Russia and Cuba intensify relationship, but observers say it should not raise spectre of Cold War fears

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Cuban officials concluded a trip to Russia this week, further highlighting its newly revived relationship fuelled by the Caribbean country’s faltering economy and Moscow’s desire for renewed political support as it faces isolation because of its invasion of Ukraine.

Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero and Foreign Affairs vice-minister Gerardo Penalver spent 11 days in Russia. During the trip, the Prime Minister met his Russian counterpart, Mikhail Mishustin, and President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

The latest meetings follow a series of trade agreements in May. The countries agreed to bolster Cuba’s sugar and rum exports, and Russia promised to sell wheat, supply oil and support tourism initiatives.

Cuba has been under an expansive U.S. trade embargo for decades. The restrictions have had dire consequences on the country, including shortages of food, medicine and fuel.

Moscow is seeking to shore up alliances after more than a year of war that has left it with few friends in the world.

Mark Entwistle, a former Canadian ambassador to Cuba, who also served as a diplomat in Moscow, said there is no question that there has been an intensification of the relationship between Cuba and Russia, marked by a number of high-level visits.

However, he said the driving consideration for Cubans in this renewed relationship with Russia is very much commercial and related to economic development and that it should not be perceived as a threat by the West.

Cubans living in the United States, he said, may argue that this is a sort of return to the Cold War and recall imagery of the Cuban missile crisis, but that is not the case. “The Cubans are ultimate survivalists. They will do what they need to do to sustain the Cuban economy.”

And the relationship benefits Russia, Mr. Entwistle said, because it has been working to establish and re-establish a whole set of global relationships, partly in response to sanctions levied against the country because of its war in Ukraine. “I think it’s driven principally by commercial needs on the Cuban part and on the Russian side by having just more countries in the tent.”

He said Russia perceives Cuba as a country that, despite its small size, has moral authority in some countries, particularly in Africa and Latin America.

“And you may have a little bit of psychological gamesmanship on the part of the Russians too because they know that this will be perceived in the United States as them getting too close for comfort.”

But here lies a strategic opportunity for Canada, he said, saying it should work to improve its relationship with Cuba. “This is exactly the time when Cuba needs to hear and understand from countries where it has long-standing relationships like Canada that we’re also a viable option to participate in their economic development.”

Orlando Gutiérrez Boronat, the co-ordinator of the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance, was in Ottawa last week, meeting with members of Parliament. He left Cuba when he was five years old and lives in Miami.

Dr. Gutiérrez Boronat said the purpose of his visit was to inform MPs about the deteriorating human-rights situation in Cuba, and to discuss Cuba’s announcement to send troops to Belarus for training, and the involvement of Cubans in Russia’s war. He said he met with Conservative MPs and is open to meeting MPs from any party.

His view is that the new trade agreements between Russia and Cuba are “very dangerous.”

“I think that all this proximity between Russia and the regime is due to the fact that the regime feels challenged internally and it’s always been a diehard Russia ally.”

Vladislav Inozemtsev, special adviser to the Russian Media Studies Project at the Middle East Media Research Institute, said he would caution against overestimating the recent flurry of activity between the two countries.

He said Russia is active in putting its footprint on different regions and countries to show it has allies, and that it has economic partners that can be used instead of those lost due to the war. “It is producing just a political footprint,” he said.

And because Russia has become so isolated, it can use any international support it can get, said John Kirk, a professor emeritus of Latin American studies at Dalhousie University.

“Cuba is a tiny country but it punches way above its weight internationally,” he said.

And now Russia can irritate Washington, he said, by showing that just 90 miles away, it has a partner in Cuba and in return, Cuba can acquire material support from Russia.

“This is a mutually beneficial arrangement given Washington’s hostility to both,” he said. “Cuba would be crazy not to accept Russian support when it’s getting nothing except criticism and problems coming from 90 miles away.”

He said that while Cuba gains from the investment – Russia has also been given the opportunity to use Cuban land for 30-year terms.

Miriam Leiva, an independent journalist in Havana, said Cubans are suspicious of the renewed ties with Russia.

“The Russians are saying that they will change the economy, that they will be here investing in different areas. And we’re seeing the government is so desperate that they’re selling our country.”

She said the Cuban government has always maintained that it would not allow foreigners to use its land and “all of a sudden they say that the Russians can have the Cuban land.”

With a report from Reuters