Brazilian president to meet Fidel Castro in Cuba

February 19, 2010
Brazilian president to meet Fidel Castro in Cuba

BRASILIA, Feb 19, 2010 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Brazilian President Luiz Incio Lula da Silva will meet with Cuban leader Fidel Castro on Wednesday for a meeting of "friends" during which they will discuss aspects of international politics, Lula's spokesman Marcelo Baumbach said Friday. Da Silva will arrive in Havana on Tuesday evening, coming from Cancun, Mexico, where he will attend the Rio Group Summit. Castro and Lula da Silva are friends since the early 1980s, when the Brazilian former union leader founded the Workers' Party (PT), through which he became Brazil's president since 2003. "The meeting that President Lula will have with President Fidel Castro is a visit of a friend to another, during which they will discuss current issues concerning international politics," the spokesman said. After this meeting, Lula will be present at the closure of the Working Group Brazil-Cuba on Trade and Economic Affairs, and in the evening he will have dinner with Cuban President Ral Castro.

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2010/02/19/4632727.htm

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Lula to Meet in Cuba with Castros
February 4, 2010

HAVANA TIMES, Feb. 4 — Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva plans to visit Cuba on February 24-25 to meet with Raul and Fidel Castro, announced the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, reported IPS.

Lula’s last visit to Cuba was in October 2008, shortly after Cuba was hit by powerful hurricanes Gustav and Ike. His trip was aimed at extending his people and government’s solidarity with the island’s residents.

http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=19218

http://www.latinamericanstudies.org.nyud.net:8090/brazil/castro-lula.jpg http://1.bp.blogspot.com.nyud.net:8090/_O8qZXq0PNG4/SQHCjsHn_uI/AAAAAAAAB84/MuXUpmRIXI4/s400/Lula_anda_Castro9822.jpg

http://www.latinamericanstudies.org.nyud.net:8090/brazil/castro-lula-03.jpg http://4.bp.blogspot.com.nyud.net:8090/_qFBGyY-0KLU/SUp4kIojZsI/AAAAAAAACzM/4QkQjSyvXjs/s400/raul-lula.jpg

http://vivirlatino.com.nyud.net:8090/i/2008/01/20080116elpepuint_4.jpg

http://www.cubaheadlines.com.nyud.net:8090/files/cubaheadlines.com/imagenes/raul-luladasilva.jpg http://latimesblogs.latimes.com.nyud.net:8090/laplaza/images/2008/02/22/lula5.jpg http://news.xinhuanet.com.nyud.net:8090/english/2008-01/21/xinsrc_5620105210554156292085.jpg

Lula must be selling something in Cuba. Every time he goes to visit one of these extreme leftist friends, he signs a deal and Brazilian businessmen come in and clean up.

At least, that's what the Cuba detractors repeat ad nauseum. That's why I'm surprised to see your conjecture.

---

Cuba does generate some income, but they are heavily subsidized, they get money from Venezuela, and they get money from Cubans outside Cuba.

Regarding what Lula has been doing to promote Brazilian private businesses abroad, here are some references

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ig6rcjKdYoguJPibNuO3kXqccnBg

"BEIJING (AFP) — Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva arrived in Beijing on Monday with 240 business leaders for a visit aimed at boosting trade with China and promoting what he called a "new economic order."

He was due to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao and other leaders during the three-day visit, and promote oil contracts, sales of Embraer aircraft, meat exports and biofuel technology for cars, officials in Brazil said."

http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-6859729/BRAZIL-S-PRESIDENT-FINDS-ETHANOL.html

"Brazil is heavily invested in ethanol, and Lula has promoted the stuff as the future great source of the planet's energy and of the region's well-being (see NotiSur, 2007-04-27). "We have the opportunity to democratize access to new sources of energy, multiplying job and income creation and diversifying the energy matrix, bearing in mind the needs of our farmers and guaranteeing food production for all," Lula said just prior to leaving home for a swing through Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, Jamaica, and Panama."

