Nguyen Duc Loi, member of the Party Central Committee and General Director of the Vietnam News Agency, speaks at the 24th Sao Paulo Forum in Havana, Cuba (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – A delegation from the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) ledby Nguyen Duc Loi, member of the Party Central Committee and General Directorof the Vietnam News Agency, attended the 24th Sao Paulo Forum in Havana,Cuba on July 14-17.
The delegation took part in all activities of theforum and delivered a speech on late President Fidel Castro’s special relationswith Vietnam at a special plenary session on July 17.
On behalf of the delegation, Loi underlinedthat Fidel is a great leader of international communist and worker movements,and a symbol of revolutionary heroism, and aspirations for freedom andhappiness.
He highlighted that humanitarianinternationalism initiated and led by Fidel had materially and spirituallysupported many revolutions and movements for national liberation worldwide,including Vietnamese people’s resistance war against the US.
The official recalled Cuba’s supportto Vietnam in the past even when the Caribbean country was facing numerousdifficulties as a result of the embargo imposed by the US, quoting Cubanrevolutionary leader Fidel Castro’s saying that “For Vietnam, Cuba is willingto shed its blood.”
He also recollected Fidel’s historicvisit to Vietnam’s central province of Quang Tri in September 1973, the firsttrip by a foreign leader to a liberated area in Vietnam. During the trip, theCuban Commander-in-Chief hoisted the Vietnamese liberation flag on top of abunker formerly belonging to the enemy troops, and then urged the Vietnamesesoldiers to “put up this glorious flag in the centre of Saigon.” His wish cametrue two years later.
The forum attracted 625 delegatesfrom 56 countries and 168 organisations across the world. They focused ondiscussing regional and international situations and emphasised the importanceof gathering forces and devising measures to fight imperialists.
Many Latin American and Caribbean leaders committed to reinforcing solidaritybetween leftist forces in the region and the world. They have adopted 45resolution and statements on socio-political issues in the region.
Created in 1990 as a result of thePermanent Conference of Political Parties of Latin America and the Caribbean,the Sao Paulo Forum is a space for dialogue, which attracts about 100 politicalparties, organisations and progressive movements in the region.
During their stay in Cuba, the Vietnamese delegation also paid courtesy visitsto Miguel Diaz-Canel, President of the Council of State and Council ofMinisters of Cuba and Mercedes Lopez Acera, Politburo member and Secretary of theCommunist Party of Cuba (CPC) Central Committee.
They met with Jose Ramon Balaguer, Secretary of the CPC Central Committee andhead of its Department of External Relations, and Victor Gaute, Secretary ofthe CPC Central Committee, who is in charge of the party’s information work.
Earlier, the CPV delegation had a working visit to the Republic of Dominica onJuly 11-13. They paid a courtesy visit to President of the Senate ReinaldoPared Pérez, who is also general secretary of the Dominican Liberation Party(DLP), and held talks with General Secretary of the United Left Movement of theDominican Republic (MIU) Miguel Mejía.
They met with Dominican Foreign Minister Miguel Vargas and attended a meetinghonouring President Ho Chi Minh in East Santo Domingo city.-VNA
VNA
