Alejandro Gil Fernández is a Cuban leader who has served since July 21, 2018, as Minister of Economy and Planning and Vice President of the Council of Ministers. On December 21, 2019, at the proposal of Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, he was appointed by the National Assembly of People's Power as First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Cuba.
Gil Fernández was born in Cuba in 1960 and prior to his appointment, he was the right-hand man of Ricardo Cabrisa, his predecessor as Minister of Economy, who left the position at the age of 81. Gil began his career as an official at the Ministry of Finance and Prices, where he rose to the position of First Deputy Minister.
Gil has faced multiple criticisms in managing an economy on the brink of collapse, enduring one of its worst crises since the Special Period was declared in 1991. In May 2020, he appeared on national television to ask Cubans, as the government's spokesperson, for monetary donations in pesos and CUC to finance food production, which sparked public outrage. Furthermore, Gil has become the herald of the scarcity that has loomed over the island for more than a year in his usual appearances on the informational Round Table, where he frequently alerts the public about the state's inability to meet the demand for food and essential products.
