Miguel Diaz-Canel, First Vice-president of the Cuban councils of State and Ministers, received the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, who arrived in Cuba on an official visit.

Accompanied by Cilia Flores, the first fighter, the Venezuelan head of state arrived in the Caribbean nation shortly after midnight to demonstrate "the deep fraternity existing between our peoples."

We arrived happy, as always, for being in our common home, fraternal Cuba, the president told reporters gathered at the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana.

He said he traveled to the island to sign, with his counterpart, a group of documents that perfect the strategic elements of bilateral cooperation.

The path walked by the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America, ALBA, has been long, in times that have been of renewal, of independence, and see how our peoples have twinned deeply in the practice of solidarity, he said before concluding "we come to a land of brothers and sisters, of Marti and Fidel."

We are here in the spirit of arranging the joint cooperation plan for 2016 very well and we bring a long-term vision, from 2016 to 2030, which structurally includes all economic, financial, and energy cooperation as well as stability in the development of countries in the region, he announced.

Also present at the air terminal to welcome Maduro were Ali Rodriguez, Venezuela's ambassador to Cuba; Rogelio Sierra, Deputy Foreign Minister; and officials from the Foreign Ministry and part of the Bolivarian diplomatic corps.

Maduro’s visit takes place a week after the Foreign Minister of that country, Delcy Rodriguez, was received in Havana by Army General Raul Castro, president of the councils of State and Ministers, with whom she had a lively dialogue.

Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez reiterated on Thursday in this capital at a news conference that Cuba unconditionally supports the Bolivarian people and demanded that the U.S. government repeals Executive Order 13692 which describes Venezuela as a threat to U.S. national security.

During his visit, Chavez will review the implementation of the Comprehensive Cooperation Agreement, in particular the new proposals for cooperation and trade between the two countries.