New York, September 28 (RHC)-- The presidents of Cuba, Raul Castro, and of Palau, Thomas Remengesau, presided over a ceremony on Sunday to establish diplomatic relations between their nations. A similar event was held to establish bilateral links with the Marshall Islands.

As part of his tight agenda at the United Nations in New York City, Raul Castro signed the accord that made the decision official as did his counterpart from Palau.

During the meeting at UN headquarters, the head of state of Palau said that the action symbolizes the respect that Cuba advocates for small nations. “My country treasures this relationship and we will do everything possible for these links to develop,” said Remengesau.

Raul Castro noted that neither distance nor the size of the countries matter at all and that his government decided to have relations with all nations, while Cuba has links with the majority of countries. The Cuban president said that the smaller a country is, the higher respect it must be paid.

Also during high-level forums underway in New York, the foreign ministers of Cuba and the Marshall Islands, Bruno Rodriguez and Tony de Brum, respectively, officially re-established bilateral relations.

The ceremony was presided over by the Cuban head of state, Raul Castro, and by the president of the small Pacific state, Christopher Loeak.