Cuba’s Leader Heads to Russia and China as Its Economy Faces Energy Woes

Jim Wyss
·1 min read
2

(Bloomberg) -- 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.

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“After two years under the effects of Covid-19 we’re crossing the Atlantic again on an intense tour where we will be discussing issues that are essential to our nation, primarily related to the electric and energy sectors,” Diaz-Canel wrote on Twitter.

The Caribbean island has been facing rolling blackouts for months as aging power plants have failed and fuel costs have soared amid higher international energy prices. Diaz-Canel said the problems were being exacerbated by the six-decade old US economic embargo.

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Cuba imports fuel from Russia and Algeria, and China is Cuba’s top trading partner, along with Venezuela. Cuba’s Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy and Foreign Trade Minister Rodrigo Malmierca are part of the delegation that will be traveling through Nov. 27.

“We’re working intensely to strengthen economic and political ties,” Diaz-Canel wrote, “which will allow us to keep promoting development in Cuba.”

(Updates with Diaz-Canel comments in last paragraph. A previous version of this story corrected the name of the foreign trade minister in the fourth paragraph.)

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