MOSCOW — Cuban President Raul Castro said today he is returning home “very happy” after talks with Russian leaders during a weeklong visit aimed at revitalizing ties between the two Cold War allies.
A Russian newspaper reported that Moscow had agreed to provide a total of $354 million in loans and credit for Cuba to buy Russian industrial and agricultural equipment.
Plummeting oil prices make it difficult for Moscow to bankroll its old partner on a Soviet-era scale, but Castro said at a meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin that he was going home satisfied.
“We are coming home very, very happy and we hope that you share these feelings,” he said.
The business daily Vedomosti quoted Sergei Shatalov, a deputy finance minister who signed a credit deal with Cuba on Friday, as saying that Russia will provide Cuba with $150 million as a government credit, a separate government loan for $20 million and another $100 million to allow it to lease Russian equipment.
On top of that, Cuba will get $47 million to obtain a Russian Tu-204 passenger jet and $37 million in food aid, Shatalov said.
Vedomosti said that the $20 million loan was intended to finance repairs and spare parts for Cuba’s Soviet-made weapons. Shatalov could not immediately be reached for comment today.
The loan package represents a significant aid boost to the country whose economy has struggled since generous Soviet aid stopped in the 1990s. Vedomosti said a previous Russian loan to Cuba provided in 2006 amounted to $335 million.
Castro’s trip underlined Russia’s interest in re-establishing strong ties with the country that once was an outpost of Soviet influence in the United States’ backyard. President Dmitry Medvedev visited Cuba in the fall, a trip that coincided with Russia sending a naval squadron to the Caribbean.
Putin said today that political ties between Russia and Cuba are intensifying and voiced hope that economic ties will follow suit.
Castro said: “Our talks were held in a very positive atmosphere. I hope that we will work together with the same intensity to implement the agreements that were reached.”
The Soviet Union poured billions of dollars in supplies and subsidies to its staunchest Latin American ally during the Cold War, but ties languished after the 1991 Soviet collapse.
Emboldened by oil wealth, Russia again has sought to boost its influence in the Western Hemisphere, but slumping oil prices have drained the Kremlin’s coffers and limited its ability to project power worldwide.
U.S. President Barack Obama has indicated he wants to take limited steps toward liberalizing Washington’s attitude toward Cuba, including easing limits on money sent to Cubans by relatives in the United States. Those remissions are a lifeline for many impoverished Cubans.
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