Saturday, October 17, 2009

Cuban First Vice President Receives Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau

Havana. October 13, 2009

Machado Ventura receives Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau

FIRST Vice President José Ramón Machado Ventura received Prime Minister Carlos Gomes of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau on Monday morning, as the latter began an official visit to our country.

In a cordial and friendly environment, the two sides reviewed the development of bilateral relations and reaffirmed their interest in expanding and strengthening current ties between the two countries, as well as boosting cooperation in several sectors. Likewise, they discussed other regional and international issues of mutual interest.

Both leaders recalled the historic ties that are the basis of relations between Africa and Cuba, forged in the struggles against colonialism and the apartheid regime.

Prime Minister Gomes noted Cuba’s unlimited support for his country’s liberation struggle, and thanked the island for educating in its schools hundreds of professionals who are now contributing to his nation’s progress. First Vice President Machado, for his part, paid tribute to the historic African leader Amílcar Cabral and thanked the fraternal people of Guinea-Bissau for their solidarity with our fight to end the blockade and to free the Cuban Five, the anti-terrorists locked up in U.S. prisons.

Gomes was accompanied by Maria Adiatu Djaló Nandigna, minister of foreign affairs, cooperation and communities; Arístides Ocante da Silva, minister of national education, culture and science; Camilo Simoes Pereira, minister of public health; and Abel Coelho, ambassador of Guinea-Bissau in Cuba, among others.

First Vice President Machado was accompanied by José Ramón Balaguer Cabrera, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party and minister of health; Jorge Martí Martínez, head of the Central Committee’s Department of International Relations; Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla and Rodrigo Malmierca Díaz, ministers of foreign affairs and foreign trade and investment, respectively; Pedro Doña, Cuban ambassador in Guinea Bissau, and other officials from the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Translated by Granma International

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