Alfredo Jordan Morales, 55; Cuban Agriculture Minister
Alfredo Jordan Morales, 55, Cuba’s agriculture minister who rose from humble beginnings to hold a ministerial post and sit on the ruling politburo of Cuba’s Communist Party, died Wednesday of cancer, the state media reported.
Jordan had headed the Agriculture Ministry since 1993, at the height of the severe crisis known as the Special Period that followed the loss of the island’s former trading partners in Eastern Europe.
Born into a farming family, Jordan began his political career as a leader with the Union of Young Communists and was later president of the National Pioneers Organization, a communist group for schoolchildren.
He also served as first secretary of the provincial committee for the Communist Party in the eastern province of Las Tunas.
Jordan also served as a deputy of Cuba’s National Assembly.
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