Vietnam-Cuba: 52 years of unprecedented brotherhood

Recently, the Cuban State News Agency (ACN) published an article by author Indira Ferrer Alonso about 52 years of unprecedented brotherhood between the Cuban and Vietnamese people.

President Fidel Castro raises the victory flag of the Khe Sanh Brigade of the Tri Thien - Hue Liberation Army at Hill 241, September 16, 1973. (Photo: VNA)

52 years ago, in September 1973, when Quang Tri was still raging with the flames of war, an event forever marked the history of solidarity between the Cuban and Vietnamese people: The historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, became the first and only foreign head of state to visit the liberated zone of South Vietnam, in the midst of the ongoing war.

On the morning of September 15, 1973, Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro crossed the pontoon bridge over the Ben Hai River to demonstrate the solidarity of the Caribbean people with the heroic Vietnamese people. Together with Prime Minister Pham Van Dong, he waved the victory flag of the Khe Sanh Brigade of the Tri Thien - Hue Liberation Army and walked between the trenches, saluting each soldier.

His words before the crowd of soldiers at Hill 241 echoed an unwavering commitment: "For Vietnam, Cuba is willing to sacrifice its blood!"

Those words, still resonating more than half a century later, encapsulated the essence of the friendship between two peoples, nurtured by resistance, dignity and international spirit.

Commander-in-Chief Fidel came to Vietnam carrying with him the legacy of an organization that a decade earlier had been a world pioneer: the Cuban Committee for Solidarity with South Vietnam. Founded on September 25, 1963, on Fidel's initiative and chaired by the heroine Melba Hernández, the organization was at the forefront of denouncing imperialist aggression and providing political, moral and material support to the Vietnamese people.

Today, 52 years later, that visit remains fresh in the memories of those who experienced it. It only lasted 6 hours, but it was enough to cement an everlasting friendship: Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro’s visit to Quang Tri is a symbol of brotherhood between two nations bound by the same ideals of peace, independence and social justice.

Cuba and Vietnam continue to walk together; Leader Fidel lives forever in that eternal embrace, the embrace that defied war and sowed the seeds of everlasting solidarity.

And as leader Fidel Castro said that day in Vietnam: "Vietnam will be ten times more beautiful, as President Ho Chi Minh dreamed. In that construction, Cuba will always stand side by side with the Vietnamese people."

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/viet-nam-cuba-tinh-anh-em-52-nam-vo-tien-khoang-hau-327509.html