PL Photo

Buenos Aires, January 6 (RHC)-- The Argentine Foreign Minister, Santiago Cafiero, and his Cuban counterpart, Bruno Rodríguez, held a meeting on Thursday. They signed several agreements and highlighted the ties of friendship between the two countries.

During the talks, both foreign ministers signed the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the two nations, which constitutes an update of the existing agreements to increase bilateral trade.

Likewise, Cafiero and Rodríguez, together with the Secretary of Agriculture, Matías Lestani, signed a Cooperation Agreement for Agricultural Development to promote Cuba's food sovereignty by increasing its productive capacity.

In this sense, the creation of a Training and Agricultural Technology Transfer Center oriented to developing direct sowing and the assistance to small and medium-sized producers in Cuba is contemplated. Likewise, Argentine business people will have access to the benefits granted by the legislation in force on the island.

The Cuban Foreign Minister, who arrived in Buenos Aires to attend the XXII Summit of Foreign Ministers of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), thanked Argentina for rejecting the imposed economic, commercial, and financial blockade by the United States more than six decades ago.

He also thanked the Argentine people and government for their gesture of sending donations of medicines and medical supplies to the Caribbean nation during the most complex stage of the Covid-19.

Rodriguez once again reaffirmed his country's position in support of Argentina's struggle for the right to sovereignty over the Malvinas, South Georgia, and the South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime areas, a territory usurped by the United Kingdom.

For his part, Cafiero welcomed the visit of the Cuban delegation to the CELAC summit, where the host country will present its proposal to assume the pro tempore presidency of this regional mechanism this year.

On Wednesday,  the various delegations from the 32 countries that make up CELAC began to arrive in Buenos Aires. They will be attending a dinner hosted by President Alberto Fernández at the Kirchner Cultural Center.