Russian President Vladimir Putin began a six-day Latin American tour aimed at boosting trade and ties in the region with a stop Friday in Cuba, a key Soviet ally during the Cold War that has backed Moscow in its dispute with the West over Ukraine.
Cuban state media carried photos of Putin's meeting with retired leader Fidel Castro. Putin and Raúl Castro, the president, also participated in a ceremony at Havana's Memorial to the Soviet Internationalist Soldier.
The two countries signed about a dozen accords in areas such as energy, industry, health and disaster prevention. Russian companies will participate in petroleum projects around Boca de Jaruco on the island's north coast, and that cooperation will extend to offshore oil deposits, Cuban government website Cubadebate said.
Another agreement covered infrastructure at a big new port project that Cuba hopes will become a regional shipping centre and attract much-needed foreign investment.
"We are talking about the possibility of creating in Cuba a grand transportation hub with a possible modernisation of the maritime port of Mariel and the construction of a modern airport with its respective cargo terminal," Putin said, according to an official Spanish translation of his remarks in Russian.
Moscow is also forgiving 90 per cent of Cuba's Soviet-era debt, which totals more than $35 billion. The remainder will be invested in education on the island, Putin added.
The debt agreement is "another great, tangible generosity of the Russian people toward Cuba," President Raul Castro said.
Amid the crisis in Ukraine, the countries on Putin's itinerary have shown themselves to be sympathetic to Russia's position on the conflict, or at least not overtly critical.
Cuban official newspapers tend to characterise it as a struggle against right-wing extremism threatening ethnic Russians in Ukraine. Earlier this year, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez criticised US and European Union sanctions imposed on Russian individuals and pro-Russian Ukrainians.
"In the international arena, we agree with the current policy of strength and political intelligence that the Soviet Union – I mean Russia – is carrying out," Castro said.
Putin made a stop in Nicaragua on Friday night for a one-hour meeting with President Daniel Ortega. He then flew on to Argentina, whose president, Cristina Fernandez, accused Britain in March of having double standards for criticising a pro-Russian secession vote held in Crimea while backing a status referendum in the disputed Falkland Islands.
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