Ramiro Valdes, a Cuban revolutionary closely tied to Fidel Castro for decades, is now working with the Venezuelan government in Caracas. Valdes currently serves as Cuba’s Minister in communications and information.
The Venezuelan opposition is incensed, pointing out Valdes’ previous role as Interior Minister in Cuba, where he was in charge of surveillance and accused of repressing his countrymen. A related CNN article is available here.
Hugo Chávez’s explanation for Valdes’ presence is that Cuba too has experienced power outages in the past. This may make sense, but does it not also serve as evidence that something is not working in the social systems pursued by Venezuela and Cuba? To be fair, Chavez said that other officials will come from Argentina and Brazil to provide technical assistance.
Valdes may serve as a prominent example of ties between the Venezuelan and Cuban governments, but these connections are nothing new. Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro are close friends, and Cuban advisors have operated in the country for years.
On Thursday, rallies took place in support of Chávez, to mark the anniversary of his coup d’etat attempt in 1992. It was that event which catapulted him to national prominence.