Havana, May 24, 2006. (ACN) Cuban President Fidel Castro met in Havana with St. Lucia Prime Minister Kenny D. Anthony at the Revolution Palace to discuss bilateral cooperation and ways to broaden ties between the two Caribbean nations. After the official photograph, both leaders talked in a fraternal atmosphere with the presence of St. Lucia’s Foreign Minister Petrus Compton and Jon Odlum, Parliamentary Secretary. On the Cuban side of the table were Vice President Carlos Lage, Basic Industry Minister Yadira Garcia, Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation Minister Marta Lomas, Government Minister, Ricardo Cabrisas and Carlos Valenciaga, member of the Council of State. the St. Lucia PM toured the Ramon Pando Ferrer Ophthalmology Institute and the 975-bed Marina Hemingway Hospital-Hotel Complex where over a thousand St. Lucia patients have been assisted with free specialized eye treatment as part of the Operation Milagro (called Vision Now in the Caribbean) program sponsored by Cuba and Venezuela. There the Caribbean leader talked with a group of 54 patients from St. Lucia including 10 children and inquired about their health. In statements to the press, the distinguished visitor thanked Cuba for offering St. Lucia its friendship, heart and spirit. He added that only a nation, a government and an extraordinary leader like President Fidel Castro could have gone ahead with a project of such magnitude. Earlier in the day Anthony placed a floral wreath before the monument of Cuban National Hero Jose Marti.
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