DTN News: U.S. SouthCom Head Warns Of Iranian Influence In Region

DTN News: U.S. SouthCom Head Warns Of Iranian Influence In Region

*Sources: DTN News / Defense Media

(NSI News Source Info) MIAMI - June 26, 2009: Iran's growing influence in Latin America is a "potential risk" to the region, the newly-appointed head of the U.S. Southern Command has warned. U.S. Air Force Gen. Douglas Fraser, who took charge of U.S. military operations in 31 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean on June 25, expressed "real concern" about the Islamic Republic's links with "extremist organizations" in the region. "The real concern is not a nation-to-nation interaction, it is the connection that Iran has with extremist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah, and the potential risk that that could bring to this region," Fraser told journalists ahead of taking up the post. Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has forged close ties with several leftist Latin American leaders in recent years, most notably Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Cuban leader Raul Castro. Commenting on Iran's ties to extremist groups in the region, Fraser said: "It is a concern, and it is an issue we will continue to monitor for any increasing activity." He cited Lebanon-based Hezbollah, which has links to Iran and is accused of being behind a suicide bombing that killed 200 U.S. marines in Beirut in 1983 and the 1996 bombing of the Khobar towers in Saudi Arabia, which killed more than 20 people. The group has denied playing a role in those attacks and the bombing of Israeli and Jewish targets in Buenos Aires. Fraser, who was deputy commander at U.S. Pacific Command, said the illicit trade in arms drugs and people was worrying, and indicated it would be the focus of his work. "The major concern is the illicit trafficking and the impact that that is having in the security and the stability, especially through the northern part of South America through Central America and the Caribbean, and through Mexico and the United States." He added the U.S. needed to ensure links between narcoterrorism and illicit trafficking do not become more pronounced. Fraser played down talk of a conventional threat in the hemisphere, but said Venezuela's military stance was concerning. "I'm concern with the military buildup in Venezuela because I don't understand the threat that they see," he said. "I don't see a conventional military threat in the region. So I don't see why they see a need to build their military to the point that they are pursuing." Fraser, who lived in Colombia for three years as a teenager, said Southern Command would continue to help that country combat leftist guerillas like the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - the FARC - and narcoterrorist groups. "The FARC is not defeated and we need to continued that effort. That's been a focus for a very specific reason," he said. "But Southern Command has been engaged with all the militaries within the region, with the exception of Cuba," he continued. "My intent is not to focus on one nation or the other because it is together that we build that capacity." Fraser is the first Air Force officer to take the helm of the Southern Command. He replaces U.S. Navy Adm. James Stavridis, who has been tapped to become NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez 'To Restore US Ambassador'

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez 'To Restore US Ambassador'

(NSI News Source Info) April 19, 2009: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he expects to send an ambassador back to Washington soon, in a move towards restoring normal ties with the US. The announcement came at a Summit of the Americas in Trinidad, where US President Barack Obama received a warm welcome from Latin American leaders. Mr Chavez expelled the US envoy to Caracas in September in "solidarity" with Bolivia. The US reciprocated. The dispute was over an alleged US plot against Bolivian President Evo Morales. Mr Chavez was a fierce critic of the United States under former President George W Bush, accusing Washington of plotting to assassinate him. Book gift But in a sign of warming ties, Mr Obama shook hands with President Chavez, and accepted a book from the Venezuelan leader. Chavez presents Obama with a gift Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (R) gives U.S. President Barack Obama a copy of "Las Venas Abiertas de America Latina" during a meeting at the Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad April 18, 2009. Chavez presented the U.S. president with a book, "The Open Veins of Latin America," by left-wing Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano. Obama accepted the gift with a smile. Although they had already shaken hands when they met on Friday, Mr Chavez greeted him again on Saturday, this time pressing on him a book. In taking the gift, Mr Obama assumed it was a book by Mr Chavez himself, he said later. However, it was a Spanish-language copy of The Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent, a book by Eduardo Galeano chronicling exploitation in the region. Asked about his first meeting with George W Bush's successor, Mr Chavez said: "I think it was a good moment... I think President Obama is an intelligent man, compared to the previous US president." It was unclear whether the two presidents would have a one-to-one meeting. Addressing the summit earlier, Mr Obama had cautioned Latin American leaders not to blame all their problems on the United States. Bolivian 'conspiracy' On a sour note, Bolivian President Morales asked the US president to publicly repudiate an alleged plot to assassinate him that officials in Bolivia say they crushed this week. Analysts say Mr Morales does not believe there was US involvement in the alleged plot. But he told reporters that since Mr Obama took office he has seen no change in US hostility. "In Bolivia... one doesn't feel any change. The policy of conspiracy continues," he said. Correspondents say the dominant issue so far has been US-Cuba relations. Cuba is the only major Latin American country excluded from the summit and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said another summit without the communist country would be unacceptable. President Morales said Cuba had the support of the entire world as a result of the US trade embargo against it and it was now time to abandon that embargo. Cuba issue For his part, Mr Obama said he was ready to accept Cuban President Raul Castro's recent proposal of direct talks. The US has not maintained high-level diplomatic relations with Cuba since Fidel Castro led the island's revolution in 1960. But Washington recently eased its embargo, allowing Cuban-Americans to visit relatives in Cuba and send money home more easily. "I think we're making progress at the summit," Mr Obama told reporters after the meeting on Saturday in Port of Spain, ahead of summit plenary sessions. Summit leaders are expected to address the economic downturn and the region's energy and security needs at the talks, which end on Sunday. Aides to the US leader say he hopes to squeeze one-on-one meetings into his schedule along with the plenary sessions and group gatherings.

