“For us, this visit, like the previous ones, to the Russian Federation always is a satisfaction and a learning moment,” the Cuban head of State said at the beginning of the meeting with Putin, at which they reviewed the state of bilateral relations in the diplomatic, political and economic spheres.
Díaz-Canel took advantage of the meeting to congratulate Putin for his recent re-election as president of Russia on behalf of the Cuban people and Government, after receiving overwhelming popular support.
The Cuban leader noted the privilege that it represents for him and the delegation accompanying him to be able to be alongside the Russian people in the celebrations for the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945).
“It is undoubtedly a very important date for the Russian people and for all humanity, being present here also means our commitment to the ideal that the USSR defended at the time.
“Something that has enormous validity in current times when it comes to decontextualizing the history of peoples in order to advance the hegemonic, imperial, and cultural decolonization policy implemented by the Government of the United States,” he emphasized.
On the other hand, Díaz-Canel underscored his participation, for the first time in person, in the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, a mechanism which he described as successful in its desire to achieve the integration of its member nations (Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan and Cuba as observers).
He told Putin how every day his country is the target of a “maximum pressure policy” by Washington, intensified globally by “media intoxication against the Cuban Revolution in the same way that is done to Russia.”
In that regard, Díaz-Canel noted the intensification of the US blockade against Cuba during the Donald Trump administration and sustained by President Joe Biden, causing a crisis in sensitive sectors of society, with the aim of dividing the people.
“We are not going to yield, nor are we going to give up, Cubans have a tradition of resistance with capacities for creation and innovation. We are not going to compromise, we are going to continue to defend our socialist socioeconomic development project,” the president emphasized.
He added that Moscow “will always have the support” of Havana, and condemned the White House’s geopolitical manipulation and NATO’s threat to get closer and closer to Russia’s borders in search of a far-reaching world confrontation.
The Cuban leader wished the Russian Federation every success in the way it is carrying out the special military operation in Ukraine. Díaz-Canel’s working visit to Russia will conclude on May 9. For three days, the Cuban president has had a very busy agenda. It is the fourth time that he visits Moscow, after 2018, 2019 and 2022, to review business, commercial and cultural agreements, among other topics.
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