One of the marks of the weakness in Washington is Cuba’s expansion of ties with Russia. Back in the Kennedy administration, we went to the brink of nuclear war with Russia over this relationship.
Well, Cuba is offering to lease land to Russian companies for 30 years, a noteworthy concession for the Cuban government to give to a foreign investor. This came out this week during a meeting between the regimes.
The “head of the Russian delegation of the Cuban-Russian Business Committee” is Boris Titov. He “told a businessmen’s forum in Havana the Cuban regime decisively opened the door to investment,” per reporting by Reuters.
Titov said Cuba will: Exempt Russian companies from certain import tariffs. Allow the Russians to repatriate their profits. And he suggests the regimes are analyzing possibly returning to a direct maritime and port link.
Trade between Cuba and Russia was about $450 million in 2022, triple that of 2021, this is according to Russia’s trade representative in Cuba. 90% of that trade was petroleum products and soybean oil. Cuba is mired in an economic morass and has been unable to resolve its situation.
The Russian Deputy Prime Minister was also in Cuba to strengthen the strategic ties between the countries; this is according to Prensa Latina. Chernyshenko came to meet with President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who is sucking up to Vladimir Putin.
Miguel Díaz-Canel points out that “the presence of the Kremlin’s economic adviser gives continuity to the high-level visits from Russia. He observes the Kremlin Putin has an enormous sensitivity towards Cuban problems.”
Recently the Russian foreign minister and the president of the State Duma traveled to Cuba. Earlier, the secretary of the Security Council and the CEO of the state oil company Rosneft traveled to Havana.
Díaz-Canel is turning to Russia for support. “Havana is aligned with Moscow in the international arena, including the Russian confrontation with the West.” He visited Russia in December 2022. He has condemned the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant issued for the head of the Kremlin.
HT | Foreign Desk News
