Cuba's indestructible relations with Africa highlighted

HAVANA, Cuba, May 25 (acn) The indestructible relation that unites the Cuban and the African peoples and the permanent commitment of the Caribbean nation to the development of the continent were featured today in this city, during the celebration of Africa Day.

The 53rd anniversary of the founding of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) was marked in a ceremony presided over by members of the Political Bureau of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC), Salvador Valdes and Esteban Lazo, Vice-president of the Council of State and head of Parliament, respectively, and Jose Ramon Balaguer, member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the PCC and head of its department of International Relations.
Also attending the meeting, held at the Cuban Foreign Ministry, were deans of regional groups, African diplomats accredited to Havana and members of visiting delegations from Mali, Namibia and South Africa, to commemorate the founding date of the OAU on May 25, 1963.
Speaking at the ceremony, Ana Teresita Gonzalez, acting minister of Foreign Affairs, highlighted the historic and fraternal ties existing between Cuba and African countries, in addition to the contributions made by these peoples to the formation of Cuban nationality.
She recalled the participation of Africans and their descendants in the emancipation process of the nation and ratified the continuity of Cuban cooperation and solidarity with that continent, where more than five thousand health, education, construction, sports and culture workers are currently offering their services.
Gonzalez also thanked the unitary support of African states to the struggle against the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the US on Cuba for more than five decades.
Abel Coelho, acting dean of the African Diplomatic Corps and Ambassador of Guinea Bissau to Havana, recalled the continued contribution of Cuba and of the historic leader of its Revolution, Fidel Castro, to the struggle for the liberation of Africa.
He also stressed the solidarity of Cuban physicians in the fight against the Ebola epidemic that affected West African territories in 2014.
He also reiterated the support of the continent to Cuba in its struggle for the lifting of the unilateral siege of Washington, and the return to the island of the Guantanamo territory illegally occupied by the U.S. naval base.
Also marked during the ceremony were the abolition of slavery in Cuba 130 years ago and the 50th anniversary of the book Biography of a Runaway, written by intellectual Miguel Barnet.