Cuba’s Globetrotting President
President Miguel Diaz-Canel experienced an uncomfortable moment in the Jiguani municipality, in Granma, on June 16, 2023, when making a tour of neighborhoods hit by heavy floods.
In early June, strong winds made the rivers of the Cauto basin, and the rivers that cross through Camaguey city, overflow, leading to six fatalities and significant material losses. Despite the magnitude of damages, the Cuban leader didn’t travel to the provinces hit until a week later.
He was only present in Granma and Camagüey for a couple of hours, in visits organized to emphasize Diaz-Canel’s “closeness” to the Cuban people.
The “script” was followed without any problems until a woman rebuked him in Jiguani, for neglecting a “veteran of the Revolution.” According to her complaint, the old man was sleeping “in a hammock in a house that was falling to pieces.”
The woman’s complaint unsettled the Cuban president, who tried to explain himself by alleging the Government doesn’t have the resources needed to help the hundreds of old veterans and the 300,000 Cubans who are also living in vulnerable situations. At the end, he accepted a piece of paper with the victim’s information and promised to look into his case.
Diaz-Canel hasn’t returned to Granma ever since. In the past two months, the Cuban leader’s agenda has been marked by six events (national and international), half of which have been tours abroad.
Three days after his visit to Jiguani, Diaz-Canel took a flight to Italy for an official visit which also took him to the Vatican, Serbia and France.
The tour sparked controversy because of the presence of the President’s son-in-law. During the audience with Pope Francis, Diaz-Canel introduced him as: “a Law graduate, he’s working with me and is the black sheep of the family,” because of his alleged critical nature. The following night, Diaz-Canel and his wife Lis Cuesta were back in the public spotlight after a video was posted on X (formerly Twitter), in which they were seen leaving a high-end restaurant in Rome.
In political terms, the most important moment of this trip came in France, during the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact, hosted by President Emmanuel Macron. Diaz-Canel attended this meeting as both a representative of Cuba and the Group of 77 and China, which is probably why he was seated alongside his French counterpart, who lavished him with attention and smiles.
Diaz-Canel returned to Cuba on June 24th. When he arrived in Havana, he called the visit “interesting and fruitful,” without going into details about the agreements he’d signed.
Less than a month later, on July 14th, Diaz-Canel and his wife left for Europe again, for a five-day trip. The tour involved official visits to Portugal and Belgium, the latter to attend the EU-CELAC Summit, which had been announced as an opportunity to “strengthen ties” with European community leaders.
This happened with the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, and European Council President, Charles Michel, who listened to Diaz-Canel’s speech about the importance of bilateral relations. Diaz-Canel also met with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.
In November 2023, the Cuban Government will be subjected to the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review, a mechanism that assesses the human rights situation in Member States, every five years. Conversations about human rights between Havana and the European Union are also scheduled for that month.
The EU is crucial for investments and Cuba’s market for exports and tourism services. However, this economic relationship depends upon the political agreement between both parties and these bilateral conversations.
Then came Diaz-Canel’s participation in the BRICS Summit (the economic, political and social group formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). Cuba’s first invitation to this meeting, as a G-77 spokesperson, is framed within Diaz-Canel’s third international tour in the past two months.
A significant number of top Cuban government leaders toured South Africa (where the Summit was held), Angola, Mozambique and Namibia, between August 19-28. “First Lady” Lis Cuesta was along for the tour, of course.
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