Cuban leader visits close ally Venezuela

CARACAS, Venezuela (CNN) -- Cuban President Raúl Castro arrived in Venezuela on Saturday, making his first foreign state visit since being chosen president in February.

Castro was met at Simon Bolivar International Airport by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Cuba's closest ally in Latin America.

"It is an honor to have you with us," Chavez told Castro.

Castro recalled his first visit to the South American nation.

"We are here once again like we did some 55 years ago, when I came as a student, and the first thing we did was pay homage to Simon Bolivar, the Liberator. It is the first thing we will do today," the state-run Cuban News Agency quoted Castro as saying.

The two leaders then went to the Plaza Bolivar de Caracas, where Castro laid a wreath at a statue of Bolivar, a hero to many for guiding six South American countries to freedom from Spain in the 1800s.

Besides their close political alliance, Cuba and Venezuela are strong trading partners. In 2008, the two nations had 78 bilateral projects with a value of $355 million, according to the Venezuelan government.

Castro assumed temporary leadership of Cuba in July 2006 after older brother Fidel Castro, who had held power since 1959, fell ill. The National Assembly elected Raúl Castro president in February after Fidel Castro said he would not run again.

Raúl Castro is scheduled to be in Venezuela through Sunday before heading to Brazil for the Latin American and Caribbean Summit on Integration and Development to be held Tuesday and Wednesday.

CNN's Maria Carolina Gonzalez contributed to this report.

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