Russian President Vladimir Putin began a six-day Latin American tour aimed at boosting trade and ties in the region with a stop today in Cuba, where he was expected to meet with President Raul Castro and former leader Fidel Castro.
The visit was focused on developing economic and commercial links as well as investment in projects including energy, transportation and civil aviation.
"Today, cooperation with Latin American states is one of the key and promising lines of Russia's foreign policy," Putin told Cuban state news agency Prensa Latina.
Amid the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, Cuba and some other nations in the region have been sympathetic to Russia's position on the conflict or at least not overtly critical.
Articles in Cuban official newspapers tend to characterize it as a struggle against right-wing extremism that threatens ethnic Russians in Ukraine. Earlier this year, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez criticized US and EU sanctions on Russian individuals and pro-Russian Ukrainians that sought to pressure Moscow.
In March, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez accused the United States and the United Kingdom of having a double standard for criticising a pro-Russian secession referendum held in Crimea while backing a similar vote in the disputed Falkland Islands on whether to remain a British overseas territory.
Brazil was among several nations opposing Russia's possible exclusion from an upcoming G20 summit in Australia due to the crisis.
"We are grateful to South Americans for the support of our international initiatives, including outer space demilitarisation, strengthening international information security and combating the glorification of Nazism," Putin told Prensa Latina.
Havana and Moscow have a shared history dating to the Cold War, when they were united by ideology and opposition to US influence. However they drifted apart somewhat in the 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
