Prince Carlos met Miguel Díaz Canel in Havana: he has no agenda to visit Cuban dissidents

The prince Carlos of England, heir to the British crown, met Monday in Havana the Cuban president, Miguel Díaz-Canelduring a meeting aimed at improving bilateral relations and raising doubts in the United States, London's historic ally and facing the dictatorship of Castro.

The official talks between the Prince of Wales and the president, the first Cuban leader in five decades not to call himself Castro, took place on the second day in the Caribbean country of Carlos and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, first members of the British royal family to visit Cuba.

As usual during high-level visits, Diaz-Canel and his guest reviewed the troops at the Revolution Palace, seat of the government, and then met with their respective delegations.

"During the cordial meeting, they discussed the positive state of bilateral relations, based on cooperation and mutual respect, and also agreed on the desire to develop links in areas such as education, health, culture, environmental protection, sustainable development ", says the brief official note issued by the state media.

This three-day trip aims to strengthen relations with Reno Unido and Cuba as part of a broader normalization of the island's relations with the West, despite the fact that the Donald Trump government has attempted to end a détente between Cuba and the United States. The couple has no agenda for a meeting with Cuban dissent and, for the moment, has made no claim for human rights..

After the high-level meeting, it was planned to organize a gala dinner offered by Diaz-Canel to their guests.

On the agenda Carlos and Camilla has not scheduled any meeting with Raúl Castro, who, although transferred almost a year ago, the head of state to Diaz-Canel remains at the head of the Communist Party of Cuba (CCP, only legal).

Among the political figures who criticized the trip of the representatives of the British royalty, there is the former governor of Florida, elected senator elected Republican in 2018, Rick Scott. He said he was "deeply disappointed by Prince Charles's decision to visit Cuba" and warned that "this trip confers legitimacy on a dictatorship with decades of persecution and violation of human rights." man".

The official gala meeting and dinner gave the royal couples a busy schedule that began in the morning with a tour of the old city of Havana in the company of the city's historian, Eusebio Leal, who showed them the corners the most prominent of the historic center, declared in 1982 World Heritage Site by Unesco.

During the walk, which aroused great emotion among the locals and the many tourists who visited the area, Carlos and Camilla traveled the same cobblestone streets that English troops borrowed for 11 months between 1762 and 1763 and unveiled a statue of the William Shakespeare man of letters.

They also attended a concert of the famous all-female Camerata Romeu in San Francisco de Asis Minor Basilica, the temple chosen by soldiers to celebrate Protestant rites during the brief period when Havana was British.

Carlos from England did not hesitate to chat with some of the surprised pbaders-by and even with the vendor of a street stall at churros who offered him to try this typical fries, although the British heir declined the offer because his father had lunch already.

Apart from the official program broadcast by the Cuban authorities, the princes visited the Muraleando community project, where they attended a children's show and also attended a choreography at the Acosta Danza Hall, the contemporary dance company founded by Carlos Acosta.

Already separately, the heir held a meeting with representatives of Cuban "cuentapropismo", the nascent private sector of the island emerged as a result of economic reforms introduced over the past decade by Raúl Castro (2008-2018).

He also had time to get to know a boxing gym and to interact with the kids and kids who were trained there.

For her part, the Duchess of Cornwall went alone to the Doña Leonor Pérez maternal home, where she met several pregnant women.

Anecdotally, in social networks, some Cuban netizens recalled that today, three British representatives of musical "royalty": the Rolling Stones, their "satanic majesty", landed in Havana. In a country where rock was banned a few decades ago.

For Tuesday, on the program Carlos and Camilla include a cultural activity in John Lennon Park in Havana and the launch ceremony for the construction of a UK-funded photovoltaic park in the Mariel Special Development Zone, the Cuban government's flagship project to attract capital foreigners.

Havana, under US embargo since 1962, needs foreign partners, while Washington threatens to apply Chapter III of the Helms-Burton Act from 1996 to mid-April.

This standard would theoretically allow, especially Cuban exiles, to sue in the United States federal courts against corporations that made profits through nationalized signatures after the revolution.

The European Union has become Cuba's first trading partner and the United Kingdom, even in the midst of Brexit, wants to get into the movement and is highlighting two sectors: tourism and energy.

Bilateral trade between London and Havana increased from $ 168.3 million in 2013 to $ 63.6 million in 2017, according to the latest Cuban official figures.

The UK is also one of the main sources of tourism on the island, with around 200,000 visitors a year. However, in January of this year, only 15,945 vacationers from this source visited the island, 12% less than the 18,037 in January 2018.

(With information from EFE and AFP)