National Assembly deputies approved proposed candidacies for the Council of State and its leadership, today April 18, and will vote tomorrow,
Miguel Mario Díaz Canel Bermúdez was nominated for President of the Council of State, and his outstanding career emphasized.
Díaz Canel was born in the province of Villa Clara and graduated as an Electronics Engineer in 1982.
He was a member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, and a professor at Martha Abreu Central University of Las Villas.
During the 1980s, he was a Young Communist League cadre and in the early 90s, began his work as a Party cadre. In 1994 he was elected second secretary of the Young Communist League Central Committee, and the then first secretary of the organization in Villa Clara.
• Age: 57
• Education: University
• Occupation: Member of the Communist Party of Cuba Political Bureau and First Vice President of the Councils of State and Ministers of Cuba
• Organizations to which he is affiliated: PCC, CDR
• Díaz Canel has held positions in the FEEM and FEU

Nominations for other leadership positions on the Council of State were also approved by deputies, including Salvador Valdés Mesa,who was nominated for First Vice President of the body.
Age: 72
Education: University
Occupation: Party Political Bureau member, Council of State Vice President.
Organizations to which he is affiliated: PCC, CTC, CDR
Valdés Mesa has held a range of positions in local People’s Power bodies, the Communist Party of Cuba, Cuban Workers Federation (CTC), where he served as second secretary; he was also Secretary General of the National Agricultural and Forestry Workers Trade Union, Minister of Labor and Social Security, and First Secretary of the Party Provincial Committee in Camagüey.