U.S., Cuba Mutually Signal Thaw In Relations / President Barack Obama Calls For 'New Beginning' With Cuba

U.S., Cuba Mutually Signal Thaw In Relations / President Barack Obama Calls For 'New Beginning' With Cuba

(NSI News Source Info) April 18, 2009: Progress toward a thaw in U.S.-Cuban relations gained unexpected new momentum Friday as leaders of the two countries signaled a willingness to open potentially historic talks on issues that have bitterly divided them since the early days of the Cold War.

President Barack Obama delivers a speech during the 5th Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, Friday April 17, 2009.

President Obama called for a "new beginning" with the island nation, capping a surge of gestures fed by a Cuban President Raul Castro's declaration Thursday that his country "could be wrong" about its adversarial approach to its powerful northern neighbor. The flurry of overtures represented the latest in the diplomatic choreography that began with the election of Obama, who has called for a new openness to Cuba, and who this week began easing rules governing contacts with the island.

But Castro, using conciliatory language of a kind rarely heard in the 50 years since the Cuban revolution, grabbed the attention of U.S. officials when he said: "We could be wrong, we admit it. We're human."Castro spoke at a meeting of leftist leaders in Venezuela. "We are willing to discuss everything -- human rights, freedom of press, political prisoners, everything, everything, everything they want to talk about," Castro said. The explicit offer to discuss issues such as political prisoners and human rights with U.S. officials was apparently a first for a top Cuban official, and White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the Obama administration was struck by the comment.

Obama, arriving in Port of Spain, capital of Trinidad and Tobago, for the Summit of the Americas, a gathering of the Western Hemisphere's 34 democratically elected leaders, did not say he would end the statutory U.S. trade embargo against Cuba. But he indicated an openness to change.

"The United States seeks a new beginning with Cuba," Obama said. "Over the past two years, I have indicated -- and I repeat today -- that I am prepared to have my administration engage with the Cuban government on a wide range of issues -- from human rights, free speech, and democratic reform to drugs, migration and economic issues." U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, speaking earlier, addressed Castro's remarks more directly.

"We welcome this overture," she said at a news conference. "We're taking a serious look at how we intend to respond." Cuba was not invited to the summit because Castro was not democratically elected.

However, the country's inclusion in the economy and diplomatic affairs of the hemisphere emerged as a top subject of the three-day summit meeting.

In one other indication of momentum, the secretary-general of the Organization of American States, Jose Miguel Insulza, said he would push for Cuba's inclusion in the organization.

In recent decades, the Cuban government has repeatedly hinted that it was ready for a thaw in U.S. relations, only to clamp down, possibly fearful that better relations with the United States would threaten its hold on power.

Cuba experts and American lawmakers cautioned that the newest signs of warming could be short-lived as well.

