Mexico reaches out to Cuba ahead of Ibero-American Summit
Mexico reaches out to Cuba ahead of Ibero-American Summit
Mexican foreign minister says the Peña Nieto administration will extend its line of credit to Cuba
Mexico and Cuba seal their reconciliation
México extiende el brazo a Cuba a unos meses de la Cumbre Iberoamericana
Verónica Calderón México DF 10 SEP 2014 - 17:27 CEST
The Mexican government will extend its line of credit to Cuba, Foreign Minister José Antonio Meade said in Havana on Tuesday. He also emphasized Mexican business leaders’ interest in investing in the island to boost the Cuban economy.
According to the Mexican government, the two countries currently hold bilateral agreements on trade, investment, tourism, energy, fishing, airlines, mining and customs. These deals are worth more than $297 million. Still, their business is only a third of Mexico’s commercial deals with the Dominican Republic (around $1 billion in 2012). According to estimates from Mexico’s foreign trade bank, Bancomext, investments in Cuba reach $730 million.
Meade’s announcement comes nine months after the administration canceled 70 percent ($500 million) of Cuba’s debt to Mexico. Bancomext director Enrique De la Madrid Cordero has said that Mexico was not giving the island “even one peso” for free.
During remarks made in Havana, the foreign minister emphasized the “historic brotherhood” between Mexico and Cuba – at least during the 20th century. The relationship between the two nations suffered through a 12-year diplomatic freeze during the conservative governments of the National Action Party (PAN) from 2000 to 2012. But Foreign Minister Meade has already made three trips to the island during the current administration. Since taking office in December 2012, President Enrique Peña Nieto (Institutional Revolutionary Party, PRI) has met with Raúl Castro on two occasions: in Santiago de Chile and in Havana, where he participated in the second Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) summit.
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