The Minister of the Interior of RussiaVladimir Alexandrovich Kolokoltsev, arrived in Cuba for a working visit. He was received at the José Martí International Airport by his counterpart, Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas, and the Russian ambassador Víctor Koronelli.
One of its first activities was the tribute this Tuesday to the Soviet internationalist soldier with the placement of a wreath at his mausoleum, according to the Cuban News Agency (ACN).
Kolokoltsev will hold a series of bilateral meetings, as well as participate in commemorative activities related to Cuban history.
During the wreath-laying, Kolokoltsev was accompanied by Álvarez Casas and other military leaders and part of the diplomatic corps. Within the day, Kolokoltsev also honors the 32 Cubans who fell in combat against US troops during the aggression against Venezuela on January 3, notes the Cuban agency.
Since May 2012, he has been the Minister of the Interior of the Russian Federation, a position he maintains to this day, with the rank of police general. Kolokoltsev coordinates police forces throughout the country and monitors law enforcement in the Russian Federation, notes ACN.
Agreements and high-level meetings
In 2024, Cuba and Russia signed a agreement that would allow both nations to “strengthen the fight against crime, the exchange of experiences and the training of personnel to assume that mission.”
That signing was attended by Kolokoltsev and Alberto Álvarez, then on a working visit to the Slavic nation.
A year earlier, the Russian had visited the island, where he was received by Miguel Díaz-Canel and Raúl Castro.
Díaz-Canel received him at the Palace of the Revolution, where he told him that Kolokoltsev’s stay “marked a trend” that led to the “strengthening, consolidation and expansion of our relations at the current times,” according to quotes from Efe.
Putin: “We have always provided and continue to provide assistance and support to our Cuban friends”
Castro, for his part, highlighted “the excellent state of relations and the high level of political dialogue” between both countries.
The visit now takes place after the US president’s statements regarding the island’s government after the intervention in Venezuela to arrest Nicolás Maduro in an unusual way. In this context, Vladimir Putin himself expressed solidarity with the Cubans and defended the sovereignty and independence of this nation.
