Xi Jinping is “very concerned” about the situation and “is paying a lot of attention” to the Island, according to the State newspaper Granma
14ymedio, Havana, 16 November 2024 — China continues to support the Cuban regime and is aware of the country’s precarious situation after the passage of two hurricanes. According to the official press, a new aid package will arrive from Beijing. The order comes from Xi Jinping himself, who is “very concerned” about the panorama and “is paying a lot of attention” to what is happening on the Island.
Liu Jufeng, vice president of China’s National Agency for International Cooperation for Development, traveled to Havana expressly to offer Xi’s “greeting” to Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and to give the news of his economic support. However, neither the Chinese nor the Cuban side has said a word about the “round of measures” to benefit the country or the amount of the “emergency aid.”
“President Xi Jinping has a very complex internal and external agenda, but he closely follows Sino-Cuban cooperation. At the recent BRICS summit in Kazan, he talked to Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla,” Liu told Díaz-Canel. The president was grateful that Beijing gave the regime “very concrete solutions with relatively short deadlines,” especially in the food and energy area.
With each Chinese government delegation, says the State newspaper Granma, comes a legion of experts to evaluate the country’s situation
With each Chinese government delegation, says the State newspaper Granma, comes a legion of experts to evaluate the country’s situation in several key sectors. The experts then return to China and document the “needs” of the Island, so that the Xi Government can invest in “cooperation.”
In addition to Díaz-Canel, Lou met with Deputy Prime Minister Ricardo Cabrisas, who is the lead representative in economic relations with Russia, China and the Arab countries; the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy; the Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga; and Foreign Ministry staff.
Last month, an article in Financial Times reported that economic relations between Cuba and China are apparently stagnant, but the policies between are steadfast. The aid that Beijing announced this Friday is part of the dynamic between the two countries, characterized by the delivery of “emergency” money and subsequent debts.
Currently, the British media reported, Cuba owes hundreds of millions of dollars to Chinese companies such as Huawei and Yutong.
Cuba owes Chinese companies like Huawei and Yutong hundreds of millions of dollars
A sign of Beijing’s distrust in its Caribbean ally is the cancellation, according to the Financial Times, of an import contract of 400,000 tons of sugar per year from the Island. The reason: the regime is unable to implement a reform of its market that allows it to live up to the production that China requires.
The media quoted a former professor of Economics at the University of Havana, who said that China’s investments in Cuba are almost non-existent and that “it’s more about large-scale trade and commercial credits.”
Debts are another characteristic aspect of the relationship. According to an investigation by Martí Noticias, in 2010 Beijing restructured Cuba’s debt – millions of dollars – and gave more credits to the Island because it had confidence in Raúl Castro’s “reforms”. In 2014, China granted interest-free loans to build a port in Santiago de Cuba and postponed the debt again.
That year, Xi Jinping visited Cuba and met not only Raúl Castro but also his brother Fidel, who would die two years later. In 2016, China activated a protocol to forgive Cuban debt. By that time, Beijing had made it a practice not to say how much Havana owed.
In 2019, Cuba became included in China’s plan to achieve international economic expansion. In 2022, Xi gave Díaz-Canel 100 million dollars in credits during the president’s trip to Beijing. The Chinese president then asked to help Cuba “regardless of the debt.” Last year another 100 million dollars were donated to the Island, and this year China has continued its “cooperation” agenda.
China and Russia have come to the rescue of Cuba after the passage of hurricanes Oscar and Rafael
China and Russia have come to the rescue of Cuba after the passage of hurricanes Oscar and Rafael. In addition to financial aid, both countries have sent senior officials to personally verify the situation.
In recent weeks, not only the Minister for Civil Protection, Emergencies and Elimination of Natural Disasters, Alexander Kurenkov, passed through Havana, but also an old acquaintance of the regime, the Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Dimitri Chernyshenko, who participated in a meeting in Havana of the Cuba-Russia Intergovernmental Commission for Trade Cooperation.
The message of both officials was the same: “By instructions of our President Vladimir Putin, Russia is willing to provide emergency aid to sister Cuba.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
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