Brasília – President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva meets, at 11:30 am (Brasília time), the President of Cuba’s National Assembly, Ricardo Alarcón, at the Brazilian Embassy in Rome. Afterwards, Lula will also have meetings with the Presidents of Austria, Heinz Fischer, and of Mozambique, Armando Emílio Guebuza.

President Lula attended, this morning in Rome, the funeral ceremony of Pope John Paul II. Poland-born Karol Wojtyla passed away last Saturday (2), at 84, after a 26-year pontificate.

The Brazilian President will stay in the Italian capital until Sunday (10), when he will fly to The Republic of Cameroon, in Africa, the first stop of a visit to five countries of the African continent.

Translation: Andréa Alves