Díaz-Canel stops in Moscow on way to China for victory feast

By Felipe Pagliery On Aug 31, 2015

Miguel Díaz-Canel, first vice president of the Councils of State and Ministers of Cuba, arrived in Russia over the weekend and made “a transit stop in Moscow,” the Prensa Latina news service reported.

Díaz-Canel is apparently on his way to China to represent Cuba at the Victory Day celebrations on Thursday (Sept. 3.)

Gennady A. Zyuganov, left, and Ivan Melnikov.

While in Moscow on Monday (Aug. 31), Díaz-Canel paid a courtesy call on Ivan Melnikov, first vice president of the Duma (lower house of Parliament) and Gennady Andreyevich Zyuganov, chairman of the Communist Party of Russia. Later in the day, he was to meet with Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Olegovich Rogozin.

This was Díaz-Canel’s first visit to Russia as a vice president of Cuba. It will be his second trip to China, which he visited in mid-June 2013. [Photo at top shows him meeting with President Xi Jinping on that occasion.]

Arriving Monday in Hanoi, Nicolás Maduro was greeted by President Truong Tan Sang and his wife, May Thi Hanh.

Prensa Latina quoted Melnikov as telling the Cuban visitor that Russia “is satisfied with the dynamics of its political dialogue [with Cuba]” and that “you, as a representative of the new generation, will make an important contribution to the strengthening of our strategic partnership.”

As an observer, Díaz-Canel will attend a massive military parade on Tiananmen Square in Beijing at which a 75-member Cuban contingent unit will help mark the end of World War Two. [For background in Progreso Weekly, click here.]

At Tiananmen Square, he will probably join President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela, who on Monday arrived in Hanoi, on his way to Beijing. Venezuela has sent a small military unit to take part in the parade.

Presidents Maduro and Raúl Castro represented their nations at the Victory-in-Europe celebration in Moscow on May 9. [Click here and here.]