President Ho Chi Minh and top Vietnamese leaders attend a meeting in Hanoi in late October 1966 that gathered together over 1,000 people from all walks of life to welcome a Cuban delegation led by President Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado. (Photo: VNA)
Assessing the long-standing relationship, Vu Trung My, deputy head ofthe Department for the Middle East, Africa and Latin America under the Party Central Committee's Commission for External Relations, said the ties, as leader Fidel Castro oncesaid, have “no precedent in international relations” and are being constantly cultivatedand developed in all respects, reaping significant achievements and demonstratingthe affection between and the steadfast revolutionary stance of the two Parties,States and people of Vietnam and Cuba.
These contributed to the revolutionary cause and the buildingof socialism in each country, My added.
During Vietnam’s struggle for national independence and reunification, the Cuban Party, State and people put themselves out for their Vietnamesepeers. In his trip to Vietnam’s newly-liberated region in central Quang Tri provincein mid-September 1973, then First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba CentralCommittee and Prime Minister Fidel Castro, said: “For Vietnam, Cuba is willing toshed its blood.”
Fidel Castro and Prime Minister Pham Van Dong at a meeting on September 15, 1973, in Quang Tri, which was held to welcome the Cuban leader. (Photo: VNA) He was the first and only foreign leader to visit the area, despitethe geographical distance and the dangers of war. His presence was a great sourceof encouragement for Vietnamese soldiers and the people to press ahead with theirfight for the liberation of South Vietnam and national reunification.
Cuba also helped Vietnam during this period by providinghuman resources training and sugar and medical aid, as well as upgrading the HoChi Minh Trail and other routes in central Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hueprovinces, for the transportation of personnel and materials from North Vietnam to thesouthern battlefield.
As the two countries have focused on building socialism, Cubahas continued its comprehensive support for Vietnam via maintaining scientific andtechnological cooperation, funding the construction of production facilities, and supplyingcrop varieties and breeds, among other things.
When Vietnam embarked on its renewal process and Cuba enteredthe most difficult period of the Cuban Revolution, Vietnam assisted its friend,reflecting its solidarity, friendship, and faithful support for the righteous revolution.
Through several projects, Vietnam gradually helped Cubagain food security. Much later, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Vietnamese people donated necessarymedical equipment and cash to support Cuba’s pandemic control and prevention work. In turn,Cuba sent experienced doctors to Vietnam, adding to the country’s medical workforce.
My said that as the world is changing rapidly, the fortificationof the special friendship is suitable with the needs of both nations during their protectionof national independence and territorial sovereignty as well as national construction.
In the time to come, the two sides will work to takethe bilateral relationship forward, with the two parties’ ties at its core. Closecoordination will also cover the fields of defence, security, external relations,trade, and people-to-people exchanges.
Nguyen Hai Minh, head of the Ho Chi Minh Communist YouthUnion Central Committee’s international department, attached importance to educatingthe younger generations about the Vietnam - Cuba traditional friendship,especially amid complex global developments.
A series of educational activities were held to mark the60th anniversary of diplomatic relations, including an online quiz onties and a painting contest for children on the Vietnam - Cuba solidarity, which receivedmore than 1 million entries.
Paintings of the contest on display. (Photo: VNA)
Minh said the two countries’ youth unions plan to expandcooperation in experience exchange, to increase young people’s engagement in new-stylerural area building, socio-economic development, bio-technology, and tourism.
Exchanges among young doctors, journalists, and overseasstudents are also necessary, he said./.
