Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel began his fourth visit to Mexico on Saturday in a reaffirmation of the close ties between the two countries that have been consolidated during the six-year term of Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Díaz-Canel arrived in the state of Campeche, in the Gulf of Mexico, where he was received by López Obrador.
Both presidents plan to visit the Naval Region number 7 of Campeche where they will meet with personnel from the Mexican Institute of Social Security.
During the visit, Díaz-Canel will receive the Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle, which is the highest distinction awarded to foreigners, in recognition of the support that Cuba provided to Mexico during the coronavirus pandemic by sending hundreds of doctors and nurses. for the reception on the island of hundreds of medical students, and for the sale of vaccines and medicines, according to the presidential agreement that was published the day before in the Official Gazette of the Federation.
López Obrador announced on Friday that during Díaz-Canel’s visit the possible expansion of the shipment of Cuban doctors to Mexico will be analyzed to reinforce the contingent of some 610 that began to arrive last year, and the possibility of acquiring Cuban ballast for construction of the routes of the Tren Maya tourist railway in the Yucatan peninsula, one of the emblematic works of his government.
In the last five years, Díaz-Canel has visited Mexico four times. The first visit was made in December 2018 to participate in the inauguration of López Obrador, with whom she met 10 months later in the Mexican capital to discuss cooperation plans in the areas of health, education and sports.
In September 2021, the Cuban ruler returned to Mexico to speak as a guest of honor in the celebration of Independence Day and later in the Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.
Mexico and Cuba have maintained a historic relationship, which has spanned more than a century. During the 1960s, Mexico was the only Latin American country that did not break relations with the government of Fidel Castro and maintained trade with the Caribbean island.
López Obrador has maintained close cooperation and unrestricted support for Cuba in condemning the United States trade embargo.
In 2021, after protests in which thousands of Cubans took to the streets to protest the shortage of basic goods and power outages, the Mexican government sent medicines, food and fuel to the island in what represented the greatest support in humanitarian aid in decades, only comparable to that offered in the time of Carlos Salinas de Gortari (1988-1994) when Cuba was experiencing the crisis caused by the collapse of the Soviet bloc.
Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channel Youtube and activate notifications, or follow us on social networks: Facebook, Twitter and instagram!
