PARIS (AP) – Raul Castro is coming to France for the first-ever state visit of a Cuban president to the land of wine and gastronomy, a trip that could boost French investments and promote stronger economic, cultural and tourist ties between Paris and Havana.
Castro is to arrive Saturday for the private part of his trip ahead of his official visit on Monday and Tuesday, landing only eight months after French Socialist President Francois Hollande’s one-day stop in Havana. The two leaders are to have dinner at the Elysee palace on Monday night.
“This visit marks a new step in the development of a stronger relationship between the two countries,” the French presidency said.
Castro’s visit also comes two months after the Paris Club of creditor countries forgave $8.5 billion of overdue Cuban interest payments in exchange for Cuba’s promise to pay off $2.6 billion in loans from developed countries over the next year and a half.
France, to which Cuba owed $4 billion in overdue loans, led the creditors’ negotiations. The deal was hailed by both sides as an essential step in clearing the path for Cuba to regain access to international credit that had been long unavailable due to the overdue loans.