"The relationship between Cuba and Belarus is of long standing. Beyond the establishment of bilateral ties in April 1992, they are deep, historical ties, which have to do with friendship and the feeling of respect and affection forged between our peoples for many decades."
Alejandro Simancas Marin, Deputy Director of the General Directorate of Bilateral Affairs of MINREX, agreed to talk to the press group of the Presidency about the significance of the visit of the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, to Minsk.
The Head of State will carry out an intense work agenda, during which he will pay an official visit to the Republic of Belarus and participate in the Supreme Council of the Eurasian Economic Union, an integrationist bloc shared by Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Belarus, which holds the pro tempore presidency of the mechanism.
-This is the second official visit of the Cuban President to the Republic of Belarus. The first one was in October 2019. How much progress has been made in political, diplomatic and economic terms and how do you rate the current state of mutual ties?
-Cuba and Belarus have a growing and excellent relationship. Both governments share the will to strengthen it, expand it, diversify it as much as possible. They maintain a political dialogue at the highest level, with shared values and common positions in the international order, and seek to consolidate ties in cardinal areas such as trade, economic and financial exchange.
"During President Díaz-Canel's visit to Belarus in October 2019, several documents and a Joint Declaration were signed, which reflected the will to deepen those relations.
"Since then we have maintained a dialogue at the highest level, such as the visit to Havana in July 2023 of the then Foreign Minister Serguei Aléinik, and, in that same year, the stay of Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz in Minsk, a fundamental visit in which the bonds of friendship and the will to continue strengthening our ties were reaffirmed.
"At the stage, the foundations of the Joint Declaration signed during the visit of our President in 2019 to Minsk were consolidated. In 2024, the bilateral economic agenda, which we are working on and which outlines the essential points of cooperation and economic and trade relations until 2030, was initialed, and a road map identifying its substantial elements is developed.
"We have the mechanism of the intergovernmental commissions, which has worked very positively and has proven to be very fruitful in continuing to boost exchanges for mutual benefit. Its most recent session, the 12th, was in May, during the visit of Vice-Chancellor Evgueni Shestakov. It is a commission made up of four working groups that define the fundamental areas and which we intend to continue to strengthen.
"We have also consolidated the political dialogue at the highest level, including the mechanism of inter-foreign political consultations, whose last session was held in May in Havana and where we outlined areas of cooperation. These are exchanges that yield benefits on issues of bilateral interest, regional and international affairs.
"We must highlight here the position of solidarity that Belarus has always had in rejecting the economic, commercial and financial blockade of the United States against our country. It has always maintained a sustained position of rejection of this policy, as in the demand for the exclusion of Cuba from the infamous list of alleged sponsors of terrorism drawn up by the U.S. State Department.
"And Cuba, in adherence to international law, has been consistent in rejecting the unilateral measures, sanctions, that the Belarusian nation has had to face for many years. Therefore, everything we manage to advance in economic and trade relations will contribute to confront those policies and to continue developing our economies in the adverse context that both countries have had to face".
-What are the current areas of economic and commercial interest between Cuba and Belarus? Have other sectors been identified to boost bilateral cooperation?
-We have the challenge of continuing to deepen commercial exchange and economic relations. There has been a very favorable progress. Last year there was an increase, but we appreciate it as a reflection of the margin that exists to continue advancing.
"There are three areas that are fundamental, very important for our development. One is biopharmaceuticals, Cuban biotechnology, which has found a very receptive space in the Belarusian market and in which there is still a way to go and which has many prospects.
"Another is the agri-food industry, in which Belarus has great development. For us it is important to move forward in a cooperation that allows us to enhance what we need to energize in agriculture, and there has already been a profitable exchange in the dairy industry and other branches.
"We also have a traditional area, a symbol of our relations, the Belarusian tractors, which have been in our fields for more than half a century. We currently have a project for the assembly of these at the 26 de Julio Plant in Holguin, with a great development perspective.
"However, there is much more room to work in other sectors, both in agriculture and in science - where there is advanced cooperation, but much more can still be done - the environment, education, tourism and the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, which has a multiplier effect on bilateral economic relations.
