The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 960 The Hardest Person to Kill in the World

In late September, Castro paid a state visit to China.

This was his third state visit to China, and China gave him a high-level ceremonial reception.

Castro is a legend in Cuba and also in the world. He graduated from the Law Department of the University of Havana with a doctorate in 1950. He once worked as a lawyer. In 1953, when he was only 27 years old, he led an armed uprising against the dictatorship of Batista and attacked the Moncada Barracks. After the failure, he was arrested and delivered his famous self-defense speech in court, "History Will Pronounce Me Not Guilty." "History Will Pronounce Me Not Guilty" is still studied and talked about all over the world, and it has inspired countless aspiring young people.

In 1955, he went into exile in the United States and Mexico, where he founded the July 1956 Movement. In 1959, he returned to Cuba and founded an insurgent army and base in the Sierra Maestra Mountains. In January 1, he led the insurgent army to overthrow the Batista dictatorship, established a revolutionary government, and served as the head of the revolutionary government and commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

Since then, Castro has led the Cuban people to remain strong and refusing to succumb to power, and has been moving forward courageously.

Castro is over seventy years old this year, but he is still fighting for the Cuban revolution.

He has always been the focus of national and social attention, and Cubans usually call him "my commander."

Of course, this year the CIA declassified a 705-page file, which attracted the attention of the whole world. According to the declassified file, Castro has been the target of 634 assassination attempts, none of which were successful.

Castro said humorously: "If there is an item for the number of assassination attempts in the Olympics, I am the absolute champion."

Clinton once described Castro in an interview: He was president when I was in kindergarten; he was president when I was in elementary school; he was president when I was in middle school; he was president when I was in college; he was still president after I started working; he was still president after I got married; he was still president when I became president; he was still president when my first term was about to end. Now I finally understand what it means to "struggle for the cause of communism all my life."

This revolutionary, the most difficult man to kill in the world, is always welcomed wherever he goes.

When Castro visited China this time, China also welcomed his visit with the highest diplomatic etiquette.

As the ties between the two sides become increasingly close, there is more and more cooperation in economy, trade, culture and politics, and there are more and more mutual visits.

Liu Tao also arrived in Beijing and joined the cooperation negotiation meeting.

Panshan Group has made considerable contributions to the smooth reform of Cuba in recent years and is a backbone force in Cuba's import and export trade.

Ninety percent of Cuba's exports are transported by shipping companies under the Panshan Group; Panshan Group itself is even Cuba's largest trading partner, and Cuban tobacco is sold to the world through Panshan Group.

The United States bans Cuban cigarettes, but the American market is flooded with Cuban cigarettes, which is due to Panshan Group’s channels in the United States.

Every year, Panshan Group ships more than 1 million Cuban cigarettes to the United States through its own channels.

Many of the minerals exported by Cuba are also purchased by Panshan Group.

The industrial products imported by Cuba are also sold to Cuba by Panshan Group.

The reason he came this time was because Cuba wanted to import a batch of weapons and equipment, as well as purchase Y-10 and Y-13, all of which were related to Panshan Group.

Some weapons are naturally not suitable for export to Cuba because of American reasons.

However, there is no problem with some light weapons and defensive weapons. As for naval equipment, the Type 022 missile boat is not suitable, but the Type 022A torpedo boat can be exported, but it is necessary to say hello to the Americans, who will inevitably check it in the Caribbean.

There is naturally no problem with the Y-13 and Y-10.

This time, Cuba adopted a loan model, with China providing a $10 billion interest-free loan to import industrial films from China to improve the lives of the Cuban people. At the same time, Cuba also received a $3 million low-interest loan for infrastructure construction and improvement of Cuba's infrastructure.

The leader accompanied Castro on a high-speed train from Beijing to Shanghai, and then to Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, introducing to Castro the construction achievements and experiences made by China after the reform and opening up.

The Cuban delegation also included Cuban college students and scholars. They exchanged ideas with Chinese college students and scholars.

Starting seven years ago, Cuba has sent a group of students to Chinese universities for study and exchange every year, and China also sends a group of students and scholars to Cuba for exchange on a regular basis.

Although Cuba is small, there are many things worth learning.

China and Cuba are constantly promoting cooperation and exchanges based on the principles of win-win cooperation, peaceful coexistence, and equal exchanges.

This is the first time Castro has come to China in three years. This time he came to China, he felt very clearly that China's urban construction has become better and China's development is too fast.

In China, Castro felt very relaxed. He didn't need to be on guard against agents at all times. It was very safe here.

Castro mentioned the WTO.

Cuba joined the WTO on April 1995, 4 and is a member of the WTO. Up to now, Cuba has implemented a planned economy, and the influence of Cuba's planned economy on Cuba is stronger than that on China, and the basic daily necessities of residents are rationed.

Cuba is currently implementing reforms, and to a certain extent is also referring to China's experience. After all, China's reforms have achieved huge success.

Since last year, Cuba has liberalized its tourism industry with the intention of attracting overseas tourists to visit Cuba.

Although Cuba is not developed and the country is not strong, it has many characteristics, including coffee, cigarettes, cocoa, the unique beauty of the Caribbean Sea, and of course, it is a world leader in some medical fields, which can attract people to Cuba for treatment.

China is the world's most populous country, so Cuba naturally wants to actively expand China's tourism market and attract Chinese people to travel to Cuba.

At this time, Liu Tao was discussing banking matters with the Cuban delegation and wanted to set up a bank office in Cuba.

This year, Cuba carried out financial reforms. In June, the Central Bank of Cuba was established, which is responsible for supervising and regulating the operation of the banking system, issuing currency, formulating and implementing currency lending and exchange rate policies, and negotiating foreign debts. The National Bank of Cuba was established in December 6 and previously served as a central bank, but now it has been changed to a commercial bank.

If Hong Kong Bank or other banks could set up offices in Cuba, many things would become simple.

Of course, there is one more thing, which is about Cuba's communications and the Internet. Cuba's communications are still very backward, and the Internet does not exist in Cuba.

There is no doubt that cooperation is possible.

(End of this chapter)