Russia to reinstate Cuba ties
Move stirs Cold War ghosts amid shared rejection of US policy
HAVAN: Russia is stirring the ghosts of Cuba’s Cold War past as it looks to re-establish its influence in the Communist-run island nation, although this time analysts say Moscow has no intention of bankrolling Havana.
Whereas once the Soviet Union and Cuba were linked by an ideological bond, now pragmatism and a shared rejection of US foreign policy is drawing them together again.
At Havana’s colourful May Day parade on Wednesday, Raul Castro, the first secretary of Cuba’s Communist Party, received the highest distinction from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation: the Order of Lenin.
The former Cuba president said the prize – first presented in 1930 by the Soviet Union – pointed to the “historic relations” between the two countries that “have endured different scenarios and today are being reinforced and renewed.”
This rapprochement is not new but has been consolidated by shared opposition to sanctions imposed on Cuba by Washington, which accuses the Caribbean nation of providing military support to Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro, another Moscow ally.
“The effect of this policy is that it isolates the United States on Cuba and we’re opening the door for greater Chinese and Russian presence on the island,” said Ric Herrero, executive director of the Cuba Study Group, which connects CubanAmericans advocating economic and political freedom on the island.
Relations between Havana and Washington had thawed under former president Barack Obama, but have chilled since Donald Trump’s administration took over.
The Soviet era may have been confined to history, but it hasn’t been forgotten.
“In Cuba, we’ve always had fond memories of Russia,” said 82-yearold Luis Corredera Rodriguez as he played dominos with friends on a Havana sidewalk. “They supported us in everything.”
“They’re friends for life,” added Julio Garcia, 59, although he noted that “the Russians have changed.”
In effect, he said, the Cubans have become more Russian than the Russians themselves.
“They’re no longer Soviet, they’re capitalist like everyone.”
Behind the dominos table – Cuba’s national pastime – a parked Russian Lada is passed by a revving classic 1950s American car.
“It’s almost like a lovers triangle between the US, Cuba and Russia: it’s an old relationship, there’s a lot of emotion here,” said Scott B. MacDonald, senior associate of the Americas program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
He said the last two years have seen Cuba slide into “a new Cold War,” although with a different dynamic this time. — AFP