MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lula visits Cuba with an option for Venezuelan influence

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva arrived Tuesday in Havana for a 24-hour visit to strengthen economic ties with Cuba. He is expected to sign a series of trade, cooperation and investment agreements in spite of the US economic embargo

These include an extension of credit lines to allow Cuba to buy more food from Brazil, and investment in Cuba's oil, transport and tourism sectors. Lula da Silva also hopes to see his ailing Cuban counterpart, Fidel Castro whom he considers a personal friend. However given the Cuban leader's precarious health President Lula's spokesman Marcelo Baumbach said that "because of Fidel's health situation we are relying a little on his doctor's opinion". Since the collapse of its main benefactor the Soviet Union, Cuba has struggled to survive, particularly with the US tightening its trade embargo. Venezuela and China are now Cuba's biggest trading partners, offering easy credit terms and subsidized oil. Brazil's Petrobras the largest Latinamerican corporation and a leader in deep water hydrocarbons exploration is also anxious to join other international companies (such as Spain's Repsol, Italy's ENI, Canada's Cherry) exploring for oil in the Gulf of Mexico under risk contracts in association with Cuba's petroleum company, CUPET. During his short visit, President Lula is expected to offer a helping hand from what is one of Latin America's largest economies. A number of Lula's closest allies were exiled in Cuba during Brazil's 1964-1985 military dictatorship. This is his second visit to the island since taking over the presidency in 2003. President Lula's second visit was scheduled to taken place last year but was postponed several times. The official reason given by the Brazilians was that more time was needed to work out this complex set of trade and investment deals. Lula and Fidel are two of the leading lights of left-wing politics in Latin America, but occupy different parts of the political spectrum. President Lula is considered part of what is known as the pragmatic left in Latin America. He supports a free market economy at home and maintaining good relations with the US. It is a position radically different from that of Cuba and its closest regional ally, Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. There have also been disagreements recently between Cuba and Brazil, particularly over bio-fuels. Fidel Castro has written extensively against the use of agricultural crops for bio-fuels of which Brazil is one of the world's leading producers. This is a critical period of transition in Cuba, with Fidel still recuperating and his brother and interim president Raul attempting to push through a series of economic reforms while maintaining the one-party state. President Chavez's failed referendum in Venezuela was a timely reminder to the Cubans about the potential risks of tying themselves too closely to a single benefactor. President Lula's offer of additional trade and investment from Brazil could help Cuba's leadership in maintaining economic stability on the island during this period of change.