Cuban delegation pays tribute to fallen compatriots in Ethiopia

Cuba’s Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz, paid tribute to the 163 Cuban nationals who fell alongside Ethiopian troops in defence of the African country’s territorial integrity, the Caribbean government revealed today.

At the Ethiopia-Cuba Friendship Memorial Park, Marrero Cruz and the delegation accompanying him on a tour of Addis Ababa last night placed floral offerings in front of the murals with the faces carved in bronze of the international Cuban fighters who sealed with blood 47 years ago in the battle of Karramara the bonds of friendship between the two peoples.

On the occasion, the head of government said that it is a duty to honour the history and the half-century of brotherhood that unites us, while underlining the will to strengthen the bonds of cooperation and solidarity, the publication said.

He recalled the words of the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, on Cuba’s participation in the Ethiopian war: «It is admirable how sons of our people were able to march to such a distant place and fight there as if (…) in their own country. That is proletarian internationalism!

The tribute was attended by the Cuban ambassadors in Addis Ababa, Meylin Suárez Álvarez, to the African Union, Lucas Domingo Hernández, the president of the Ethiopia-Cuba Friendship Association, Abebe Ayelew, the Ethiopian architect trained on the Caribbean island Yibrah Mehari, designer of the monument, among other guests.

Marrero Cruz arrived from Congo after a two-day official agenda focused on strengthening bilateral cooperation.