D An airplane with a Russian delegation headed by Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin lands in Havana.
Photo: Edward CHESNOKOV
Havana meets with unusual silence and empty streets. In addition to half a century of American sanctions, a new misfortune fell on the Island of Freedom – the gasoline crisis, getting a car with a full tank is a problem.
Previously, the republic received fuel from fraternal socialist Venezuela, but recently, saving the United States from gasoline hunger, the Biden administration has been working hard with Caracas. And even about the “alternative president of Venezuela”, the liberal oppositionist Juan Guaido, recognized by the White House, everyone somehow immediately forgot.
Well, the supply on the market is limited, and, willy-nilly, Caracas redistributes supplies to the States, because the Americans are ready to pay. And Cuba would also be happy to buy black gold – but nothing. Tourism, one of the main sectors of national income, collapsed due to the pandemic and has not yet recovered.
But friends are known in trouble. On April 29, 2023, a plane with a Russian delegation headed by Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin lands in Havana. In addition to the deputies, on board are members of the Federation Council and officials from the Government of the Russian Federation.
And there is no doubt: among the issues of bilateral working groups behind closed doors, economic support will also be discussed. Moreover, unlike in the past, the partnership will not be one-sided – even now Cuba receives up to 10,000 Russian tourists a month, and this number promises to grow. Moreover, other places of rest, like unfriendly Europe, are now closed for obvious reasons.
The deputies spend only a couple of hours in Havana in the 30-degree heat (although some ordinary people naively consider such trips to be “easy rest”) – and immediately on the government board, returning to Moscow. In total, for two days – round trip – they will spend almost 40 hours on the plane. (The usual direct routes across Europe and the North Atlantic are difficult, you have to fly around – ed.) And neither sleep nor rest properly. Try it yourself.
This is how it is – invisible from the outside, but important work to strengthen our ties with geopolitical allies through parliamentary diplomacy.
READ ALSO
Vyacheslav Volodin: “There is no split in Russian society, there is consolidation”
State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin answered questions from Komsomolskaya Pravda journalists on KP radio (more)
