Leader Fidel Castro’s first Vietnam visit an exceptional moment: ICAP President
Cuban leader Fidel Castro’s first visit to Vietnam and the liberated zone in Southern Vietnam was an exceptional moment in the history of the two countries’ relations, President of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) Fernando González Llort has said.
Cuban leader Fidel Castro (second from left) and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Van Dong (third from right) visit Quang Tri's Dong Ha town in 1973 (Photo: VNA)
Havana (VNA) – Cuban leader Fidel Castro’s first visit to Vietnamand the liberated zone in Southern Vietnam was an exceptional moment in thehistory of the two countries’ relations, President of the Cuban Institute ofFriendship with the Peoples (ICAP) Fernando González Llort has said.
Hero Fernando González Llort made the statement in hisinterview granted to the Vietnam News Agency’s reporter in Havana, on the occasionof the visit from September 24-28 by Politburo member and President of theNational Assembly of People's Power of Cuba Esteban Lazo Hernandez to Vietnam to attend aceremony marking 50 years since Fidel Castro visited the liberated zone inSouth Vietnam in September 1973.
According to him, in addition to political significance, Commander-in-ChiefFidel Castro's first visit to Vietnam was also symbolic.
The presence of the Cuban revolutionary leader in Quang Tri battlefield,despite efforts by Vietnamese officials to persuade him not to make that riskytrip, is an epic image carrying extraordinary political and moral stature, hestressed.
He said he thinks this meant great encouragement toVietnamese soldiers at that time, and the image of the Cuban leader holding the flag of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam demonstrated Cuba’s political will andcommitment to the just struggle of the Vietnamese people.
He also emphasised that the visit to Vietnam by Esteban LazoHernández is a continuation of previous high-level visits by First Secretary ofthe Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee and President of Cuba MiguelDiaz-Canel and Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz, contributing to furtherstrengthening bilateral political relations and boosting economic and trade cooperation./.
The Vietnam- Cuba Friendship Association of Hanoi and the People’s Committee of Ba Dinh district on September 22 co-organised a seminar on the Vietnam-Cuba special solidarity, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Leader Fidel Castro's historical visit to Vietnam (September 1973 - 2023).
President of the National Assembly of People's Power of Cuba Esteban Lazo Hernandez arrived in Hanoi on September 24, beginning a five-day visit to Vietnam to attend a ceremony to mark 50 years of leader Fidel Castro’s trip to the liberated zone in Southern Vietnam (September 1973-2023).
It is very rare to find such special relations as the ties between the Parties, States, and people of Vietnam and Cuba, set up by Cuban national hero Jose Marti, President Ho Chi Minh, and President Fidel Castro and nurtured by generations of leaders of both countries.
The relations between Vietnam and Cuba are very special, far beyond all diplomatic and political levels, said Secretary General of the National Assembly (NA) of People’s Power and the Council of State of Cuba Homero Acosta Alvarez.
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Cuban leader Fidel Castro (second from left) and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Van Dong (third from right) visit Quang Tri's Dong Ha town in 1973 (Photo: VNA) 
