MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Cuban foreign minister arrives in Argentine for 5-day visit

Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque arrived in Argentina on Tuesday for a five-day official visit during which he will discuss human rights issues on the communist island with President Nestor Kirchner, among other matters.

Perez Roque's official agenda will begin in the capital about noon on Wednesday with the placing of flowers at the monument to Gen. Jose de San Martin, a ceremony which Argentine Foreign Minister Rafael Bielsa will also attend.

Local media outlets reported that Bielsa and Perez Roque will meet again later in the afternoon at the Foreign Relations Ministry with other officials from both nations.

In the afternoon, Perez Roque will be declared a guest of honor by the Buenos Aires city governor, Anibal Ibarra, and will meet with Education Minister Daniel Filmus.

On Thursday, the Cuban foreign minister will meet in the morning with Chamber of Deputies head Eduardo Camaño and at midday he will be received by Kirchner.

That same day, Perez Roque will travel to the city of Rosario, 350 kilometers (215 miles) north of the capital, where he will meet with the governor of Santa Fe province, Jorge Obeid.

Upon returning to the Argentine capital, Perez Roque will participate Thursday evening in a meeting organized by the Cuban-Argentine Solidarity Movement in the ND-Ateneo theater.

Friday's agenda includes meetings with Health Minister Gines Gonzalez Garcia, Buenos Aires province Vice Governor Graciela Giannettasio and Social Development Minister Alicia Kirchner.

Perez Roque will be on the road again on Saturday to meet with Entre Rios province Gov. Jorge Busti, but he will return to Buenos Aires on Sunday.

His visit will also include discussions with Buenos Aires authorities to coordinate President Kirchner's next visit to the Caribbean island.

Other points on the foreign minister's agenda will be to discuss Cuba's $1.9 billion debt with Argentina and Buenos Aires' abstention on the United Nations vote on the question of human rights in Cuba.

Both governments already exchanged points of view about these matters last October when Bielsa made an official visit to Cuba.

Perez Roque last visited Argentina in May 2003, when he accompanied Cuban President Fidel Castro to Kirchner's inauguration.