Costa Rica’s Chinchilla meets with Cuban President Raúl Castro

The presidents of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla, and Cuba, Raúl Castro, met in the framework of the Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), held in Chile, to discuss regional issues. The two nations will head that organization along with Chile, the current chair holder.

Cuba will chair the forum starting this week, and Costa Rica will assume leadership in 2014.

The two leaders discussed cooperation agreements in education, culture, health and the environment.

The meeting is the first to occur between the presidents of both nations after decades of broken diplomatic relations, which were restored on March 18, 2009.

On Jan. 10, Costa Rican Foreign Minister Enrique Castillo signed in Havana a cooperation agreement that includes areas such as education, political consultation, science and technology, professional development and ecotourism, to be developed in the near future.