Corruption scandal topples Cuban minister

Cuba's fisheries minister has been replaced in the wake of a corruption investigation which implicated several mid-level officials at the ministry.

However, the minister, Orlando Rodriguez, was cleared of any wrongdoing.

A government statement said the investigation found that several senior officials at the ministry had accepted illegal commissions and gifts. At least one of them was a brother of Mr Rodriguez.

Correspondents say the case is the first in many years in which a Cuban government minister has fallen due to officially recognized corruption. Mr Rodriguez was replaced by the director of the national power grid, Alfredo Lopez.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service