Hollande’s task: Reinforce France’s presence in Cuba

After signing lucrative contracts with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani this week, Paris wants to reinforce the presence of French companies in a country that’s gradually opening up to the market economy.

With about 180 million euros in annual trade, France, one of Cuba’s top ten partners, wants to profit from the rapprochement begun in April 2014 during a visit to the island by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.

Paris wants a presence in Cuba not only to gain influence in Latin America but also to compete on the island against U.S. and European enterprises that are eyeing a rich tourist treasure and a source of skilled labor.

“Commercial exchanges are not yet up to the level of our ambitions,” confided Friday (Jan. 29) the Foreign Trade Minister Matthias Fekl to the French newspaper L’Humanité.

During this visit, Havana and Paris should set an economic roadmap and conclude agreements in the fields of tourism, transport and fair trade, Paris sources say.

France was recently the great architect of an agreement on the Cuban debt owed to Paris Club creditors, with $8.5 billion in accrued interests.

Paris could go further bilaterally during this visit. It could unlock some access to financial markets for Cuba, pending the lifting of the U.S. embargo against the island since 1962, which has long been condemned by France.

Human rights, a subject often raised about Cuba, “will be discussed,” says a French diplomatic source in Paris.

But President Hollande, who was criticized for meeting with former President Fidel Castro in May, is expected to remain fairly discreet about this topic so as not to tarnish Raúl Castro’s visit.

CASTRO’S SCHEDULE IN PARIS

Castro will be entitled to the honors rendered during state visits, a first for a Cuban president.

On Monday, he will receive an official welcome under the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs-Elysées bedecked with Cuban and French flags. His meeting with François Hollande will be followed by a state dinner at the Elysée Palace.

Tuesday, Castro will meet successively with the President of the National Assembly, Claude Bartolone; the Senate President, Gérard Larcher; the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, and Prime Minister Manuel Valls before visiting the Museum of Man, freshly renovated.

He is also scheduled to meet with the Director General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova.

[From the French newspaper Le Maine Libre.]

[Photo at top of Presidents Hollande and Castro during Hollande’s visit to Cuba last year.]