Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel traveled to Russia this week under the auspices of an official state visit, where he will attend the unveiling of a statue of Fidel Castro at the Sokol metro station in northwestern Moscow.
Despite Cuba’s decision earlier this year to abstain from U.N. votes condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Ukrainian territory, Cuba and Russia remain close geopolitical, economic and military allies, united by a shared anti-American vision.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has lavished hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil on the island nation, and Cuba in return has installed Russian intelligence at the infamous Lourdes SIGINT (signals intelligence) station near Havana, where it actively monitors U.S. communications.
WHAT IS PUTIN THINKING? WHERE THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR STANDS NINE MONTHS AFTER INVASION