Patricia Grogg – IPS, 02/02/2012
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s visit to Cuba served to further strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries, leverage the South American giant’s investments in the Caribbean island, and deepen political ties.
On Feb. 1, Rousseff travelled to Haiti, where she was set to meet with government officials to discuss a number of issues, including migration and the reconstruction efforts underway since the devastating January 2010 earthquake. Brazil and Cuba are backing the establishment of a healthcare system in that impoverished Caribbean nation.
Brazil’s first woman president arrived in Havana on Jan. 30, where she held talks with her Cuban counterpart Raúl Castro, paid a visit to his brother, revolutionary leader Fidel Castro -who she said she felt “immensely honoured” to meet – and toured a logistics hub being developed with Brazilian investment in the port of Mariel, some 50 kilometres west of Havana.
Posted by Brazil Institute 
