Cuba spotlights friendship with Chávez

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CARACAS - A delegation of Cuba's most influential Cabinet members flew to Venezuela this week to sign 16 deals worth more than $1 billion, highlighting the close relations between Caracas and Havana.

Perhaps even more significant than the accords to dig for oil or host low-income Venezuelan tourists in Cuba were the officials who showed up for the signing ceremony: 10 Cuban ministers and Vice President Carlos Lage.

The Cuban officials were on hand Wednesday as President Hugo Chávez heralded the growing economic bond between the two nations. The Cuban delegation also was met by a formal military reception at the Miraflores presidential palace.

The visit was significant because many Cuba-watchers often speculate that relations between Chávez and Cuba's interim President Raúl Castro are at best icy.

...''There has been kind of a conventional wisdom that Raúl and Chávez won't get along . . . the way Fidel and Hugo did; the Cuban government wants to dispel that impression,'' said InterAmerican Dialogue analyst Daniel Erikson. ``Sending such a high-level delegation is important. At the end of the day, the Venezuela connection is going to be even more important for Raúl than for Fidel.''

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/cuba/16548666.htm

As well as the Axis of Good.