Brazil Prez: Fidel 'Healthy, Lucid'

Lula signs economic pacts to help Cuba through transition
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 16, 2008 9:07 AM CST
Brazil Prez: Fidel 'Healthy, Lucid'
Brazil's President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, right, takes a picture of Cuba's President Fidel Castro, left, during a meeting in Havana, Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2008. Fidel Castro met with Brazil's President and the ailing Cuban leader looked frail but alert in a series of official photographs from the...   (Associated Press)

After meeting with Fidel Castro, Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said yesterday the 81-year-old leader was "incredibly lucid," healthy, and "ready to assume his political role in Cuba and the role he has in history." Lula met earlier with Raul Castro, who has been running the country since his brother's stomach surgery in 2006.

The two countries signed agreements to strengthen economic ties, hinting at the direction Cuba may take in the transitional period that likely lies ahead. Brazil is offering Cuba up to $1 billion in credit lines to pay for Brazilian goods and services. "We can provide the Cubans with a level of comfort in the transition ahead by not being confrontational like the United States," said a Brazilian official. (More Fidel Castro stories.)

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