INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
WASHINGTON: In an ironic political twist at a time much attention and hoopla is centered on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to
Washington later this month, Kerala's chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan is visiting Cuba -- once a mortal enemy of the United States -- via
Vijayan flew to Havana on Wednesday from Washington DC, where among other engagements he met officials at the World Bank -- seen as a
capitalist cat's paw in communist circles -- to discuss Kerala-related projects
Also ironic is the fact that one of the CIA's earliest capers in Washington's covert war against communism -- pre-dating Bay of Pigs
fiasco in Cuba -- took place in Kerala in the late 1950s
According to historical accounts, confirmed by US diplomats of the era, the CIA mounted a clandestine operation in Kerala to topple the
communist government after it came into power in 1956 in a democratic, free/fair election -- the first such instance in the world.The
election results, the diplomatic historian Dennis Kux would note later, "rang alarm bells in Washington," where "preventing additional
Keralas became an important argument for augmenting US assistance to India." Washington eventually succeeded when the Nehru dispensation
dismissed the Kerala government in 1959 citing deteriorating law and order situation following social unrest, some of it engendered by the
Although communism is now less of a bugaboo for Washington, and ties between US and Cuba have thawed in recent years following the
breakthrough Obama visit in 2016, the Kerala chief minister's office was so leery that it checked with New Delhi if it was okay for
Vijayan to fly from US to Cuba
It received clearance both for the visit and the route, which incidentally was one taken by minister of state for external affairs Meenakshi
The green signal paved way for the first Indian chief ministerial visit ever to Cuba
According to a member of the delegation, the visit centers on healthcare and sports, where it is felt Kerala has much to learn from Cuba
even though it is the leading Indian state in both fields
Vijayan, who is accompanied by the state's health minister Veena George, a former journalist, is scheduled to visit a "Panchakarma" center
to discuss collaboration in alternative medicine where Kerala is the leader
The state is also looking for exchanges in the sports arena
Earlier in the week, Vijayan attended a Non-Resident Keralites rally in New York City's Times Square, amid allegations from Congress
leaders in Kerala that the Communist party was fund-raising by offering proximity to the chief minister rather than seeking investment
Photos of Vijayan seated alone on a foldable steel chair placed on a makeshift stage was widely shared on social media to pan the visit at a
time Congress activists say the state's finances are in dire straits
