The figurehead president of the Cuban communist Castro regime, Miguel Díaz-Canel, arrived in Moscow on Tuesday for a two-day official visit that will include a meeting with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, who has been recently inaugurated for a new six-year term as president.
According to the Cuban Foreign Ministry, Díaz-Canel will “address bilateral agenda priorities” following Putin’s inauguration, meeting with other representatives of the Russian government before meeting with Putin on Thursday.
Díaz-Canel will also participate in Wednesday’s meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, representing Cuba in its capacity as an observer member of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). The envoy will also attend Russia’s annual “Victory Day” May 9 military parade, when Russia commemorates the defeat of Nazi Germany during World War II.
The Cuban figurehead president is accompanied by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, the head of the Cuban Communist Party’s international relations department Emilio Lozada García, and foreign commerce vice Minister Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga, among other members of the Castro regime.
The occasion marks Díaz-Canel’s fourth visit to Russia and the latest since a visit in November 2022. The official visit also occurs amidst the 64th anniversary of the establishment of relations between Cuba and the Soviet Union.
On Wednesday, Díaz-Canel met with former Russian President and current Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, who described Cuba as a “reliable partner” and as a “symbol of courage for many generations in the island’s struggle for freedom and independence.”
Medvedev, who asserted that both countries maintain an “intense political dialogue,” expressed Russia’s readiness to address Díaz-Canel’s economic relations and ties between the Communist Party of Cuba and Russia’s United Russia party. Medvedev also thanked Cuba for its “consistent stance” of support towards Russia in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Díaz-Canel said in a social media post that he and Medvedev “noted the progress and results of the relations between our parties and the work potential we still have” during their Wednesday meeting.
Prior to his meeting with Medvedev, Díaz-Canel laid a wreath before a monument to late murderous Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, located in the eponymous square in Moscow and inaugurated in 2022 during Díaz-Canel’s previous visit to Russia.
Prior to Díaz-Canel’s ongoing official visit in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Cuba as part of a broader Latin American tour.
During his stay in Havana, Lavrov met with Díaz-Canel and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla to discuss “topical issues of bilateral collaboration, global, and regional agenda,” while also discussing matters pertaining to the strengthening of the “strategic partnership” between both countries.
Cuba’s cash-starved communist regime has begun enticing Russian investors to build new hotels in Cuba and help boost the island-nation’s ailing tourist industry, another of the Castro regime’s sources of revenue.
Last year, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Chernishenko stated that Russia was hoping to overtake Canada and become the first source of tourists in Cuba, supporting Cuba’s hopes to have 500,000 Russian travelers per year. Cuban authorities claimed in January that some 184,800 Russian tourists visited Cuba in 2023.
Similarly, Cuba, which has recently dropped entry visa requirements for Chinese nationals, is hoping to increase the number of Chinese tourists. China’s state-run Global Times reported on Sunday that the Castro regime’s new visa-free policy for China has led to a 40-percent surge in web searches from Chinese citizens on the country’s travel platforms. Direct flights between Cuba and China are slated to resume on May 17.