Top Vietnamese leader, To Lam, to visit Cuba

The general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (PCV) and president of the nation, To Lam, will make a state visit to Cuba on September 25 and 26.

Lam, who was inaugurated as head of state on May 22, will be the sixth Vietnamese leader to travel to the Caribbean nation in the last 15 years, after Nguyen Minh Triet in 2009, Truong Tan Sang (2015), Tran Dai Quang (2016), Nguyen Phu Trong (2018) and Nguyen Xuan Phuc (2021).

Cuba will be the first country in the Western Hemisphere to which the Vietnamese leader travels and the second in his dual capacity as President of the Republic and Secretary General of the PCV, after visiting China last August, weeks after his election to assume the leadership of the party organization.

To Lam's upcoming visit to Cuba is seen here as another example of the determination to continue strengthening and deepening the special and historical relations, and of solidarity, brotherhood, comprehensive cooperation and absolute trust between the parties, governments and people of both countries.

By happy synchronicity, the stay of the top Vietnamese leader in Havana will coincide with the commemoration, on September 25, of the 61st anniversary of the creation of the Cuban Committee of Solidarity with South Vietnam, the first of its kind in the world and predecessor of the Cuba-Vietnam Friendship Association.

On December 2, 1960, Cuba became the first country in the Western Hemisphere to establish full diplomatic relations with the Indochinese nation and in 1969 it was also a pioneer in recognizing the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam and opening an embassy in the jungles of Tay Ninh.

Previously, in October 1966, the first high-level Cuban delegation headed by then-president Osvaldo Dorticós and the Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, Raúl Castro, traveled to Hanoi, who were received by the hero of Vietnamese independence, President Ho Chi Minh.

To Lam, is originally from the Kinh ethnic group and was born on July 10, 1957 in the commune of Nghia Tru, Van Giang district, Hung Yen province, located in the Red River Delta region.

Between 1974 and 1979 he studied at the Popular Security University (current Popular Security Academy) and once graduated he served as an officer in the Ministry of the Interior (current Ministry of Public Security), holding various responsibilities until assuming ownership of the portfolio in 2016.

Elected as a member of the Central Committee of the PCV for the 11th term in 2011, in September 2014 he was promoted to the rank of colonel general. In March 2016 he was ratified as a member of the Central Committee and became part of the Political Bureau of the 12th term. In January 2019 he achieved the rank of general.

Throughout his career, To Lam deserved three orders of Military Merit of the first class, the Order of Glorious Soldier of the first, second and third classes and the Medal for the cause of national security.

He was also awarded six orders granted by the State of Laos, the Sahametrei Thibadin Order of Cambodia, the First Class Order of June 6 granted by the Republic of Cuba and the Order of Friendship of the Russian Federation, among others.