PARIS—Cuba’s Communist President Raul Castro starts his official trip to Paris on Monday, his first-ever state visit to Europe, seen as a key step in rebuilding his island nation’s ties with the West.
The Cuban leader is to due to be welcomed under the Arc de Triomphe, decked out in Cuban colors, at the top of the Champs Elysees avenue.
The 84-year-old Castro is on his first official trip to the European Union since taking over from his elder brother Fidel in 2006, and has been in the French capital since Saturday for a private visit.
France has led the way in welcoming Cuba back into the diplomatic fold since it restored relations last year with its longtime foe, the United States.
French President Francois Hollande has described the visit as “a new stage in the strengthening of relations between the two countries”, building on his own state visit to Cuba last May, the first by a Western head of state in more than half a century.
Castro is the second former pariah to be welcomed to Paris in a matter of days, after Hollande hosted Iranian President Hassan Rohani last week.
“This visit is important for Cuba’s image,” said Eduardo Perera, an international relations expert at Havana University.
“It will undeniably make Cuba shine on the international stage.”
Havana hopes the visit will allow Cuba to “widen and diversify its relations with France in all possible areas—politics, economics, trade, finance, investment, culture and cooperation,” said Rogelio Sierra, Cuban deputy foreign minister.
Although Washington has yet to lift its half-century trade embargo on Cuba, US and European businesses are jockeying for a place in the market as the island’s economy gradually opens up. Hollande urged an end to the blockade, which was imposed in 1962, on his Havana visit.
Trade delegations have been flocking to Cuba, hoping to cash in on its highly trained workforce and natural assets such as its sun-drenched Caribbean beaches, a draw for tourists.
Cuba, meanwhile, needs to tap new sources of income as its main ally and financial backer, Venezuela, is mired in economic and political crisis.
Castro is expected to sign an “economic road map” with France, according to officials in Paris, as well as deals on transport and tourism.
