Venezuelan leader pays visit to new Cuban president

VenezuelanPresident Nicolas Maduro arrived in Havana on Friday to meet withCuba’s new president and ratify his struggling nation’s ties with one ofits few remaining allies.He acted quickly — just a day afterdecades of Castro rule ended and long time party loyalist MiguelDiaz-Canel assumed power as president.Cuba for years has beenheavily dependent on cut-rate Venezuelan oil in exchange for assistancein the form of Cuban doctors working in the oil-rich but economicallytroubled South American country.Before leaving Caracas, Maduro saidhe would be making “a working visit, one of brotherhood, to give anembrace of solidarity and support” to Diaz-Canel.“I come with lotsof energy to keep working together,” Maduro said in arrival remarksafter he was received by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, local newsreports said.Maduro is seeking re-election on May 20 among voters grappling with hyper-inflation and shortages of food and medicine.