Brazilian president to meet Castro in Cuba

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, September 25, 2003

Brazilian president to meet Castro in Cuba

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Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will walk a diplomatic tightrope when he sees his old friend Fidel Castro later this week, trying not to antagonize Washington while balancing his role as a regional leader.

In the nine months since taking office, Silva has made regional integration the centerpiece of his foreign policy, visiting nearly every South American nation or meeting with their presidents in Brasilia.

Silva, a former union official and Brazil's first leftist leader, arrives in Havana Friday for two days of talks with Castro, the 77-year-old communist leader he has known for decades.

Silva will be testing his country's delicate relationship with the United States, which has had no diplomatic relations with Cuba for more than four decades. The United States is both the largest exporter to Brazil and the largest recipient of Brazilian products.

Brazil's national Development Bank is negotiating a credit line of up to $400 million to finance Cuban imports of Brazilian machinery, farm equipment and food.

In 2002 Brazil exported $95 million worth of products to Cuba and imported less than $10 million.

Source: Agencies

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