Note: What this doesn't say is that Brazil's ethanol industry is mostly private, even Petrobras is partially privatized and sells shares in the stock market.

http://www.voltairenet.org/article122157.html

"The Brazilian President proposed a “revolution” to South American presidents, so that they make a joint decision to fight bureaucracy. “We believe in the political, economic, and social integration of the continent. In as much, there will be no integration without the dismantling of legal bureaucracy,” Lula said. In the last 18 months, this was the 5th time that Brazilian and Venezuelan businessmen met to discuss trade agreements between both countries. “We should create strategic organizations between companies. I am sure that these initiatives will contribute in an important way to generate employment and wealth for our people,” Lula said, adding that this is the right time for both countries to strengthen their trade relations."

Lula's popularity is in part due to the way he promotes private Brazilian business abroad. They have done well, the Brazilian stock market is performing above average, and as long as the President promotes business, they'll be happy with him.

It's out in the papers today: Lula's real reason for visiting Cuba is to be there for the start of the construction of a container port at Mariel. The port will be a joint Venture between Brazilian companies and the Cubans, and will be built by Odebretch, the giant multinational and private company. They really benefit a lot from Lula's salesmanship. Financing will be done by Brazilian banks. It's all about profits, visiting Fidel was probably a cover, and he's likely there with Brazilian businessmen trying to do more business.

I don't know if the deals Lula makes are good for the client country - they killed Venezuela when Chavez made the no-bid deals with Lula, then Lula flipped the contracts to Odebretch, which by the way is a capitalist privately owned multinational.

The other issue we should consider, do you know of any other country where two brothers in their 80's rule for over 50 years? What's wrong with younger Cubans, say those in their 40's and 50's, they can't figure out how to run things?

wrongheaded interference, Cuba would be a socialist paradise.

were kicked out for saying nasty things about the Castro dinosaurs

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5215L820090305

Please straighten that out as a courtesy to the forum members.

Thanks.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/06/world/americas/06cuba.html?_r=1&ref=global-home

Cuban officials said that Mr. Pérez Roque and Mr. Lage had become too visible and that they had conveyed to foreign politicians false expectations about how the country would change and who would be in control of its direction. The officials declined to be more specific.

The men were also involved socially with a Cuban named Conrado Hernández, who was surreptitiously recording their conversations during regular parties at his ranch in Matanzas. Some of those recorded conversations, which Cuban officials recently discovered, included acerbic criticism and off-color jokes about various government leaders, including Fidel and Raúl Castro.

Mr. Hernández, who served as the liaison on the island between the Cuban government and business interests in the Basque region of Spain, has been detained for over a month, Cuban officials said, because he was supposedly passing the recordings to Spanish intelligence officials, a claim that the Spanish Embassy in Cuba adamantly denies.

The Cuban officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with reporters.

Unnamed source of course, but sure.

So they insulted Fidel and he fired them is the story.

I could see that.

s

I am shocked - shocked, I tell you (not) - that, with all of your newfound Cuba expertise, you don't really know much about the topic. I guess that makes you a DU hall-of-fame Cuba "expert*".


Dorticós Torrado, Osvaldo
http://www.bartleby.com/65/do/Dorticos.html

1919–83, president of Cuba (1959–76). A prosperous lawyer, he participated in Fidel Castro’s revolutionary movement and was imprisoned (1958). He escaped and fled to Mexico, returning to Cuba after Castro’s triumph (1959). As minister of laws (1959) he helped to formulate Cuban policies. He was appointed president in 1959. Intelligent and competent, he wielded considerable influence. In 1976 the Cuban government was reorganized, and Castro assumed the title of president; Dorticós was named a member of the council of state.

The Cuban government was reorganized (approved by popular vote) into a variant parliamentary system in 1976.

You ask "what's wrong with younger Cubans ...". LOL. Unlike certain Cuba detractors here, Cubans know Cuban history.

Even the CIA's own annual factbook on Cuba shows that the overwhelming majority of Cubans in Cuba support their system of government.



"expert*" = as in: never been there, and know jack shit about the country, the people, and the politics of Cuba. Nada. But yet, feel the need to post RW anti Cuba propaganda mixed-in with their dark and uninformed fantasies about Cuba.

---

s

Thanks to you. :hi:

Admitedly, I'm not an Ecuador expert. Yet.

I certainly don't troll around the Ecuador threads on DU telling everyone what Ecuador is or isn't doing using RW sources to try to back up absurd claims, like certain know-nothing "experts" do on the Cuba threads.

