MOSCOW, Russian Federation-With emotions that jumped to the cold landscape -where the temperature was about ten degrees below zero-, and also with many others that remained tangled and knotted in their throats, these reporters thought about the capacity of human beings to star in the heroic. The reflections were crowded in front of the granite tombstone that in this city guards the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where some letters express: "Your name is unknown, your feat is immortal".
This Monday morning, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, accompanied by the members of the high-level delegation that will be making an official visit to the Eurasian country until November 22, arrived at this place full of symbolism, where a flame makes unquenchable reverence to the memory of the fallen.
So that the world does not forget -because some prefer not to remember, and others try to diminish the value that the courage of the Soviet soldiers, who prevented the advance of fascism, had in the eyes of history- there is this monument where the Cuban Head of State placed a wreath.
It was thrilling to hear in the open space and at the foot of the Kremlin the notes of our National Anthem, interpreted by a musical band from the always beloved Russia; and it was very moving to listen to a solemn melody, with a funereal but beautiful tone, where one could recognize the passion and the enormity of the spirit of a nation that means so much to Cuba.
The ceremony was brief but unforgettable. There floated in the air the Marti's sentence that honoring honors; and also emerged as purified the certainty that Russians and Cubans have a universe in common. The 26th of July march, as a final seal, tore the icy air; and once again, the sleeplessness of those who are no longer here, appeared again before the admiration and silence of each one of us.
A BIG, STRONG EMBRACE
The warmth that always marks the reunion between friends distinguished on Monday morning the dialogue between the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Andréyevich Ziuganov.
"A big, strong embrace," said Ziuganov as a welcoming greeting to Díaz-Canel, who assured to be "very happy to see us" and "very grateful for this meeting".
It is already customary - said the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba - that "whenever we come to the Russian Federation we can meet and talk, and it is also a way to give continuity to the conversations we have had at other times".
"We are very pleased and very happy that they are with us," assured the Head of State, who expressed "all our gratitude for the support of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation to the Cuban cause."
In these difficult times for Cuba, he stressed, "you have been very active in supporting our country, you promoted in the Duma a Resolution of support for Cuba in the fight against the blockade". In addition, Díaz-Canel highlighted the messages sent by the Russian Communist Party to the largest of the Antilles after events such as the explosion of the Saratoga Hotel, the fire at the Supertanker Base in Matanzas, and more recently when Hurricane Ian caused severe damage in several provinces in the western part of the country.
During the relaxed dialogue, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba evoked his meeting with the delegation of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation that attended the meeting of communist and workers' parties that took place a short time ago in Havana. "We are very grateful for that participation, -he said- and now we ask you, and we invite you to have a representation of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation in the event that we will hold on the balance of the world", next January, and which will be based on Fidel's Marti's and also Marxist thought and conception on those issues.
A greeting from Army General Díaz-Canel Bermúdez conveyed to Ziuganov: "Tell him that it is his brother Raúl who sends him a strong greeting," the president shared.
"Dear comrade President and friend, for the Communist Party of the Russian Federation it is not only a great responsibility and honor to receive you, but also a moment of great joy," Andreyevich Ziuganov assured.
He then spoke of his closeness to the Caribbean island and recalled that among the visits he has made to many countries throughout his life and professional career, he always remembers "with special affection my first visits to Cuba, and the real assistance we were able to provide to your country in some very complex moments".
HELPING FRIENDS WHEN THEY NEED IT MOST
When Igor Sechin, CEO of the Russian oil company Rosneft, was leaving the premises where on Monday afternoon he held a cordial meeting with the President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, he was approached by a group of Cuban journalists interested in knowing his opinion on the recently concluded dialogue.
The executive was brief, but his words showed the affection and naturalness that only come from very strong ties, from stories that are interwoven until the marvel of friendship is achieved. "We have to work, keep working, and win," Igor Sechin told the press, conveying the philosophy that, in order to succeed, we must always move forward, tenaciously, with optimism as our horizon.
