Pretoria, August 22 (RHC)-- Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel arrived in South Africa on Tuesday to participate in the 15th Brics Summit, to be held in Johannesburg until the 24th, in his capacity as current president of the G77 and China.
At the airport, the Cuban president was received by Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, minister in the presidency in charge of women's affairs, youth and people with disabilities, and the island's ambassador to Pretoria, Enrique Orta Gonzales.
Díaz-Canel was accompanied by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Public Health Minister José Ángel Portal Miranda and First Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade Ana Teresita González Fraga, among others.
Recently, the Cuban leader recalled that for the first time Cuba participates in a Brics Summit (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).
We are doing so, he said, in our capacity as president of the Group of 77 and China.
It will be a space, he added, in which "we will advocate to enhance effective coordination between both mechanisms of coordination to defend the claims of the global south."
The Cuban leader's official intervention at the Summit as the rotating president of the G77 and China will take place, according to the program, on the 24th at the Brics Plus Dialogue, which together with the Brics Africa Outreach, includes nations from the Global South, the African continent and international organizations.
Prior to that, on the 23rd, as scheduled, he is expected to attend an act of solidarity with Cuba with the participation of graduates on the island, Cuban cooperants here, and representatives of like-minded South African political and social forces.
In addition, he is expected to hold bilateral dialogues with leaders of local and international political parties, with which Cuba has long-standing cordial relations.
According to South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa invited to the 15th Summit international leaders such as the Secretary General of the United Nations, the President of the African Union Commission, the President of the New Development Bank and leaders of the African Regional Economic Communities.
In addition, the heads of African financial organizations, the Secretary General of the African Continental Free Trade Area, and the Executive Director of the African Union Development Agency.
Prior to his stay in South Africa, Díaz-Canel paid an official visit to the Republic of Angola, where, among other activities, he held a meeting with his counterpart João Lourenço, and made a speech before the National Assembly.
Subsequently, as announced by the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the President will pay official visits to the Republic of Mozambique and Namibia.
