Determination leads to success: Vietnam–Cuba special solidarity and friendship
WVR - In recent days, with his visit to the S-shaped land shortly after the visit of First Secretary and President of Cuba Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, the meaningful activities of President of Cuban National Assembly of People's Power Esteban Lazo Hernandez have contributed to strengthening the special solidarity, friendship, and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Cuba.
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| Vietnam-Cuba special solidarity and friendship: General Secretary To Lam welcomes President of Cuban National Assembly of People's Power Esteban Lazo Hernandez on his official visit to Vietnam. (Photo: Dang Khoa) |
Arriving in Vietnam, Cuban National Assembly President Esteban Lazo Hernandez brought with him the will and aspirations of the Cuban people, resonating with the aspirations of the Vietnamese people to jointly realize high-level agreements between the two countries.
The official visit to Vietnam and co-chairing the second session of the Vietnam-Cuba Inter-Parliamentary Committee (from September 30 to October 5) by Cuban National Assembly President Esteban Lazo Hernandez takes place as the two countries celebrate 65 years of diplomatic relations (1960-2025); cooperation across all channels has reached new heights, becoming a model of international relations.
Notably, the state visit to Cuba by General Secretary and President To Lam in September 2024 and the presence of First Secretary and President of Cuba Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez in Vietnam earlier this September have marked significant milestones, opening new directions for bilateral relations.
Therefore, bringing new heights and directions into concrete, substantive tasks across various fields, from parliamentary, political to economic, trade, and science - technology, with the highest determination to implement, is the focus of this visit to Vietnam by National Assembly President Esteban Lazo Hernandez. During the visit, the Cuban National Assembly President met with General Secretary To Lam, President Luong Cuong, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh; held talks with National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man; visited and worked in Hanoi, Hung Yen, and Ho Chi Minh City.
Working together, cooperating together, developing together
In the midst of war and turmoil, "half the globe away," the hearts of the Vietnamese and Cuban people still found each other, beating in unison, so that the spirit "For Vietnam, Cuba is willing to shed its blood" - the immortal words of President Fidel Castro - lives on through the years, nurturing the source of friendship between the two peoples for the past 65 years. Today, it is still "together" like that, with hearts beating in unison and also "working together, cooperating together, developing together" - a consistent message in exchanges between key Vietnamese leaders and Cuban National Assembly President Esteban Lazo Hernandez.
The consistent spirit in high-level exchanges between the two brothers in recent times is the determination to elevate cooperation across all fields to match the special relationship on the new journey.
Key Vietnamese leaders affirm that they always value and wish to deepen the traditional special relationship and comprehensive cooperation with the brotherly country of Cuba; highly appreciate the positive achievements that the Party, State, National Assembly, and people of Cuba have achieved since the 8th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, overcoming many challenges to continue firmly defending the homeland and steadfastly building a socialist Cuba.
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| President Luong Cuong welcomes Cuban National Assembly President Esteban Lazo Hernandez. (Photo: Thanh Long) |
For his part, arriving in Vietnam at a time when storm No.10 caused severe damage in many localities, the Cuban National Assembly President expressed deep solidarity with the Vietnamese people. Esteban Lazo Hernandez affirmed his strong belief in the resilient spirit of the Vietnamese nation and is confident that, under the wise leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the brotherly country will successfully realize its development aspirations in the new era.
In the context of Cuba and its people making relentless efforts in the current struggle against adversity, Esteban Lazo Hernandez was moved by the affection of the Party, State, and people of Vietnam for the Cuban people through the "65 Years of Vietnam-Cuba Friendship" support program, considering it a vivid expression of the pure, loyal tradition of solidarity between the two countries.
The leaders of the two countries spent considerable time assessing the picture of bilateral cooperation in recent times; affirming that cooperation between the two countries has reached a new, profound, and substantive level across all three channels of Party diplomacy, state diplomacy, and people-to-people diplomacy.
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| Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Cuban National Assembly President Esteban Lazo Hernandez. (Source: VNA) |
Economic, trade, and investment relations have made significant strides, particularly in areas essential to the Cuban economy. Cooperation in cultural, educational, and people-to-people exchanges, from central to local levels, is becoming deeper, more substantive, and diverse. These are important drivers for Vietnam-Cuba relations to remain strong and breakthrough in the new phase.
