The presentation will deal with the history of bilateral links between Cuba and Syria, following the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1965. I will argue that during this period bilateral political relations and the frequent exchanges between the Cuban Communist Party and the Syrian Baath party, have contributed to the high level of agreement on many central topics of the international agenda. The paper will provide commentary upon the Cuban decision to sever relations with Israel in 1973 (an exceptional event in the diplomatic history of revolutionary Cuba) and the decision to send Cuban troops to Syria during the Arab-Israeli war in that same year. I will also clarify the actual nature and intensity of the combat that took place (which contrast with prevailing ideas in the popular imaginary of Cuba), and will explain this strategy toward the Middle East region as part of Cuban efforts to take the lead in the Non-Aligned Movement. It will also be argued that, in spite of the high profile of political relations, the economic bilateral transactions that have been carried out thus far are summarily weak, and that the efforts taken in order to improve them have been unsuccessful up to the present, with little possibility for improvement when one considers the hard economic crisis the island has been facing for the past several years. Some data dealing with the bilateral trade relations will be included and analyzed in order to better illustrate this. The visit of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad to Havana in 2010 should be seen more as an important gesture undertaken in recognition of the historically high level of bilateral political relations between the two nations, and not as a mission to deepening economic links and strengthen relations with communities of Syrian origin, as was the case in other countries which the president visited on his tour of Latin America.