Cuba Helps Mozambique’s Development
Mozambican Foreign Minister Oldemiro Julio Marques met on Friday with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez in the framework of the 17th session of the Cuba-Mozambique Intergovernmental Joint Commission.
During the meeting, Marques said that Cuba is greatly helping Mozambique meet its development goals, especially in the struggle against poverty. The African leader thanked the Cuban cooperation efforts, especially in the health and education sectors.
“The support we have received has been invaluable,” said the Mozambican Foreign minister, who visited Cuba at the invitation of his Cuban counterpart.
“Mozambique is growing, it is growing stronger thanks to its leaders and teams of professionals, a good part of which were formed thanks to Cuban cooperation. Our visit is an expression of friendship and acknowledgment, to underline that we are together,” said Marques.
Marques said that Cuba has been a bastion in the struggle to forge a better world, for which it has suffered almost 50 years of blockade imposed by the United States. In this regard, Oldemiro Julio Marques mentioned the US hostility seen in the unfair imprisonment of five Cuban antiterrorist fighters —Ramon Labañino, Rene Gonzalez, Gerardo Hernandez, Antonio Guerrero and Fernando Gonzalez— who have been in US jails for more than 11 years.
“We must continue to admire Cuba’s capacity of being generous with its friends,” said the Mozambican Foreign minister.
The 17th session of the Cuba-Mozambique Intergovernmental Joint Commission took place Friday and Saturday in Havana.
Cuba will overcome today’s obstacles with self-confidence, courage and determination, said Marques, mentioning among them the US blockade, the current global economic crisis and the recent natural disasters that have affected the island.
Marques also spoke about the role played by Havana in the reactivation of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), expanding its role in the international arena.
On behalf of the Cuban people, Bruno Rodriguez thanked Mozambique for its “permanent solidarity” in the defence of International Law, as well as for its denunciation of the US blockade, the politicization of Human Rights and the manipulation of UN organizations.
The Cuban Foreign minister also spoke about agreements between the two countries regarding international matters such as climate change and the economic crisis. Rodriguez also spoke about the special ties of friendship that unite the two countries that were first build with Cuba’s presence in the liberation processes in Africa and the fight against apartheid.
Currently, there are 216 Cubans offering services in Mozambique, and 61 young Mozambicans studying in Cuba that will soon join the 3,790 that have already graduated from Cuban schools
