• Visit.The Government pushes the Kings to travel to Cuba in full political vacuum in Spain

The main interest of the main candidates for general elections in addressing international affairs during their debate on television did not go unnoticed. Although the campaign teams had agreed that a block was dedicated to the things that happen in the world and that both affect us as a country. The exception was allusions to Cuba. Specifically, Pablo Casado , Albert Rivera and Santiago Abascal affected Pedro Sánchez that the Government has forced the Kings to fly to Cuba on Monday, just one day after the elections and in full uncertainty over the new parliamentary arithmetic.

Unlike what he did with other interpellations of his rivals, the socialist candidate did want to respond to the criticisms that are getting worse for this first trip of a King of Spain to Cuba, historical but inevitably controversial episode. Sanchez justified it by saying that «the 500th anniversary of the foundation of the city of Havana is fulfilled» and that «if we Spaniards have ties, it is with the Cuban people, not with the Government».

Being the president's two statements in certain functions, they continued to be a subterfuge to escape the criticism alive and not give an account of why, then, it has been decided to convert this delicate mission of Philip VI nothing less than in a trip of State. Having given the highest consideration for governing relations between sovereign nations on the international scene, Moncloa goes much further than would be a first political-institutional approach of Spain to the Castro dictatorship. And, of course, we are not facing a mere protocol and cultural journey, as Sánchez implied without any of his opponents giving him a reply. To sum up, the King could have stepped on the Caribbean island on a work trip, on a dry-tagged one as an officer or on a State one. To the surprise of many, it is the latter that the Socialists have decided.

As much as Sánchez highlighted the relations between the Cuban people and the Spanish, a state trip - which, as his own name indicates, can only be carried out by the heads of state, in our case the King, never his prime minister - always represents a attempt to strengthen bilateral ties by the respective governments as much as possible. And it entails an extraordinary formalism, an ad hoc protocol that varies according to the uses and customs of the host country, usually an exchange of decorations and honors and, ultimately, a determined will to strengthen institutional ties.

We have been living in Spanish politics lately, never before imagined. And we have gone from an anomaly that, without a doubt, had to be corrected, as was the case that a Spanish Monarch could visit Cuba, so that the first one that produces behaves the highest honors and benefits to the Castro regime that Miguel Díaz-Canel leads today , although the shadow of Raúl Castro , the brother of Fidel , remains elongated.

The thaw with Cuba

Barack Obama culminated his term as president of the United States with a historic thaw with Havana that took him to the island in March 2016. And, although he did it surrounded by an unusual worldwide expectation, it was not a state trip. Not only the Republicans would have thrown him; the Democrats wouldn't have accepted it either. It was an official visit. Point. Logically, it included a meeting between Obama and the then president, Raúl Castro. But there were no state banquets, exchange of gifts between presidents and many other mandatory entertainment and formal gestures on a trip to the highest level such as the one that the Kings will star in, and that left them much more tied hands to have tried, for example , some meeting with representatives of the dissent.

Other Western leaders have taken the lead to Spain in recent years in the relationship with Cuba, something that has made Spanish businessmen very nervous, who were stunned how their competitors were those who took advantage of business opportunities on the island in full economic openness of Castroism - without any advance in human rights, freedoms or democracy, yes. Thus, the French François Hollande made in 2015 the first trip to Havana for a president of the Gala Republic in almost a century. And, much more recently, last March, Prince Charles of England along with his wife Camilla also arrived on the island, accompanied by a large court of businessmen. But, as in the case of Barack Obama, these were official trips, without the extraordinary consideration that those of the State have, such as the one the Kings are going to make.

The third time was the charm. Even on two occasions, Felipe VI's trip to Cuba had already been thwarted, in 2017 and 2018. Since arriving in Moncloa, the Government of Sánchez has always made clear his will for Don Felipe to make this visit. It was considered that the perfect pretext could be the celebrations for the 500th anniversary of the foundation of Havana. Another major mistake that adds vaudeville features to this trip. Because they have had to readjust the dates and forced to schedule a getaway to Santiago de Cuba on the 14th so that the Kings do not coincide in the capital with the leaders who are scheduled to participate on the 16th in the central events for the aforementioned event; namely, Nicolás Maduro , Daniel Ortega and Vladimir Putin .

What the latter demonstrates is that nothing had happened because the actual trip had been postponed a few weeks. Unlike. It would have been the logical and the most convenient from the diplomatic point of view, since if it is already exceptional that State trips are made with acting governments, much more it is to do it to a country with which we have such delicate relations and, at the same time, such strong links.

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  • Cuba
  • Barack Obama
  • Spain
  • Philip VI
  • Vladimir Putin
  • Pedro Sanchez
  • Pablo Casado
  • Nicolás Maduro
  • Francois Hollande
  • U.S
  • Albert rivera

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