The story of a journalist who devoted his life to Cuba

For journalist and translator Vu Van Au, Cuba is the passionate years of his youth, an immeasurable gratitude, and a second homeland that nurtured generations of his family.

Mr. Vu Van Au (wearing glasses, in the middle) and a group of Vietnamese students sent to study in Cuba, 1971. (Photo: NVCC)

Receiving us in a small house stained with time on Bach Mai Street, journalist and translator Vu Van Au slowly brought down the Vietnamese-Spanish dictionary “two pounds two” from the small attic. Although he is 94 years old, he still remembers every memory of “a Cuban life”, the years he spent with the beautiful island nation half a world away from Vietnam.

“Send the children over so they can learn…”

As one of 23 Vietnamese officials sent to study Spanish at the University of Havana, journalist Vu Van Au has not forgotten the reason he was sent to Cuba to study and grow up.

In May 1961, a Vietnamese government delegation led by Minister of Culture Hoang Minh Giam visited Cuba on International Labor Day. At the meeting, President Fidel Castro was surprised to see that two levels of interpretation were needed to converse: from Vietnamese to English, then from English to Spanish. Surprised to learn that at that time no one in Vietnam knew Spanish, the leader frankly suggested: "Then you should send the children over to learn so that they can do foreign affairs work."

The journey of the Vietnamese "children" in the beloved land of Cuba began from there.

In November 1961, 23 Vietnamese cadres set off to study Spanish at the University of Havana. The press at that time had three slots and Mr. Vu Van Au (who was working at the Vietnam News Agency at the time) was lucky enough to be one of them. For him, the moment he first set foot in Cuba was like a breath of fresh air - not only because of the strange scenery, but also because of the incredibly warm welcome of the friendly country.

The Vietnamese delegation was arranged to stay in a villa with its own catering team, interpreters, and security guards. In the heart of the young Vietnamese man far from home at that time, the feeling of being respected was an indelible impression.

After three years of studying and growing up in a foreign land, journalist Vu Van Au returned to Vietnam and continued working at the Vietnam News Agency. In 1966, the agency assigned him the task of preparing to establish a permanent office of the Vietnam News Agency in Cuba. The fate was not over yet, in November of that year, Mr. Au returned to La Habana and officially broadcast the first news bulletin from Cuba to Vietnam on November 6, 1966 - opening his journey as a journalist on this Caribbean island. In 1966, he became the first Chief of the Vietnam News Agency's branch in La Habana, informing the people of the two countries about each other's revolutionary achievements.

As Cuban Ambassador to Vietnam Rogelio Polanco Fuentes affirmed in a meeting with experts and press officers who had studied in Cuba on June 6, the Cuban people have accompanied the Vietnamese people's feats every day. Every American plane shot down, every liberated land is a source of joy and pride for the Cuban workers, farmers and students.

For young journalist Vu Van Au, those were the years when Vietnamese cadres were sheltered and protected by the Cuban people. The memory he remembers most was in 1970, when Leader Fidel Castro launched a campaign to produce 10 million tons of sugar, mobilizing the entire population to increase production. Mr. Au humorously recalled that at that time, Commander-in-Chief Fidel was no less than a real farmer.

On August 16, 1970, President Fidel invited all international reporters in Havana to fly to the Eastern provinces with him to… cut sugarcane. During a break, Fidel sent someone to find two Vietnamese journalists who were there, including Mr. Au. The Commander-in-Chief asked them about their work, their lives, and how their children were eating.

For Mr. Au, it was not just a meeting, but an unforgettable memory of a Leader who always cared deeply about international friends - especially those from the distant Vietnam that he loved so much.

Later, the photo of Fidel Castro and him standing and talking in a sugarcane field was placed on the first page of the Vietnamese-Spanish dictionary, as proof of the young journalist's special journey in Cuba.

