People crowd along the Havana Bay to watch the Russian Navy warship Admiral Gorshkov on its way to dock in Cuba. Photo: X/@runews.
By Mi Cuba por Siempre – Jun 13, 2024
While the international media only report on the arrival of a Russian naval detachment in Cuba, relations between the Russian Federation and Cuba go much further and are getting stronger. Unlike the Biden administration, which is focused on maintaining the economic and financial persecution measures against Cuba, the Russian government is working together with the Cuban government to reach mutually beneficial agreements, which you will certainly not read about in the major mainstream outlets.
Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, Cuban minister of Foreign Affairs, visited Russia to attend a meeting of the BRICS+ forum and to hold official talks with his Russian counterpart. Simultaneouly, economic ties between Havana and Moscow are getting stronger.
At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Russian Deputy Energy Minister Evgueni Grabchak announced that Russia is preparing a plan to build renewable energy facilities in Cuba.
He stated that Russia and Cuba are working on the modernization of thermal power plants. He added, “As regards the construction of power plants and energy grids, above all with Cuba, with whom we maintain an intense collaboration… In relation to the energy projects that we are implementing, some are related to the construction of renewable energy facilities.”
Similarly at the Forum, the Russian Ministry of Agriculture announced that Russia “has all the necessary resources to expand supplies of agro-industrial products in Cuba.”
“Russia and Cuba are historically united by close relations,” the ministry said in an official statement. “Not only is political dialogue flourishing, economic-trade cooperation is also gaining momentum.” The ministry also noted that in 2023 the volume of Russian-Cuban trade in agro-industrial products increased twice compared to 2022.
On the other hand, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) announced the signing of a cooperation project with BioCubaFarma to invest $11.2 million in the development of innovative drugs for geriatric and oncological diseases.
On the subject, the general director of the fund, Kiril Dmitriev, stated, “The BioCubaFarma company has become the first partner of RDIF in Cuba… Investments in the biopharmaceutical industry will facilitate assistance to a greater number of patients and will significantly expand the capabilities of Russian medicine.” He added that the fund gives full priority to the health sector and the initial financing approved could increase tenfold, exceeding $100 million in the future.
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Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko proposed the prompt issuance of Mir cards in the territory of Cuba, which would allow Cuban tourists to pay for goods and services in Russia and transfer money by card number, thus establishing a direct monetary flow between the people of the two countries.
“The next stage in the development of retail payments could be the issuance of Mir cards in Cuba. Taking into account the great social importance of this project, we propose to initiate its practical development,” Chernyshenko said. This could be accomplished within a short time due to the recent approval of the establishment of a Russian bank branch in Havana.
Regarding the Mir, the Cuban state-owned Fincimex reported the execution of at least 67,000 transactions in Cuba since the establishment of the system in December 2023 until May this year, which means an incentive to tourism in Cuba from Russia.
Finally and most importantly, the director of the Latin American department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Alexander Shetinin, declared that “there are advances” in the negotiations on the de-dollarization of trade between Russia and the countries of Latin America.
According to the report by RT, there is a “process of negotiations between banking and business entities… searching for the most acceptable and comfortable forms of interaction to ensure trade and economic ties between our countries.”
The talks on the transition to alternative forms of financial transactions include the proposed use of national currencies or the use of the Mir system with direct payments. The latter seems to be the most promising option with tangible steps forward for Cuba.
Ending the use of the US dollar in commercial exchange is a strategic step for both Cuba and Russia due to the application of unilateral coercive measures of all kinds against the financial sector of both countries by the US.
Taking into account all of the above, we can affirm that, while the Western media tries to vilify Russia as a malevolent enemy that comes to invade your lands, unlike those who try to impose their interests with bombs, the Russian Federation is developing mutually beneficial relations of cooperation and complementation with Cuba, which go far beyond the simple arrival of warships to this Caribbean island.
