China Welcomes Cuban, Venezuelan Leaders for Latin America Leftist Meetup

The foreign ministers of Venezuela’s socialist regime and Cuba’s communist regime began a visit to China this week to meet with Communist Party officials, state media from all three nations reported.

According to the Chinese government, both foreign ministers are visiting Beijing at the invitation of their Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

Foreign Minister Yvan Gil of Venezuela was the first to begin his agenda in China, arriving on Tuesday for a three-day visit. According to a statement from the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry, Gil’s visit occurs within the context of the upcoming 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Venezuela and China on June 28, 1974. Gil will also “evaluate the progress” of the agreements signed between both countries in September 2023 during socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro’s official visit to China.

“We have arrived in the People’s Republic of China to give continuity to the work undertaken by President Nicolás Maduro in the consolidation of the strategic alliance ‘against any test and at all times’ between China and Venezuela,” Gil said in a statement on social media upon arriving in Beijing. “We will be fulfilling a broad agenda of evaluation and monitoring of the agreements that pursue the prosperity of our peoples.”

Gil met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday. According to the Chinese state-run Xinhua News Agency, Wang said the relationship between China and Venezuela “has been developing with clearer direction and enriched content as well as with stronger impetus” under the leadership of both regimes.

Gil thanked China for its “valuable assistance to the social and livelihood development of Venezuela,” and asserted that Venezuela “firmly abides” by the one-China principle, a concept pushed by the Chinese Communist Party which denies the existence of Taiwan as a sovereign nation by falsely claiming that the country is a province of communist China.

The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry noted that Gil was pleased with Wang’s reception and “valued the alliance of peace and respect between both nations that have supported each other in difficult times, demonstrating that humanity of shared benefit is possible.”

“With this visit, we strengthen the friendship and strategic cooperation between China and Venezuela, for the benefit of our region and the multipolar world,” Gil wrote on social media after his meeting with Wang.

The Castro regime’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla landed in Beijing on Wednesday as part of his official visit, acting as a “special envoy” of the communist regime’s figurehead President Miguel Díaz-Canel. Rodríguez Parrilla’s visit is slated to conclude on Sunday, June 9.

Prior to his arrival, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning described Rodríguez Parrilla in a press conference on Tuesday as a “dear old friend of the Chinese people” and stated that his visit to China as a special envoy of Díaz-Canel “highlights the high-level political mutual trust and special friendship between China and Cuba.”

“China attaches high importance to the visit. Chinese leaders and heads of competent authorities will meet with special envoy Rodríguez and have in-depth exchanges of views with him on China-Cuba relations and issues of mutual interest,” Mao told reporters.

She continued:

China and Cuba are good friends, good comrades and good brothers. In recent years, under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, China-Cuba relations have been extraordinarily strong and robust and have become a fine example of solidarity and cooperation between socialist countries and sincere mutual assistance between developing countries. China hopes that through this visit, the two sides will further enhance strategic communication, deliver on the important common understandings between the two heads of state, continue to deepen our special friendship and jointly build a China-Cuba community with a shared future.

Rodríguez Parrilla met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Beijing on Wednesday. According to Xinhua, both officials “exchanged views on bilateral cooperation and other topics,” with Rodríguez Parrilla stating that China and Cuba are “good friends, good comrades, and good brothers.”

He asserted that China is ready to work with Cuba to “implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, deepen practical cooperation in trade, investment, tourism and other fields, and promote the building of a China-Cuba community with a shared future.”

Rodríguez Parrilla reportedly thanked China for supporting Havana and asserted that the communist-ruled nation is willing to “strengthen cooperation with China in various fields and push for new development of the special friendly relations between the two countries.”

“I reiterated support and adherence of Cuba to Chinese global initiatives that promote the development of the Global South,” Rodríguez Parrilla wrote on social media.

Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.