Global Insider: Brazil’s Rousseff is Positioned to Push for Change in Cuba

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff made her first official visit to Cuba last month. In an email interview, David Herrero, a research associate at the Council on Foreign Relations, discussed Brazil-Cuba relations.

WPR: How did Brazil-Cuba relations evolve under former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and what were Brazil's priorities?

David Herrero: Lula significantly expanded political engagement and commercial ties with Cuba. He visited the country four times as president and helped launch a $950 million modernization project -- financed mostly by Brazil’s development bank, BNDES -- at the Cuban port of Mariel. On the issue of human rights, however, he was at times criticized. In February 2010, for instance, after a Cuban prisoner named Orlando Zapata Tamayo died while on hunger strike, Lula was taken to task for his offhand comment, “Imagine if all the criminals in Sao Paulo went on hunger strike to demand freedom.” Nonetheless, Lula’s legacy was marked more by the blossoming cooperation his government fostered with Cuba: on agriculture, housing, oil and minerals, transportation equipment, tobacco, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and other sectors.

Keep reading for free!

Get instant access to the rest of this article as well as three free articles per month. You'll also receive our free email newsletter to stay up to date on all our coverage:

Or, Subscribe now to get full access.

Already a subscriber? Log in here .

What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:

A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having your own personal researcher and analyst for news and events around the globe. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:

  • Immediate and instant access to the full searchable library of 15,000+ articles
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday
  • Weekly in-depth reports on important issues and countries
  • Daily links to must-read news, analysis, and opinion from top sources around the globe, curated by our keen-eyed team of editors
  • Your choice of weekly region-specific newsletters, delivered to your inbox.
  • Smartphone- and tablet-friendly website.
  • Completely ad-free reading.

And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.

More World Politics Review