World

Brazil president met Fidel Castro during Cuba trip

Published February 2, 2012 Updated February 2, 2012 02:55pm

Rousseff met with Castro on Tuesday near the end of a two-day visit to Cuba before she continued on to Haiti on Wednesday.

Cubadebate cited Brazilian sources as saying Rousseff's meeting with Castro dealt mainly with the situation in Haiti, which was devastated by an earthquake two years ago that killed an estimate 220,000 people.

Brazil has played a leading role in a UN peacekeeping force in Haiti since the quake.

Rousseff gave chocolates to Castro, who gave her two biographies of himself, as they chatted over tea, the website said.

Castro, 85, who led Cuba's 1959 revolution, handed over power to his brother Raul in 2006 after falling ill, but remains active with visits from foreign leaders and by writing commentaries on world affairs.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2012