Brazil’s Lula offers Cuba oil know-how and credit

HAVANA (Reuters) – Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva offered Cuba lots of credit and commitment to help explore for oil in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday.

But it was not immediately clear whether the former labor leader achieved his personally-cherished goal of meeting ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro during a 24-hour visit.


The 81-year-old revolutionary has not appeared in public since undergoing stomach surgery that forced him to hand over power to his brother Raul in July 2006.

Lula dined with acting President Raul Castro after arriving in Havana on Monday night and met on Tuesday at the Palace of the Revolution government house where the two countries signed a slew of agreements to bolster economic ties.

Reuters