President Raul Castro decorating Rafael Correa.

HAVANA, Cuba.-The Cuban President Raul Castro awarded the Jose Marti Order to his Ecuadorian counterpart Rafael Correa. That is the highest decoration granted by the Cuban state to those who fight for independence, freedom and solidarity.

Visibly moved, Correa claimed to have always carried Martí in his heart, to whom he regarded as a man years ahead of his time, a Latin American making part not only of the regional history, but also of the universal history.

“If anything I could do in these ten years is because I leaned on the shoulders of giants. Giants like Bolivar, Eloy Alfaro, Jose Marti, as Che. Giants that life gave me the opportunity to know, to be their friend, to hear their advice as Nestor Kirchner, as Hugo Chavez, as Fidel,” the Ecuadorian President said

President Raul Castro led the official reception ceremony to his Ecuadorian counterpart in the Revolution Palace.

Official Conversations

The presidents of Cuba and Ecuador, Raul Castro and Rafael Correa, held a round of official talks in the Palace of the Revolution in Havana, seat of the Cuban government.

Shortly before, Correa, accompanied by the Cuban First Vice-President Miguel Diaz Canel, placed a floral tribute before the bust of Marti inside the Memorial with his name at the Revolution Square.

This Friday morning, the Ecuadorian president received the title of Honorary Doctor Economic Sciences of the University of Havana, for “being a revolutionary committed to the development of the peoples and the Latin American unity.”

This is the last Correa´s visit to Cuban as President of Ecuador, as he will cede the post next May 24 to Lenin Moreno, elected candidate of the ruling left winger party Alianza País.

Rafael Correa also honored the national hero Jose Marti in the Memorial at the Revolution Square, dedicated to the life and work of the leader of Cuban independence.

This morning the President of Ecuador was invested with the honorary doctorate in Economics at the University of Havana, and offered a keynote speech in which he reviewed the results of his government and in which he assured that development is a political issue.