Venezuela's Maduro cozies up to Cuba

Venezuela's Maduro cozies up to Cuba
Kristin Deasy April 28, 2013 13:08

Maduro calls relations with Cuba "more a brotherhood than an alliance."

Venezuela's new president visited Cuba on Saturday and signed up for a
slew of joint projects, assuring a longtime ally of their continued
support, according to Reuters.

Cuba, a small communist nation saddled with a US embargo, needs oil-rich
Venezuela to shore up its own struggling economy. Therefore, the new
Venezuelan leader's visit was watched for signs of commitment, result
being: "Cuba/Venezuela Alliance Assured by Castro and Maduro," as The
Havana Times reassuringly put it.

Officially, Maduro is pretty new on the job, having been elected
president earlier this month in a vote contested by the opposition. But
his leadership is not expected to stray from the status quo -- the
86-year-old was Hugo Chavez's political protege, and his trip to Havana
is yet another sign of dedication to the nation's former leader given
the warmth between Chavez and Cuba's Fidel Castro.

This was Maduro's first trip to Cuba as president, although he
frequently visited the communist island nation during Chavez's
hospitalization, during which time he was already serving as the
nation's de facto leader. Chavez died in March.

Cuban leader Raul Castro wrapped up the 13th Cuba-Venezuela
Intergovernmental Meeting by calling Venezuela "Cuba's best friend, as
Comrade Fidel has said," reported The Havana Times.

Maduro spent five hours talking to "Comrade Fidel," according to
Reuters, emerging with this vow of friendship:

"We have come to Havana, Cuba, to say to the people of Venezuela, the
people of Cuba, all the people of Latin America ... are going to
continue working together, we came to ratify a strategic, historic
alliance that transcends time, that is more a brotherhood than an alliance."

The two nations signed arrangements for 51 projects, and Maduro promised
$2 million in funds for development projects, said Reuters.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/venezuela/130428/venezuelas-maduro-cozies-cuba