Havana, August 3 (RHC) -- Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero today led the island's delegation that paid tribute to the National Hero and first President of Angola, António Agostinho Neto, and Cuban Commander Raúl Díaz Argüelles.

Accompanied by Army Corps General and Hero of the Republic of Cuba, Ramón Espinosa, and officials from the Caribbean nation's diplomacy, the head of government placed a floral offering before the sarcophagus of the Angolan patriot, who maintained a great friendship with the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro.

“It has been a great honor to visit the Memorial,” Marrero wrote in the book of honor after touring the António Agostinho Neto Memorial, where different exhibitions remember his life and work.

“It is moving to see so many images of the fighter for the independence of the sister Republic of Angola. On behalf of Army General Raúl Castro; President Miguel Díaz-Canel, and all the people of Cuba, we pay tribute to the father of Angolan independence,” he added.

The delegation then moved to the Alto de las Cruces cemetery for a tribute to Commander Raúl Díaz Argüelles, who was the first head of the island's military mission in Angola and died in combat on Angolan soil on December 11, 1975.

A representation of Cuban collaborators and staff of the state mission in this country accompanied the brief ceremony in which they placed a floral offering on the tomb that remembers the combatant. (Source: Prensa Latina)