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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