.c The Associated Press, July 1
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) - Cuban President Fidel Castro urged Latin America on Thursday to look beyond the United States and Europe and forge financial ties with the rest of the world.
Castro, who stayed on in Brazil after a two-day summit ended Tuesday between Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, spoke in Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais state, 210 miles northwest of Rio. He had traveled there Thursday to meet with Gov. Itamar Franco.
Franco, a former president, made headlines last January when he refused to honor his state's debt with the federal government, touching off a crisis that forced Brazil to devalue its currency days later.
Following his meeting with Franco, Castro made a speech before 3,000 people at the National Student Union's 46th Congress.
Local media reported that Castro lamented that Cuba was not included in any of the cooperation agreements hammered out between Europe and Latin America at the summit.
Castro also blamed the growing influence of the United States as being behind the reduced share of exports from Europe to Latin America, which he said dropped to 23 percent from 53 percent in recent years.
And while Castro supported the strengthening of commercial ties between Latin America and Europe, he said Latin America must look beyond the United States and the European Union and try to strengthen ties with other countries, so true globalization could occur.
AP-NY-07-01-99 1908EDT
Copyright 1999 The Associated Press |