By María Josefina Arce

Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canel is in sister lands. In his tour of Africa, which began with a fraternal visit to Angola, described as successful and a long-awaited meeting, he could not miss Mozambique and Namibia, two nations to which Cubans is also very close.

The relationship with Mozambique is long and historical, and solidarity aid is one of its mainstays. The contribution of Cubans in different spheres of the economic and social development of that nation has been important.

During almost 50 years of bilateral ties, thousands of young Mozambicans have been trained as technicians and professionals in the archipelago.

The Maputo authorities have repeatedly stressed that Cuba has always extended its generous hand in the most complex moments. Thus, a brigade of the International Contingent of Doctors Specialized in Situations of Disasters and Serious Epidemics also arrived in that African territory, on the occasion of the devastating passage in 2019 of cyclones Idai and Kenneth.

The aid was not limited to the victims of the meteorological phenomena, but was of invaluable support to the entire population, the authorities emphasized.

But the Henry Reeve contingent has also been supporting its Mozambican colleagues since 2021 in the fight against COVID 19, which, like everyone else, has been affected by the disease.

There is also a special bond with the people of Namibia, who are grateful for the support of the Greater Antilles during the difficult years of struggle against the racist apartheid regime and for the independence achieved in 1990.

The close ties are based on the deep and intimate friendship between the historic leader of the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro, and the first president and father of the Namibian nation, Sam Nujoma.

More than three decades of solidary cooperation unite the two nations. Cuban health collaborators have been and still are present in Namibian territory, who have helped to improve health indexes and during the COVID 19 pandemic faced the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

There is also close collaboration with the business group BioCubaFarma, which provides assistance in the modernization of the African country's pharmaceutical industry.Cooperation in education has also been extensive. Young Namibians have studied on Cuban soil, many citizens have been taught to read and write with the "Yes I can" method and there is a close exchange with the University of Computer Sciences in Havana.

Cuba's brotherhood with Mozambique and Namibia has been more than proven over the decades since the struggles for independence of African nations and their valuable contribution to various spheres, in order to contribute modestly to the welfare of those peoples.