Putin to visit Russia's former Cold War ally Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba (Reuters) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin flies into Havana on Wednesday for a highly symbolic visit to Moscow's former Cold War ally, Cuba, where President Fidel Castro is defiantly maintaining communism on his island.

The former KGB agent's trip to the Caribbean nation just 90 miles (144 km) from the United States aims to revive political and economic ties with Havana that disintegrated along with the old Soviet Union more than a decade ago.

The visit -- the first to Cuba or anywhere else in Latin America by a Russian leader in the post-Soviet era -- is also being interpreted as part of Moscow's bid to rebuild a global role, particularly in the Third World.

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Russian officials have been eager, however, to counter any impression that Putin's visit, which comes 11 years after a similar trip to Cuba by ex-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, is a challenge to Washington, which has sanctions on the island.

Russian Ambassador Andrey Dimitriev said Moscow still regarded Havana as "one of its most important allies," particularly due to the approximately $1 billion annual volume of bilateral trade, mainly Cuban sugar for Russian oil.

The thorniest issue for Putin with Cuba is the massive debt Havana still owes Moscow. The total debt from the Soviet era is a source of dispute between the countries, but Russian media estimate it at more than $20 billion.

Havana and Moscow became allies soon after Castro's 1959 Cuban Revolution and, with the United States, were protagonists of the 1962 Missile Crisis that was arguably the closest the world came to nuclear war.

Cuba came to depend on Russia for its economic well-being, with Moscow guaranteeing a steady supply of subsidized supplies, and a market for Havana's sugar at preferential prices. The Soviet fall, however, plunged Cuba abruptly into an economic crisis from which it is still only recovering.

At the time of the domino-like collapse of Communist states in Eastern Europe, many predicted Castro would fall. But as the 74-year-old former rebel leader loves to remind the world, he is still in power 10 years later.

And Putin himself said in Moscow recently that the cooling in post-Soviet ties with Cuba had been a mistake. "I don't think this was done properly," he said.

Cuba is preparing a grand reception for the Russian leader, with Castro expected to meet him several times. Castro will be hoping that Putin will criticize the U.S. embargo on Cuba.

The ruling Communist Party's daily, Granma, said Putin's imminent visit was "a source of deep satisfaction."

Ahead of Putin, Emergency Minister Sergey Shoygu flew into Havana early on Tuesday to lead an advance party that includes several dozen Russian businessmen. Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev was due later in the day.

Concretely, Putin's visit may bring announcements of major new Russian investment in the Cuban nickel, nuclear power and oil sectors, where unfinished relics of cooperation from the Cold War era need an injection of cash to get them working.

Politically, post-communist Russia is keenly aware of its differences with Cuba, but considers the Castro government's activism on the world stage positive in the shared aim of counter-balancing U.S. hegemony.

"At a certain time, the Russians opted for another model -- representative democracy and market economy," Dimitriev said.

"(But) this is not an impediment for us to continue having solid political relations and wide economic cooperation. ... With the Cubans, we have many points of agreement in our vision of the world," the ambassador said in an interview at Moscow's vast but now barely-occupied Socialist-style embassy in Havana, itself a monument to Cuba- Russia ties in the Soviet era.

Putin's visit to Cuba may raise eyebrows in the United States, particularly following his rapprochement with others mistrusted by the West, like Libya, Iraq and North Korea.

From Havana, Putin flies at the weekend to Canada, passing over the United States without a stop scheduled.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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