Brazil offers food, road credits to Cuba, signs oil exploration deal

Brazil’s President met with ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro on Tuesday, a surprise ending to a visit during which he offered the communist government credits for food and infrastructure and signed a deal to drill for oil in the Gulf of Mexico.

The meeting between the leftist leaders was private, according to a spokesman for President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who declined to be named in line with department policy.

The spokesman didn’t say where the men met or what they spoke about.

In seclusion since undergoing intestinal surgery 17 months ago, the 81-year-old communist President fueled speculation that he was finally ready to retire when he declared in December that he would not cling to office or obstruct the rise of a new generation of leaders.

But his intentions remain a mystery and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva fed the uncertainty after meeting Castro, saying that the veteran leader appeared healthy enough “to take on his political role.”

Havana, Wednesday, AP