Nicholas Maduro arrives in Cuba to meet new president Miguel Diaz-Canel

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, right, is received by Cuba’s Vice President Miguel Diaz Canel upon arrival to Jose Marti International airport in Havana, Cuba, late Thursday, March 17, 2016. (Ismael Francisco/Cubadebate via AP)

HAVANA, 21 apr. (EFE) The new president of Cuba, Miguel Diaz-Canel, received today in the Palace of the Revolution of Havana his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolás Maduro, the first head of state who visits the island .

Maduro, who arrived in Havana on Friday night, has traveled to the island to congratulate Diaz-Canel for his appointment as head of the country, ratify the alliance between the two States and greet the outgoing President Raúl Castro.

After the mandatory tribute to the Cuban independence hero José Martí, Díaz-Canel received Nicolas Maduro, who was accompanied by the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Jorge Arreaza, and the Vice President for Social Development and Minister of Education, Elías Jaua.

Speaking to official media before meeting with Díaz-Canel, Maduro stressed that Cuba and Venezuela “have all the potential to continue collaboration and cooperation in various fields in favor of the development of the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean.”

Two days after becoming the new president of the island, this has been the first official act of Diaz-Canel at the beginning of his term.

It is no coincidence that the first visit of a head of state to Cuba was that of Maduro, since Venezuela is the main political partner and ally of the communist island.

Cuba and Venezuela are close political allies and also in the economic area in which the South American country is the main supplier of oil to the island through an agreement at preferential prices in exchange for professional services, mainly doctors and teachers.