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• Africa
• International
• Politics and Government
• 09 / 23 / 2007

Cubas first vice-president of the Council of State and of Secretaries, Army General Raúl Castro, received the Angolan President José Eduardo Dos Santos, who has been carrying out an official visit to the island since Thursday.

After an official greeting ceremony on Friday afternoon in the Palace of the Revolution, Vice-president Castro and Dos Santos held official talks on diverse issues related to the development of bilateral ties and cooperation, as well as topics on the international and regional agenda.

At the end of the cordial encounter, the two leaders participated in an agreement signing ceremony. Among the documents penned by the two parties is a complementary Protocol to the Agreement on Collaboration between the two nations. This establishes the legal framework for the expansion and development of cooperation, as well as other important agreements regarding education, health, energy, civil construction, tourism and sports.

On Thursday, the Angolan president paid homage to the more than 300,000 Cuban troops and nearly 50,000 civilian internationalists who have performed service in that African nation. In 1976, Cuban troops were decisive in defeating US-backed troops and South African forces posed against full Angolan independence.

Since winning its sovereignty, Angola's economy has undergone a period of transformation, moving from the disarray caused by a quarter century of civil war to being the fastest growing economy in Africa and one of the fastest in the world. Growth in the country is almost entirely driven by rising oil production, which is close 2 million barrels per day. Control in that oil industry is consolidated in a conglomerate that is owned by the Angolan government.

Source: Juventud Rebelde