Castro won the Cuban Revolution.

Career Lazo joined the Rebel Youth Association upon its foundation and led it in his area. He joined the National Revolutionary Militia in 1961, and the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) in 1963. He was a literacy teacher as part of the Cuban literacy campaign.

In 1964, Lazo became a member of the PCC Municipal Committee in Jovellanos. He was an organiser from until 1966, when he was selected to attend the Ñico López Higher Party School. He completed the program in 1967, and was appointed First Secretary of the Municipal PCC in San Pedro de Mayabón. He was promoted to organiser of the Regional Party Bureau in Colón, Cuba, in 1969, and later promoted to First Secretary of the PCC in Colón Province.

Lazo was moved to the provincial bureau in Matanzas Province in 1971, where he became a member of the provincial party bureau in 1979. He became Second Secretary of the provincial party committee in 1980, and then First Secretary in 1981. He was First Secretary of the party in Santiago de Cuba Province from 1986 to 1994, when he was made First Secretary of the party in Havana.

Lazo joined the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba in 1980. Lazo was elected to he Secretariat of the Communist Party of Cuba when it was formed in 2006. At the 5th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba he was the fourth highest ranking member, only behind Castro, Raúl Castro, and José Ramón Machado Ventura.

In the 1981 election Lazo received a seat in the National Assembly of People's Power and retains it to this day. He was elected as president of the assembly in 2013. In the Council of State he was vice president from 1992 to 2013, and president since 2019.

Political positions Lazo believes that the national assembly, at 605 seats, is too large and needs to be reduced in size.

Awards and honors