"I think they get spooked whenever we get closer, and they want to push it back," said Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), a longtime advocate for expanded U.S. contact with Cuba. "I've never been convinced they want us to fully lift the travel ban."

President Barack Obama Arrives At Americas Summit With Cuba Focus / Cuba Overture Takes Spotlight As President Barack Obama Arrives At Summit

President Barack Obama Arrives At Americas Summit With Cuba Focus / Cuba Overture Takes Spotlight As President Barack Obama Arrives At Summit

(NSI News Source Info) April 17, 2009: President Barack Obama’s opening to Cuba is dominating the unofficial agenda of his first Summit of the Americas as the two nations engaged in an indirect dialogue that may mark a breakthrough in U.S.-Cuban relations. Obama arrived in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago this afternoon, after Cuban President Raul Castro said his government is “willing to discuss everything” blocking a thaw in a relationship that has been frozen for almost five decades. President Barack Obama arrives for the 5th Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, Friday, April 17, 2009. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was in the Dominican Republic today, said the administration is “taking a very serious look” at Castro’s overture. The U.S. broke off relations and imposed an embargo on Cuba after Fidel Castro, Raul Castro’s brother and the country’s president until he relinquished power a year ago, expropriated the land of U.S. citizens and companies and aligned himself with the Soviet Union. While the 47-year-old embargo remains, Obama this week loosened restrictions on family travel and remittances to Cuba imposed by former President George W. Bush. He also acted to allow American communications companies such as AT&T Inc. to establish service to the Caribbean nation. Those actions were “a show of good faith on the part of the United States that we want to recast our relationship,” Obama said yesterday in Mexico City. Castro responded by saying last night in Venezuela that Cuba has sent word “in private and in public” that he is willing to discuss Cuban policies on human rights and other freedoms that Obama said stood in the way of more progress. Next Steps “Having taken the first step, I think it’s very much in our interest to see whether Cuba is also ready to change,” Obama said at a news conference yesterday with Mexican President Felipe Calderon. “We don’t expect them to change overnight.” Other leaders at the hemispheric summit, from Venezuelan socialist Hugo Chavez to Mexico’s pro-business Calderon, view a change in policy toward Cuba as a starting point for better U.S. relations with the region, which are at their lowest point in two decades. Cuba is the only country in the hemisphere excluded from the 34-nation summit, which opens today. Many of the region’s leaders entered politics under military regimes and looked to Cuba and Fidel Castro, 82, for inspiration and support. The U.S. is alone in the hemisphere in rejecting diplomatic and trade relations with Cuba. Chavez, who called Obama an “ignoramus” last month and has been at odds with the U.S. since taking office in 1992, said he will oppose the summit communiqué because of the “unjustifiable” exclusion of Cuba. Other Issues White House officials said they aren’t worried about Cuba being a focal point at the Summit of the Americas. “I think the issues that face the Americas today, particularly the economic crisis and the effects of the economic crisis, are going to be the principal concern of the vast majority of the countries and leaders who come to the summit,” Dan Restrepo, Obama’s director for Western Hemisphere Affairs, said last night in Mexico City. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama’s decision to allow Cuban-Americans unlimited travel and remittances to family in the communist country was a “decisive action” that calls for a response from the Cubans. “We’d be interested to know what the leaders in Cuba and what leaders that might be coming to the summit with that issue on their mind, what they’re willing to do and talk about with those in order to demonstrate that there’s a willingness to see something happen on the other side,” Gibbs said. “That could actually produce something that’s worthwhile as well.” Calderon, at yesterday’s news conference, called the U.S. actions to ease travel and financial restrictions on those with family members in Cuba “a very constructive, positive step.”

President Barack Obama Wants Cuba To Make Next Move To Improve Ties

President Barack Obama Wants Cuba To Make Next Move To Improve Ties

(NSI News Source Info) MEXICO CITY - April 17, 2009: U.S. President Barack Obama has said he is waiting for Havana to make the next step to improve relations after Washington lifted curbs on visits and money sent to Cuba. Earlier this week, Obama announced that Americans with relatives in Cuba would be able to visit and send money to the Caribbean island. "There are a range of steps that could be taken on the part of the Cuban government that would start to show that they want to move beyond the patterns of the last 50 years," Obama said following a meeting with Mexican President Felipe Calderon. However, he also said again that the U.S. would not end its trade embargo against the communist island without steps from Cuba's leaders on lifting restrictions on its own people. Cuban President Raul Castro responded to Obama's statement by saying that Havana was willing to discuss "everything - human rights, freedom of the press, political prisoners," but only on the condition that Cuba was regarded as an equal in any discussions, and that Washington recognized "the Cuban people's right to self-determination." The United States imposed an economic, trade and financial embargo against Cuba in 1962, three years after the Cuban Revolution that saw the downfall of Washington-backed dictator Gen. Fulgencio Batista.

