GUATEMALAN vice president Francisco Reyes concluded a week’s official visit to Cuba on Tuesday, February 18, after meeting with President Fidel Castro to analyze prospects for bilateral collaboration in health, education, agriculture and tourism, informed Reyes at a press conference.

He added that both leaders discussed the possibility of bringing multidisciplinary groups of 50 to 60 Guatemalans to Cuba to observe how, with the same or perhaps less resources, the island has achieved 10 times more than Guatemala in health and education.

During his visit, he had talks vice president Carlos Lage, ministers of Government, Ricardo Cabrisas; Agriculture, Alfredo Jordán; Education, Luis Ignacio Gómez; Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation, Marta Lomas; Public Health, Damodar Peña, plus deputy minister of Tourism Marta Maíz.

The Guatemalan vice president was interested in the island’s rice, citrus and medicinal plant cultivation and its urban agriculture program. Regarding tourism, he analyzed the possibility of developing multi-destination flights between Guatemala, Cuba and other Caribbean nations. Reyes also mentioned consolidating and widening bilateral cooperation in the health and education.

During his stay, Reyes and his delegation toured the famous Varadero beach resort, 140 kilometers east of Havana. He also spoke with Guatemalan students at the Latin American School of Medicine, western Havana.

Juan Francisco Reyes, teacher and attorney by profession, was elected vice president of Guatemala in 1999, at the same time as the current president, Alfonso Portillo. Both represent the Guatemalan Republican Front (GRF), of which Reyes is a founder member.

Guatemala has over 11 million inhabitants in a country of 108,899 square kilometers. Although Spanish is the official language, 22 indigenous languages form part of the Central American country’s national heritage.