Cuban President Raul Castro and Brazil President Lula da Silva.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
Juan Diego Nusa Peñalver
LUIZ Inácio Lula da Silva, president of the Federative Republic of Brazil, this Thursday called on President Barack Obama to lift the economic, commercial, and financial blockade of Cuba because there is no reason for this measure to be in place.
Lula: there is no reason for the economic blockade against Cuba"Like the Cubans, I do not think that there is any reason for the embargo (blockade); there is no political or economic reason; the Cold War is over, and that is enough for (the United States) to make a decision," affirmed the South American president, speaking to the press at the José Martí International Airport moments before concluding his visit. Cuban President Raúl Castro Ruz was at the airport to bid farewell to the Brazilian president.
In this context, he called on Obama to use the same courage that the American people used to elect him president of the United States to "solve the problem of the embargo (blockade) of Cuba."
After expressing his pleasure with this, his third, visit to the island as president of Brazil, he emphasized that the meeting he had with Fidel Castro Ruz was very important.
He commented that he was very satisfied, very happy to find the leader of the Cuban Revolution in good health and said that Fidel was discussing economics as if he were a young man, thinking of the future of Cuba and Latin American and the Caribbean, and, as might be expected, thinking of the future of the world.
Likewise, he signaled the importance of his meeting with Cuban President Raúl Castro and the bilateral agreements signed on this occasion, which will contribute to Cuba’s development.
At another point, he said that his visit was very significant "for examining in detail the policy of solidarity toward Haiti adopted by Cuba, Brazil, and other Latin American countries."
He explained that he is taking with him a Cuban proposal for both countries to help the Haitians build a healthcare system.
Lula stated that Cubans are probably the best solidarity specialists in the world. "They are the most prepared and therefore we want to work together to return hope to Haitians."
Lastly, the Brazilian president assured that his country will work with unfailing conviction Cuba’s central ally in terms of the island’s investment and development policy.
He praised the island’s potential and added that Brazil today has better conditions than 10 year ago, and so "we are not going to fail at the point of discussing the most important projects for Cuba."
Translated by Granma International
Fidel and Lula hold fraternal meeting
ON Wednesday afternoon, February 24, a meeting took place between the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, and the president of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is currently on a working visit to our country.
Fidel and Lula hold fraternal meetingPresident Raúl Castro Ruz was present, along with Franklin Martins, chief minister of the Brazilian Secretariat of Social Communication.
Fidel and Lula talked at length about diverse and important issues, particularly the 15th International Conference on Climate Change, held in Copenhagen last December, and the positive outcome of the recently-concluded Summit for Latin American and Caribbean Unity.
During their extensive conversation, the Commander in Chief congratulated the Brazilian president for his brilliant work leading the Federative Republic of Brazil, and who has elevated support for the population to levels never previously reached by a leader in his country.
Da Silva’s mandate ends in late 2010, and he enjoys international prestige.
During their friendly dialogue, Fidel thanked the Brazilian people and president for their gestures of solidarity toward and cooperation with Cuba.
The moving encounter was an expression of the friendship between the two leaders and the fraternity that unites the two peoples.
Translated by Granma International
Fruitful exchange between Raúl and Lula
CUBAN president Raúl Castro Ruz and Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, president of the Federative Republic of Brazil, held productive talks on Wednesday afternoon in the Palace of the Revolution, as part of the Brazilian president’s working visit to Cuba.
Raúl and LulaThe meeting was in keeping with the excellent state of bilateral relations and solid friendship that unites the Cuban and Brazilian peoples. The presidents discussed the challenges facing their respective countries. They expressed satisfaction with the development of cooperation between Brazil and Cuba in numerous fields, especially in the economic sector, and their disposition to continue strengthening it.
Raúl emphasized the decisive role of Brazil in the present and future of the region. Lula, for his part, expressed his happiness with this, his fourth visit to Cuba, since he was elected president.
Also present at the meeting were Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz, vice president of the Council of Ministers; Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, minister of foreign affairs; Rodrigo Malmierca Díaz, minister of foreign trade and investment, and Carlos Zamora Rodríguez, the Cuban ambassador to Brazil.
Attending the meeting on the Brazilian side were Nelson Jobim, minister of defense; Miguel Jorge, minister of industry and foreign trade; Guilherme Cassel, minister of agrarian development; Franklin Martins, head of the Department of Social Communication; Aurelio García, special advisor to the president; and Bernardo Pericás Neto, the Brazilian ambassador to Cuba.
Translated by Granma International
Several new agreements between Cuba and Brazil
Miguel Maury Guerrero
CUBAN President Raúl Castro Ruz and Brazilian President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva led the signing ceremony for legal instruments of cooperation between the two nations.
The Palace of the Revolution was the venue for the signing of a memorandum of understanding for cooperation between the two countries in the area of information and communications, and a protocol of complementation in the health sector.
Likewise, complementation agreements were signed for scientific, technical and technological cooperation, for the implementation of another six aimed at encouraging soy production in Cuba, the institutional strengthening of health monitoring, and laboratories for that activity in Brazil and Cuba.
The transfer of methodologies for genetic control of different diseases that affect tomato and pepper crops, and the development of technical capacities in the biological control of agricultural plagues are also included in the agreements signed.
In addition, the official record was signed for the second meeting of the Cuba-Brazil working group on economic and commercial matters.
An international economic association contract was adopted between Quality Cuba S.A. and the Brazilian state company of works and infrastructure, covering construction projects to be carried out in the Port of Mariel in La Habana province.
IN MARIEL
Precisely in the morning, the two heads of state visited the Port of Mariel development zone, a comprehensive project to build a container terminal capable of receiving large freighters.
The Brazilian company is now working on a strategy for building and restoring roads and railroads, and dredging of the entry canal for the future terminal, which will have a capacity for moving one million containers annually. (AIN)
Translated by Granma International
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