Cuban President congratulates Ralph Gonsalves on his birthday

HAVANA, Cuba, Aug 9 (ACN) Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel today congratulated St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves on the occasion of his 75th birthday and wished him a speedy recovery.

The Cuban leader congratulated the Caribbean leader through his Twitter account, in a message in which he also sent 'a strong hug and wishes for a speedy recovery'.

'To solidarity #PonleCorazón,' Díaz-Canel added.

Gonsalves is recovering after receiving, last August 5, a blunt blow outside the Grenadian Parliament, when a group of demonstrators threw stones at him and his entourage, in the middle of a protest organized by the political opposition.

The event generated the rejection of several leaders of the region, among them Sacha Llorenti, executive secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People's Trade Treaty, and of the Caribbean Community (Caricom).

According to Prensa Latina news agency, the president of Caricom and prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, in a statement condemned the attack, which he described as serious and almost fatal.

The introduction of violence into the political life of Caricom 'is shameful and deplorable, and those responsible must be brought to justice with due haste,' Browne emphasized.

Raplh Gonsalves was re-elected prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines last November for the fifth consecutive time, and his party, the Unity Labor Party, won nine of the 15 seats in Parliament.