Cuban President meets with Zimbabwean leader

President Miguel Díaz-Canel today reaffirmed Cuba's will to continue developing and strengthening the historic ties of friendship, solidarity and cooperation with Zimbabwe.

This was expressed during a meeting on Wednesday at the Palace of the Revolution with the Secretary for International Relations of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front Party, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, the Presidency announced.

During the talk, the Cuban leader thanked the government and people of this African country for its support to the island’s struggle against the US-imposed economic blockade and for its support in removing Cuba from the list of alleged state sponsoring terrorism.

In this regard, he stressed: Cuba has been removed from the list of countries that allegedly sponsor terrorism, which happened yesterday, and this is a victory for the Cuban people, but we must also share it with friends like you who have supported us at the international level.

He also expressed “our willingness to extend Cuban cooperation in the fields, activities and areas that you ask us to do.”

For his part, Mumbengegwi, who is visiting the island as a special envoy of the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, expressed his gratitude for the warm welcome and said it was an honour to meet the Cuban President.

He stressed that the Cuban Head of State “has always been available, has always been at our disposal when we have requested it; and this, of course, underlines the nature, the character of our relations, since the early days of our liberation struggle.”

He also referred to Cuba’s unwavering solidarity with Zimbabwe and its history of mutual support and cooperation.

On Wednesday, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, on behalf of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front, signed an exchange and cooperation agreement with the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC).

The initialling of the document, which aims to further strengthen relations between the organisations, was led on the Cuban side by Emilio Lozada, member of the Central Committee of the PCC and head of its International Relations Department.