Spain seeks closer ties with Cuba after 32 years away

[Blexfraptor]

Since the official visit in 1986 of Felipe González to Havana, a Spanish president of the Spanish government had not gone to Cuba. This Thursday, after 32 years of tense relations, the president of Spain, Pedro Sanchez, arrives on the island for an official visit of two days, marked by the desire to strengthen diplomatic and economic ties with the island and its current president, Miguel Diaz-Canel.

Expected in the afternoon in Havana, the socialist leader will pay tribute to José Martí, hero of Cuban independence in the Plaza de la Revolución, before meeting with President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who has been in power of one year. Your mission? "Normalize, stabilize and deepen relations between Spain and Cuba," according to a government source in Madrid.

Tense relationships
Last colony to become independent from the Spanish crown in 1898, both countries have had fluid diplomatic relations since 1902, but have shown their fangs especially with the last administrations of the Po[CENSORED]r Party (PP).

They were particularly tense following the adoption in 1996 of the European "Common Position" - which conditioned the dialogue with Havana on progress in the area of human rights - promoted by the then head of the Spanish government, José María Aznar.

Sanchez's visit "is the recognition of the failure of Spain, of its hostile policy" against Cuba, said on Wednesday Granma newspaper the general secretary of the Communist Party of Spain, Enrique Santiago, who traveled to Havana a few days before .

Madrid now wants to take advantage of the relaxed atmosphere generated by the political dialogue between the European Union (EU) and Cuba, which entered into force in November 2017.

The EU, which maintains an uncompromising policy with political liberties and human rights, seeks, however, to strengthen its ties with the island and fill the gap left by the United States after the setback that Donald Trump gave to the thaw initiated by his predecessor, Barack Obama, in 2015.

And Cuba also wants to approach Spain politically, the state newspaper Juventud Rebelde said on Wednesday.

Thirst for foreign investments
The trade will be the focus of attention during the visit. Spain is already the third largest trading partner of Cuba, after China and Venezuela, with an annual bilateral trade of approximately 1,300 million dollars, according to data from Cuba, and shares strong cultural and historical ties with its former colony.

Cuba is thirsty for foreign investment: its growth did not exceed 1.1 percent in the first half. The island suffers the debacle of Venezuela, its main partner and supplier of oil, and has just suspended its program of sending thousands of doctors to Brazil, which means a loss of income of 400 million dollars a year, according to a diplomatic source.

Spain also sees in Cuba a good economic opportunity when the island approves, in February, a new Constitution that recognizes the important role of foreign investment. Already 300 Spanish companies have medium and small businesses in Cuba, mainly in the air of tourism.

Deepen relations at a time when foreign policy towards Latin America is a high priority for the president

"Cuba is opening up and we are interested in our companies being well positioned to have access to the most important contracts," said a Spanish government official.

Several hundred Spanish companies already have a presence in Cuba, especially in the tourism sector, dominated by alliances between Spanish hotel chains and Cuban companies.

The main objective of the trip is to deepen relations "at a time when foreign policy towards Latin America is a high priority for the president."

The day of Friday will be mainly devoted to a bilateral forum with 200 Spanish businessmen, among them the telecommunications giant Telefónica and the airline Iberia.