Cuban Parliament President Winds up Visit to Vietnam

Havana, Sept 27 (ACN) Cuban Parliament President Esteban Lazo Hernandez concluded an official visit to Vietnam, which marked the 50th anniversary of the first visit to that nation by the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro.

On Wednesday, Lazo met with Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of Vietnam’s Communist Party who stressed the importance of the visit there by Fidel Castro back in 1973; he noted that the presence in Hanoi of the Cuban delegation expresses the high priority given by Cuba’s Communist Party, State and government to the bonds of friendship between the two countries.

The Vietnamese Communist leader also said that the visit will mark an important moment in the strengthening of bilateral relations; he went on to note that his nation keeps committed to deepening solidarity and cooperation with Cuba, and support the island nation’s struggle against the blockade imposed by the United States of America.

Meanwhile, the Cuban Parliament President conveyed Greetings from Revolution leader and Army General Raul Castro and from President Miguel Diaz-Canel, first secretary of Cuba’s Communist Party.

Lazo underlined the historic significance of commemorating the 50th anniversary of the visit by Fidel to Vietnam and reiterated, on behalf of the Cuban people, his gratitude and emotion for the lively expression of the historic relations between the two nations.

Later on Wednesday, the President of the Cuban National Assembly of People’s Power also met with his counterpart Vuong Dinh Hue and other parliament authorities and reiterated his willingness to expand and strengthen inter-parliament relations through different initiatives following the signing of a cooperation accord between the two legislative bodies.

Finally, Lazo Hernandez decorated his Vietnamese counterpart with Cuba’s Carlos Manuel de Cespedes Order, a major decoration granted by the Cuban state; he also pinned the Ana Betancourt Order on Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, former member of the Vietnamese Communist Party Politburo and ex-president of the National Assembly, among other decorations he granted to other Vietnamese parliamentarians.

During his visit to Vietnam the Cuban Parliament leader held talks with top Vietnamese authorities and visited places previously toured by Fidel Castro in the provinces of Quang Binh and Quang Tri; he also paid tribute to Vietnamese Hero Ho Chi Minh.