Gustavo Petro to visit Cuba over US pressure

Outgoing Colombian President Gustavo Petro is set to visit Cuba on Friday to discuss Washington's policy toward the island with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, Colombian Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio said.

Villavicencio told radio station La FM that Petro would travel to Havana to “find out firsthand what situation the country is facing socially and economically” because of what she called Washington's “policy of strangulation”.

The visit is planned one week before Petro's mandate expires, bringing Colombia's first leftist government to a close. Petro is a critic of US foreign policy and a defender of Cuba.

Cuba has faced fuel shortages, regular blackouts and worsening living conditions since a US blockade took effect in January, followed by waves of US sanctions on different parts of Cuba's administration.

Colombian President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella, who is due to take office on August 7, announced Sunday that he planned to sever diplomatic ties with Cuba and Nicaragua, both run by leftist administrations. “In my government, there will be no ties with tyrannies,” said De la Espriella, a millionaire lawyer endorsed by US President Donald Trump.

Cuba's government said Tuesday that De la Espriella's announcement showed his “clear submission” to the United States. Washington maintains that Cuba poses a security threat to the region and violates the rights of its citizens.