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According to the CIA Factbook (which I located thanks to your comment), the Cuban President and Vice President are elected by the National Assembly. They state the following regarding how the National Assembly is chosen:

"Cuba's Communist Party is the only legal party, and officially sanctioned candidates run unopposed"

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cu.html

Now, I'm sure most people think it's strange to have a system whereby the Communist party is the only one which can organize itself as a Party, and somehow the National Assembly has chosen to elect Castro family members to rule them, even though they're older than Methuselah?

Do you realize how absurd it is to claim a nation can only be ruled, for over 50 years, by two oldsters, one of whom is missing half his digestive tract?

I'll believe Cubans are free the day they can organize themselves, freely, to have parties and associations which advocate capitalism, monarchy, or whatever suits them, without being jailed and/or beaten.

And i can't find anywhere results for polls taken in Cuba by independent parties, not that they would work anyway, since it's likely most Cubans would fear revealing their true thoughts, given their current conditions, since their lives controlled by a repressive regime.

oh wait, nevermind.

Strange.


FYI ...


http://www.poptel.org.uk/cuba-solidarity/democracy.htm

This system in Cuba is based upon universal adult suffrage for all those aged 16 and over. Nobody is excluded from voting, except convicted criminals or those who have left the country. Voter turnouts have usually been in the region of 95% of those eligible .

There are direct elections to municipal, provincial and national assemblies, the latter represent Cuba's parliament.

Electoral candidates are not chosen by small committees of political parties. No political party, including the Communist Party, is permitted to nominate or campaign for any given candidates.Instead the candidates are nominated by grass roots assemblies and by electoral commissions comprising representatives of all the mass organisations.

The municipal elections are the cornerstone of Cuba's political structure. They comprise delegates who have great authority amongst the local population and who are elected for reasons of known integrity, intelligence, hard work and honesty.

The elections to the provincial and national assemblies (Cuba's regional and national parliaments) follow a different procedure. For deputies to the national assembly the nominating process involves proposals from the municipal councils.

In addition to receiving nominations from different organisations and institutions, the candidacy commissions carry out an exhaustive process of consultation before drawing up a final slate. In the February 1993 elections they consulted more than 1.5 million people and established a pool of between 60 and 70 thousand potential candidates before narrowing it down to 589.

The nominating process and the huge participation in the last election clearly show that the deputies to Cuba's parliament enjoy massive public support.

Candidacy commissions are open to any and all for caucusing, voting for nominees, and running for any seat. Some last a couple of days, and others take weeks of intensive debate and numerous pollings.

The "unopposed" reference is a common distortion/misunderstanding of Cuba's extra process - the Ratification vote (which is not the same election as the election nominees run against each other for a particular seat). The Ratification election in Cuba is the process in which an elected candidate must be ratified in the district they represent by a margin of at least 50% +1 vote by the public.


I've been there during an entire election season and even attended (as a guest) several candidacy commissions all the way through to the Ratification election that confirms that a majority of constituents approve of the candidate for his/her seat.

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Uhu. I'm not American, why should I go to the CIA website to find anything? You know what I think about the USA? It's an empire led by morons. And the morons happen to belong to both big parties you have. So now that we got that out of the way...(and I hope DU doesn't kick me out)... I noticed you said the CIA website, then you posted a quote from elsewhere. What the commie poster you quote doesn't say is that no party other than the communist party is allowed to exist. Like I said, when Cubans can have a Conservative Republican Party, a Monarchist Party, Greens, Homos, Anarchists, and so on each advocating what they want, properly organized, with access to mass media (which in Cuba is all owned by the commies), then I'll believe Cubans are free.

Meanwhile, I'll continue to believe Cubans are an unfortunate people, led by two old men whose ideas are outdated, and with a younger generation which basically lacks the testicles to tell the two dinasaurs it's time for a new generation to run things, and they don't have to be named Castro. To tell you the truth, I think socialism is fine, but I got a serious problem with autocracy and rule by iron fist. It's too Stalinesque, and even worse, it's no good, it delivers poverty.

