Brasília, June 23, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Brazil and Cuba should increase exchanges in the areas of education, sports, and culture. There are forty programs of cooperation between the two countries, and the Ministers of Sports will meet this year in Brazil and Cuba to conclude agreements. At least 500 Brazilian students study in Cuba, over half of them with scholarships from the Cuban government. Besides this, 40 Cuban university students are doing post-graduate work in Brazil.

These data were cited by the Cuban Ambassador to Brazil, Jorge Lezcano Pérez, at the National Cuban Solidarity Convention, held in Brazil for the past ten years. "We are rehearsing steps to advance in trade relations, and there are many possibilities in the scientific and cultural areas," the diplomat affirmed.

Cuba already imports bus parts from Brazil, there is a Petrobrás consulting office on the island, and various agreements exist between medical schools. 15 Brazilian students are currently specializing in physical education at Cuban universities. This cooperation is one of the items on the agenda of the National Convention, which intends to evaluate exchanges between Brazilian and Cuban political and social organizations.

According to the coordinator of the University of Brasília's Nucleus of Cuban Studies, Maria Auxiliadora César, Cuban solidarity associations arose in Brazil following a period in which diplomatic relations were interrupted, from 1964 to 1986. "The realities of these two countries and their populations contain similarities that make the exchange of experiences important for the links of friendship between Cuba and Brazil," she pointed out. (DAS)