"Díaz-Canel's visit, then, will enhance that exchange, strengthen bilateral relations and mechanisms."
-In the current world context, what is the significance of this official visit of the Cuban president to Belarus?
-Belarus is a friend of Cuba. The will shared by both countries and peoples has been built over decades and, in recent years, by Presidents Alexander Lukashenko and Miguel Diaz-Canel, that is why the exchange we have had and that is expected, will be made on the basis of seeking collaboration, to take advantage of all the spaces offered by our economic and trade developments, to take advantage of the opportunities that Cuba gives for investment and as a way for Belarus to insert its products in the Latin American and Caribbean region.
"That will also depend, of course, on the dynamics that we give at the business level to our relations and the facilities that we continue to build at the bilateral level with the mechanisms that we already have in place.
"I reiterate, there is a full will on both sides to strengthen that relationship, and Cuba's interest is to maximize economic and commercial ties for mutual benefit."
-Another reason for President Díaz-Canel's visit to Minsk is to participate in the Eurasian Economic Supreme Council in person, as he did in May last year in Moscow, and in correspondence with the island's interest in maintaining an active participation as an observer country in this bloc shared by Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Russia...
-The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) is a space of economic integration that in just over ten years has become a benchmark of development, stability, and in which Cuba, since December 11, 2020, is an observer country.
"Our presence is not a mere formal fact. We aspire to an effective participation, from the condition of observer, to strengthen political dialogue, exchange and, especially, to boost economic and trade links with this integrating space and its five member countries, with which we have a historical, friendly and collaborative relationship.
"Cuba and the EAEU have several mechanisms to strengthen cooperation and they are strengthening them. They have a regulatory basis that includes the joint plan for the period 2021-2025 -which in the coming months we intend to extend until 2030-, and a joint commission that should meet soon and be an important step to not only identify, but work on the implementation of mutual actions in the economic and commercial fields.
"Our President will participate in the Supreme Council of the Eurasian Economic Union in the expanded segment, together with the other observer and invited countries. It will be an opportunity to exchange with the leaders of these countries."
-Cuba has reiterated its commitment to strengthen its insertion in this mechanism and its willingness to deepen economic and trade relations. How much progress has been made in this regard?
-Our participation in the EAEU has had two moments that have traced the path. One was the participation of President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, in person, in the Supreme Council last May in Moscow, and, previously, the attendance of Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz, in 2023, to the Intergovernmental Council held in Sochi, also in Russia.
"As I was telling you, Cuba has always tried to ensure that its presence in the EAEU is not a formal fact, and despite the geographical distance, it has tried to have an active participation within it as an observer country."
-As a prelude to the Supreme Council of the EAEU, the 4th Eurasian Economic Forum will be held in Minsk, which will include a representation of Cuban businessmen. What will our participation in this exchange be like, which this time will be aimed at discussing the Eurasian Economic Integration Strategy?
-The 4th Economic Forum is aimed at strengthening relations among the companies that make up this integrating space, as well as entities from observer and guest countries. Cuba will have a delegation organized by our Chamber of Commerce.
"It will be a small group of companies from the biopharmaceutical sector, services, logistics, steel-mechanics, but despite being a small delegation, the purpose is to work hard, outline concrete actions with the EAEU companies that will be there, and hold a session dedicated to the opportunities that Cuba offers for investment and business, aimed essentially at the Eurasian economic space, and also the opportunities it offers as a way to the Latin American and Caribbean region.
"The intention is to effectively insert ourselves in this process, to carry out actions that contribute to the strengthening of that space and, of course, of our economy and the priorities of our development, such as agriculture, the food industry, energy, transportation, tourism, the iron and steel industry and, obviously, biopharmaceuticals.
"The participation of our President in the Eurasian Supreme Council has an essential component to reinforce that objective, in the same way that his official visit to Belarus will be aimed, to a large extent, at boosting and energizing all the opportunities that we have been promoting at the bilateral level."
Dear people:
We are leaving for Belarus for official visit and participation in Eurasian Supreme Economic Council meeting. We will also visit biopharmaceutical and agricultural enterprises. Long history of cooperation and friendship unite us with that sister nation.
- Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (@DiazCanelB) June 24, 2025
