French President Francois Hollande arrived in Havana on Sunday, the first French president to visit Cuba in more than a century, cementing Paris’ lead in the EU rapprochement with the communist island.
Hollande is the first Western leader to visit Cuba since a surprise announcement in December by Havana and Washington that the former Cold War foes would move to normalize relations after half a century of bad blood.
Hollande arrived at Havana’s Jose Marti International Airport late on Sunday night and was greeted by Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Rogelio Sierra, the latest leg of a whirlwind five-day tour of the Caribbean.
“I come to Cuba with great emotion because it is the first time that a president of the French Republic has come to Cuba,” he said on arrival.
“There are historic ties, deep ties, between the people of France and the people of Cuba,” Hollande said, applauding Cuba’s long-time commitment to independence.
The visit is aimed at boosting French and EU interests in Cuba. France is seeking to “be the first among European nations, and the first among Western nations, to be able to say to the Cubans that we will be at their side if they decide themselves to take needed steps toward opening up,” Hollande told reporters before arriving in Havana.
He said the easing of a decades-long economic embargo by the US would help Cuba’s cash-strapped economy.
“Cuba wants to move on to a new phase, a new period, a new time for this island that was victim of an embargo,” Hollande said on a stop in Guadeloupe, referring to the US sanctions in place since 1962.
The French leader said removing the embargo was key to opening Cuba up to the rest of the world, adding that despite the move toward thawing relations with Washington, economic barriers remain.
“There are still a lot of measures in place that block trade and business,” he said.
Several agreements are to be signed during the trip, though the details of the deals were not made public. Hollande said the accords would focus on improved access to Latin American markets.
Hollande has already made stops in Saint-Barthelemy, Saint-Martin, Martinique, Guadeloupe and will end his regional visit in Haiti today.
He was due to meet yesterday with his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro, whom he last met with in December 2013 in South Africa at Nelson Mandela’s funeral.
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