Pope Francis receives Diaz-Canel at the Vatican

Miguel Diaz-Canel arrived at the Vatican on Tuesday just before 10:00 am. For what constitutes his first meeting at the head of the Cuban regime with Pope Francis, whom he has already met on other occasions and who is expected to Petition for the release of political prisoners.

Diaz-Canel arrived with his wife, Liz Cuesta Peraza, in Plaza del Fungo, where they were received by the head of the province of the papal family, in charge of protocol, Leonardo Sapienza. According to the newspaper discussionthe meeting will take place in the office next to Paul VI Hall, where the great events of the Vatican take place.

As reported by the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Twitter, The meeting between Francisco and Diaz-Canel will be a “private audience”.

The leader is the third ruler to travel to the Vatican since Fidel Castro came to power in 1959. Fidel Castro and General Raul did so, respectively, in 1996 and 2015.

On the same day, Diaz-Canel is expected to meet Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.And picked up by her Venezuelan side telesure.

He would inform the Vatican after the meeting of the time they had been together and the exchange of gifts, as well as the issues discussed later in the State Secretariat with Pietro Parolin.

# on the video 🎥 | The arrival of the President of the Republic #Cuba 🇨🇺 @employeeto #Vatican 🇻🇦, where he will be holding a private audience with @employee.#DíazCanelInTheVaticano pic.twitter.com/LtVSiATiOx

– Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs (CubaMINREX) June 20, 2023

The meeting takes place a few days later Return to the Vatican, Pope FrancisLast Friday, nine days after being admitted to the hospital for surgery for an abdominal hernia.

In 2015, Francisco spoke with Raul Castro for an hour Also in this room is Paul VI’s chapter.

This will be the fourth contact between Diaz-Canel and the head of the Catholic Church. The first was in March 2013 when he served as First Vice President of the Councils of State and Ministers and attended the inauguration of Pope Francis. They were in September 2015, on the occasion of Francis’ visit to Cuba, and in February 2016, during the meeting between the Supreme Pontiff and the Patriarch of Moscow, Cyril, in Havana.

The president arrived in Rome on Monday The Cuban delegation also consists of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, several deputy ministers in that portfolio, and the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Ana Teresita González Fraga, among other executives.

Although the issues that will be discussed at this meeting are not known, One outstanding issue is that of those convicted after the largest anti-government protests in Cuba in decades, most of them peaceful and spontaneous.

Cardinal Benjamino Stella, who visited Cuba last February to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of John Paul II’s visit, made it clear that he had conveyed Francis’ message for the release of these prisoners.