Brazil intends to restore trade and political ties with Cuba
Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel meets Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on the sidelines of the New Global Financing Pact Summit in Paris, France Photograph:( Reuters )
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The relations between Brazil and Cuba were strong during Lula's leftist Workers Party's regime, which was between the years 2003 and 2016. The ties were strained when far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro came to power.
The relations between Brazil and Cuba were strong during Lula's leftist Workers Party's regime, which was between the years 2003 and 2016. The ties were strained when far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro came to power.
Brazil wishes to re-establish its trade and political ties with Cuba, said a top foreign aide to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Friday (August 18), after a meeting with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel in Havana.
"We want to make the relationship between Brazil and Cuba one of great friendships," Lula's adviser Celso Amorim said during the trip to Havana.
"That will contribute to peace in our region, and that's the greatest goal of diplomacy, alongside economic growth," said Amorim, who previously served as foreign minister under both Lula and former President Itamar Franco.
He also said that health expert groups and representatives from Brazil's agricultural sector will soon travel to Cuba.
The relations between Brazil and Cuba were strong during Lula's leftist Workers Party's regime, which was between the years 2003 and 2016. The ties were strained when far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro came to power.
In 2019, which was the first year of Bolsonaro's administration, for the very first time Brazil had voted against an annual United Nations resolution where it denounced and called for an end to the US economic embargo on Communist-ruled Cuba.
However, after Lula resumed office in January this year to serve his third non-consecutive term, Latin America's largest economy has been looking to once again bolster its ties with the Caribbean island nation.
Cuba played a significant role in Brazil's "More Doctors" which was an initiative taken by the government that recruited foreign doctors to work primarily in remote areas of the country.
Bolsonaro was a critic of the program and ended it when he came to power, a decision that led to tension with the Cuban government.
Lula and Diaz-Canel had already held talks in June in Paris, in a meeting the Cuban leader described as "fraternal."
(With inputs from the agencies)
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