By Gloria Ogbonna
Russian Interior Minister Vladímir Kolokoltsev arrived in Havana on Tuesday for an official visit that included high-level meetings with leaders of Cuba’s communist Castro regime, marking a significant diplomatic moment amid shifting geopolitical tensions in the Western Hemisphere.
The trip is Kolokoltsev’s second visit to Cuba in just over two years, following a previous appearance in November 2023.
This latest visit is particularly notable as it represents the first high-ranking Russian delegation to travel to the island since the January 3, 2026, U.S. law enforcement and military operation in Caracas, Venezuela, which resulted in the dramatic arrest of longtime socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
Russia, a key ally of both the Cuban and Venezuelan regimes, has offered little tangible support to Venezuela since Maduro’s arrest beyond formal statements and remarks from official government spokespersons.
This muted response stands in contrast to Maduro’s repeated claims of strong Russian backing, which he previously used to threaten the United States and attempt to deter action against his narco-socialist regime.
During his visit, Kolokoltsev met with Cuba’s 94-year-old ruler, Raúl Castro, on Tuesday afternoon. According to Granma, the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Cuba, the two discussed what the regime described as the “excellent” state of bilateral relations between Russia and Cuba, as well as a shared desire to further strengthen political and security ties.
Castro also used the meeting to send his “warm greetings” to Russian President Vladimir Putin, reinforcing the long-standing alliance between Moscow and Havana.
Kolokoltsev also held talks with Cuba’s so-called “figurehead” president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, who described the Russian minister’s presence as being “of enormous significance,” particularly given the timing. Díaz-Canel emphasized that the visit comes at a moment of heightened pressure on Cuba and its regional allies.
That pressure has intensified under President Donald Trump, who has maintained a hardline stance against Cuba, designating it as a state sponsor of terrorism and sharply restricting its access to Venezuelan oil.
For more than two decades, the Cuban regime relied heavily on subsidized oil shipments from Venezuela under socialist cooperation agreements, a lifeline that has now been largely cut off.
In recent weeks, the Cuban government announced vague plans to move toward a “State of War,” though it has offered little detail about what such measures would involve.
President Trump addressed the situation directly in a Truth Social post last week, issuing a blunt warning to Havana.
“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO! I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE. Thank you for your attention to this matter,” Trump wrote.
According to a statement from the Cuban presidency, Kolokoltsev expressed his “satisfaction at being back on the island, where he has close friends.”
Díaz-Canel noted that the Russian minister’s previous visit in November 2023 coincided with what the Cuban regime described as an “intensification” of the U.S. “blockade” the term Havana has long used to describe the American embargo along with what it claims were expanded media attacks and the impact of Cuba’s placement on what it calls a “spurious” list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Díaz-Canel asserted that these pressures remain in place today, but have grown more complex following the January 3, 2026, operation that led to Maduro’s capture. That operation also exposed the depth of Cuban involvement in Venezuela’s internal security apparatus.
In a stunning revelation, the Cuban regime confirmed that 32 Cuban security personnel were killed in Caracas while protecting Maduro during the U.S. operation.
The disclosure confirmed decades of speculation regarding Cuban military presence and influence in Venezuela dating back to the era of late socialist strongman Hugo Chávez. It also underscored Maduro’s lack of trust in Venezuelan forces to safeguard him personally.
The remains of the 32 Cuban soldiers arrived back in Cuba last week in small boxes, raising troubling questions about the circumstances surrounding their deaths and the severity of the explosions during the operation.
The Venezuelan socialist regime has yet to release an official casualty count from the January 3 operation. On Tuesday, Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab told the left-wing network Telesur that between 100 and 120 people were killed.
Separately, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello long wanted by U.S. authorities on drug trafficking charges claimed last week that the explosions were so powerful that “there are people we don’t know where they are.”
According to Cuba’s state-run Cuban News Agency (ACN), Kolokoltsev laid a wreath in honor of the 32 fallen Cuban security officers at the Firefighters’ Mausoleum in Havana’s Colón Cemetery.
He was joined by Cuba’s interior minister, Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas, and other senior officials. ACN reported that the remains of four of the deceased soldiers are interred at the Colón Cemetery.
Kolokoltsev’s visit underscores the ongoing coordination among Russia, Cuba, and remnants of the Venezuelan socialist bloc, even as recent events have exposed fractures, vulnerabilities, and the high human cost of their alliance.
Source Breitbart
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