HAVANA: Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived in Cuba Tuesday to boost ties as a breakthrough in the communist island’s US relations hung in the balance following Donald Trump’s presidential election win.
After arriving at Havana airport, Trudeau headed straight to the city’s iconic Revolution Square and laid a wreath, an AFP photographer saw.
He was scheduled later to meet with Cuba’s President Raul Castro, officials said.
The two-day visit is the first stop on a tour that will also take Trudeau to Argentina and to Peru for the APEC Asia-Pacific trade summit.
It comes 40 years after Trudeau’s father Pierre Elliott Trudeau committed to a lifelong friendship with Cuba’s former revolutionary president Fidel Castro during a similar visit.
According to Trudeau’s office, the goal is to “renew and strengthen” the bilateral relationship.
The visit will also provide an opportunity to “collaborate more closely on sustainable economic growth, inclusive governance, security, climate change, and gender equality,” a statement said.
