PARIS, (Reuters) – France is to sign a deal with Cuba next week to ease the Caribbean island nation’s bilateral debt to Paris during a visit by the Cuban president to the French capital, a diplomatic source said yesterday.
Raul Castro is due to arrive on Saturday in Paris for a five day stay, in what will be the first official visit to France by a Cuban president since the country’s independence.
With ties between Washington and Havana warming, France is eager to further improve relations with Cuba starting with a visit by French President Francois Hollande to the island last year.
As Havana’s biggest creditor, France played a key role in December in a debt relief deal between Cuba and the foreign governments it owes money to.
