On Tuesday at the Palace of the Revolution, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermudez, received the credentials of seven new ambassadors to the Greater Antilles.
The Head of State, accompanied by member of the Political Bureau and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Barela, received the representative of Malaysia, Mohamed Radhibin Jamaluddin, who stated that the year 2025 will mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. A reason to celebrate.
Díaz-Canel highlighted the bonds of brotherhood between Cuba and Malaysia, and the “relationship of respect, admiration and friendship”; He also talked about expanding and strengthening political, economic and trade relations.
President Ian Charles Anthony Douglas then received the new Ambassador of the Commonwealth of Dominica, a country he described as a sister country. Díaz-Canel sent his greetings to Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit and recalled his visit to Cuba in 2022, when he was awarded the José Martí Medal, “for his historic relationship of solidarity with the island.”
The representative of Dominica recalled how Cuba had helped his country during the devastating hurricane of 2017 and then “generously” in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said our recovery was due in large part to the help of Cuba, which is “one of our best friends in the hemisphere and in the world.”
At this ceremony, which was held early in the morning at the Presidency, Admiral Damith Nishantha Sirisuma Olugetini, of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, presented his official accreditation. The Cuban Head of State considered that good friendship flows between the two countries, and stressed the participation of Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe in the Group of 77-China summit, which was held in September last year in Havana.
The new representative of Sri Lanka commented that both countries have maintained their relations since 1959, and referred to the invitation extended by his country's president to Diaz-Canel to visit that island country located south of India. We promised we would go, the Cuban president responded shortly before the official photo was taken.
On Tuesday, the Ambassador of the Republic of Guatemala, Luis Fernando Carranza Cifuentes, was also received at the Palace of the Revolution, where the President assured him of Cuba's support for his country. Díaz-Canel sent his greetings to President Bernardo Arevalo and noted that he was aware of the situation prevailing in the country. He also spoke about “areas of cooperation in which we can achieve further progress.”
Next, it was the turn of Ambassador Rachel Elizabeth Moseley, of the Commonwealth of Australia, who described presenting her credentials to the President as an honor in good Spanish. She thanked Cuba for its assistance to the indigenous people in her country, especially through the Cuban literacy program “Yes, I Can,” the results of which she considered “very good.”
President Díaz-Canel noted that 35 years of diplomatic relations between Cuba and Australia will soon be celebrated, which is another reason to strengthen and expand relations with that Oceania country.
The day also included a welcome to Musa Hamdan Al Tai, the new representative of the Sultanate of Oman, a country on the Arabian Peninsula with which Cuba has maintained relations for three decades. The Head of State expressed the island's readiness to expand and strengthen these relations. The ambassador, who has just begun his work in Havana, said: “The Omani people are friends with Cuba.”
Finally, Ambassador Kennedy Mbulobi Chibande, from the Republic of Zambia, “Cuba’s sister country,” was received at the official reception on Tuesday, Diaz-Canel said.
Mbulobi Chibande considered that “Cuba is an old friend of Africa,” and recalled the role of Fidel and the Cubans in African liberation struggles. The diplomat commented that Cuba enjoys great respect on our continent, especially among young people, who thanked the student scholarships that the island provided to his people, especially in medical sciences, which he called for to increase.
In the dialogue between the President and the Secretary of State with the new ambassadors, gratitude was evident for the island’s support in its fight against the blockade imposed by the United States; As well as the readiness of the government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs so that everyone can successfully carry out their diplomatic mission in the Greater Antilles.
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