MORE INFORMATION “Spain must not lose Cuba for the second time” Candies, witchcraft and geopolitics in the Cuba of Fidel

The president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has praised this Friday in Havana, the “reformist impulse” of the new representative cuban Miguel Díaz-Canel, who last April took over from Raúl Castro at the forefront of the country. Sanchez alluded to the will of the cuban leader to consolidate the opening up of the economy in the new Constitution, and his “sincere desire” to strengthen ties with Spain, but without that glimpse glimpse any of democratisation.

The new cuban leader has focused on the host Sánchez, chief executive, european that visit the island following its arrival to power. Thursday night offered him a lunch in the Palace of the Revolution, and this morning has attended the enterprise forum hispanic-cuban, despite the fact that it has been his vicepesidente and Economy minister, Ricardo Cabrisas, who has taken the floor on behalf of the hosts.

The surprise, however, has come when Díaz-Canel and his wife, Lis Costs, have accompanied the marriage formed by Sánchez and Begoña Gómez in a walk of half an hour to walk around Old Havana, guided by the explanations of Eusebio Leal, responsible for the rehabilitation of the historic center of the city. To the contrary of what happened in 1999, when Fidel Castro closed the streets to prevent the cubans could get close to the king Juan Carlos and Jose Maria Aznar as they walked through Havana, this time the two couples, surrounded by a tight cordon of security, have been able to correspond with hundreds of cubans and tourists who crowded to greet them, although the unexpected presence in the street of the representative cuban grabbed more interest than that of their guests are spaniards.

The Vegabet visit of Sanchez to Cuba, harshly criticized by the PP and Citizens, has been applauded by entrepreneurs. For the first time since coming to La Moncloa, Sanchez has traveled accompanied by a business delegation of which he was part, among others, the new president of the employers ‘ association CEOE Antonio Garamendi, who in his first public intervention has promised to act with “institutional loyalty, independence, and sense of State”.

Among those attending the breakfast with Sanchez and the subsequent business forum were two prominent exmiembros of the governments of Rajoy: the former secretary of State for Trade, Jaime García Legaz, in his condition of president of the Spanish part of the Committee Hispano-Cuban, and the former minister of Industry, José Manuel Soria, on behalf of a company on the canary export of vehicles for rental.

Sanchez has echoed the complaints of the more than 250 businessmen, the Spanish settled on the island, that carry us unpaid by almost 300 million euros from the cuban authorities, and has moved the commitment of the Diaz-Canel “to streamline and to give prompt response” to their claims, despite recognizing the difficulties facing the cuban economy due to the lack of foreign exchange.

Spain is the third largest provider on the island, after Venezuela and China, with some 900 million euros in exports and a stock accumulated from 1,050 million euros in investments. However, the bureaucratic hurdles and the lack of a convertible currency continue to hamper the business prospects.

on The sidelines of tourism (Spanish operators handle 70% of the beds of luxury hotels), Sanchez has stressed that the Spanish companies are prepared to “be present in a major project” and has alluded to sectors such as renewable energies,management aeroportuarua or railroad, where the Spanish companies are world leaders. He also regretted that the “neglect” of the previous PP government has allowed other countries “have taken advantage” in some sectors of the cuban economy and have benefited from the “absence” of Spain. A hint of barely veiled to France, which was made with the expansion and management of the airport of Havana.