Hanoi, Vietnam.- The president of the National Assembly of People’s Power, Esteban Lazo, arrived Sunday in Hanoi to head the commemorative activities for the 50th anniversary of the first visit to Vietnam of the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro.
Shortly after his arrival, Lazo and his delegation held a fraternal meeting with leaders and members of the Union of Vietnam Friendship Organizations and the Vietnam-Cuba Friendship Association.
During the dialogue, the also member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba and president of the Council of State said he was moved by this visit, which also takes place in the context of the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Cuban Committee of Solidarity with South Vietnam.
Whenever I return to Vietnam I feel a deep pride in its heroic history and its enormous progress; but to do it today, in the framework of these anniversaries, is really exciting, Lazo stressed, according to the Cuban Parliament’s website.
On his first day in this capital, the head of the Legislative also met with members of the Cuban state mission in this Indochinese nation.
According to the preliminary program of the visit, which will last until Thursday, on Monday Lazo and his entourage will be received by Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong before traveling to Quang Binh province.
There they will lay a wreath at the monument erected to Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro, visit the Vietnam-Cuba Friendship Hospital and meet with local authorities.
On Tuesday, the delegation will go to Parallel 17 and then visit the site where the headquarters of the Provisional Government of South Vietnam was located in Quang Tri province. Later, they will plant a tree in the Fidel Castro Park, before attending the central commemorative ceremony.
Lazo and his companions will return to this city next Wednesday to pay a courtesy visit to the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Nguyen Phu Trong, and hold talks with his counterpart Vuong Dinh Hue.
The Commander-in-Chief’s first visit to Vietnam took place from September 12-17, 1973 and made him the first and only world leader to reach the newly liberated southern territories of the country in the midst of the war.
According to former Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Dinh Hue, during those days Fidel Castro “sincerely, concretely and vividly reflected his fervent love for the Vietnamese people in each of his activities, in his words, in his gestures, in his gaze and in his embraces”.