Latin Leaders Will Push President Barack Obama To End Cuban Embargo At Summit

Latin Leaders Will Push President Barack Obama To End Cuban Embargo At Summit

(NSI News Source Info) April 13, 2009: When Barack Obama arrives at the fifth Summit of the Americas this week, Cuba will be at the heart of the U.S. relationship with the rest of the hemisphere, exactly as it has been for half a century. While Latin American leaders split on many issues, they agree that Obama should lift the 47-year-old U.S. trade embargo on Cuba. From Venezuelan socialist Hugo Chavez to Mexico’s pro- business Felipe Calderon, leaders view a change in policy toward Cuba as a starting point for reviving U.S. relations with the region, which are at their lowest point in two decades. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner enjoys a coffee as her Bolivian counterpart Evo Morales delivers a speech suggesting that the United States should be given an ultimatum to lift its embargo on Cuba or see its ambassadors across Latin America expelled, during the South America and Caribbean Summit in Costa do Sauipe, Brazil. Morales said the incoming administration of President Barack Obama should be given a deadline for ending the economic sanctions in place against Cuba since 1962 or risk having US envoys declared personas non grata in Latin America. Obama, born six months before President John F. Kennedy imposed the embargo, isn’t prepared to support ending it. Instead, he will likely try to satisfy the leaders at the April 17-19 summit in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, with less ambitious steps -- such as repealing restrictions on family visits and remittances to Cuba that were imposed by former President George W. Bush. That would mesh with his stated goal of changing the perception of “U.S. arrogance” that he attributed to his predecessor in his sole policy speech on the region last May. “All of Latin America and the Caribbean are awaiting a change in policy toward Cuba,” Jose Miguel Insulz, Secretary General of the Washington-based Organization of American States, said in an interview. “They value what Obama has promised, but they want more.” Symbolically Important Cuba, the only country in the hemisphere excluded from the 34-nation summit, is symbolically important to the region’s leaders, many of whom entered politics under military regimes and looked to Cuba and its longtime leader Fidel Castro, 82, for inspiration and support. Even though most countries shun the communist policies of Castro and his brother, now-President Raul Castro, the U.S. alone in the hemisphere rejects diplomatic and trade relations with the island. “Cuba represents a 50-year policy failure in Latin America and that’s why it’s so important for Obama to address it now,” says Wayne Smith, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy in Washington, who headed the State Department’s Cuba interest section in Havana from 1979-1982. “Unless Obama wants to be booed off the stage, he better come with fresh ideas.” The U.S. president, 47, thinks it would be “unfortunate” if Cuba is the principal theme at the summit and would prefer the session focus instead on the economy, poverty and the environment, says Jeffrey Davidow, the White House’s top adviser for the meeting. Obama also understands that he can’t control the discussion and intends to deal with the other leaders as partners, Davidow told reporters on April 6. Past Protests That should be enough to avoid a repeat of the circus atmosphere surrounding the previous summit, held in 2005 in Argentina, when 30,000 protesters led by Chavez and Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona burned an effigy of Bush. Obama will also benefit from the U.S.’s decision to take off the table its earlier proposal for a free-trade area spanning the Americas, an issue that divided countries at the four previous summits starting in 1994. Still, Obama’s meeting with Chavez, who last month called the U.S. president an “ignoramus” when it comes to Latin America, has the potential to generate a few sparks. To defuse the tension, Obama may say the U.S. is seeking good relations with governments across the political spectrum, says Peter Hakim, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based research group. Chavez, 54, joined Bolivian President Evo Morales, an ally, in expelling the U.S. ambassadors to their countries in September for alleged interference in domestic politics. ‘Unpredictable’ Chavez “The main concern at this point for the U.S. is the unpredictability of Chavez,” Hakim says. U.S. influence in Latin America waned under Bush as the war on terror diverted attention to the Middle East while the region expanded economic and diplomatic ties with Russia, China and other outside-the-hemisphere powers. In December, Brazil hosted the first-ever, region-wide summit of Latin American and Caribbean nations that excluded the U.S. The summit reinforced other initiatives such as the Union of South American Nations, which was formed by 12 countries to mediate regional conflicts, bypassing the OAS. Taking the “minor step” of easing travel restrictions to Cuba, a campaign pledge Obama made almost a year ago, may not satisfy the region’s increasingly assertive leaders, Julia Sweig, director of the Latin America program at the Council on Foreign Relations, said in an interview from Washington. ‘A Lot on the Table’ “The Cubans are putting a lot on the table,” says Sweig, the author of two books on Cuba, including the forthcoming “Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know.” “The U.S. should test their intentions.” From Havana to the halls of Congress, momentum for a detente is building. Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, the senior Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, urged Obama last month to begin direct talks with the Cuban government and end U.S. opposition to its membership in the OAS. Other bills would lift travel restrictions for all U.S. citizens. Last week, the Cuban American National Foundation, the leading organization for Cuban exiles, which is headed by a veteran of the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, urged a “new direction” in policy toward Cuba and expressed backing for several of Obama’s proposals. U.S. public opinion favors normalizing relations 59 percent to 29 percent, according to a Fox News/Opinion Dynamics Poll taken Jan. 27-28. The poll had a margin of error of 3 percentage points. Meeting With Fidel Fidel Castro last week met with seven U.S. lawmakers and in a column published on the Internet said Cuba “doesn’t fear dialogue with the U.S.” Manuel Marrero Faz, senior oil adviser at the Ministry of Basic Industries, said in an interview this month that U.S. oil companies, expropriated on the island in 1960, would be welcomed back to drill if the embargo ends. Obama said in May he’s taking his cues from predecessor Franklin Roosevelt. Roosevelt’s “Good Neighbor” policy, announced in 1933, temporarily ended a long history of U.S. armed intervention in Latin America and ushered in an era of unprecedented hemispheric prosperity. For his effort, Roosevelt was praised in a 1936 calypso, “FDR in Trinidad,” commemorating his stopover in the Caribbean island during a 28-day cruise to Latin America. Obama, who has yet to set foot in the region, is already the subject of 20 steel-drum tunes, says Ray Funk, a calypso expert in Fairbanks, Alaska. The most widely played, Funk says, is one called “Barack the Magnificent.”

