Charlotte Wheatley, Jakarta – You can learn a lot about someone over a cup of tea – starting with the way they drink it. Black with just one spoonful of sugar is all that's needed for the Cuban Ambassador to Indonesia.
"We Cuban's must have sugar with our tea," said Jorge Leon Cruz over the gentle clinks of a silver spoon circumnavigating a porcelain cup. Once the leading sugar exporter in the world, he explains that Cuba has long been dependent on sugar both economically and as a key culinary ingredient.
The 55-year-old ambassador returns to his armchair and sinks into its cushions with an air of ease and comfort.
Despite having already spent nearly two years in Indonesia, Cruz's first impressions of Jakarta are still fresh. The rich humidity of the tropical air with its frequent bouts of soothing rain is a close match to the climate of his home country. The dense and unforgiving traffic, however, is not. This he admits was the first thing he noticed about the city.
However, the prime location of the Cuban Embassy, which is also his residence in Permata Hijau, West Jakarta, means he gets a reprieve from the traffic deadlock.
Other than the ambassador and his wife – who are the only two Cuban diplomats running the embassy – there are only two other Cubans living in Indonesia. Similarly, a small community of around 10 Indonesians reside in Cuba. Despite the numbers, Cruz says he feels right at home in Indonesia.
"I never felt like a foreigner here in Indonesia because there are so many similarities between the two countries. The people of Indonesia are very friendly, communicative and hospitable and the Cuban people have similar characteristics.
"Although there's one key difference between Cubans and Indonesians," Cruz quips with a growing grin. "The Indonesians like to sing, but the Cubans, they like to dance."
Cruz's role as an ambassador in Indonesia is his first diplomatic experience in the Asian region. After graduating from the high school of International Relations in 1983, he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Cruz's first post led him to Kuwait followed by Libya and then to Qatar, where he first worked as an ambassador.
A fierce competitive spirit in the sporting arena was what gave Cruz this thirst to proudly represent his country.
"I participated in national competitions in different sports and maybe that's how I got the desire to represent the place that I belong to. So when I was growing up one of my wishes was to represent my country in the world and to defend our revolution," he said.
Despite a keen interest in swimming, baseball, basketball and table tennis while growing up, Cruz says these days his busy schedule means he only gets to exercise at the gym – twice a week, if he's lucky.
Yet good sportsmanship is still on the agenda for Cruz, who considers sports to be one of the key areas that Cuba and Indonesia are looking to strengthen in their bilateral relations.
Last year the deputy president of the Cuban Sports Ministry paid an official visit to Indonesia and signed a sports cooperation agreement between the two countries. From July to December of that year, a delegate from Indonesia, accompanied by around 35 athletes and coaches, traveled to Cuba for a training camp in Havana. The 6-month program focused on different sports including weight lifting, gymnastics and volleyball.
"We know that Cubans are very good in sports and health so this is what we want to share with our friends here in Indonesia. When it comes to the health sector, you know Cuba is ready to help Indonesians whenever they need it."
Cuba was indeed quick to send aid during the aftermath of the 2006 earthquake that devastated Yogyakarta. As many as 135 Cuban doctors were dispatched together with 60 tons of medicine and surgical equipment, which was used to set up two field hospitals in Prasmanan and Gantiwarno, near Yogyakarta.
During the 4 months they spent in Indonesia, the team attended to more than 200,000 patients and performed more than 2,000 surgical operations. While there are already promising signs for strong relations in the areas of sports and health, the ambassador acknowledges that when it comes to the area of trade there is much to be desired.
"The trade relationship is very low. It's US$10 million a year on average and the balance is only for Indonesia. We import Indonesian clothes, electronics and furniture but we don't export anything from Cuba." While the vast distance between the two countries has been one of the biggest obstacles when it comes to trade, Cruz is hopeful that things will start to pick up pace in the near future.
New developments in Cuba's biotechnology and in the pharmaceutical sphere have meant that medical products and drugs are currently waiting to be registered before they can be exported.
"So after they register these products the commerce and trade between Cuba and Indonesia will increase. It's one of the points that we want to go ahead with in order to boost the relationship in trade because the distance has always been the biggest handicap."
Even though Cuba and Indonesia lie in different regions of the world, Cruz is adamant that the two countries still have a lot in common.
"We do have different political systems but our history has many similarities because we both fought against our metro police, we both fought for our freedom, for our independence. I think we have the same objective, to find peace and social justice for our people."