HAVANA.- The chancellor of Russia, Sergei Lavrov arrived in Havana this Monday to begin a tour of Latin America that includes Venezuela and Brazil, reported the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the dictatorship of Cuba.
The Russian Foreign Minister “arrived in Cuba today. This visit constitutes the ninth he has made to our country since his appointment to office,” the regime said in a brief statement.
The head of Russian diplomacy is scheduled to meet with the dictator Miguel Diaz-Caneland that on Tuesday he will arrive in Venezuela to later travel to Brazil to a meeting of G20 foreign ministers.
This is Lavrov’s second visit in less than a year. Russia and Cuba have had a strong rapprochement since November 2022, when Díaz-Canel visited Moscow.
In the relaunch of relations, both countries signed a dozen agreements in different sectors last year and maintained multiple visits by senior officials in Russia and Cuba.
According to Russian figures, in 2022 the trade exchange between Cuba and Russia reached 450 million dollars.
Among the main projects of Russian participation is advice on an oil field, located in the central province of Mayabeque, the start-up of a rolling mill in a steel plant in Havana and the modernization of a sugar plant in Sancti Spíritus. (center).
This approach occurs when Cuba is experiencing the worst economic crisis in three decades, with shortages and an inflationary spiral, accentuated by the structural weaknesses of its economy and corruption.
In April, Lavrov thanked Cuba for its “understanding” in the war against Ukraine. While the island has maintained a neutral stance, with calls for a negotiated solution to the conflict, it has also refused to condemn the offensive.
Following press reports in September about the recruitment of Cubans by traffickers to participate in the war against Ukraine alongside the Russian army, Cuba detained 17 people for the crime of “mercenarism.” Until now, the status of the judicial process of those arrested has not been reported.
Source: With information from AFP
