President Of Cuba To Visit Algeria, Russia, Turkiye, China Seeking Loans, Financing, Investment, Debt Forgiveness. Already Owes Money To Many.

Bloomberg (New York) 16 November 2022: Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Wednesday embarked on a rare international tour of Algeria, Russia, Turkey and China seeking support for the communist island as its economy has been hard hit by the global pandemic and energy woes.  

AFP (France) 16 November 2022: Cuba gets oil from Algeria and Russia as well as Venezuela, its main supplier, while several of the island nation's power plants rely on Soviet or Russian technology.  China is Cuba's second-largest trading partner after Venezuela, and a key communist ally.  A Turkish company, meanwhile, is leasing Cuba seven floating electricity generators, the latest of which arrived at the port of Havana on Tuesday. 

Prensa Latina (Cuba) 16 November 2022: On Twitter, the president confirmed that he would visit Algeria, Türkiye, Russia, and China in response to official invitations from the leaders of those countries.  The head of State twitted that during the meetings, he would talk about essential issues for Cuba, mainly those related to the electro-energy sector.  Díaz-Canel noted that the program responds to Cuba’s political and economic priorities, as well as the efforts to alleviate the effects of a post-pandemic crisis that is affecting the whole world and is worsening for the country due to the United States blockade.  Díaz-Canel stressed that during these days, he and his delegation would work intensively to strengthen economic and political ties and continue to boost Cuba’s development.  The Cuban delegation also includes Deputy Prime Ministers Ricardo Cabrisas and Alejandro Gil, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, Ministers of Foreign Trade and Investment Rodrigo Malmierca, Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O, and Public Health Minister José Angel Portal Miranda.  It is Díaz-Canel’s first international presidential tour following the Covid-19 pandemic.