Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has met with his Cuban counterpart in Havana. The meeting signals a revitalization of ties between the two countries in the first trip by a Brazilian president to the Caribbean nation in nine years.
Cuba and Brazil share strong historical and demographic ties. Brazilian soap operas are popular in Cuba, and both have rich musical traditions.Lula’s narrow victory over former far-right president Jair BolsonaroThe event in Havana was an opportunity “to officialize the reestablishment of political and diplomatic relations with Cuba that were completely abandoned during the Bolsonaro administration,” said Paulo Peres, a political scientist at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul.
Cuba stopped paying the loan in 2018. Bolsonaro allies on the far-right regularly used the issue to accuse Lula of preferring to build a port in communist Cuba rather than finance national projects. An expansion of trade links between the two countries is also expected to be on the agenda. In 2022, Brazil had a trade surplus of approximately $287 million with Cuba, according to a January statement by Brazil’s foreign affairs ministry. Brazil principally exported vegetal fats and oils, rice and poultry meat.
The two leaders were also likely to discuss Brazil’s “More Doctors” program, said Peres. Launched in 2013, the initiative recruited doctors from abroad to work in remote areas of the country where there was a lack of health care services. Bolsonaro had little interest in international affairs. Since taking office in January, Lula has been seeking to project Brazil as a major player on the global stage.
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