As if nothing were happening or, even worse, as if they were taking advantage of the moment in which everyone is leaving Moscow to find a place as an indefatigable friend, the Cuban tourism authorities are more than reassured by the fact that they have chosen to Russia as guest of honor country at FitCuba 2022.
The Tourism Fair had announced its host in 2019 with the idea of exploiting a market sector that was already showing frank growth, but with the arrival of the pandemic, the edition was canceled two consecutive years and will finally be held between May 3 and 7 in Varadero.
At a time when Russia is also marginalized in the cultural and sports fields, Cuba is far from rethinking who is the honoree and is not even worried about whether or not it can reach the island after almost all the country’s airlines have canceled their flights due to sanctions that prevent them from flying over most of the northern western hemisphere.
The decision to exclude Russia from social, cultural or sporting events has been mocked by those who consider it a ridiculous move, but it has hurt the Kremlin. This very morning, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov acknowledged that they expected sanctions as a result of the invasion – a military operation in his words –, but not that they would also extend to artists or athletes. According to experts, this type of decision has a great symbolic force of isolation but also a practical effect: that of making visible in the eyes of Russian society that something is happening.
“The whole planet has held virtual events and, in case the physical presence is difficult, there will be no lack of professional or commercial exchanges”
In a press conference on the nautical events scheduled for 2022, the authorities were asked by FitCuba about the possible repercussions of the “international context” on the presence of the Russian tourism sector in Varadero in just two months, but sources close to the authorities of Moscow – states Cubadebate– They think there will be no problem.
The answer did not refer to the remote idea of being questioned before an international community committed to supporting Ukraine against its aggressor, but rather to the fact that, although the guests cannot travel, it is amply demonstrated, thanks to the pandemic, that online events They can work just as well as face-to-face ones.
“The entire planet has held virtual events and, in the event that physical presence is difficult, professional or commercial exchanges will not be lacking,” says the official press.
The position is consistent with that of the regime in the conflict, although Cuba has finally decided to abstain from voting on the text of the UN General Assembly against the Russian invasion that was approved by an overwhelming majority this Wednesday in New York.
In his speech this Tuesday, Pedro Luis Pedroso Cuesta, Cuba’s permanent representative to the UN, once again rejected any use of force and blamed NATO for its “expansionist desires” for having provoked the Russian response. And although he has not gone as far –at least publicly– as Nicolás Maduro, who called Vladimir Putin himself to convey Venezuela’s “firm support”, nor has he recognized the independence of Donetsk and Lugansk with which the outbreak of the Russian hostility, the media and diplomatic deployment of the Cuban regime continues in favor of Moscow.
Between the nautical events presented yesterday isamong others, a new offer: a new diving center developed by the Russian company Siberian Diving and the Cuban Marine and Nautical Company Marlin.
However, in the current scenario, when the Russian stock market has been closed for three days to contain the bleeding resulting from international sanctions, the Russian partner is faltering as a source of supply.
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