Vietnamese Communist Party Celebrates 80th Anniversary

The University of Havana hosted a special celebration honoring the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of Vietnam on Wednesday. Cuban Vice President of the State Council Esteban Lazo Hernández presided over the activity

The University of Havana hosted a special celebration honoring the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of Vietnam on Wednesday.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Cuba Vu Chi Cong recalled how the party, founded by Ho Chi Minh, was the result of the union of several different patriotic movements, and how it became a leader in several of the liberation struggles in Vietnam.

The Vietnamese ambassador also took the opportunity to thank Cuba for its solidarity over the years and praised the work of Cuban healthcare professionals in Haiti, the first to offer care after the devastating 7.2 earthquake in mid January.

Vu Chi Cong reiterated Vietnam’s unwavering support of Cuba’s struggle against imperialism and to gain freedom for the five Cuban antiterrorist unjustly imprisoned in US jails. In a trial plagued with irregularities and held in a highly biased Miami court, the Cuban Five —Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González, Antonio Guerrero and René González— were given harsh sentences ranging from 15 years to consecutive life terms plus 15 years. The five Cubans were working to uncover information about terrorist activities being planned and carried out against Cuba by ultra-rightwing organizations based in southern Florida with a long record of terrorist actions against Cuba and the Cuban people. When they turned their information over to authorities they were arrested and have been in jail ever since.

Cuban Vice President of the State Council Esteban Lazo Hernández presided over the activity. The head of the International Relations Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, Jorge Martí Martínez, spoke about how both nation’s Communist Parties have worked towards defending the oppressed and called for continued solidarity between the two countries.

Also attending the anniversary were Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, General Secretary of the Cuban Federation of Women (FMC) Yolanda Ferrer, President of the Cuban Institute of Friendship (ICAP) Kenia Serrano, and several representatives from the Vietnamese mission in Cuba.