ART. 151. For the exercise of the executive power the President of the Republic shall be assisted by a Council of Ministers, composed of the number of members determined by law.

One of these Ministers shall hold the title of Prime Minister, by designation of the President of the Republic, and may discharge his office with or without portfolio.
 

ART. 152. To be a Minister it is necessary:

1st. To be Cuban by birth.

2nd. To have reached thirty years of age.

3rd. To be in full enjoyment of civil and political rights.

4th. To have no business relations with the State, the Provinces, or the municipalities.
 

ART. 153. Each Minister shall have one or more Sub-secretaries who shall substitute for him in cases of temporary absence or disability.
 

ART. 154. The President of the Republic shall preside over the Council of Ministers. When the President does not attend sessions of the Council, the Prime Minister shall preside over it. The Prime Minister shall represent the general policy of the Government, and shall represent the latter before the Congress.
 

ART. 155. The Council of Ministers shall have a secretary in charge of keeping the records of the Council, certifying their decisions, and expediting the business of the presidency of the Republic and of the Council of Ministers.
 

ART. 156. The Ministers shall have charge of the offices of their respective ministries and shall deliberate and decide upon all questions of general interest that do not fall within the jurisdiction of other dependencies or authorities, and shall exercise the powers belonging to them in accordance with the Constitution and the law.
 

ART. 157. Decisions of the Council of Ministers are taken by a majority of votes in sessions at which one-half plus one of the Ministers attend.
 

ART. 158. The Ministers of Government shall be individually responsible for measures that they countersign and collectively responsible for measures that they jointly approve or authorize.
 

ART. 159. The Prime Minister and the Ministers of Government are criminally responsible before the Supreme Tribunal of Justice for common crimes that they may commit in the exercise of their offices.
 

ART. 160. The ministries of education, of health ant! social assistance, of agriculture, and of public worlds shall act exclusively as technical organizations.
 

ART. 161. The Prime Minister and the Ministers of Government shall swear or alarm before the President of the Republic faithfully to comply with the duties inherent in their offices, as well as to observe and enforce the Constitution and the law.
 

ART. 162. It shall be the function of the Prime Minister to expedite, with the President of the Republic, the matters of the general policy of the Government, and with the assistance of the Ministers, the affairs of the respective departments.
 

ART. 163. The powers and duties of the Ministers are:

1st. To comply with and enforce the Constitution, the laws, decree-laws, decrees, regulations, and other resolutions and provisions.

2nd. To write bills, regulations, decrees, and any other resolutions, and to present them for the consideration of the Government.

3rd. To countersign, jointly with the Prime Minister, the laws and other documents authorized with the signature of the President of the Republic, with the exception of decrees for the appointment or removal of Ministers.

4th. To attend the Congress, on the invitation of the latter, or at the instance of either of its bodies, to report before them, to answer interpellations, to deliberate therein, and to propose votes of confidence individually or collectively.

A Minister who is a Congressman shall have the right to vote only in the body to which he belongs.