FOREIGN RELATIONS |
Rousseff, Castro to speak at Mandela funeral. President Dilma Rousseff will speak at today’s memorial service for the late South African president Nelson Mandela (1994-1999). Cuba’s President Raúl Castro will also speak, sharing the lectern with US President Barack Obama, among others. Brazil and Cuba are longtime allies of black South Africa – Cuba’s former leader Fidel Castro being a notable supporter of Mandela’s struggle against apartheid. Both countries have strong historical links to Africa via the slave trade, with sizeable African-descended populations in each country. Rousseff left Brazil yesterday accompanied by former Brazilian presidents José Sarney (1985-1990), Fernando Collor de Mello (1990-1992), Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995-2002) and Lula da Silva (2003-2010).
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