Moments before, in the protocol room where the executive spoke with the Cuban president, the words extended to him by the Head of State were words of gratitude, respect and sincere affection.
Díaz-Canel spoke in terms of "an affectionate and cordial meeting"; and expressed to the interlocutor satisfaction for the occasion of the exchange. He also told Igor Sechin that days before starting the international tour he had spoken with Army General Raul Castro Ruz, who had asked him to greet the Russian friend on his behalf, because the leader of the Revolution, said the dignitary, has very fond memories of his meetings with Igor Sechin.
The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba thanked, above all, a group of gestures that the CEO of the Russian oil company Rosneft has had with the island "in very difficult times that we have lived in recent years".
The Head of State wanted to emphasize that such gestures have meant "a solution for our country in difficult situations". These are, he said, decisions whose nature reminds us that friends must be helped when they need it most. "These are gestures -he emphasized- that one is not used to seeing in this unipolar world, in this world full of the selfishness with which we live today".
Of the saga of gestures of solidarity carried out by the friend of the Russian Federation, the Cuban President recalled one that he described as moving and that "we will always remember": the one that has to do with the support given by the leader on the issue of medical oxygen, precisely at the time of the pandemic peak of COVID-19, when the Caribbean country suffered the breakage of the factory that should guarantee the precious chemical element, so important to save lives.
The exchange between the Cuban leader and his Russian friend left us with the certainty that deeds are love and that only by opposing solidarity to selfishness will the world reach a higher stage of humanity.
STRATEGIC AND FORWARD-LOOKING RELATIONSHIP
"I want to thank you for the efforts you have made at the head of the Intergovernmental Commission to address and understand all the Cuban problems, and to help us continue expanding our economic and trade relations," said the President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, during the exchange he held on Monday afternoon with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Chernishenko.
"We feel very optimistic about all the work they have done in these days," assured the president, who acknowledged that a part that complicates the situation of that work "has to do with the debts we have with the Russian Federation, which have been motivated mainly by the difficult economic-financial situation that we have presented from the second half of 2019, with the application of more than 243 measures by US President Donald Trump, which intensified the blockade, and the financial and energy persecution."
The Head of State explained how "our main sources of foreign currency income were suddenly cut off", which caused a complex situation associated with supplies, the electricity situation, as well as the production of consumer goods for the Cuban population. This, in addition, has also affected "our availability of resources and our export possibilities", he explained.
In this sense, he ratified to the Russian Deputy Prime Minister that "as soon as our economy allows, we will be honoring the commitments we have with Russia".
During the dialogue, the President of the Republic detailed to Dmitri Chernishenko several aspects that have distinguished the national context in the last three years, in the course of which COVID-19 also arrived in Cuba and the country had to face very complex moments in various areas.
Díaz-Canel commented how the work developed by scientists and health personnel made it possible to create five vaccine candidates, three of them turned into vaccines, and to achieve high immunity among the population. This, he said, made it possible "to open up again and start living a new normality, with an updated Economic and Social Development Strategy".
Those were very complex times for both nations, the dignitary acknowledged, however, he emphasized that during all that time "we had a fundamental support from the Russian Federation, particularly from President Putin".
Likewise, he made reference to other multiple moments in which Cuba has received support from the Eurasian nation and how "we were able to maintain the high level of political dialogue", as part of which there were seven telephone conversations with President Putin.
Finally, the Cuban Head of State shared his "conviction that we can continue to improve our economic and trade relations".
Reciprocating his words, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation assured Díaz-Canel that "Cuba is our key partner, and is a reliable partner for Russia in the Latin American region; the relationship with Cuba is not subject to a changing global situation, it is strategic and forward-looking".
Regarding the most recent session of the Cuba-Russia Intergovernmental Commission, he stressed that all the meetings "were held in a constructive atmosphere", in which important projects associated with priority issues for both countries such as industry, energy and transport were discussed.