Russian Foreign Minister Rants About American ‘Blackmail’ on Cuba Visit

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov takes part in the presentation of a collection of a
SHAMIL ZHUMATOV / POOL / AFP
Christian K. Caruzo

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in Havana on Monday, kicking off a tour of Latin America by condemning the United States for its “blackmail, ultimatums, threats” against Russia and Cuba.

The Russian top diplomat is expected to be in Latin America for four days, traveling to Venezuela on Tuesday and Brazil later this week. During his one-day stay in Havana, Lavrov met with the communist Castro regime’s figurehead President Miguel Díaz-Canel and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla.

“Cuba is our traditional partner, our most important ally in Latin America and the Caribbean,” Lavrov said during his meeting with Rodríguez Parrilla. “We are satisfied with the very constructive and intensive character of the Russian-Cuban political dialogue at all levels.”

Lavrov asserted that Cuba has experienced “illegal pressure” from the United States and its allied nations and called for an end to the “embargo” imposed on the rogue communist regime that has ruled Cuba for over six decades.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (R) and Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodriguez, walk during a meeting in Havana on April 20, 2023. (RAMON ESPINOSA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

“The realities of a multi-polar world are provoking an aggressive reaction from the United States and other countries of the world minority which, by all means, want to preserve their domination, hegemony, and diktat,” Lavrov said. “The means used by representatives of the United States and other Western countries for this purpose do not include diplomacy, but blackmail, ultimatums, threats, the use of brute military force and sanctions.”

Lavrov also demanded that the United States remove Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism after it was included in January 2021 during the administration of former President Donald Trump. The Castro regime appears on the list as a result of its extensive ties to terrorist organizations around the world such as the Iran-backed Hezbollah and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) Marxist guerrilla.

“The absurdity of this situation is obvious to everyone except, perhaps, those who run the show in Washington,” Lavrov said.

Lavrov continued his criticizing the European Union, claiming that It has been a long time since Moscow “stopped being surprised” at the European Union. Lavrov claimed the EU does not care about the good of its member countries but, rather, “keeping up with the U.S” in what he described as a “Russophobic campaign.”

“Let history put things in perspective, and let the people of the countries that make up the European Union draw their own conclusions about who they brought to power,” Lavrov said.

The Russian diplomat and his Cuban counterpart also discussed the supply of Russian oil and petroleum products, food, and fertilizers shipped to Cuba in an effort to aid the ailing nation amid its slow-motion economic collapse, the product of six decades of communist mismanagement.

Cuba also expressed its interest in joining the China-led BRICS trade and security bloc. Lavrov stated that Moscow expects that the bloc’s other members will welcome Cuba’s application to join.

“We have noted the continued and even growing interest of Cuban friends in interaction with the BRICS,” Lavrov said. “Russia, as this year’s presiding country of the association, will support this spirit.”

Lavrov added that he is “sure that other members will also take a positive view” of Cuba’s request to cooperate with BRICS.

The Russian top diplomat said that both countries agreed to promote relations between Russia and various regional groups, including the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC); the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America, a socialist-led group founded by the Cuban and Venezuelan regimes; and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (C) and Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodriguez (L), walk during a meeting in Havana on April 20, 2023. (RAMON ESPINOSA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

During his visit, reporters asked Lavrov about Israel’s decision to declare Brazil’s far-left President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva persona non grata after Lula compared Israel’s ongoing self-defense operations against Hamas to Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.

Lavrov responded by stating that Russia “has not reacted” to Lula’s condemnation of Israel “but sees the suffering of the people in the Gaza Strip.”

“We respect the opinions that the leader of any country expresses and assume that everyone has the right to his reaction,” Lavrov told reporters. “We did not react to this speech by President Lula, but we see how, regardless of whether someone compares this situation to something else or not, we see how thousands of innocent people are suffering.”

Lavrov will continue his Latin American tour with a scheduled visit to Caracas on Tuesday, where he is expected to meet with socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro and other members of his authoritarian regime before traveling to Brazil to participate in a meeting of foreign ministers of the G20 group.

Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.

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