Well, here are some comments about Cuban workers's salaries. It appears to me most Cubans live in a giant sweat shop. And I bet government officials, high level party members, and Cuban army generals live a lot better than workers. It's always the same, when communists create their "workers' paradise", all they do is ruin it for everybody else, all they really do is replace the old oligarchs with a new class of rulers, who also happen to believe in marxism, a truly dumb idea.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7449776.stm

"The average wage in Cuba for everyone - from doctors to farm labourers - is about $20 (£10) a month."

http://www.britannica.com/bps/additionalcontent/18/34836340/CUBA-AFTER-FIDEL

"Still, the average salary of $19 a month is a major source of resentment. And in addition to inflation and food shortages, there is a chronic housing deficit. Since taking over as president in February, Raul Castro has embraced some reforms that could, over time, make life somewhat less burdensome. But no quick fixes are in sight. DVD players have been put on sale in some stores, generating both curiosity and sticker shock; they cost the equivalent of $350, or 18 months' income for the average worker. High costs have also impeded the great majority of Cubans from taking advantage of greater access to cell phones, tourist hotels and rental cars. Many Cubans yearn for other reforms, such as Internet access. But the regime sees this as a possible instrument for disseminating subversive ideas, and has shown no sign of flexibility on this point. Nor is there much evidence of follow-up to the modest liberalizing measures Raul Castro announced weeks after taking office in February. At revolution anniversary festivities in July, he said belt-tightening was in order because of high international oil prices and other factors."

While wiki may not be the best source, it has a lot of info. The answer really depends on the office in question. I do not see that anyone runs unopposed. The party leadership chooses the candidates for higher office. I don't know if they handle that substantially different than the way it's done in the US.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_Cuba

I do know a dictatorship when I see one, and Cuba is definitely one. As I mentioned before, when they allow parties other than the Communist party to organize themselves, advocate radical changes, including theocracy, capitalism, anarchy, green environmentalism, and monarchy, then I'll believe they've something close to democracy. They would also have to have equal access to mass media, and the communists would no longer have access to state funds to back their candidates. This is what a real democracy is about.

So when we're off to save another nation I say hang on to your wallets.

And there is a desperate need for reform when it comes to campaign finance, handful of corporations owning the media, etc. However, I feel confident that we are doing much better than Cuba in this regard since we, here in the US, can at least say what we wish on the internet, the public square, and exercise non-violent dissent. Not the case in Cuba.

Cubanet "reports"?

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What does Cubanet have anything to do with what we are talking about? It is very basic and common knowledge that Cuba does not offer individual liberties.

Please guide me to information regarding free press and media in Cuba. Please show me Cuban dissidents blogging from Havana.

But in all seriousness, do some basic research to see what happens to those who speak against the Cuban government and system. Take a look a the reports from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Check out studies dealing with censorship in Cuba and political prisoners.

I agree with you, but you are off topic. However, the point is made: Cuba doesn't have anything close to democracy or free elections.

Despite your mewlings about what you've 'seen' about Cuba, you have no personal knowledge about the nation. I do, and I've seen how candidates are selected by the public, not any party, openly and freely.

http://www.poptel.org.uk/cuba-solidarity/democracy.htm

Electoral candidates are not chosen by small committees of political parties. No political party, including the Communist Party, is permitted to nominate or campaign for any given candidates. Instead the candidates are nominated by grass roots assemblies and by electoral commissions comprising representatives of all the mass organisations.

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Wiki:

Although there is only one candidate per seat, candidates must obtain the support of 50% of voters to be elected. If a candidate fails to gain 50% of the vote, a new candidate must be chosen.

This sentence should read:

There is a candidate selection for each and every seat via open contested multi candidate election. Additionally, elected candidates must obtain the support of 50% +1 of voters to be seated to their office - this process is known as the Ratification election.

-

That is how it works.

If you are really interested in a detailed examination of the Cuban electoral system, then I recommend this most excellent book ....

Democracy in Cuba and the 1997-98 Elections
Arnold August
1999
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0968508405/qid=1053879619/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/102-8821757-1670550?v=glance&s=books

Cuba is one of the most censored countries according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (http://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1999/cuba/Cuba996-03.htm#P642_91747) and I am sure you know that Cuba represses dissent very harshly (http://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1999/cuba/Cuba996-03.htm#P642_91747). So it is pretty easy for Cubans to find their usual consensus in their "democratic" process with such a system in place.

