HAVANA - Cuban President Raul Castro on Tuesday was elected chief of the ruling Cuban Communist Party (CCP).

The appointment of Raul Castro as first secretary of CCP's Central Committee came at the party's 6th congress, which concluded here Tuesday.

The party also elected First Vice President Jose Ramon Machado Ventura second secretary of the Central Committee and announced a reduction of the size of its Politbureau.

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Raul Castro announced that out of the current 115 members of the Central Committee, women now make up 41.9 percent, or 48 members, while 36 are of African descendant, representing 31.3 percent of the power balance.

The CCP made it a policy to increase the presence of both social groups in charge of direction considering that in many sectors these groups of people are the poorest and most exploited, he said.

Within the new Central Committee, the presence of women has increased three times while that of members of African descend has increased 10 times.

Raul said that he will take on his new post "with commitment and honor" and that his goals are "to continue perfecting the socialism and not ever allow for the return of the capitalist regime" to Cuba.

The Politbureau now consists of 15 members, down from 24, Castro said, adding that the CCP Secretariat has been left " untouched" until the next CCP congress on January 28, 2012, when " another composition" will be created.