(Council of State transcript – GI translation)
Ladies and gentlemen,
Today I received President Raúl Castro. This is his first state visit to France, which also happens to be the first state visit by a Cuban President to the country, and with this gesture I wanted to offer a reception commensurate with that I received during my visit to Cuba last spring.
I thank President Raúl Castro for the friendly gesture of having invited me. I was one of the first Western heads of state to visit Cuba, and today we find ourselves in this exceptional situation of a state visit, the first since Cuba secured its independence.
France, its ideas, artists, language, have always been present in Cuba. Even President Raúl Castro’s late spouse was of French origin; that is to say, there exist many ties between this great island and France.
France has always been convinced that, in spite of the international tensions of yesteryear, during the Cold War, a need has always existed, a need to lift the embargo, to end the blockade. This was the message I conveyed on my visit to Cuba, the same message I repeat today. This embargo, this blockade must be eliminated so that Cuba can fully occupy its place on the global stage; this is the desire of both the country and the international community.
President Obama has taken several steps to this end, and has himself stated that everything possible must be done in order to put an end of this vestige of the Cold War. We wish to accompany Cuba on the path of greater opportunities and development it has chosen; this opening up includes, above all, economic exchanges. Various French companies are present in Cuba. France has been one of Cuba’s major trading partners for many years.
I would like to thank all the companies which have established themselves in Cuba, despite the fact that it has been difficult to invest and do business with the island due to international obstacles. These companies chose an option which has now rewarded them.
However, we want to go further. This is the aim of an agreement we recently signed, which includes sectors such as cooperation, tourism, transport, urban development, energy and agriculture. Thus, henceforth all sectors are open. All this has been possible thanks to the agreement signed December 12, 2015, the same day that the Climate Change Summit took place, which as we all know, ended successfully. That same day, in Paris, negotiations to cancel what was truly a great burden for Cuba, its debt, concluded. France played an important role in this achievement. I want to congratulate the ministers involved and their departments. Today, thanks to the cancellation of this debt we have been able to reach an agreement of greater benefit to France and Cuba.
We wish to advance further in the sphere of bilateral relations; we will progressively cancel certain debts as Cuba repays others. France will go beyond that which has been established in the Paris Club. We want to invest a part of the debt which could potentially be used by investors.
We also want to transform these debts into funds to be reinvested in development initiatives across different spheres, and to accelerate French investment projects in Cuba. The French Development Agency is currently working on identifying potential projects which will begin to be implemented this year. We are also seeing greater openings in culture, science and education, and wish to re-launch an important cultural cooperation campaign with Cuba. We want to dedicate a month to French culture in Cuba, an initiative which will be very important for both our countries.
I had the privilege of inaugurating the new Alliance Française headquarters. I have a strong memory of that occasion, because it is in Havana, in the Alliance Française, that 15,000 Cubans are enrolled to learn French, a place that has been completely renovated, restored, a magnificent site in Havana. I remember when Che Guevara was a Cuban minister; it was he who supported maintaining the Alliance Française.
Likewise, we wish to strengthen exchanges between university students; 14 French institutions will be present at an international event to be held in Cuba, where different agreements regarding recognizing qualifications will be established.
There exist important cooperation ties in the sphere of research, in particular in the field of medicine. Cuba trains countless doctors, not only to meet the country’s needs, but also those of the entire world. Whenever there is a health crisis, an epidemic, Cuba sends its doctors. Like the Ebola virus, Cuba and France are currently facing a great challenge, the Zika virus which is not only affecting the Caribbean region, and as such Cuba provides a unique example to the world.
President Raúl Castro has put all his efforts into facilitating agreements so that Colombia might finally secure peace. In the same way, I am familiar with President Castro’s efforts to promote dialogue in Venezuela.
I also wish to congratulate him on Cuba’s participation in the Climate Change Summit, thanks to whose contribution an agreement was reached.
We are addressing all issues, from the economic sphere to the political, including those regarding human rights, to which France is strongly committed, a position which it asserts in all situations and in every country.
We are opening a new chapter in the history between Europe and Cuba, and tomorrow, between Cuba and the world, because we want Cuba to be able to accompany, to participate fully in the international community, and here, I confirm that France will do everything possible in the European Union to remove the remaining obstacles.
This visit has clearly awoken great interest given that it is the first time a Cuban head of state has come to France since the island’s independence, thus demonstrating the true significance of the trip.
Thank you Raúl Castro (Applause).
