Cuba–Venezuela relations

Cuba-Venezuela relations

Cuba	Venezuela

Relations between Cuba and Venezuela since 1902 were aggravated by the Cold War, with Venezuela tending to side with the United States, while Cuba was a loyal ally of the Soviet Union. A destabilizing factor was the alleged Cuban support for the antigovernment guerrilla force that operates in remote rural areas. In 1999 the bilateral relation significantly improved during the Presidency of Hugo Chávez. Chávez formed a major alliance with Cuban president Fidel Castro and significant trade relationship with Cuba since his election in 1999. The warm relationship between the two countries continued to intensify. After decades of American domination in the Caribbean, several governments in the region have started to reject United States' path of capitalism. Hugo Chávez described Castro as his mentor and called Cuba "a revolutionary democracy".

The bilateral relation includes development aid, joint business ventures, large financial transactions, exchange of energy resources and information technology, and cooperation in the fields of intelligence service and military. A characteristic of Cuba-Venezuela ties is that both nations are exchanging assets among each other which are inexpensive for the sending country but of high significance for the receiving country.

Venezuela and Cuba's ties go back to when Cuba was still under Spanish rule, when among the signers of the Act of Independence of Venezuela in 1811 was native of Puerto Principe (actual Camagüey) . In the celebrated battle of Carabobo (1821) from Havana fought fiercy at side of the patriot army. Promoted to colonel by general Simón Bolívar himself, and before whom the Liberator would make the promise not to sheathe his sword until Cuba was free.

In 1823 the "" was led by the Venezuelan Carlos Aponte, who along with a group of Venezuelans and Cubans arrived in Cuba on an expedition that was discovered in Havana and executed its members by Spanish colonial forces.

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Wikipedia