Twitter: @SalvadorValdesM

Havana, December 30 (RHC)-- Salvador Valdes Mesa, Vice President of the Republic of Cuba, sent condolences to the people of Brazil, as well as to relatives and friends of soccer star Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Pele, who passed away on Thursday at the age of 82.

Pelé, King and architect of the Jogo bonito, has passed away," wrote Valdés Mesa, who described the sportsman as an eternal legend of world soccer.

Pelé, a three-time world champion, had been hospitalized since November 29 to be treated for a respiratory infection and to re-evaluate his treatment for colon cancer. Since December 3, he stopped responding to the chemotherapy process and began to receive only palliative care.

The representative of the Cuban government arrived this Thursday in Brasilia to participate in the inauguration ceremony of President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.