I lived in Brazil at a time when the country was governed by a ruthless right-wing dictatorship and (like in Cuba) anyone who was in favor of the government could argue that Brazil at the time had a "democratic" system in place. You see, we even had two parties in place which Brazilians jokingly called the party of "Yes" and the "Yes Sir" party. This "democratic" system was merely a placeholder to create perceptions just like the website you presented in your post is trying to do. :eyes:

Under the imposed dictatorship we lived under, there was the "situation" party and the allowed opposition but if you, the citizen, said the wrong thing that might go against the powers, you would be jailed, tortured, or just just disappear from the face of the earth.

Anyone trying to paint Cuba as a democratic nation or even compare it to the US (which is a country that has its own issues in terms of democracy--but not in any way like Cuba and other dictatorships) must be out of his/her mind or fooling him/herself.

I married a wonderful Cuban woman, and have in-laws there. Also, many friends and professional associates.

Anyone trying to make claims about how Cuba isn't democratic hasn't been there, or has an anti Cuba agenda.

Sorry, Cubanet's 2nd and 3rd hand paid-for "reports" by International Republican Institute paid "dissidents" stenographed by HRW don't really count as any authorative source. Your credibility is greatly diminished by using them as a source.

You simply have very vivid, realistic, completely sensory, active, varied dreams, lasting for many years! Happens all the time.

Your dreams do, however, have the ability to teach you things you never knew outside your dreams. Fancy that! You should be studied by scientists!

Way to go, Mika!

Just because I don't agree with its regime it does not mean I am anti-Cuba. And I don't understand your fetish with Cubanet.

sorry, but Cuba is a "great democracy" for people like you who agree with Fidel Castro's ideology and ways. However, it is not so great for those who don't fall in line and speak against the system(http://www.rsf.org/March-18-2003-to-March-18-2006.html). Much like the dictatorship in Brazil with their two parties where it was probably a great democracy for those who agreed with the regime. But sucked for the rest of us who were not fans of it but could not say otherwise.

Anyway. I am not sure whether HRW is a credible source but the CPJ report (http://www.cpj.org/censored/censored_06.html) is not off mark. Regardless, I am not here to make myself credible to you. And I don't have time to play games where everyone who agrees with you is credible and those who don't must not have any credibility.

You stand corrected. You don't have to agree with his view of Cuba, but admit the fault. Reasonable people can disagree, dialog can be illuminating.

In my opinion, it is even worse that he's "seen Cuba" and makes such claims and tries to sell Cuba as a democratic country just because it has elections. Give me a break! The electoral system is set to make sure it keeps the status quo no matter how many participants there are. I also have friends and family who are ultra leftists and visit (and love) Castro's Cuba. But it is very disingenuous to spin it as if Cuba is democracy that allows dissent and that it is fair to a true opposition to the regime.

Regardless, I know my title made the claim you are giving so much focus to but if you are fair I'm sure you will be able to see that my post was not a thesis on whether he's seen Cuba (or not) but a challenge on his claims that Cuba is a democratic as I thought he is trying to paint.

For what it's worth, I don't see much democracy anywhere these days, I'm not out to pick a fight with you, but fair is fair.

...the type of regimes with an authoritarian leader (or a military junta) who tries to control the press and attacks/kills dissent has been a component of Latin American history. Whether it is in the name of the right or the left these regimes have been major hurdles for Latin America. Latin America deserves better. Brazil, for example, is a young democracy with its issues but I have a lot of reason to be optimistic.

Continued polarization of the discussion does nothing to remedy any defects there may be in the current political regime. It is a failed strategy. Batista is not coming back, and the changes of the last 50 years will not all be undone. It is time to normalize relations and open things up. When the current government no longer has the threat of US hostility, it will be much easier for beneficial change to evolve from within. The USA will be lucky itself to escape revolution in the coming decades. Lula clearly likes and respects Castro, as do many others in Latin America. Reasonable people ought to give that some weight, all this polarizing blather does nothing useful, if just raises lots of money for political hacks.

I'm not arguing against that at all.

What I find offensive is what seems to be this mentality (especially from the US) that it is okay for Latin American countries to have authoritarian leaders who will suppress dissent using every means possible, who censor the masses and the press, and impose their rule in the name of an idealistic view (be it from the right or from the left). Lula's respect for Castro is disappointing, in my opinion, but when it comes to Lula in practice I am very proud of him for being very different from the Castros and Chavez and for allowing true democracy to flourish in a country that was plagued with a ruthless dictatorship.

