By Anita Snow, Associated Press Writer.
HAVANA, 22 (AP) - Fidel Castro met with Germany's minister for development aid late Monday, after she spent much of her four-day visit here explaining the benefits Cuba would enjoy by joining a trade group of developing nations tied to the European Union.
Castro personally greeted Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul upon her arrival for a 9:30 p.m. meeting at his offices at the Council of State, the head of Cuba's communist government.
``We have tried to persuade, to convince the Cuban side of the utility'' of subscribing to a EU trade pact with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, said Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul. Joining the ACP group could be ``an important component'' in relations between Cuba and European nations, she
said.
In comments carried earlier in the day by Cuban state media, Vice President Carlos Lage indicated that he at least listened.
``I am convinced that relations will get better'' between Cuba and the EU, Lage said after meeting late Sunday with Wieczorek-Zeul, the island's Prensa Latina news agency said.
Relations soured last month when Cuba canceled a visit here by a senior EU delegation after European nations supported a motion that condemned Havana at the U.N. Human Rights Commission. The talks in Cuba had been expected to focus on plans to develop trade ties between Cuba and the 15-nation
bloc.
Shortly afterward, Cuba withdrew its request to join the ACP group of 71 African, Caribbean and Pacific nations who benefit from favored trade and aid ties with the EU under the 1975 Lome convention.
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