La Paz, May 10 (RHC) – Bolivian President Evo Morales, upon returning to his country from a tour of Cuba and Costa Rica, said in a public address that during his meeting in Havana with President Raul Castro, they agreed to develop a tight collaboration in the pharmaceutical industry to counter dependence on international corporations.

“We cannot continue to import pharmaceuticals; we cannot continue to be at mercy of greedy international medical monopolies,” Morales said in La Paz. He added that Raul Castro agreed to take an important step forward in terms of commercial and industrial integration.

At present, Bolivia imports 70 percent of the pharmaceuticals used in the country at an estimated cost of 56.4 million dollars a year.

President Morales praised the Cuban health system and announced that health ministers from both nations must now meet and coordinate how to push the initiative forward.

The Bolivian head of state attended the swearing-in ceremony of Costa Rican president Luis Guillermo Solis, and took the opportunity to travel to Havana to meet with Raul Castro, with whom he shares political and ideological views, according to the Presna Latina news agency.

During the meeting in Havana, the two Latin American leaders exchanged views on the preparation of the upcoming Summit of the Group of 77, to be held in June in Bolivia.