France’s Hollande first president to visit Cuba in more than a century

Francois Hollande became the first Western leader to visit the communist island since Havana normalised ties with Washington in December.

HAVANA // Francois Hollande arrived in Havana on Sunday, the first French president to visit Cuba in more than a century, cementing Paris’s lead in the EU rapprochement with the communist island.

Mr Hollande is the first Western leader to visit Cuba since a surprise announcement in December by Havana and Washington that the former Cold War foes would move to normalise relations after half a century of bad blood.

Mr Hollande was greeted by Cuba’s deputy foreign minister Rogelio Sierra arrived at Havana’s Jose Marti International Airport. It was the latest leg of his whirlwind five-day tour of the Caribbean.

“I come to Cuba with great emotion because it is the first time that a president of the French Republic has come to Cuba,” he said upon arrival.

No French leader has visited Cuba since the island nation gained independence in 1898.

“There are historic ties, deep ties, between the people of France and the people of Cuba,” said Mr Hollande, applauding Cuba’s long-time commitment to independence.

The visit is aimed at boosting French and European Union interests in Cuba, which has undergone gradual economic and social reforms under Cuban president Raul Castro.

France is seeking to “be the first among European nations, and the first among Western nations, to be able to say to the Cubans that we will be at their side if they decide themselves to take needed steps toward opening up”, Mr Hollande said before arriving in Havana.

The French president said the easing of a decades-long economic embargo by the United States will help Cuba’s cash-strapped economy.

Removing the embargo was key to opening Cuba up to the rest of the world, he said, adding that despite the move toward thawing relations with Washington, economic barriers remain.

Several agreements will be signed during the trip, though the details of the deals were not made public.

Mr Hollande said the accords would focus on improved access to Latin American markets.

Mr Hollande has already made stops in Saint-Barthelemy, Saint-Martin, Martinique, Guadeloupe and will end his regional visit in Haiti on Tuesday.

The French president is due to meet on Monday with Mr Castro, whom he last met with in December 2013 in South Africa at Nelson Mandela’s funeral.

* Agence France-Presse