14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Generation Y, Havana, 29 February 2024 — Lavrov, Patrushev and Titov. We Cubans get lost among so many surnames of high-ranking Russian officials who arrive in Cuba. The procession, which has grown in number and frequency in recent months, coincides with official announcements of economic measures. It is very difficult to remove the Kremlin from the national equation when Vladimir Putin’s envoys arrive on the island and, shortly after, tariff adjustments are published in the Official Gazette or new prices are made effective at gas stations and electricity bills.
This Thursday, the head of the Russia-Cuba Business Council, Boris Titov, arrives in Havana, and will stay on the Island until March 7. A long visit that, in advance, has all the traces of a review, of a meticulous inspection to verify where the vague promises that Cuban officials must have made to the ears of the Russians, to extract investments and support, have played out. A dance of seduction that has worked with others but is now being performed before “clients” who know very well the false tricks of Castroism.
It does not seem a coincidence that after the postponement of the start of the paquetazo*, which raised the prices of fuel and electricity, we had the visit of the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, and, later, the secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev. Both in the second half of February, the month initially chosen to begin measures that will make life on the Island more expensive and generate great social unrest. After his departure, the application of the new prices to take effect on March 1 has finally been announced.
It seems that Miguel Díaz-Canel has been showered with scoldings from Mosc
