Castro announces pick for Cuba's interior minister

HAVANA: Cuban President Raul Castro has tapped Vice Admiral Julio Cesar Gandarilla Bermejo for the post of interior minister, government media reported Monday.

Gandarilla Bermejo will replace General Carlos Fernandez Gondin, 78, who died on Saturday after a long illness, according to a statement read on state-run television.

Gandarilla Bermejo, who also is a member of Cuba's governing Communist Party Central Committee, has had "a distinguished career of service in the armed forces", the statement said.