Venezuela, Cuba to set up joint commission to boost cooperation

Venezuela and Cuba will set up a joint commission to boost their cooperation in carrying out various projects.

An agreement to that end is due to be signed in the course of the visit to Havana that the Venezuelan leader, Nicolas Maduro, has just begun, according to the local news media.

We’ll assess all our cooperation aiming to boost ties in public health protection, culture and education, as well as joint economic projects, Maduro said.

Cuba and Venezuela have had a close political and economic bond since Hugo Chavez came to power in 1999.

Bout countries fathered the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America, ALBA, in 2004.

The two countries’ annual trade turnover exceeds 8 billion dollars.