Cuban President begins activities of his visit to Portugal

Havana, July 14 (RHC) Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez began today the activities of his state visit to Portugal.

He was received by the Portuguese President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, in the Plaza del Imperio, where the official welcome ceremony was held. During the act, the notes of both national anthems were heard and 21 artillery salutes were launched from the garden of the Plaza.

After concluding the review pass and the parade of the troops, President Díaz-Canel and the delegation that accompanies him placed a wreath at the tomb of the poet Luis Vas de Camoes, located inside the Jerónimos Monastery.

The official reception of the Portuguese president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa to the Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel, was in the Bicos room, of the emblematic premises of the National Palace of Bethlehem, residence of the Portuguese president.

Both presidents held a private meeting, which was later extended to the two accompanying delegations.

The Portuguese president presented Díaz-Canel with the Grand Collar of the Order of the Infante Don Henrique, the highest distinction that the president of the European country imposes on Heads of State who visit this nation.

Díaz-Canel wrote in the Book of Honor that this visit "reaffirms the shared will to continue consolidating our bilateral relations of more than a century of existence."

Rebelo de Sousa referred to areas where relations could be expanded, such as tourism, renewable energy, infrastructure, and construction materials. Regarding health, he explained that there was collaboration between 2009 and 2018. Today there is room for cooperation with Cuban doctors as it was in the past.

The Portuguese president commented that this visit comes to materialize what was promised in 2019, before the pandemic. The future, he affirmed, is to strengthen friendship, economic, cultural, political, and diplomatic cooperation.

For his part, Díaz-Canel notices that the visit takes place on the eve of the celebration, on July 17 and 18, of the CELAC-EU Summit, in Brussels, in which Cuba will have an active participation.

Later, the Cuban President and his Portuguese counterpart Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa arrived at Plaza de la Alegría, in the city of Lisbon. Together they inaugurated a bust of José Martí in front of which Díaz-Canel placed a wreath.

Díaz-Canel arrived in Portugal this Thursday, in response to an invitation from Rebelo de Sousa, to make a state visit that will last until July 16.

Accompanying the dignitary are Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, and Ana Teresita González Fraga, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment.

On this Friday, the official activities of the Cuban delegation began, and will continue on Saturday. (Source: Twitter of the Presidency)