Brazil's cooperation with Cuba covers today a wide range of sectors and expects to further diversify with the integration of areas such as sports, Brazilian ambassador Melantonio Cesario Neto said.
Our nation currently keeps growing collaboration in agriculture through the More Food program, consisting of exporting to Cuba of diverse Brazilian agricultural equipment, and also in public health, medicine, biotechnology, tobacco industry and energy, among others, the diplomat stated.
In an interview with Prensa Latina, he also said that in virtue of that project, large quantities of tractors, sprayers, irrigation equipment and others come to the island to contribute to increase the Cuban capacity of food production and reduce import.
Neto stated that the first stage of the program -in which the Ministry of Agriculture, of Cuba, and the Ministry of Agrarian Development, of Brazil, are participating, concluded with success in 2014, and negotiations of the second one are now making progresses, corresponding to 2015, while expect a third one for 2016.
Cuba has good soils, plenty of sun and rain, positive agricultural conditions to increase the domestic production and reduce external dependence on food purchase, he said.
In virtue of the program, many Brazilian cane harvesters also participate in the Cuban sugar harvest, while there is a cooperation for the use of sugarcane biomass in order to obtain electric power.
According to the diplomat, public opinion polls conducted among the population showed very high rates of satisfaction as for the assistance given by the Cuban staff.
Cuba is an Olympic power in the region and we want to use that wealth of experiences to increase cooperation in that field, he said.