Fidel Castro Hails 'Great Meeting' With U.S. Lawmakers

Fidel Castro Hails 'Great Meeting' With U.S. Lawmakers

(NSI News Source Info) HAVANA - April 8, 2009: Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro has said his meeting with a group of U.S. lawmakers in Havana, his first with senior U.S. officials in years, was a "great meeting" that held "particular importance for me." Cuba's longtime communist leader, 82, met with seven members of the U.S. Congressional Black Caucus on Tuesday, a day after their meeting with his brother, President Raul Castro, amid signs that the countries could normalize relations. In an article in the ruling Communist Party's Granma newspaper, Castro said: "Our meeting lasted one hour and 45 minutes, judging by the clock, but in fact just half a minute, in terms of how quickly it flew by, and how I wanted to listen to them," he said. He said the sides discussed U.S. President Barack Obama's proposal on lifting the trade embargo on Cuba. "We expressed our view that the objective realities in the U.S. have been stronger than Obama's most sincere intentions," he said. After their return to the U.S., the caucus members said Washington must consider ending the trade embargo on Cuba, along with the diplomatic restrictions that have been in place for half a century. California Representative Laura Richardson said: "The point is, it's history, and we need to move forward." Barbara Lee, who led the delegation visit, said: "Our conclusion is, given the new direction in our foreign policy, that it's time to look at a new direction in our policy toward Cuba... The 50-year embargo just hasn't worked." Fidel Castro had not met with American officials since he underwent intestinal surgery in July 2006. Lee also said Castro seemed "energetic," and in good health. "We met at his house, a house of very modest means. His wife was there, his son was taking photographs of us." During their five-day visit, which started on Friday, the delegation also met with National Assembly speaker Ricardo Alarcon and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez. U.S. House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi, commenting on her colleagues' visit, admitted on CNN that the embargo "has not accomplished much." The U.S. trade embargo on Cuba has been in force since 1962, and has since been reinforced by several legislative acts. President Obama has said he will maintain the embargo until Cuba shows progress on human rights and democracy. However, The U.S. Congress is currently considering lifting the ban on Americans visiting Cuba, and U.S. media have said Obama could soon lift a number of restrictions, including limits on money transfers between the countries.

