HAVANA – Cuban President Raúl Castro and his Nicaraguan counterpart Daniel Ortega reaffirmed the “excellent” state of their bilateral relations when they met in Havana, Cuba’s state-run media reported.

Raúl Castro and Ortega met a few hours after the Nicaraguan president arrived on Thursday at José Martí International Airport in Havana on a “working visit” about which no details have been revealed.

“The presidents exchanged points of view on the challenges facing both countries amid a complex international situation and discussed other topics of regional and multilateral interest,” the news media said.

Present at the meeting were Cuban Vice President José Ramón Machado Ventura and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez as well as Nicaraguan first lady Rosario Murillo, who also holds an official post.

The visit of the leftist Nicaraguan president was announced by Cuban media just hours before his arrival in Havana and up to now no details about his agenda or how long he will stay have been announced.

Ortega might also meet with former President Fidel Castro, Raúl’s older brother, while in the country.

Since Jan. 3 the presidents of many Latin American countries have visited Cuba, including Panama’s Martín Torrijos, the Ecuadorian Rafael Correa, Cristina Fernández of Argentina, Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Alvaro Colom from Guatemala, Leonel Fernández of the Dominican Republic, the Honduran Mel Zelaya, and Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez.

Torrijos, Correa and Colom were the only ones who returned home without being able to meet with the octogenarian Fidel Castro, who has not appeared in public since being stricken with a serious intestinal disease in July 2006. EFE