MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

First Chilean president visit to Cuba in four decades

Pte. M. Bachelet is welcomed by Pte. R. Castro

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet began Wednesday a three day official visit to Cuba, the first such visit by a Chilean leader in almost four decades.

On her first day Ms Bachelet was present at the signing of a memorandum for cooperation in biotechnological research and development, and she took time to praise the "excellent level and indices of Cuban health care". On nation wide Cuban television the Chilean president, who is a medical doctor, said that the understanding opens the possibilities of close cooperation, technology transfer and joint research so "we can move ahead with public health issues". "It is well known by all of us the excellent levels of public health in Cuba. All the parameters and indices we can check really show that Cuba has an excellent level of public health and human development", underlined Ms Bachelet. Later in the day she was scheduled to meet with President Raul Castro and other top officials from the Cuban regime. The last Chilean leader to visit the communist-dynasty island was Salvador Allende who visited 37 years ago. He was a close friend and political ally of former leader Fidel Castro, who visited Chile for several months in 1971. Cuba renamed one of Havana's main streets after him following his death during the 1973 coup headed by General Pinochet. There was no word on whether President Bachelet would meet Fidel, who is recuperating from major surgery at an undisclosed location. Since taking over from his brother Raul Castro has gradually begun to ease strict domestic conditions and has a more open and integrating foreign policy. Raul Castro last December participated in a regional summit hosted by Brazil and several Latinamerican leaders have been to visit him among them Uruguay's Tabare Vazquez and the latest Argentina's Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. President Bachelet decision to visit Cuba in an election year has not been without controversy since the Chilean ruling coalition is divided about the Cuban issue, the Castro regimes human rights policies, free elections and other conditions that make to democracy and the rule of the law.