Brasília - During his visit to Benin, presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Mathieu Kerekou signed cooperation agreements on improving cotton genetics, controlling and perventing malaria, and developing sports (mainly soccer).

Lula visited the port in Benin where slaves were shipped off to America - and the infamous Gate of No Return. But some of them did return - Lula also visited the town of Ouidah where some 5,000 descendents of Brazilian slaves who went back to Benin in the 18th century now live. Finally, he visited the residence of one of the world's biggest slave traders, the Negro from Bahia, Francisco Felix de Souza, who set up business in Dahomey in 1792.

Translation: Allen Bennett