Russia's ambassador to Cuba, Mikhail Kamynin, said that "Cuba holds a key role" in Russia's foreign policy because Cuba "has much authority and a lot of influence in the region." The diplomat noted that cooperation with Cuba is not simply bilateral, but more of a starting point for Russian interests in Latin America and the Caribbean.
According to Kamynin, Russia and Cuba have always had good relations and this year was particularly notable for the sharp increase of bilateral activity in practically all spheres.
"One of the key moments that characterized our relations on a new level was, undoubtedly, the official visit to Havana by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the end of November," the ambassador said. The visit was the first by a Russian leader since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Kamynin expressed his confidence that 2009 would prove to be "just as dynamic in character" as 2008 was.
"In January, there is already an intergovernmental session planned in Moscow and preparations for a Russian Federation Council delegation to visit Havana, headed by the chair of the Audit Chamber, Sergei Stepashin," the ambassador said. "There will also be an official visit by Cuban President Raul Castro to Moscow in early 2009."
The Russian diplomat said that during 2008 there was an increase in joint cooperation between the two countries in energy, transportation, tourism, pharmaceuticals, mining and construction, among other spheres.
Preliminary information shows that the turnover of goods between Russia and Cuba in 2008 will be close to $400 million, according to the ambassador. "There was also an increase in Russian tourists coming to Cuba. This year, there were approximately 40,000 Russian tourists," he said.
The recent port call of the Russian Northern Fleet's Admiral Chabenko to Havana in mid-December should not be looked at as simply cooperation between the countries' armed forces, Kamynin noted.
"This was a huge political event that supplemented other important events within the framework of bilateral relations [in 2008] and demonstrated that Russia has returned to Cuba with all seriousness and for a long time to come," he said. Castro told the ambassador that such visits should become regular occurrences.
However, the lack of attention since the fall of the Soviet Union has harmed personal contacts between the countries. The ambassador said that unfortunately Russian is spoken less in Cuba than before, noting that "more than 100,000 Cubans received their education in the USSR back in the 1960s-1980s."
"Back then, Russian was taught as a foreign language in all of the Cuban schools," he said.
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