Havana, March 20 (RHC) – Cuba's First Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel is in Namibia to attend the swearing-in ceremony of president-elect Hage Geingob and to participate in celebrations for the 25th anniversary of that African country's national independence.

According to Granma newspaper, Diaz-Canel will meet in the capital Windhoek with top government Namibian officials and with the country´s founding father Sam Nujoma. He will also visit places of historic interest.

The Cuban official arrived Thursday afternoon in Namibia and first on his agenda was a visit to Cuban workers who are offering their services in that sister African nation. On the occasion, Diaz-Canel stressed the internationalism, altruism and humanistic vocation as values that must always be defended.

In a briefing with workers about the events underway in Cuba, he pointed to two scenarios: the economy and the ideological work.

He said that Cubans celebrate Namibia´s independence as we recall all we did together, in reference to the contribution by Cuban combatants to the liberation of Angola, Namibia and South Africa.

Diaz-Canel also stressed the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of relations between Namibia and Cuba shortly after the African nation go its independence on March 21st, 1990. That same year, he said, Cuba began assisting Namibia in the field of health in tune with a request made by then president Sam Nujoma.

At present, a total of 139 Cuban health workers are offering assistance in 13 out of 14 Namibian regions.

Diaz-Canel, who will depart Windhoek on Monday for India, is heading a delegation that includes the general director of bilateral affairs at Cuba´s Foreign Ministry, Gerardo Penalver, and the director for Sub-Saharan Africa at the Ministry Angel Villa.