Algeria to Help Cuba as Energy Shortages Bite

Algeria said Thursday it would restart energy supplies to Cuba and donate a solar plant to help the island tackle chronic power cuts. The announcement was made as Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel visited Africa's biggest gas exporter, the first stop on a tour that will also include Russia, Turkey and China. Algeria will "grant Cuba a solar power plant and resume the supply of fuel to allow Cuba to restart power plants and stop the power cuts," Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune told reporters. He also vowed to cancel interest payments on Cuban debt, without specifying figures.

Diaz-Canel said this was an "important" demonstration of support. Since May, Cuba has been facing both frequent power cuts and fuel shortages. Algeria and Cuba have had friendly relations for decades, with the first Cuban doctors dispatched to the North African country in 1963, just a year after its independence from France. Diaz-Canel said he and Tebboune had a "convergence of views on international and regional issues of common interest".