During a bilateral ministerial meeting on Sunday and Monday in Cayo Santa María, Venezuela and Cuba signed agreements for pharmaceutical and medical production, zinc and copper mining, as well as stainless steel production in Cuba.

“We are going towards an economic union between Cuba and Venezuela,” President Raúl Castro said during his closing address Monday. An agreement signed at the end of the meeting sets a timetable and funding plan for 139 projects; Vice President Ricardo Cabrisas, who heads the Cuban delegation, said that 41 projects are close to being set in motion.

The ministerial meeting was the opening act of a bilateral summit through Wednesday in Villa Clara province. The summit coincides with a commemorative act in Santa Clara for the assault of the Moncada barracks in 1953, the opening salvo of the Cuban revolution.

Discussions of the health ministers at the meeting centered on the creation of three joint venture companies, including one with five assembly lines to produce different types of generic medicine in Venezuela, one for surgical gloves and condoms, and one for hospital and clinic furniture.

The mining and basic industries ministers discussed details of six proposed agreements, including one that would create a joint venture company that produces stainless steel and derivatives, both in Cuba and Venezuela. The company may later expand to include partners from other ALBA countries.

Other projects include the creation of joint venture manufacturing plants for textiles in shoes, to supply the Cuban, Venezuelan and other ALBA markets; creation of a joint venture company for repair and maintenance of fuel tanks; and a joint venture for buffalo meat and milk production.

Venezuela is also committed to participating in zinc and copper mining in Cuba, according to Agencia Venezolana.

Finally, Venezuela is seeking Cuban participation in expanding Venezuela’s hydroelectric power production.

Venezuelan Health Minister Eugenia Sader and Basic Industries, Mining Minister José Khan, and Energy Minister Alí Rodríguez Araque were part of the delegation at the summit, which also includes work groups on agriculture, light industry and trade, and energy.

President Hugo Chávez cancelled his participation due to tensions with Colombia.

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