Alejandro Gil Fernández is a Cuban leader who has served as Minister of Economy and Planning and Vice President of the Council of Ministers since July 21, 2018. 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 Vice 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 in the Ministry of Finance and Prices, where he eventually became the First Deputy Minister.
Gil has faced multiple criticisms for his management of an economy on the brink of collapse, going through 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 a government spokesperson, for monetary donations in pesos and CUC to fund 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 Informative Roundtable, where he frequently informs the public about the state's inability to meet the demand for food and essential products.