The "polarizing blather" not only raises lots of money for political hacks it also helps authoritarians regimes to stay in power as the short sightedness makes one think that the right wing assholes are the only alternative to the left wing caudillo.

I saw (was living there) during the entire process of the 97-98 elections.

I'm not "painting" anything, just bringing to the discussion my own experiences IN Cuba, and relating my own interactions with Cubans of all stripe.

Having been in attendance during several candidate nomination committees that are free and open to all citizens to vote and run for all offices regardless of their platform, including libertarian, commie, capitalist, anarchist, and all in between. You comments that opposition isn't allowed to exist or freely espouse their ideologies is patently wrong.

The only "dissidents" in Cuba who are jailed are those convicted of aiding and abetting the declared enemies of Cuba for money (namely, the well funded US gov efforts to overthrow the Cuban gov, and Miamicubano exile terrorist organizations who have a long history of anti Cuba terrorism).

There are many indigenous (not on the US payroll) vocal and publicized opposition groups in Cuba who operate freely and openly expressing their opinion and platforms. Many criticize the undermining effects of the US paid faux "dissidents" for tainting their home-grown organizations.

The vast majority of Cubans in Cuba like their socialist democracy. They like their parliamentary system of government. Even the CIA admits to this fact. They are participating fully in the evolution of their Revolution, which is changing according to the will of the people. That is just why Cubans have the world class social infrastructures, that rank high in most indices - the good and decent Cuban people, despite their economic hardships, made all of these things happen, not Castro.

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Tactic #1: Accuse dissidents of being paid spies who work for the greatest enemy of the state and throw them in jail.

Sorry but I have my own personal anecdotes as well. I know people close to me who is sympathetic to the Cuban regime and some have been there several times and they have no reservations in saying that the lack of individual freedom in Cuba is justified.

You throwing sugar on top is not very convincing to me. Sorry!

his beliefs and concede you are actually right?

You've just about milked the topic dry, haven't you?

We've all known Mika for years, and have trusted his judgement that long, as well. He's a strong, good person who has spent a lot of his life working to heal, help others.

We don't have anything stupid, ignorant, underhanded to say about him, nor any reason for it in all this time. Mika has never "thrown sugar", an odd idea. He does things, he accomplishes, while others simply gibber about people who do things.

If this is your whole purpose here, it's going to get very tiresome.

I have no purpose here other than debate the issues related to the forum and add my point of view. I also have my rights to disagree and to question assertions. If you have a problem with that then you do not need to read or respond to my posts. It is that simple.

People respond to my posts as it happened in this thread so why can I not reply back with my take on the topic? Especially when it is addressed to me? Is it because what I have to say does not fit your point of view?

Sorry if you want to make this forum a one sided safe haven for your own opinion and for your clique. But you are not the only one allowed to question other people's assertions here. You trusting a poster's anecdotes (or not) is up to you but by judging your own pattern here I would be rather surprised if you didn't easily trust sources that fit your own reality and if you didn't aggressively attack sources that make your reality crumble.

The need for the "sugar on top," and the denying that the pouring of sugar is being done, is necessary to sooth the uncomfortable feelings from the cognitive dissonance.

They arrested Joani Sanchez and her sister for the "crime" of trying to sign a book at a funeral.

Why not eliminate the Communist Party in Cuba? it seems to be a superfluous organization. Also, while they're at it, why not allow a free press?

Page last updated at 11:44 GMT, Thursday, 25 February 2010
Brazil's Lula says Fidel Castro is 'exceptionally well'

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk.nyud.net:8090/media/images/47370000/jpg/_47370691_008831752-1.jpg

Cuba's ex-leader Fidel Castro is in good shape, Brazil's president has said following what is reported to have been an "emotional meeting".

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Mr Castro, 83, looked "exceptionally well", state-run media reports.

Photographs of the pair show the two friends talking and smiling as they sit around a table.

Mr Castro ruled Cuba for almost half a century before health problems forced him to hand over to his brother Raul.

During President Lula's visit, his last official trip before his term expires, the two discussed topics including last year's global climate change conference in Copenhagen.

"The emotional meeting was an expression of the existing friendship between the two leaders and the brotherhood that unites the two countries," Cuban state media reported.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8536454.stm

The Brazilians are very very smart. And Odebretch's owners will keep on getting richer.