Especially, the leaders of the two countries place high expectations on cooperation between the Vietnamese National Assembly and the Cuban National Assembly, both bilaterally and multilaterally. As bodies representing the will and aspirations of the people, the National Assemblies of the two countries are not only reliable political diplomatic channels but are also entrusted with the mission to become forces driving the shared aspirations for the future of Vietnam-Cuba relations to "bear fruit" in the hearts of the two nations, despite the oceanic distance, always accompanying, standing side by side.
From policy to practice
The successful conclusion of the second session of the Vietnam-Cuba Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, co-chaired by National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and Cuban National Assembly President Esteban Lazo Hernández, is a meaningful response to the expectations of the leaders of the two countries.
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| National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and Cuban National Assembly President Esteban Lazo Hernandez. (Photo: Thanh Long) |
Following the spirit of the first session (September 2024 in Havana) to ensure that high-level agreements do not remain on paper but are implemented in practice, avoiding the situation of "signing many, doing little", the second session continued to review the achieved results, evaluate the effectiveness of the agreed recommendations, and discuss measures to resolve obstacles to deepen cooperation in general and parliamentary cooperation in particular.
National Assembly Chairman Man emphasized that the second session is a clear testament to the strong political commitment of the two National Assemblies to continuously consolidate and deepen the special friendship and solidarity between Vietnam and Cuba.
Within the framework of the session, the two sides listened to representatives from the two National Assemblies' agencies, ministries under the Vietnam Subcommittee in the Vietnam-Cuba Inter-governmental Committee, reporting on the cooperation situation between the two countries, proposing measures and recommendations to amend and supplement policies and laws to clear bottlenecks and enhance cooperation efficiency between Vietnam and Cuba, especially in the fields of economy, trade, investment, agriculture, healthcare, and biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.
At the same time, the two sides also exchanged views and shared experiences on building and perfecting policies and laws to encourage business development and attract foreign investment...
The policy framework is considered a launchpad, a key to paving the way for commitments to be implemented. Therefore, on this occasion, the two top legislators agreed to strengthen consultations on law-making, facilitating the implementation of bilateral commitments, coordinating the construction and completion of special mechanisms, and promoting Vietnamese enterprises to expand investment in Cuba.
It can be said that the vibrant atmosphere of the session and the spirit of parliamentary cooperation clearly demonstrated the commitment and determination of the two National Assemblies to promote the necessary policies, creating conditions for progress in trade relations and bilateral cooperation.
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| National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and Cuban National Assembly President Esteban Lazo Hernandez with representatives from both sides in a commemorative photo. (Photo: Thanh Long) |
The key to overcoming hardships
Esteban Lazo Hernández dedicated part of his visit to working in Ho Chi Minh City and Hung Yen province. The head of the Cuban National Assembly wishes to exchange development experiences with localities and "see firsthand" the results of applying experiences to development in Vietnam.
Sharing during the visit, Cuban National Assembly President Esteban Lazo Hernández affirmed that Cuba wishes to learn from Vietnam's experience in innovation and national development, "a model for Cuba and the world", to overcome current difficulties and achieve successes like Vietnam has.
In recent times, the development experiences of the two countries have been flexibly and skillfully applied, achieving progress in important cooperative fields such as food production, biopharmaceuticals, and renewable energy. These are the golden rice fields with outstanding productivity in many of your lands - the result of the Vietnam-Cuba rice production development cooperation project; Cuba transferring pharmaceutical production technology to Vietnam; or the solar energy project in Cuba with Vietnam's cooperation.
Cuba also always wishes to promote Vietnamese enterprises to invest in Cuba. Esteban Lazo Hernández stated that currently, with ten investment projects, Vietnam is the largest Asian investor in Cuba, with an increasingly important and growing presence in the Mariel Development Zone.
The legendary hero of the Cuban Revolution, Che Guevara, once shouted: "Create two, three... many Vietnams". From Leader Fidel Castro, Hero Che Guevara to every Cuban citizen, they have always held Vietnam in complete trust and love. In return, the Party, State, and people of Vietnam always cherish the loyal friendship with the heroic land and people. This visit to Vietnam by Comrade Esteban Lazo Hernández also "tells" such a story; together, the two countries will achieve the expected cooperative results.
Tags:
President of the National Assembly of People's Power of Cuba
Esteban Lazo Hernandez
First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee
President of Cuba Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez
Vietnam-Cuba special traditional relations
Party General Secretary
To Lam
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh
President Luong Cuong
NA Chairman Tran Thanh Man
Official visit