Mr. Vu Van Au (far left) took a photo with Cuban leader Fidel Castro on August 16, 1970 when he followed him to increase production. The photo shows President Fidel's signature. (Photo: NVCC)

Lifetime gratitude

Later, thousands of Vietnamese students went to Cuba to study. There were large-scale trips, the two largest groups of up to 500 and 300 people, traveling by ship from the Soviet Union. Notably, the Cuban side took care of everything, from food to accommodation to daily activities, for all international students, lacking nothing.

“Mr. Fidel thought that after Vietnam won the resistance war, they would have to provide milk for the children, so he planned to have dairy cows and chickens to produce eggs…”, Mr. Au recalled emotionally. Therefore, in the 1970s, Cuba provided Vietnam with more than 1,000 valuable breeding cows at Moc Chau Farm. And as Mr. Au shared, “for those with a conscience, that kindness is unforgettable.”

Above all, for journalist Vu Van Au, his life is attached to Cuba not only because of work, but also because of a deep emotional bond that has lasted through many generations. That affection has become flesh and blood, permeating every beat of the family's life. His son, Vu Trung My, after studying in Cuba, also became an officer at the Vietnamese Embassy in the Caribbean island nation, once again following in his father's footsteps, contributing to connecting the two brotherly nations. He humorously told us that Vu Trung My's name (currently the Vietnamese Ambassador to Venezuela) was also named after his love for the land on the other side of the globe.

His daughter-in-law defended her PhD thesis in Cuba, then returned to continue her work related to the neighboring country. Some of his grandchildren - the third generation - still live and work in Cuba. All of them, according to him, "grew up in Cuba".

“Three generations of a family attached to one country, I think that is very rare,” he proudly affirmed.

Not only a messenger, journalist Vu Van Au is also an “interpreter”. Throughout his life, he devoted much time and effort to translating, writing and interpreting books about Cuba. But perhaps the work that made him most proud and moved was the compilation of the first Vietnamese-Spanish dictionary in Vietnam.

And for his contributions in fostering the information bridge between the two nations, he was twice awarded the Félix Elmuza Medal - a prestigious award from the Cuban Journalists Association. Each medal, for him, is a reminder of the meaningful years gone by and of the responsibility of those who tell them to the future.

The publisher paid him 136 million VND for the dictionary. After paying the relevant parties, he set aside 100 million VND to support the Cuban people in overcoming the oil tank fire incident at the industrial park near Matanzas Bay in August 2022.

“I still have to borrow another two million to make it a hundred,” he smiled gently. “I'm not rich, but I think Cuba is much more difficult than me.”

Journalist and translator Vu Van Au, 94 years old, holding a Vietnamese-Spanish dictionary that he compiled himself. (Photo: Yen Vi)

Also during the meeting with experts and press officers who had studied in Cuba, Ambassador Rogelio Polanco Fuentes mentioned the reportage “Embassy in the middle of the jungle and before the 17th parallel”, written by journalist, war correspondent and former Cuban Ambassador to the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, then to the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in Hanoi Raúl Valdés Vivó. In it, there was a saying by a soldier: “Cuba is a miniature Vietnam in the middle of the ocean”.

That saying, beyond a literary image, to Mr. Vu Van Au, is a vivid reality of a time of sharing hardships, common ideals and eternal friendship. He always believes that journalism not only connects information, but also bridges the emotions between people. “I have no title, no special talent. I just try to keep my heart and live meaningfully.”

At 94 years old, with dim eyes and weak legs, the former journalist and translator still yearns to add to and reprint the dictionary. “I don’t know how far I can go, but as long as I remember, I will continue to tell. As long as I have the strength, I will continue to write,” he smiled, as gentle as the wind along the coast from the other side of the world, passing through the heart of Bach Mai Street.

The life of journalist and translator Vu Van Au is not measured by his position or reputation, but by the news sent back from Havana, by each meaningful dictionary page, and by generations of his family quietly following the path of connecting two nations.

If I could sum all of that up in one sentence, it would probably be: He lived a full life with Cuba, with love, gratitude and complete loyalty.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/chuyen-mot-nha-bao-ca-doi-gan-bo-voi-cuba-318365.html