• The trip: The Government pushes the Kings to travel to Cuba in full political vacuum in Spain
  • Felipe VI. The King has traveled to 25 countries and has Cuba as a great pending visit
  • LOC.The first Cuban lady who will receive the Kings of Spain

The King took off from Spain in full political uncertainty and woke up in Havana with the announcement of the pact between the PSOE and United We can to form Government. Because the Government pushed the Monarch to move in full blockade, with everything to be decided politically. Two historical facts that overlapped in time.

If the left parties have taken seven months to seal an agreement, the Spanish Crown has waited 500 years to star in its first official visit. Felipe VI and Queen Letizia star in a "historical" visit, as defined by government and diplomatic sources. A trip, yes, measured, uncomfortable, with his hands tied to avoid gestures for or against the Castro regime, which has defined the event place as "long-awaited visit", in the words of Miguel Díaz-Canel.

First hour in the morning. A group of young people brushes with intensity an official building in the center of Havana. Another, up on a scaffold, gives the last graffiti to a facade. The capital finalizes a face lift, taking out luster, so that everything is ready for the visit. Felipe VI and Doña Letizia have moved on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the foundation of Havana, whose big day is November 16. The end of an "anomaly," diplomatic sources explain. "It is a trip to defend Spanish interests, a normalization of relations, but keeping in mind that the King is neither the president nor a minister."

Nothing has been left to chance, in an attempt to reduce criticism and conflicts. In Spain, the opposition has criticized the trip for the moment chosen and for the political situation of the Central American country. In Cuba, dissent and human rights associations have pleased that the visit legitimizes the regime. Under the maxim that the King "does not do politics", he has fled from any photo or awkward situation that could cause conflicts. Diaz-Canel will not even dedicate a few words to Felipe VI and Spain throughout the trip. The King will not meet with members or relatives of dissidents.

A walk through Havana

Yes, a framework agreement for bilateral cooperation structured on three axes has been signed - increased productivity, sustainable territorial development and consolidation of an effective public administration - endowed for the period 2019-2022 with 57.5 million. The King will deliver his speech on Wednesday. It will be your only opportunity to launch a message of openwork, beyond mere institutionality. It was always kept in mind that the trip to Cuba of the Kings of Spain could be a gesture to promote openness or the issue of human rights.

Apart from the chains imposed by diplomacy, in a trip concentrated in three days, the Kings have opted to have contact with Havana from the first moment. Felipe VI, dressed in the traditional guayabera, and the Queen, have walked through the Cathedral Square, on an improvised walk, which was not on the agenda, with the purpose of transmitting normality, integration into a Havana of contrasts, which has carried out some 2,000 reconstruction works on the occasion of the 500th anniversary.

"Welcome to Cuba!" They have shouted. "Long live the King!", "Long live Spain!", Has been heard in the Cathedral Square. The regime wants to take advantage of the visit of Felipe VI and Doña Letizia for their own benefit. The official newspaper Gramma frames the trip as a strengthening of relations between the two countries.

Half normal, because the Kings return to Spain this Thursday and, therefore, will not be in the central act of commemoration. The official explanation is to give entity to the state visit, but the truth is that the trip was drawn with the idea of ​​avoiding on November 16 a photo, more than uncomfortable, with Nicolás Maduro, Daniel Ortega or Vladimir Putin, who will attend to the expenses.

In addition to the meeting with Díaz-Canel, the King has paid tribute to José Martí , the hero of the independence of Cuba, by placing a crown of roses on his monument in the Revolution Square, in an image where the Kings have been guarded for the portraits of Ché and Camilo Cienfuegos .

While the bilateral meeting between Díaz-Canel was taking place at the State Council, the seat of political power, Queen Letizia visited the Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos workshop school, which is funded by Spanish cooperation and in which training courses are given professional for young people to learn a trade. "What's up?" Asks a young man who goes to the doorway of his house before the noise in the street. "But where is it? Where is it?" Three ladies screaming out of the barber shop while the Queen passes by.

Josep Borrel: "Everything has been talked about"

In the meeting held by the delegations of Spain and Cuba at the headquarters of the State Council, and in which a cooperation agreement has been signed, "everything has been discussed," said acting Foreign Minister Josep. Borrell , after it. The minister, who accompanies the Kings on this visit, has expressed himself thus by being expressly asked if the issue of human rights had been addressed in the appointment.

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  • Philip VI
  • Queen Letizia
  • Nicolás Maduro
  • Vladimir Putin
  • United We Can
  • PSOE
  • Josep Borrell
  • Cuba

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