Venezuelan
President Nicolas Maduro arrived in Havana on Friday to meet with
Cuba’s new president and ratify his struggling nation’s ties with one of
its few remaining allies.
He acted quickly — just a day after
decades of Castro rule ended and long time party loyalist Miguel
Diaz-Canel assumed power as president.
Cuba for years has been
heavily dependent on cut-rate Venezuelan oil in exchange for assistance
in the form of Cuban doctors working in the oil-rich but economically
troubled South American country.
Before leaving Caracas, Maduro said
he would be making “a working visit, one of brotherhood, to give an
embrace of solidarity and support” to Diaz-Canel.
“I come with lots
of energy to keep working together,” Maduro said in arrival remarks
after he was received by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, local news
reports said.
Maduro is seeking re-election on May 20 among voters grappling with hyper-inflation and shortages of food and medicine.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canel (right) shakes hands with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro at the Revolution Palace in Havana on Friday.