Petro lands in Havana to meet with Díaz-Canel on his final official trip

Colombian President Gustavo Petro arrived in Havana this Friday afternoon on his final official trip to meet with his Cuban counterpart, Miguel Díaz-Canel.

The president landed after 7:00 p.m. (23:00 GMT) at Havana’s international airport, with a delay of an hour and a half from the scheduled time, and was received on the tarmac by the Cuban Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Josefina Vidal.

Petro recently explained on social media that he chose the island as his final destination because “the besieged Cuba” was “vital for national sovereignty and the fight for life in the Caribbean.”

The island’s Foreign Ministry, for its part, highlighted in a previous statement that “Cuba and Colombia maintain close ties of friendship, based on mutual respect and cooperation in various fields, in the interest of strengthening bilateral relations for the benefit of both countries and peoples.”

Petro’s agenda

Petro plans to travel to the capital’s Revolution Square for the ceremonial floral offering at the memorial to the Cuban national hero, José Martí, before his meeting with Díaz-Canel, the main stop of his visit.

“The official visit will constitute an opportunity to reaffirm the common commitment to Latin American and Caribbean integration, peace, multilateralism, and sustainable development,” added the Cuban Foreign Ministry.

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It is not planned for the presidents to make statements at the end of their meeting, nor are there any other public events for Petro on the island, beyond his departure back to Colombia, scheduled for Saturday morning.

Havana and Bogotá have strengthened political ties during the term of the first leftist Colombian president.

Cuba supported Petro in the reactivation of peace talks with the ELN guerrilla, maintaining its role as host and guarantor of the contacts. The Colombian, for his part, publicly advocated for the elimination of sanctions against the island and recently sent humanitarian aid to the Caribbean country.