Cuban President Now in Algeria

HAVANA TIMES, Feb. 7 – Cuban President Raul Castro began an official three-day visit to Algeria on Saturday where he will meet with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. The African country is the third country visited by Castro on an international tour that has taken him to Russia and Angola.

Cuba has had ties with Algeria dating back to the early 1960s when Algeria was fighting for its independence from France (1962) and the young Cuban Revolution provided some weapons as well as medical assistance. The two countries have both played a key role in the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

“Algeria and Cuba have stood side by side for half a century, at the front line of the fight for freedom,” reported Reuters at the start of Castro’s visit.