The Simón Bolívar training ship of the Venezuelan Navy arrived this Saturday in Santiago de Cubawhere he was received with 21 artillery salutes, the official newspaper published Granma.
The ship docked at the cruise terminal of Puerto Guillermón Moncada—a city that it is visiting for the third time—where it was received by chiefs of the General Staff of the Military Region, the Revolutionary Navy, personnel from the Venezuelan embassy and the governor. of the province, Manuel Falcón Hernández.
The Venezuelan ambassador to Cuba, Orlando Miguel Maneiro Gaspar, welcomed the 173 crew members of the Simón Bolívar. Captain Ronal Briseño Huerta conveyed “the joy that officers, sergeants, cadets and sailors have” at being in the capital of Santiago, where they will carry out several unspecified activities.
The organ of the Communist Party presented the ship’s visit as an example of the “strengthening of the close and historical relations” between Caracas and Havana and of “collaboration elevated to the highest levels” for the “integration of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean”.
According to the official portal Cubadebatebefore arriving in Santiago de Cuba, the ship was in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominican Republic, Honduras and Mexico, and after its departure from Cuba it will arrive in Santa Marta (Colombia) and Willemstad (Curaçao) to complete the journey in the Venezuelan port of La Guaira, next July 13.
The population will be able to visit the Simón Bolívar on June 16, 17 and 18 from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
Ships from Russia, Canada, the United States and now this one from Venezuela coincide this weekend on the Island amid controversy.
A Navy submarine USA arrived at the Guantánamo Naval Base, Cubain a show of force, a few hours after Russia deployed a combat flotilla in Havana that includes a nuclear-powered submarine and a frigate capable of carrying hypersonic missiles.
The US ship’s stop is part of a “routine port visit”as the submarine travels through the Southern Command region, indicated the regional military command in https://twitter.com/Southcom/status/1801286834242326877 on his social networks, in which he specified that “the location and transit of the ship were planned in advance.”
On Friday, June 15, the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, offered the official reaction to the arrival of the American submarinean “unwanted visit” that was reported by Washington to Havana.
“We knew of his presence, because according to procedures that we have followed for years, The United States informed us in advance“said the official in statements to journalist Arleen Rodríguez Derivet collected by the official portal Cubadebate.
“But, Obviously, we do not like the presence in our territory and passing through our waters of an environment of that nature.belonging to a power that maintains an official and practical policy that is hostile against (the regime of) Cuba,” said the Foreign Ministry official.
Other American ships have also been tracking and monitoring Russian exercises that Pentagon officials say do not pose a threat to the United States.
On the morning of Friday, June 14, Canadian Navy patrol ship HMCS Margaret Brooke robbery also in the bay of Havanaclose to where the Russian military flotilla is located.
Canada’s Joint Operations Command called the Margaret Brooke’s arrival in Cuba “a port visit (…) in recognition of the long-standing bilateral relationship between Canada and Cuba.”
For its part, The Revolutionary Navy defined it as a visit that “highlights bilateral collaboration to contribute to peace in our region.”
The Canadian patrol boat, which arrived in Cuba after spending several days in Key West, Florida, will be in Havana until June 17, the same day the Russian flotilla must depart, presumably bound for Venezuela.