Castro: Americans Summit To Keep 'Excluding' Cuba

Castro: Americans Summit To Keep 'Excluding' Cuba

*Fidel Castro has called on Latin American countries to support an end to Cuba's isolation when they meet the US president at a regional summit.

(NSI News Source Info) HAVANA - April 6, 2009: A summit of leaders from across the Americas won't start for almost two weeks. But Fidel Castro is already complaining about its closing statement. In an article published Sunday by official news media, the former Cuban leader said that visiting Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega had showed him a draft of the agreement the summit leaders are supposed to approve at the end of the April 17-19 summit in Trinidad and Tobago. It "contains a great number of inadmissible concepts," Castro wrote. Cuba's President Raul Castro (L) and his Nicaraguan counterpart Daniel Ortega walk together during a meeting in Havana April 2, 2009. Picture taken April 2, 2009. Cuba is the only country in the region not invited — an exclusion based on decades of U.S. attempts to isolate the communist government. Castro expressed irritation that the proposed statement does not mention the calls by many Latin American leaders for an end to such boycotts and for better ties between the United States and Cuba. "Who is now demanding our exclusion? Perhaps they don't understand that times of exclusionary agreements against our people have been left far behind?" Castro wrote, suggesting that Latin American leaders should push harder against the U.S. boycott of Cuba. "One cannot keep silent in the face of unnecessary and inadmissible concessions," Castro said. Diplomats usually conclude summit declarations well before heads of state meet to announce them, though leaders can always make last-minute changes. U.S. attempts to isolate Cuba diplomatically have collapsed in recent decades and Cuba now has warm relations with most major Latin American and Caribbean nations. Ortega and nine other Latin American heads of state have traveled to Cuba since January and most have met with Fidel Castro as well as his younger brother Raul, 77, who took over as president last year when the elder Castro formally stepped aside for health reasons. President Barack Obama, who will attend the summit, does not support lifting the U.S. embargo altogether, but his administration intends to allow Americans to visit relatives in Cuba and send money to their families in this country. Some restrictions on family travel and remittances were eased temporarily in legislation Obama signed last month, but lifting the bans entirely would meet a pledge Obama made during the presidential campaign and could be a step toward a new openness with Cuba.

Russia And Cuba Appear To Rekindle Their Cold War Alliance

Russia And Cuba Appear To Rekindle Their Cold War Alliance

(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW - January 31, 2009: The presidents of Russia and Cuba on Friday signed documents aimed at rekindling their faded Cold War alliance, pledging to expand cooperation in agriculture, manufacturing, science and tourism but studiously avoiding a public discussion of military ties. It had been nearly a quarter century since a Cuban leader had set foot on Russian soil, and President Raul Castro's visit to Moscow this week had little of the pomp and propaganda of the Cold War days, when he and his brother, Fidel, were greeted with parades on Red Square. But a decade and a half after a crumbling Soviet Union hastily withdrew financial and ideological backing from Cuba, Russia is seeking to expand economic ties with the island and possibly forge stronger military relations in an echo, as yet still faint, of an alliance that lasted 30 years. It is part of a larger Russian push into Latin America to secure new markets and also to swipe at the United States for what Moscow considers Washington's meddling in Russia's historic sphere of influence, particularly in the former Soviet republics of Ukraine and Georgia. "Your visit opens a new page in the history of Russian-Cuban relations," President Dmitry Medvedev said at a meeting with Raul Castro at the Kremlin on Friday. Neither Medvedev nor Castro spoke publicly about possible military cooperation, perhaps out of a desire to avoid antagonizing the new Obama administration, analysts said. Since Obama's election last November, both Russia and Cuba appear to have called a unilateral truce with Washington.