Somalia receives new Cuban envoy in diplomatic ties renewal

Cuba has sent an ambassador to Somalia for the first time in 46 years, renewing ties with the Horn of Africa country.

Mr Juan Manuel Rodriguez Vázquez will be the non-resident Cuban ambassador to Somalia after he presented credentials to Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Tuesday. 

Diplomatic relations between Cuba and Somalia were broken in 1977 after Havana sided with Ethiopia’s former Derg regime leader Mengistu Haile Mariam. Ethiopia was then in conflict with Somalia during the Ogaden war. 

Cuba and Somalia had established relations in 1972 when the two countries vouched for policies of the ‘eastern bloc’ during the Cold War era, especially with the former Soviet Union which encouraged both to pursue socialist ideals. 

Five years later, however, the Ogaden war between Somalia’s former government led by Mohamed Siad Barre and the Ethiopian strongman Haile Mariam saw Somalia shift from Soviet-leaning policies to the US side.