Cuba and Venezuela sign new cooperation agreements

SPECIAL BY Juan Antonio Borrego y Calixto N. Llanes (PHoto)

CARACAS.— The Venezuela-Cuba relationship has been the driving force for Latin American integration, said Martha Lomas, minister of foreign investment and economic cooperation, speaking yesterday in this capital city at the signing ceremony for the 8th Joint Commission of the Integrated Cooperation Agreement between the two countries

The Cuban leader indicated that the event was not just about signing documents, but rather served to guide the countries along the path of accomplishment, emphasizing the extent of cooperation, which now includes practically all socioeconomic spheres, in particular in various branches of health care, education, sports, energy and agriculture.

In a statement to the press, Minister Lomas reported that, as part of the growing exchange, 26 joint enterprises have been created and another 10 are in the final stages of negotiation.

On this occasion, 76 projects were presented, mostly related to the sugar agribusiness and its derivatives, representing an amount in excess of $1. 355 billion, to be administered by 18 Venezuelan and 21 Cubans ministries with the participation of more than 60 responsible institutions in the two countries.

People’s Power Minister of Energy and Oil and president of PDVSA, Rafael Ramírez, who signed the document for the Bolivarian Republic, emphasized the maturity and consistency of the Joint Commission’s work and defined the Cuban-Venezuelan interchange as “cooperation among revolutionaries.”

Also attending the ceremony were Germán Sánchez Otero, Cuban ambassador in Caracas, and Ammar Jabour, coordinator of the Cuba-Venezuela agreement, along with other officials from both countries.

Translated by Granma International