National Assembly Chairman meets with General Raul Castro Ruz, President of Cuba

Cuban leaders highly appreciated the speech of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue at the session of the 10th Cuban National Assembly, demonstrating the sincerity, friendship, special solidarity and loyalty between the two countries.

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue with General Ral Castro at the meeting. (Photo: Doan Tan/VNA)

On the afternoon of April 20 local time, at the Cuban Revolution Palace in the capital Havana, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue met with Cuban revolutionary leader, General Raúl Castro Ruz and First Secretary and President of Cuba Miguel Díaz-Canel.

At the meeting, General Raúl Castro Ruz and First Secretary and President of Cuba Miguel Díaz-Canel warmly welcomed National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue on his first official visit to Cuba in his new position, especially as the first foreign leader to visit Cuba right after Cuba successfully organized the general election to elect the 10th National Assembly for the 2023-2028 term and completed the process of perfecting the new State Leadership and Government .

The Cuban leader emphasized that the visit at this time demonstrates the special affection and attention of the Party, State, people of Vietnam and National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue personally for the traditional friendship and special cooperation between the two countries, and is a great source of encouragement for the revolutionary cause of the Cuban people.

The Cuban leaders highly appreciated the speech of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue at the first special session of the 10th Cuban National Assembly, which demonstrated the sincerity, friendship, special solidarity and loyalty between the two countries; said that the delegation and the program of activities in Cuba were meaningful and demonstrated the comprehensiveness of the cooperative relationship between the two countries; and affirmed that the visit contributed to promoting the relationship between the Parties, Governments, National Assemblies and peoples of the two countries.

General Raúl Castro said he always follows and is pleased with the development steps of Vietnam, expressing his belief that Vietnam will successfully achieve the goals set at the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

Emotionally sharing unforgettable memories of his visit to Vietnam in 1966 and meeting President Ho Chi Minh, General Raúl Castro Ruz affirmed that the heroic struggle of the Vietnamese people has always been a great source of encouragement and that Vietnam's socio-economic development is a model for Cuba; he agreed that the two sides should continue to strengthen the special friendship and solidarity founded by leaders Ho Chi Minh and Fidel Castro and passed on to future generations.

After General Raul Castro recalled memories of Nguyen Phu Trong's State visit to Cuba in 2018, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel shared his special emotion when visiting the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum during his visit to Vietnam in 2018. The Cuban leader conveyed his greetings of solidarity and brotherhood to General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and the leaders of the Party, State and Government of Vietnam.

Thanking Vietnam for its support in ensuring food security for Cuba, the Cuban leader highly appreciated the two agricultural projects on aquaculture and hybrid corn for Cuba, as well as investment projects in the Mariel Special Economic Zone and other localities of Cuba; affirming that the Cuban Party and State always pay attention to and create favorable conditions for Vietnamese enterprises to do business and invest in Cuba. Currently, Vietnam is Cuba's second largest trade partner and largest investor from Asia-Pacific.

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue expressed his joy at visiting the beautiful country of Cuba and sincerely thanked the “brotherly” reception that the Party, State and people of Cuba had given the delegation; respectfully conveyed the warm greetings and congratulations of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Vo Van Thuong to General Raul Castro Ruz and First Secretary and President Miguel Díaz-Canel.

On this occasion, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue presented the Cuban leader with the book "Some theoretical and practical issues on socialism and the path to socialism in Vietnam" by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue was pleased to inform General Raul Castro of the content of the talks and meetings during the visit, which were in-depth and yielded substantial results. Leaders of ministries, departments, sectors and localities of the two countries also had many specific meetings and exchanges.

In addition, the two sides also signed cooperation documents in many fields such as parliament, construction, agriculture, etc., contributing to bringing the special traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Cuba into greater depth and effectiveness.

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue meets with President of the Republic of Cuba Miguel Díaz-Canel. (Photo: Doan Tan/VNA)

The two countries' senior leaders discussed specific measures to continue promoting comprehensive cooperation, including the exchange of delegations and high-level contacts, as well as between ministries, sectors, enterprises and localities; further strengthening bilateral trade and investment relations; and effectively promoting established cooperation mechanisms between the two countries.

The leaders of the two countries emphasized the important significance of the activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Fidel Castro's visit to the Liberated Zone in Quang Tri (September 1973) and the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Cuban Committee for Solidarity with South Vietnam (September 1963) to be held in Cuba and Vietnam, as an opportunity for the two countries to honor the traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation and faithful solidarity between Vietnam and Cuba.

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue said that the Party, State and people of Vietnam always pay attention to and closely follow the situation in Cuba; share the difficulties that the Party, State and people of Cuba are facing; affirm the solidarity and consistent support of the Party, State and people of Vietnam for Cuba's just cause; Vietnam will continue to accompany Cuba in the country's construction and development, fight against the blockade and embargo; and continue to support Cuba with food.

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue thanked the General and Cuban leaders for the warm and respectful reception given to the delegation.

On this occasion, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue conveyed General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's invitation to welcome General Raul Castro and First Secretary and President Miguel Díaz-Canel to visit Vietnam again when conditions permit.

The two sides also discussed international and regional issues of mutual concern, agreeing to continue consultation, close coordination and mutual support at international organizations and multilateral forums of which Vietnam and Cuba are members, especially at the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement./.

Hoang Thi Hoa (VietnamPlus)