The recent visits of high profile Russian officials to Cuba and Venezuela, all in less than a week, have fueled scrutiny and speculation about Russia’s interests in the region amid the war it launched on Ukraine. Vladimir Putin’s top security adviser and close ally, Gen. Nikolai Patrushev, the Russian Security Council secretary, met with Cuba’s leader Raàl Castro and the country’s appointed president, Miguel Dà­az Canel, in Havana on Wednesday to discuss “security cooperation.” Also