Spain's premier to break ice in Cuba after three decades
Source: Reuters
Spain's premier to break ice in Cuba after three decades
Sabela Ojea, Sarah Marsh
4 MIN READ
MADRID/HAVANA (Reuters) - Spanish premier Pedro Sanchez will embark on the first official bilateral visit by a Spanish leader to Cuba in 32 years on Thursday, at a time when the Communist-run island is looking towards Europe as its ties with the United States fester.
Sanchez, who is traveling with two senior ministers and executives from two dozen companies, aims to deepen strong commercial relations and bring political ones up to par with them, according to his government.
It is first official visit to Cuba by a Spanish Prime Minister since 1986, when his fellow social democrat Felipe Gonzalez visited the Caribbean island, although Jose Maria Aznar also attended an Ibero-American summit there in 1999.
Many world leaders have already visited Cuba as it has in recent years sought to improve relations with the West, modernize its centrally planned economy and attract more foreign investment.
Sanchez will begin his roughly 24-hour visit with late afternoon talks in Havana with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who succeeded Raul Castro in April.
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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-spain/spains-premier-to-break-ice-in-cuba-after-three-decades-idUSKCN1NR0WD
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Spain PM visits Cuba, uses hotel banned to US visitors
Andrea Rodriguez, Associated Press
Updated 5:30 pm CST, Thursday, November 22, 2018
HAVANA (AP) — A Spanish prime minister began visiting Cuba for the first time in three decades on Thursday, a historic trip that suggests a warming of relations between Cuba and the former colonial power.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was scheduled to meet with Cuban officials and intellectuals during the two-day trip. He also was scheduled to host business meetings in a hotel that the Trump administration recently put on a list of places banned to U.S. visitors. He was not expected to meet with dissidents.
Spanish-Cuban relations have seen years of ups and downs, reaching their lowest points when Madrid conditioned its ties and cooperation on a more open political model.
Accompanying Sanchez was Josep Borrell, Spain's external affairs minister, and Reyes Maroto, minister of industry, trade and tourism, along with nearly two dozen businesspeople.
https://www.chron.com/news/world/article/Spain-PM-visits-Cuba-uses-hotel-banned-to-US-13415012.php
(Short article, no more at link.)
Sanchez (centre) and his wife Maria (right) walk with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel (second left) and others in Old Havana.PHOTO: AFP
