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Speech delivered by Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, at the comradely meeting on the occasion of To Lam, Secretary General of the Communist Party and President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam's visit to Cuba, at the Hotel Nacional, on September 27, 2024, "Year 66 of the Revolution". Translated from the Spanish.
Dear comrade To Lam, brother of Cuba, General Secretary of the Communist Party and President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;
Dear members of the Vietnamese delegation accompanying comrade To Lam,
Comrades of the leadership of the Party, the Government, the Cuban institutions;
Cuban Pioneers;
Guests:
The visit of comrade To Lam makes us very happy, as always happens when good friends come to the house. Continuing together on the path towards the construction of socialism as sister nations, very close and committed, is a motivation that is renewed with these visits.
That joy of the encounter is not without sadness. Here I want to reiterate our heartfelt condolences and the greatest solidarity of the Cuban people, Party and Government, with the Party, the Government and its comradely Vietnamese people for the enormous damage caused after the passage of Typhoon Yagi, the most powerful in the last 30 years.
I would like to tell you that we highly appreciate the fact that your delegation has selected Cuba as the second bilateral destination for a state visit, after having assumed the position of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
Vietnam inspires us. All the high-level delegations from your country that have visited Cuba have left an important mark on the consolidation of relations between our parties, governments and peoples.
And this visit, which is already historic because of what I said earlier, I am sure will mark a milestone in the process of deepening political relations between our nations and also in increasing mutually beneficial economic cooperation between the two countries.
This meeting also took place in the month of September, when we celebrated the 61st anniversary of the creation of the Cuban Committee of Solidarity with South Vietnam, on September 25, 1963, whose path and history were recounted here by dear comrade Yolanda Ferrer, and the 51st anniversary of the historic visit of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz to the liberated areas of South Vietnam in September 1973. We will never forget the image of Fidel flying the flag of the People's Liberation Army of Vietnam.
Cuba and Vietnam are an example of comradeship that time has strengthened. No matter how fiercely the winds blew, or precisely because of how, our nations have been able to cultivate and enrich the beautiful legacy of friendship and solidarity of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, maximum leader of the Cuban Revolution, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz and the beloved comrade Ho Chi Minh.
That is why I believe that it is the duty of those of us who sustain this legacy, to teach to the new generations the strength and nobility of a history that holds tremendous and unique episodes of how our comradeship was forged, so that they can continue it, consolidate it, feed it and ensure it persists over time from generation to generation.
The testimony of the Cubans who studied in Vietnam and the Vietnamese brothers and sisters who came to study in Cuba is critical in safeguarding that historical memory, because they are all part of the process of the consolidation and development of each of our nations.
Also significant are the experiences of Cuban builders, doctors, teachers, and engineers who helped rebuild the country after the war and the correspondents of those epic years, who have a very special place in the heritage of Cuban cinema, thanks to which Cuba knows and feels as part of its own history the colossal epic of the people of the Annamites witnessing what was achieved, as it has been achieved, to turn a country devastated by several wars into the nation ten times more beautiful that Ho Chi Minh dreamed of.
Cuba is following with admiration, respect and joy the economic and social successes of the renewal process that began in 1986 and will soon be celebrating its 40th anniversary. The Doi moi is the palpable demonstration of how a better society is built with all the confidence of the people in their Party, Government and leaders. And, fundamentally, it is the most irrefutable proof that there are real possibilities of building socialism in nations like ours, always in accordance with the characteristics of each country.
I am grateful for the unwavering support of the Party, the Government and the people of Vietnam in the struggle of Cubans against the unjust economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the Government of the United States, which has been going on for more than six decades and which in the last five years has been brutally intensified, affecting all fundamental sectors of the economy. such as tourism, the export of medical services, energy, remittances, among others, and with the inclusion of Cuba in a spurious and unfair list of States that allegedly sponsor terrorism.
In Cuba's tireless struggle against this criminal siege, we will never forget the countless demonstrations of solidarity of the people of Vietnam, through their friendship organizations throughout that country, the gesture of those who recognize Cuba as their second homeland after training here as professionals, and the altruism of its pioneers who make handicrafts to raise funds for the construction of a new school in that little piece of Vietnam in Cuba which is the Ben Tre community, in the municipality of Bauta, in the province of Artemisa.
To that solidarity, we Cubans respond with deep gratitude, respect and admiration for the people of Vietnam. It is in this spirit that a beautiful idea will soon be realized: the Ho Chi Minh Chair, to study and disseminate in Cuba the thought of the Vietnamese leader and his common points with the thought of Martí and the thought of Fidel. The initial headquarters will be the University of Havana, but the dream is that there will be a branch in each Cuban university. In this noble project, we have the support of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations.
Ho Chi Minh is a symbol of the patriotism and revolutionary heroism of the Vietnamese people. An example of morality and intelligence, and, in the current context, it is all the more necessary for his thought to be learned, both to strengthen national pride and to disseminate to the world the always inspiring image of Vietnam, its glorious history, its rich culture and its immense love of peace.
During the visit to Cuba in April 2023 of a delegation of the National Assembly of Vietnam, a ceremony was held to change the name of the Havana park where the beautiful monument to President Ho Chi Minh was erected 30 years ago, which you and your delegation, dear President, will visit next. Since then it has been called Ho Chi Minh Park, although the people had already called it that with great respect.
Cubans are grateful, and perhaps some are unaware, that the first city in the world with a square named after Fidel Castro Ruz is in the province of Quang Tri, in the city of Dong Ha, whose inauguration took place on September 15, 2018, 45 years after Fidel's visit to that Vietnamese region.
Our leaders live eternally in the hearts of their people; not only in monuments, in books or in speeches; they live in their works, in the thought and ideas they bequeathed to us, and in the dreams of building ever more beautiful and humanistic nations.
All these are sufficient reasons to reiterate here today, together with you, the hope that the comradeship between our two countries will be further consolidated with the passage of time; that it grows and deepens in all sectors, and that it makes the path of socialist construction stronger and safer, under the correct guidance of the Communist Party of Cuba and the Communist Party of Vietnam.
May we continue to progress together for the sake of peace, independence, democracy and the prosperous and sustainable socialism that our peoples deserve!
Long live the deep, noble and genuine friendship between Vietnam and Cuba! (Shouts of "Long live!")
Long live forever the endearing legacy of Ho Chi Minh and Fidel Castro that embraces our nations! (Shouts of "Long live!")
Long live socialism! (Shouts of "Long live!")
And, as always, Cuba and Vietnam united will win! (Shouts: "United they will win!")
Thank you very much. (Applause)
This speech was translated and shared via a License CC-BY-NC
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