HAVANA, May 5 (NNN-ACN) — Japan and Cuba have shared exemplary and mutually respectful relations over the years, free of any foreign pressures, said Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel after welcoming the general secretary of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party Motegi Toshimitsu at the Revolution Palace.
Recalling particularly important moments in which Japan-Cuba relations have gained strength, the Cuban head of state referred to the visits to Japan by the historic leader of the Revolution Fidel Castro and Commander Ernesto Che Guevara, who paid homage to the victims of the nuclear attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Diaz-Canel also recalled more recent events like the visit to Cuba by current Japanese Premier Fumio Kishida, when he was foreign minister in 2015 and by the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2016.
Just like back in the 1970s and 80s, Japan had direct participation in a series of economic and social projects in Cuba, said Diaz-Canel and went on to say that Cubans consider Japan as a model of development and reference.
The Cuban people know and admire the history and culture of Japan. They admire the wisdom, hard work, industriousness, creativeness and the innovative spirit of the Japanese people, Diaz-Canel noted.
Both Cuba and Japan are united by many factors like the impact by weather phenomena, an area in which we both can cooperate, he said and referred to what he called “our passion for baseball.”
The Cuban President stressed Japan’s support of economic and social programs in the fields of food production, community services, transportation and education and he thanked the Japanese government for its permanent support of the Cuba-sponsored resolution presented year after year at the US General Assembly against the US economic blockade against the island.
The Cuban head of state ratified his government’s willingness, wish and commitment to keep strengthening and expanding bilateral political, economic and commercial relations between Havana and Tokyo.
Meanwhile, the Japanese visitor thanked the friendly remarks of the Cuban leader and recalled the visits to Hiroshima by Fidel Castro and the significance of his presence in the Japanese region.
Motegi Toshimitsu stressed the importance for bilateral exchange between Cuba as Chair of the G-77 plus China and Japan currently heading the G-7.
The meeting was attended by several members of the Japanese delegation, along with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez; the head of the Cuban Communist Party’s Ideological Department, Rogelio Polanco; and the director for Asia and Oceania at the Cuban Foreign Ministry, Alberto Blanco. — NNN-ACN
